Formation of a Ministerial Team from the Region to Address Agrokor’s Issues

Ministers of trade and economy from Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who met on Wednesday in Belgrade to discuss the issues of “Agrokor”, have formed a ministerial team that will communicate daily to exchange information and undertake joint measures to preserve jobs, the interests of suppliers, and the stable operation of companies within this conglomerate in those countries.

According to a statement following the meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, the ministers agreed that each of these countries will henceforth control the financial and commodity flows of companies related to “Agrokor”.

The ministers also expressed their readiness to engage in talks with representatives of the Croatian government to stabilize the operations of this conglomerate.

“Agrokor” is being rescued in Zagreb – where the new government commissioner is trying to settle suppliers and restore the liquidity of the conglomerate, but also in Belgrade where representatives of the four countries agreed on measures to protect companies operating within that company. Essentially, the statement notes, the region has a common problem.

The ministers expect that the new head of “Agrokor” will appoint independent experts for the successful restructuring of companies within the conglomerate, as stated in the conclusion of the meeting.

>>> Vučić announced that he will not allow the outflow of money from Agrokor’s companies in Serbia

It was also emphasized that there is an expectation that the new management of “Agrokor” treats all suppliers equally, both those in Croatia and those outside it.

Serbia will not allow domestic companies to suffer damage due to “Agrokor”, pointed out Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić at the beginning of the meeting with representatives from Slovenia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbian Minister of Trade Rasim Ljajić stated that Serbia is in a somewhat better position than other countries where “Agrokor” has companies, as “Merkator S”, which employs about 9,000 workers, is majority-owned by the Slovenian “Merkator”.

Slovenia will soon adopt a special law “lex Merkator” to protect that company from potential outflow of money to “Agrokor”, while other countries where companies of that conglomerate operate have not yet planned to enact such a law.

“In each country, the situation regarding ‘Agrokor’ companies is different. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are 10 such companies employing 6,000 people, in Serbia there are twice as many workers, and in Montenegro, there are 1,500,” informed the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirko Šarović.

He added that the expectations of the participants in the meeting in Belgrade are that all “Agrokor” companies will be treated equally during the financial stabilization of the Croatian conglomerate, meaning that it should not be done “at the expense of” the subsidiary companies in the region.

Šarović emphasized that the agreement on a common solution is not directed against anyone but is a contribution to stabilizing “Agrokor”.

There are two laws that could protect against the outflow of foreign currency from Serbian companies that are part of the Agrokor system – the law on preventing money laundering and the law on foreign currency payments.

At the meeting, besides Ljajić and Šarović, were also the Minister of Economic Development and Technology of Slovenia, Zdravko Počivalšek, the Minister of Economy of Montenegro, Dragica Sekulić, and the Minister of Agriculture of Serbia, Branislav Nedimović.

In the “Agrokor” system, there are 60 companies employing 60,000 workers. The most in Croatia, followed by Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and in that order, these countries are at the highest risk. In Serbia, nearly 12,000 workers are employed, the majority of whom are in “Merkator S”.