Bankruptcy procedure starts in 70 companies

BELGRADE - The Privatisation Agency will initiate on Tuesday the bankruptcy proceedings in 70 government companies that do not have any employees, head of the agency Ljubomir Subara has stated.

According to the action plan the Serbian government adopted on Saturday, 188 companies from the agency's list for privatisation will go bankrupt.

Seventy companies from the list that have no employees will be the first to file for bankruptcy, followed by another 56, which have up to 5 employees, and then the rest, Subara told Tanjug.

"We will try to finish the procedure as quickly as possible. The bankruptcy process will then be taken over by the court in charge of that area. We estimate that the procedure for the first 70 companies could be completed in no longer than 2 months," he noted.

A total of 5,000 people will lose their jobs as the 188 companies go bankrupt, but they can all count on compensation packages, Subara pointed out.

Tenders for around 220 companies from the list, for which investors have sent letters of interest, will be invited as soon as possible, but there first be talks with potential buyers.

The agency should have come out with the first invitations for bids by the end of January, but it was not done because of some formalities.

"On the other hand, the privatisation should not be viewed in a formal way, because we need to find adequate partners from Serbia or abroad and conduct the sale in the best way possible. The goal is to preserve jobs and increase work capacity," he stated.

The agency will initiate talks with all the investors who have sent letters of interest, as well as new ones, in order to find the best solution for each company, he noted.

"This way, when we...

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