During the first seven months of this year, 217 companies were forced into bankruptcy. The coronavirus almost completely blocked certain activities.
Fewer of them set out on the road to bankruptcy than in previous years. According to the data of the Agency for Licensing of Bankruptcy Trustees, in the same period in 2020, bankruptcy was initiated against 224 companies, and the year before – over 305.
ALSU data indicate a decrease in the number of open bankruptcy proceedings. Economists, however, warn that the figures should not be viewed with too much optimism. The real picture of the state of the economy will be seen when the state subsidies dry up.
– We have been in the economic crisis for practically a year and a half – points out Ljubodrag Savic, professor at the Faculty of Economics. – It is not logical to have a smaller number of bankruptcies in such times. It would be logical, in this situation, to affect especially small and medium enterprises that do not have a market position. The state, however, provides generous help and the business owners calculate. They keep companies open. It’s hard for them, they’re on the edge of a knife. They can slip up and down in an instant. The real situation will be shown only when the pandemic ends. The number of small and medium enterprises will be significantly reduced. Some will fail naturally, and some will shut down companies because there is no more state aid.
The average duration for proceedings initiated under the Bankruptcy Law from 2009 is one year and eight months. In the case of proceedings initiated under the 2004 Act – they spend three years and ten months in bankruptcy.
Without a solution for two decades
The longest bankruptcy proceedings are being conducted against the debtor, the Agricultural Cooperative “Stara Moravica” from Stara Moravica.
The procedure was opened on February 9, 2001 under one law, and then continued under another, when the Privatization Agency, now the Agency for Licensing of Bankruptcy Trustees, was appointed as the bankruptcy trustee, by the decision of the Commercial Court in Subotica of October 23, 2007, which is not yet complete, BiF reports.
