Ivica Todorić, in his first reaction after the publication of the revised consolidated financial statements for the Agrokor Group and Agrokor d.d. for 2016, stated on his website on Monday that it is a lie that anything was hidden in Agrokor, but that it was hidden from the auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
“It is a lie that anything was hidden in Agrokor from anyone. But the most important thing is whether it was hidden from PwC, which audited the report,” Todorić stated in a new post titled “Not a euro has been hidden or misappropriated.”
>>>Agrokor d.d. reported a loss of 10.84 billion kuna, the group’s capital reduced by 22 billion kuna in two years
As he emphasized, Agrokor and he personally signed a contract with PwC before the extraordinary administration came in and presented all documentation to the auditors.
“In that documentation, the disputed contract was presented, as Ramljak says. We will present the financial gymnastics that wrote off billions in the near future, but what I can say with certainty is that not a euro has been misappropriated, not a euro has been hidden. Ultimately, Ramljak himself confirms that he knows about those supposedly unreported items and knows that there is documentation for them,” claims Todorić.
Likewise, Todorić states that the obligations he personally had towards Agrokor were fully settled.
“Whether Ante Ramljak reclassified something will be easily determined later. His story that there was no basis for dividends is in line with everything they did in this report. Everything is fog, not a euro is missing, and Agrokor’s debt is known. With my team of financial experts, I am analyzing the report presented today and will soon provide a comprehensive review,” concludes Todorić in his latest post.
The consolidated loss of the Agrokor Group for 2016 amounts to 11.04 billion kuna, total liabilities were 56.28 billion, and the loss above the value of capital was 14.5 billion, according to the revised financial report presented on Monday by the extraordinary commissioner Ante Ramljak, confirming that he filed a criminal complaint due to identified irregularities.
>>>The audit identified a number of irregularities, Ramljak filed a criminal complaint and engaged forensic experts
The report states that PwC informed the extraordinary administration in writing about accounting irregularities identified during the audit, which “may indicate potential illegal activities.”
This involves concealing received loans and/or credits, as well as operating expenses and interest costs that were presented as receivables from the owner. Additionally, PwC pointed out the improper classification of assets and reserves, the incorrect presentation of loans as equity, and the incorrect presentation of loans given as cash and cash equivalents.
>>>Agrokor audit: Consolidated loss of 11.04 billion, total debt of 56 billion kuna
Specifically, 3.9 billion kuna of liabilities from loans were not reported or were misrepresented, 2.3 billion of operational and financial costs for the period from 2010 to 2015, and 2.1 billion kuna of misrepresented cash and cash equivalents, which was corrected in the 2015 report. It was also determined that previously unreported loans and receivables amounted to 2 billion kuna.
It was also determined that the so-called equity method was improperly used in Agrokor d.d. from 2006 to 2011, resulting in a correction of the value of shares amounting to 3.5 billion kuna, i.e., revenues were overestimated by that amount.
Agreement
As part of the presentation, extraordinary commissioner Ante Ramljak explained that owner Ivica Todorić had entered into an Agreement with Agrokor d.d. regulating costs related to the initial public offering (IPO) of the company and/or part of the company Agrokor, which according to that agreement relates to the costs of various advisors and other costs associated with the mentioned transaction.
The mentioned agreement stipulated that Ivica Todorić would reimburse the mentioned costs in the event that the IPO occurs, otherwise, Agrokor would bear the costs.
The Agreement on the termination of the Agreement on bearing possible negative effects of the IPO of Agrokor d.d., which had a realization deadline of December 30, 2018, dated December 14, 2016, between Ivica Todorić and Agrokor d.d., states that “based on the analysis of all available data and the fact that the realization of the project in question has not occurred and will not occur (…) the parties terminate the Agreement as of December 14, 2016.”
>>>Mrak-Taritaš: Clientelism has been confirmed, the intertwining of private capital and the state
This termination Agreement explicitly confirms that Agrokor d.d. and Ivica Todorić agreed on December 14, 2016, that the IPO of Agrokor “will not occur” and that all costs allegedly associated with this project, which had not been reported or recorded from 2010 to 2015, became an expense in 2016. The audit determined that only part of those costs relates to the IPO.
Regarding the non-reporting or misclassification of liabilities, it was determined that the total unreported loans amounted to 2.9 billion kuna and misclassified liabilities (from the Adris loan) amounted to one billion kuna, resulting in unreported and/or misclassified liabilities from loans amounting to 3.9 billion kuna.
The improper classification of loans given and deposits as cash or cash equivalents resulted in 2.6 billion kuna being presented as cash instead of 573 million kuna, or 2.1 billion kuna more.
Ramljak also stated that the extraordinary administration engaged a reputable international company specializing in forensics, which will investigate the identified irregularities and explore where the difference in money actually went.
Ramljak stated that he has taken steps provided by law today, and in response to a journalist’s inquiry, confirmed that he filed a criminal complaint.
