The Zagreb Commercial Court on Thursday set a hearing for Agrokor's creditors to vote on a settlement deal for the food and retail conglomerate for 4 July at 8 am.

“Due to the large number of creditors and claims, the vote will be organised via a mobile application called m2voting, available on Google Play and Apple Store,” the Court said.

With over 5,500 creditors and over 12,000 claims, the chosen voting method is the most appropriate for the purpose, with the aim of “reaching a decision on the subject as quickly and accurately as possible,” said the Court.

All creditors, members of the temporary creditors’ council and emergency administrator in Agrokor are invited to the hearing, which will be held to vote on a debt-for-equity settlement deal reached by the emergency administrator and the council on June 19.

All creditors whose claims were determined in the amount of claims yet to be settled have the right to vote, the Court said, while those creditors whose claims have been entirely settled do not.

Creditors cannot vote for the part of their claims that have been partially settled.

Furthermore, creditors of disputed claims will be given the right to vote if an agreement to that effect is reached at the hearing by the emergency administrator and creditors with voting rights. If such an agreement cannot be reached, the court will make its decision at the hearing and it will not be possible to appeal it.

Under the debt-for-equity deal, the Russian Sberbank will own the largest stake in the company, 39.2 percent.

The recovery rate for Agrokor suppliers will be 60 percent, and for financial institutions and other creditors up to 20 percent.

Russian banks Sberbank and VTB can not, individually or together, own more than 50 percent of shares in Agrokor, because of the sanctions put in place by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom for Russian companies and companies in which Russian firms are majority shareholders.

Sberbank and VTB should have 46.7 percent share in Agrokor, and if Sberbank swaps its 18 percent share in Mercator for a 1.6 percent share in Agrokor, the percentage would rise to 48.3 percent, which would bring the Russians dangerously close to being major shareholders in Agrokor, in which case the conglomerate and its companies would be subject to sanctions from the US, the EU, and the UK, potentially resulting in a ban on exports to those markets.

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