Tašler: Small shareholders have been left out, but Todorić is the one losing the most

HRT’s political show ‘Studio 4’, where hosts discuss political current events in the country, on Monday hosted Manuela Tašler, deputy editor-in-chief of the business weekly Lider, and Andrej Grubišić, a financial expert, who discussed the Agrokor case and the potential dismissal of the Government’s commissioner in Agrokor, Ante Ramljak, as well as the future of small shareholders.

Grubišić believes that everyone is replaceable, including Ramljak, but emphasizes that there is a formal problem with the roll-up loan coming due, in which case no one knows what would happen.

– Ramljak is a man of flesh and blood, he is competent and knows what he is doing, but fundamentally he does not see what the problem is. In this process, integrity is lacking, and when it is absent, significant damage can be inflicted on those who use his services. If this process becomes complicated, a comprehensible decision must be made. Therefore, it is not necessary to dismiss all 140 people, but only a few, said Grubišić, highlighting that this would be an elegant solution.

>>>Beveridge: Dismissing Ramljak would jeopardize the restructuring process of Agrokor

Tašler: There will be no settlement longer than July 10

Regarding the settlement that Deputy Prime Minister Martina Dalić spoke about on Thursday when she urged members of the temporary creditors’ council of Agrokor to ‘agree on a timeline’ to ensure everything necessary for a settlement proposal, Manuela Tašler believes that it will not happen soon if Ante Ramljak is dismissed, but that it will take longer than that.

– If Ramljak is dismissed, the settlement will not be reached by the agreed April 10, nor July 10, and even longer than that. It is clear to everyone who understands this issue that Plenković will not request any additional analysis related to AlixPartners on the Agrokor restructuring project. If he wanted to, he would have already done it, Tašler stated, agreeing with Grubišić that work should continue and not give up on everything that has been done so far.

– Any settlement, if reached, will be achieved by force. Some will fare better, and some worse; after all, they are all opposed, and it is difficult to reach an agreement that will satisfy everyone. We are talking about 6,000 creditors, all of whom want to extract as much money as possible; it all ultimately comes down to that, Tašler stated.

>>>Dalić demands that new owners quickly take over the management of Agrokor

Grubišić: Foreign advisors say they have never seen such cases when it comes to Agrokor

When asked if the settlement is fair, Grubišić said that this is not the only way and asserted that foreign advisors engaged in this case stated that this is a unique case in Europe.

– AlixPartners provided examples that have no connection, they only gave one example of a settlement, not more. I believe that there are other forms of settlement, but there is no intention here to save anything. More effort should have been made for more proposals to preserve as much as possible, said Grubišić, who agrees with Tašler regarding small shareholders.

>>>Petrov: Who will you say goodbye to these days – the youth, responsible for the chaos in Agrokor, or yourself?

– Regarding small shareholders, I agree that they are defending their interests and I agree that there are indications that the guarantees do not hold water, but they were all aware of the fact that these guarantees were published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange and Agrokor’s creditors guaranteed that the guarantees were valid, he stated.

Tašler concluded by saying that the proposal of small shareholders is unrealistic because they got involved in the story later. They will lose, but Todorić is the one who loses the most, and that is not fair to the shareholders in Agrokor’s companies, it is not fair regarding the issue of security, the issue of GDP growth, small shareholders have been unjustly excluded, and regarding deadlines – they have been left out, stated Manuela Tašler. Grubišić added that this case will be accompanied by a large number of lawsuits.

– Lex Agrokor has become a political and legal issue from a commercial one, concluded Grubišić.