The government proposed Fabris Peruško as the new extraordinary commissioner for Agrokor at its meeting on Tuesday, and Irena Weber as his deputy.
After Ante Ramljak submitted his resignation as extraordinary commissioner last week, the government formally proposed his dismissal to the Commercial Court in Zagreb at today’s meeting and suggested the appointment of a new extraordinary commissioner and his deputy.
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The Banski dvori thus propose Fabris Peruško, a member of the management board of Tisak, as the extraordinary commissioner to the Commercial Court in Zagreb, and Irena Weber as his deputy, currently an advisor to the extraordinary administration for the asset portfolio in Agrokor.
“I expect that the Commercial Court will accept our proposals for the appointment of both the commissioner and his deputy, make the appropriate decision, and that they will assume their duties as soon as possible. The goal of the Government of the Republic of Croatia remains the well-being of our economy, our financial system, as well as the quality functioning of Agrokor, the preservation of jobs, achieving a settlement within the legal timeframe, and the long-term sustainability of its operations,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, adding that this is the path on which the government’s engagement began and will continue.
The Prime Minister also stated that communications had been conducted with members of the Temporary Creditor’s Council regarding the engagement of Fabris Peruško and Irena Weber, who, he said, received their candidacy very positively. He assessed this as very good considering that they thus gain the support of stakeholders with whom they will continue to cooperate in the extraordinary administration process.
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Peruško graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, obtained his master’s degree at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana, and in 2007 earned an MBA from Babson College in Boston.
He spent five years as a consultant at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., where his work focused on restructuring projects in various industries, from banking to FMCG and technology, across Europe and Russia. Since 2016, until joining Tisak, he worked as an independent advisor to the management of several regional companies.
Irena Weber has been an advisor to extraordinary commissioner Ante Ramljak since June last year, responsible for the asset portfolio and non-core business in Agrokor.
She began her career at CAIB, from which she left shortly after Ante Ramljak, first to the brokerage house To One, and then moved to Hypo Alpe Adria Investments as a member of the management board. From September 2016 to March 2017, she was a member of the management board of Kentbank, and then she joined Agrokor.
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The extraordinary commissioner of Agrokor, Ante Ramljak, who was appointed commissioner by the Commercial Court in Zagreb at the proposal of the government on April 10, 2017, submitted his irrevocable resignation to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković last Tuesday, February 20.
Ramljak came under pressure at the end of January when the media reported that he had engaged his former company, Texo Management, as advisors in Agrokor, which receives almost 250,000 kuna weekly for consulting services, sparking public debates about high consulting fees and a potential conflict of interest for Ante Ramljak.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated at that time that he was not aware of the fees for advisors in the Agrokor restructuring process, generally does not support their amount, and would give his opinion on the entire case after reviewing the report provided to him by the extraordinary commissioner.
Subsequent revelations followed, such as that Texo was engaged by AlixPartners on the same day that the company was engaged as the main advisor in the restructuring of Agrokor.
The media later reported that until April 30, Ramljak was formally registered with Texo Management, although he became the extraordinary commissioner for Agrokor on April 10.
