Court Dismisses Appeal, Agrokor’s Assets in Slovenia No Longer Protected from Enforcement

The Slovenian Supreme Court dismissed last week Agrokor’s appeal against the decision of the District Court in Ljubljana, which does not recognize the majority owner’s status as a foreign entity in insolvency proceedings under Slovenian law, it was confirmed on Monday by that court, as reported by Slovenian media.

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The Slovenian Supreme Court made this decision last Wednesday, and according to legal interpretations, this means that Agrokor’s assets in Slovenia are no longer protected from possible enforcement proceedings.

The District Court in Ljubljana, at the request of the then government commissioner in Agrokor, Ante Ramljak, first recognized the extraordinary administration process in the struggling Croatian conglomerate as an insolvency proceeding under Slovenian law last June, thereby protecting Agrokor’s assets in Slovenia, primarily Mercator, from possible enforcement actions by Agrokor’s creditors.

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Later, the Slovenian government filed an appeal against that decision, which the competent court then accepted.

As reported by Slovenian media, the Supreme Court has also finally confirmed the position of the District Court in Ljubljana, given after the Slovenian government’s appeal against the earlier court decision.

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The District Court, and now the Supreme Court of Slovenia, determined that the Croatian extraordinary administration process in the case of Agrokor does not ensure equal treatment of all creditors, as guaranteed by the principle in insolvency proceedings in Slovenia.

As an additional argument for this view, the Slovenian court states that the validity of Lex Agrokor would mean that the rules from it apply to Mercator, which is solvent and can repay its obligations.