The state-appointed emergency administrator of the Agrokor food and retail group, Fabris Perusko, said on Wednesday that in 2019 the company, which was saved from the brink of bankruptcy, would cease being a threat to the stability of Croatia's economy.

“Well, 2019 will be the year that Agrokor will stop being a threat for the Croatian and regional economy. That’s the year in which, following the decision (on appeals) by the High Commercial Court, which we expect to be positive, that the actual settlement plan will be put in place, so the company will end its emergency administration and start functioning normally,” Perusko told reporters on the margins of a business conference organised by the Lider business weekly in Zagreb.

His deputy, Irena Weber, said that optimistic enthusiasm for 2019 – not just for Agrokor but also for its suppliers and all of Agrokor’s partners – is based on the fact that the company has already achieved better-than-expected business results.

“The thing that is especially important for the company’s business is its results in retail,” Weber said, adding that revenues posted by Agrokor-owned Konzum supermarket chain were exceptionally good.

In the first six months of 2018 the Agrokor Group generated an operating profit of 729.7 million (€98.3 million), which was 44.2 million or 6.4 percent higher than planned, the company’s financial statements showed.

After Agrokor’s creditors adopted the debt-for-equity settlement plan, the High Commercial Court is now hearing appeals against the plan. Once the settlement is final, its implementation will begin, which is planned to last three to six months.

(€1 = 7.42 kuna)

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