Italians requesting bankruptcy proceedings for Zastava Kamioni – New hearing scheduled for October 2

The hearing in which the decision on opening the bankruptcy proceedings in Zastava Kamioni wasn't held, because the company's representatives failed to appear at the Commercial Court in Kragujevac, explaining that they hadn't been properly summoned. Judge Tatjana Todorovic has scheduled the next hearing for October 2.

The proposition for opening the bankruptcy proceedings had been submitted to the court by the Italian company Brembo from Bergamo, which is owed EUR 113,963 by Zastava Kamioni. They also require the repayment of court procedure expenses of RSD 384,000, Kragujevacke Novine reports.

According to the newspaper, the Italian company claims in the proposition that the conditions are met for the opening of the bankruptcy proceedings due to insolvency, as the Zastava Kamioni account has been constantly blocked for 528 days for the debt of around RSD 817 million. Representatives of the Italian company have submitted proof that the Kragujevac company is obliged to repay the debt in line with the final and executory decision of the local Commercial Court from 2006.

However, thanks to the amendments to the Law on privatization, Zastava Kamioni became an enterprise of strategic importance, which made it impervious to debt enforcement.

The company's status changed on December 30, 2015, when it was taken off the list of enterprises of strategic importance and declared fit for bankruptcy proceedings, along with other parts of the Zastava Vozila Group. This meant that it was no longer protected from its creditors. It was only a question of who would act first and submit the proposal for opening the bankruptcy proceedings, Kragujevacke Novine reports.

According to the newspaper, unlike the commercial creditors and the state, the ban on debt enforcement didn't pertain to workers' salaries. Last year, hundreds of former workers sued the company over late salary payments, so the private enforcement officers started selling the machinery and the halls of the former light cargo vehicle production giant in line with the court decisions.

This signaled the end of hope for the survival of the enterprise and the looming end in the shape of bankruptcy proceedings, as the state offered the final social program last autumn, when the enterprise went from having 72 to only 6 employees.

Zastava kamioni d.o.o. Kragujevac

Privredni sud Kragujevac

Grupa Zastava vozila

bankruptcy proceedings

Brembo

Law on Privatization

Zastava Vozila Group