Politics

Agrokor: Small Shareholder Representative States ''Everything Until Now Has Been Lost Time''

By 27 February 2018

Jelčić Purko claims that it's impossible to pick up where Ramljak left off because no permanent creditor council has been appointed.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of February, 2018, the radio show ''U mrezi Prvog'' held a discussion about the situation currently going on within Agrokor. How does this crisis reflect the end of settlement with the company's creditors? What can one expect from the new extraordinary commissioner? Should the new commissioner simply pick up where Ante Ramljak left off or start from the very beginning once again? The show was attended by a representative of Agrokor's small suppliers, Matija Brlošić, a representative of Agrokor's small shareholders, Miroslav Jeličić Purko, and a commercial lawyer, Mićo Ljubenko.

Ljubenko thinks that it's necessary to think properly and choose someone for the good management that will be ready, involved, and able to proceed swiftly. He said that it would not be good for a new extraordinary commissioner to change the direction the old management has gone in, since that will just lose time, he needs to reach a speedy settlement - no matter what deal will end up being reached, and when it will be achieved. He added that the whole procedure was running late.

Jelčić Purko said Ramljak's resignation was actually sought on the 22nd December, 2017 - when he stated that small shareholders wouldn't play any part in the settlement and that their value was zero. Because of Ramljak's rather unpopular mode of play, a number of provisions have been violated, and the only logical consequence of all of that is his stepping down, he added. Owing to what would appear to Ramljak's multiple failings, he thinks that the new commissioner should avoid continuing in the direction that Ramljak was heading in, so as to avoid further mishaps and a continued waste of precious time.

The new commissioner should work more transparently, Ljubenko said. He noted that the draft resolution was not published anywhere, but the guidelines which have been published are difficult to actually interpret easily.

Yesterday, Brlošić met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, saying he expected more talk about the new extraordinary commissioner, as in, who it could be, and in which direction the settlement would continue. He claimed that yesterday, they said that suppliers should communicate more, and investors should understand the Republic of Croatia and be social. He added that it was important for him, as opposed to what Ljubenko had stated, to continue where he'd left off, and to continue in the questionable direction Ramljak had gone in so far.

Jelčić Purko claims that it's impossible to simply just pick up where Ramljak left off because no permanent creditor council has been appointed yet. He added that the new extraordinary commissioner should issue a settlement plan, one which absolutely must be public and transparent. He also noted that he must also rely on bankruptcy laws, and then it would be expected that the settlement will be fair to all of the suppliers, as well as to the creditors.

Brlošić believes that the system is slowly recovering and that the new commissioner should be able to see more clearly which model would be the best one to go with.

Ljubenko said he believed the whole situation could be resolved by July the 10th, but that such a solution would need a different approach. He noted that until now, 10 months have passed, during which, we have only passed one of the four stages of the entire procedure, meaning that the creditors have finally been established.

Jelčić Purko rightly stated that the settlement should be public and transparent.

''We're all aware of the situation we're in and the only goal is to reach a settlement. If it takes time, then let it take a bit longer, but what has been going on so far, has been lost time,'' Jeličić Purko concluded.

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