As of now, 8,959 companies and businesses have requested pre-bankruptcy settlements, with 3,149 having concluded them

The initiation of the pre-bankruptcy settlement procedure from October 2012 to August 3, 2018, was requested by 8,959 companies and businesses, primarily traders and builders, of which 3,149 concluded settlements before the competent commercial court, according to the latest data from the Financial Agency (Fina).

According to Fina’s aggregate data relating to the period from the entry into force of the Law on Financial Operations and Pre-Bankruptcy Settlement on October 1, 2012, until the end of last week, a total of 8,959 companies and businesses with 66,761 employees submitted proposals to initiate the pre-bankruptcy settlement procedure, reporting a total of 82.4 billion kuna in liabilities.

Of the companies that requested pre-bankruptcy, 7,843 did so due to unpaid obligations amounting to less than 10 million kuna, while 1,116 companies requested pre-bankruptcy due to obligations exceeding that amount.

>>>Fina: 3,135 companies have concluded pre-bankruptcy settlements so far

The obligations of debtors up to 10 million kuna total 8.43 billion kuna, while 74 billion kuna relates to debtors who individually owe more than 10 million kuna.

Fina’s data also shows that the majority of requests for pre-bankruptcy came from traders and builders. Specifically, the procedure was initiated by 2,049, or 23 percent of the total number, of companies in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, with 9,553 employees, due to unpaid debts of 13.5 billion kuna.

The largest amount of debt, exceeding 20.8 billion kuna, was reported by companies in the construction sector, specifically 1,483 companies, or 16.5 percent of the total number, with 13,186 employees, according to Fina’s report.

Pre-bankruptcy was also requested by 1,275 companies from the manufacturing industry with 22,809 employees and 16.5 billion kuna in reported unpaid obligations, as well as 874 companies engaged in hospitality and tourism, which at the time of initiating the procedure had 4,519 employees and could not settle more than 7.6 billion kuna in obligations.

>>>Fina: 9,000 companies have requested pre-bankruptcy settlements, 3,098 have completed the procedure

Territorially, the highest number of companies that requested pre-bankruptcy is from the City of Zagreb – 2,473 or 27.6 percent of the total number, followed by companies based in Split-Dalmatia, 881, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, 645, and Zagreb County, 592. The fewest are from the Lika-Senj County, only 51.

Of the total number of companies that entered the pre-bankruptcy procedure, 35 percent or 3,218 have reached the stage of accepting the financial restructuring plan or concluding the settlement itself. These are companies that owe a total of slightly more than 50.7 billion kuna and have 43,895 employees.

Specifically, 3,149 companies or 35 percent of those who initiated the procedure have concluded settlements, with the largest number of settlements concluded before the commercial courts in Zagreb, 1,022, and Osijek, 558.

Additionally, recently the construction company Tehnika submitted a request to the competent commercial court to initiate pre-bankruptcy proceedings due to the activation of bank guarantees by an Algerian investor.

>>>Tehnika requested the initiation of pre-bankruptcy proceedings

“Considering that the company’s business accounts are blocked as a result of the activation of bank guarantees by the Algerian investor and consequently the activation of collateral funds by the issuing bank, the regular operation of the company has been hindered, thus fulfilling the grounds for pre-bankruptcy,” stated Tehnika’s announcement signed by CEO Zlatko Sirovec.

Tehnika, along with Ingra, worked on a hospital project in Algeria, but last week the Algerian investor unilaterally terminated the contract for the execution of works.