From October 2012, when the pre-bankruptcy law came into force, through August 3, 2018, almost 9,000 businesses filed for pre-bankruptcy settlement proceedings at commercial courts, the Financial Agency (Fina) said on Tuesday.

In total, those businesses had more than 66,000 employees and posted 82.4 billion kuna (€11.1 billion) in liabilities.

The total includes more than 7,800 companies – accounting for 87 percent of the total – who filed for settlements over debts under 10 million kuna (€1.35 million), their liabilities totalling 8.4 billion kuna (€1.1 billion). In addition, more than 1,100 businesses had debts over 10 million kuna, their liabilities totalling 74 billion kuna (€10 billion).

By business sector, the largest number of businesses filing for pre-bankruptcy settlements were in retail and construction. Retail businesses accounting for 23 percent of the total, with about 9,500 employees and some 13.5 billion kuna (€1.8 billion) of debt. More than 1,400 construction companies accounted for another 16.5 percent of all businesses filing for settlements, posting the largest debt, of over 20.8 billion kuna (€2.8 billion).

Of the businesses undergoing those proceedings, more than 3,200, or 35 percent, are at the stage of adopting a financial restructuring plan, or reaching a settlement. In total, they owe 50.7 billion kuna and have nearly 44,000 employees. A settlement has already been reached by more than 3,100 businesses, or 35 percent of the total.

(€1 = 7.39 kuna)

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