Creditors try to give Carrefour retail chain a second chance

Creditors of Retail Value Stores (RVS), operator of the Carrefour retail chain, want to give it a chance to start again, according to Jozef Spirko, former partner of the Penta financial group and current investor in the retail chain. "Carrefour, which has five hypermarkets in Slovakia, will certainly remain at its current premises. I hope that we'll manage to ensure that the chain will continue operating under the Carrefour brand. This brand had a very good name in the past", added the new investor, whose own claim amounts to €100,000. Asked about what sum he now wants to invest in the chain, Spirko said that his threshold is high enough so that the Carrefour chain will run correctly. "In two months, after fundamental changes are made, I can give a more specific answer." According to Ladislav Barat, who is carrying out the restructuring process at the company, creditors have reported claims worth almost €20 million, of which €17.5 million was uncontested. Most of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry's claims have been rejected as they are still the subject of lawsuits. Ministry spokesman Vladimir Machalik said that they are demanding a claim worth €2.23 million in the ongoing restructuring process, but only €181,000 was acknowledged. Most of the ministry's claims feature unpaid fines. "We'll take necessary steps so that the state won't be deprived of the money which has been legally recognised as coming to it", said Machalik. However, in line with Slovak law, Retail Value Stores filed a lawsuit to the court in order to decide whether the ruling of the administrative body was correct or not and the procedures are still in progress.