Professional jury of Večernji list and Poslovni dnevnik had selected the settlement as event of the year in competition between the start of Pelješac bridge construction, Petrokemija privatization, tax reform and state budget surplus
The settlement of Agrokor creditors was selected by a professional jury of Večernji list and Poslovni dnevnik as the most important business event in 2018, while according to the votes of 13,000 readers of both these daily papers business event of 2018 was the beginning of Pelješac bridge construction. As voted by the readers, the best business person in 2018 was Marin Pucar, CEO of Podravka, while the jury selected Ante Vlahović, CEO of Adris Group as the business person of the year. Awards were given at an event held on 3 December 2018 in Westin hotel in Zagreb.
During the award ceremony, Fabris Peruško, Extraordinary commissioner of Agrokor had, on behalf of all Agrokor creditors, employees and members of the Temporary Creditors’ Council, thanked the organizers for the nomination, as well as to all those who voted for the Agrokor settlement. He added that he personally thinks that the settlement of creditors and all the events that happened prior – from passing the Act on the procedure of Extraordinary Administration in commercial companies with systemic importance for the Republic of Croatia, hard negotiations to the settlement being voted in July and it coming to power in October – truly represents the most important business event that occurred in Croatia in 2018.
“As a company we have shown that we can answer to great challenges and in this way prevent the collapse of the biggest system in the region and its effects of economies of four countries. Croatian government, financial creditors, suppliers, employees, advisors and the Extraordinary administration – they have all made an effort for us to reach the settlement and through it to secure a sustainable business future for Agrokor. It was not easy, the scope of work was huge and deadlines were short. There was tension, cuts and compromises but in the end 80 percent of Agrokor creditors voted for the settlement at the hearing, which shows that we have reached a good agreement. So, on behalf of all the participants in this process, I am happy to receive this award and use this opportunity to once again sincerely thank them for their contribution. A great opportunity that comes after this process is that, with certain additions to the Act on the Extraordinary Administration, Croatia with the knowledge and the experience it now has, can position itself as a desirable place in Europe for legal creditor settlements in big restructuring cases, which by itself is a business opportunity for Croatia.” – Peruško said.
Peruško congratulated Marin Pucar and Ante Vlahović for the business person of the year awards, as well as to Marica Vidaković who was nominated for her role and contribution in the process of reaching the settlement in Agrokor.
Alongside the settlement of Agrokor creditors, the nominees for the business event of the year were: start of construction of Pelješac bridge, privatization of Petrokemija, tax reform and state budget suficit, while the nominees for the business person of the year were Marica Vidaković from Kraš, Marin Pucar from Podravka, Željko Kukurin from Valamar group, Ante Vlahović from Adris Group and Đuro Horvat from Tehnix.
