Bankruptcy of Geofota: Aircraft found after six years goes up for auction for 10,500 euros

The Commercial Court in Zagreb has ordered the sale of the Cessna 551 Citation IISP aircraft, valued at 10,500 euros, in the bankruptcy of Geofota, a company for photogrammetric work owned by entrepreneur Zvonko Biljecki and a collaborator of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.

According to previous reports from the bankruptcy trustee, access to the aircraft has been impossible for almost six years, and it was noted that only the fuselage remains from the Cessna owned by Geofota as the engine has been removed, and the repair has been deemed unprofitable.

The sale of the aircraft will be conducted by Fina (Financial Agency) through an electronic public auction, where the aircraft cannot be sold below three-quarters of the established price at the first auction, while at any subsequent auctions it can be sold at lower starting minimum prices, including one euro.

On the other hand, besides the mentioned Cessna, the main part of the assets of the failed company consists of two Piper PA 31 T1 aircraft, which are reportedly properly registered in the Main Book of the Croatian Register of Civil Aircraft with state nationality and registration marks.

According to the bankruptcy trustee’s report from 2018, the two Pipers with cameras and navigation systems were then in Saudi Arabia in flying condition, but at that time, they had to pay a storage fee of about 200 thousand dollars.

The court’s conclusion on the sale followed after the bankruptcy trustee of Geofota reported that the starting price of the company’s real estate is around 330 thousand euros and that the auction is scheduled from October 17 to 30.

The auction includes about 2500 square meters of land owned by the company in Buzin, and the deadline for the payment of the deposit is October 8. The liquidation of Geofota’s assets followed after bankruptcy was opened over the company in June 2018, with unpaid obligations amounting to as much as 38.8 million kuna, which is 22 million kuna more than the share capital.

The owner of Geofota, Zvonko Biljecki, is listed in the court register as a director, procurator, member, or president of the management board of ten companies, among which the most well-known have received multi-million contracts from the state.

Biljecki was, as reported in the media, known as a person close to former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, whom he hired as an advisor and allegedly paid tens of thousands of kuna monthly for his consulting services. According to media reports, Sanader once flew to Milan, Rome, and Vienna on aircraft owned by Biljecki.