Croatia’s Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, will hold talks today (3 April) with suppliers of the country’s food-to-retail group Agrokor, amid reports a deal has been agreed to ensure the company remains “solvent during a restructuring process”.
PM Andrej Plenkovic revealed last month talks were under way with international creditors to “consolidate the position and operations” of Agrokor, Croatia’s largest privately-owned company, which has reportedly come under pressure from the country’s government and investors amid fears the company’s “debt problems” could impact the domestic economy.
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According to Reuters, an Agrokor spokesperson said yesterday the company had signed a standstill agreement with creditors in an effort to stabilise its business”. The move came after creditors, including two Russian banks and the Croatian arms of Austrian and Italian lenders, said they had agreed with Agrokor in principle on the main elements of the deal, Reuters said.
A report in Balkan Insight, alleged Agrokor “owes over EUR1.3bn (US$1.4bn) to the Russian state-owned banks Sberbank and VTB Bank.
A statement from Croatia’s government did not go into details about today’s meeting, other than to say Plenkovic will be joined in the talks by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Business and Trade, Martin Dalic, and Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolusic.
Plenkovic is expected to hold a press conference following the talks.
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By GlobalDataAgrokor, which employs around 60,000, says it has a total annual income of around EUR6.5bn (US$7.1bn). In addition to its Croatia-based companies, in recent years Agrokor has acquired companies based in several neighbouring countries.
