Fish Processing Plant in Čaporice Auctioned for 925 Thousand Euros

The fish processing and distribution plant in the Čaporice business zone Čaporice near Trilj, valued at 3.7 million euros, will be the subject of an auction on Thursday, November 20. This is the plant of the Samsara in bankruptcy, which was unable to maintain its business activities during the Covid-19 pandemic to the extent that it could repay its credit obligations. Now, after a failed pre-bankruptcy settlement, their modernly equipped fish processing plant is being sold at a discount, with a starting price of 925 thousand euros, in the third round of the electronic public auction conducted by FINA.

– There is a tenant in the space, but they have no priority, as the lease automatically terminates upon sale. I believe the tenant is one of the interested parties, and as far as I can tell, the only one from a related industry. The bank is the largest creditor, and it follows that the sale will primarily satisfy the bank as the largest and secured creditor, possibly also the workers – said Milan Macura, the bankruptcy trustee of Samsara.

The bank is the largest creditor

Macura assessed that the reason for Samsara’s failure was the pandemic, or rather the poor timing of entering the market, which was preceded by a significant investment financed by loans. The plant was opened just before the Covid-19 pandemic and is modernly equipped, so it is indeed a shame that among the interested parties, there are no companies engaged in fish processing.

The owner and director of Samsara, Mate Skender, confirmed to us that the pandemic is the main culprit for the downfall of his company. He founded it in 1995, and it dealt with the processing and canning of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

From 40 Million Kuna in Revenue to Personal Asset Blockage

In the five-year period before the pandemic, Samsara grew impressively, reaching nearly 40 million kuna in revenue. The plant in Čaporice was supposed to be the crown of development, with 15 employees and a capacity of five tons of processed fish per day, but Samsara had to enter a pre-bankruptcy settlement and then bankruptcy.

– I invested about 28 million kuna in the factory; we worked there every day in Čaporice for three years, and I did not charge anything for it. The equipment alone is worth millions. And now it is being sold for the amount that today costs one apartment. It was one of the most modern factories, with three lines, and it could operate smoothly even now. Our idea was to process fish for the hospitality industry; we planned to cover 800 establishments, and we had established representative relations with Algeria, and the factory was completed just before the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the plans were grand; we were expanding at a tremendous speed, and then the pandemic came. Instead of doing 100 million, we did 20. And that’s it. Now I have to fight for my bare life because my personal assets are blocked. If the bank had wanted to give a little breathing room, it would have been different, but it didn’t. If someone were to give me this factory for free now, I wouldn’t work there. I have no more ambitions, and I have aged; I am 60 years old – Skender told us.

ORKA Group and Fisherija the Only Interested Parties from the Industry

Skender confirmed to us that the current tenant of the plant is also the most related in activity among the interested parties who paid a deposit for access to the electronic auction. This is the company Bosnić from ORKA group, which owns a chain of fish markets called Fisherija.

In the narrower fishing industry that Skender knows well, there were no interested parties. It’s a shame because the location in Čaporice offers quick and easy access to the highway, as well as simple distribution to locations on the Adriatic, and shipping from them to the plant.