Minority Shareholders of Agrokor Satisfied with Fabrizio Peruško’s Moves

The Association of Minority Shareholders of Agrokor announced on Saturday that it welcomes the “turn in direction and actions of the new extraordinary commissioner”.

“The Association of Minority Shareholders welcomes the evident shift in the approach of the new extraordinary commissioner Mr. (Fabrizio) Peruško, who has clearly directed efforts from day one towards achieving a fair and lawful settlement, rather than engaging in personal battles like his predecessor. This is evident from the fact that in less than 10 days Mr. Peruško recognized all the illogicality and capriciousness of the ‘tactical’ contestation of Sberbank’s primary claim and has seriously approached the inclusion of the same in the settlement process, which will ultimately certainly contribute to the quality of the entire process,” stated the minority shareholders.

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The Association is convinced that in order to achieve a lawful settlement, the new commissioner will correct other illogicalities and illegalities that the former commissioner “deliberately or out of ignorance did or failed to do”. It states that it is confident that the new commissioner will keep in mind that the principle of proportionality is an essential element of the rule of law and that it is stipulated in the preamble of the Act on the Procedure of Extraordinary Administration in Companies that measures shall not impose an excessive burden on its addressees.

The Association reminds that it has “continuously emphasized the illegality of the actions of the former extraordinary commissioner” who, it emphasizes, should in every possible legal and legitimate way reduce the debtor’s obligations by contesting any that are illegal or questionable and on the other hand try to preserve the value of the company’s assets or increase it. However, the former commissioner not only failed to contest the claims but contractually committed to not contest the claims based on guarantees, states the announcement of the Association of Minority Shareholders.

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“The former commissioner signed 10 days before the deadline for filing claims under the roll-up agreement that he would not contest the guarantees (before the deadline for filing claims was formally completed!?). In the meantime, all contested contracts regarding syndicated loans and bonds, including the guarantees, have arrived in the Commercial Court file. It is indisputable that in each of the contracts it has been established that the guarantees have explicitly agreed limitations in accordance with the Companies Act. This is a matter of paramount importance for the integrity of the entire process, which so far is based on illegally high amounts of debts of dependent companies under those guarantees,” states the announcement.

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If this is the case, it can also be concluded by reviewing the Handover Report published on Agrokor’s website, in which the Association notes, it is highlighted: “The two most important issues in completing the settlement plan will be determining the members of the Creditor Council and resolving the issues of contested claims, especially guarantees, which are almost all contested.”

“It is simply astonishing the discrepancy between the texts of those contracts and the claims that the former commissioner acknowledged, and the discrepancy is measured in tens of billions of kuna,” emphasizes the Association of Minority Shareholders.