Dalić expects a resolution of all open issues regarding Agrokor within the deadline for reaching an agreement

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Martina Dalić stated on Thursday that she believes all recently opened issues regarding Agrokor can be resolved within the deadline set for reaching an agreement.

“At the beginning of April, Agrokor’s creditors reached a preliminary agreement on all the most important issues. I think that is the most important thing – that there is an agreement and consensus among creditors on the essential issues of the settlement. Of course, in such a complex process, it is logical and expected that certain problems will arise. However, I believe that all these issues can be resolved within the deadline set for reaching an agreement. I expect the extraordinary administration to continue working with all those involved in Agrokor, with advisors and creditors, to achieve the legal text of the settlement and to address the issues that have arisen in recent days,” said Dalić in response to questions from journalists after the launch of the initiative “Club 30%” regarding whether the settlement in Agrokor is questionable in light of recent events.

>>> The extraordinary administration of Agrokor will again propose the number of members of the creditors’ council

The Deputy Prime Minister also believes that the latest court decisions, including yesterday’s decision of the Zagreb Commercial Court which annulled the decision of the Temporary Creditors’ Council regarding the engagement of additional financial and legal advisors for the council, which would be paid by Agrokor, show that the process is being conducted in a way that the Court has an active role.

“The court decisions made in recent days confirm what has been attempted to be disputed in recent months, namely that the Court has an active role in this process,” said Dalić, who expects that the extraordinary administration of Agrokor will act in accordance with these decisions with due respect and in the manner in which court decisions should be treated.

She also emphasizes that the court will decide on the suppliers’ submission regarding the agreement between the City of Zagreb and Agrokor, or Tisak, based on the facts presented.

In this context, she reiterates that the creditors’ agreement and the preliminary agreement on the settlement contain very precise provisions regarding the rights and position of suppliers in the settlement, provisions regarding the payments of the so-called boundary debt in the upcoming period, and, to the extent possible, provisions under which current creditors, and future owners of Agrokor, express their willingness to maintain future cooperation with suppliers.

>>> FT: Job losses in Agrokor will be politically difficult, regardless of the nationality of shareholders

This, along with the results achieved with suppliers in the recent period, namely the payment of old debts amounting to an average of 50 percent, represents an extremely important result and contribution to the process of extraordinary administration, believes Dalić.

She emphasizes that the process of extraordinary administration, preventing the uncontrolled collapse that threatened a year ago, is in a way also at the foundation of the economic growth we have today, and she reminds that the Agrokor system pays between 2.5 and 3 billion kuna annually in taxes to the state budget.

The entire process of extraordinary administration is being conducted precisely to stabilize the Croatian economy and to collect creditors, the Deputy Prime Minister reiterated.

>>> The Commercial Court annulled the decision of the Temporary Creditors’ Council regarding additional advisors in Agrokor

The Association of Agrokor Suppliers on Wednesday supported its representative in the Temporary Creditors’ Council, Marica Vidaković, regarding the submission for examining the legality of the agreement between Zagreb and the extraordinary administration of the group regarding the collection of old and boundary debts of Zagreb from Tisak or Agrokor, and according to some media reports, the judge of the Zagreb Commercial Court, Nevenka Siladi Rstić, concluded by inviting the extraordinary commissioner to suspend payments from Tisak to ZET until this dispute is resolved.

The Deputy Prime Minister also believes that there are no obstacles for creditors to quickly choose their representatives in the permanent creditors’ council.

“The Temporary Creditors’ Council was appointed by the court at the beginning of the extraordinary administration process in accordance with the law, which stipulated that this council be appointed based on the state of affairs in the business books. The Permanent Creditors’ Council is a council in which creditor groups need to be determined, and then the creditors themselves need to choose their representatives. Therefore, there is, at least in my opinion, no obstacle for creditors to quickly choose their representatives in the Permanent Creditors’ Council. What is important, according to the law, the Temporary Creditors’ Council has all the rights and obligations of the Permanent Creditors’ Council,” said Dalić in response to a question about Franck’s objections that there are representatives of suppliers (small) in the Temporary Creditors’ Council who have been fully satisfied.

>>> Agrokor suppliers supported Vidaković regarding the examination of the legality of the agreement between Bandić and Peruška

In response to a question about how she comments on the latest forecasts from the European Commission regarding the growth of the Croatian economy this year by 2.8 percent, and next year by 2.7 percent, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy replied that they coincide with the government’s forecasts, or the forecasts based on which the government or the Ministry of Finance prepared the budget, she said.

“Forecasts are forecasts. What is important is the actual movement of economic activity, and according to individual indicators, the growth of economic activity is going well. This is confirmed by tax data and the dynamics of tax growth compared to the previous year,” emphasized Dalić, who considers this one of the best indicators of economic activity.