When deciding on construction company Váhostav's restructuring plan the judge took into account the principle of ensuring that creditors see their claims paid to the highest extent possible, reads a statement provided to TASR press agency by Bratislava Regional Court spokesman Pavol Adamčiak. Váhostav whose shareholder is Juraj Široký a man close to the Governing Smer party, has accumulated debts of €136 million. According to the restructuring plan, Váhostav will pay €43.9 million (32.3 percent of its liabilities) to its creditors over five years, with smaller, non-secured creditors receiving only 18.75 percent of the value of their claims over those five years. The Government promised to compensate them via a controversial scheme that would use money from the fund for banks' rescue. The court stated that it didn't receive any complaint from any participant in the process while the restructuring was being examined, no creditor challenged the validity and legitimacy of the restructuring process, and nobody demanded any additional explanation from the court.
Nevertheless, the court dealt with all complaints presented by other entities, including NGO the Fair-play Alliance. The judge noted that a court that is deciding on restructuring can't act on criminal issues and that it isn't a prosecuting body, although it closely cooperated with such authorities, mainly the National Crime Agency (NAKA), Bratislava I District Prosecutor's Office and a supervising prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor's Office. The court claimed that it didn't have at its disposal any legal fact that encouraged it to produce a different verdict on the restructuring plan. The decision was based mainly on the stances of prosecuting bodies and results of examinations of all essentials and conditions of the restructuring process according to the law, added the judge.
