The Vahostav-SK construction company that is undergoing restructuring procedures and owes €136 million to creditors can give up 49 percent of its available stocks in favour of unsecured creditors - small-sized firms and self-employed, according to the Government-sponsored amendment to the Commercial Code that the Parliament passed on Thursday in a fast-track procedure. The legislation introduces new rules for the restructuring procedures and will come into effect once it's signed into law by President Andrej Kiska. The criterion for the division of the shares will be the value of the claim made by each creditor. Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed that in the case of Vahostav the banks - creditors will give up a portion of their secured claims so they will be satisfied only 85 percent, instead of the originally planned 100 percent. The small-sized unsecured creditors will thus see more than the originally announced 15 percent. He stressed that the proposal not to write off debts of Vahostav-SK is still valid with creditors being allowed to collect 100 percent of their claims from company's future profits.
The only MP who voted against the amendment in Parliament, Jozef Kollar argues that the Government will not be able to keep its promise to offer the creditors the option to have 50 percent of their claims settled immediately via a scheme to be financed from the special banking levies fund. He quoted a statement from the European Central Bank (ECB), dated from July 16, 2012, saying that the banking fund cannot be used for any purpose other than to deal with future systemic bank collapses. The Finance Ministry reacted by admitting that it hasn't asked ECB's opinion on this issue. "Due to the fact that the Government proposal was submitted in a fast-tracked procedure, it was not possible to forward the motion to ECB for consultations. Further progress will be consulted with ECB," said the ministry press department.
