THE CONSTRUCTION company Váhostav-SK is trying to avoid bankruptcy, and has asked the court for protection from creditors and to launch the restructuring process. Troubles pressing one of the biggest construction companies have already created one victim, when the company Finasist of Juraj Široký, one of Váhostav’s shareholders, dismissed Ján Kato from his post as the firm’s CEO and chairman of the board of directors on September 26. He was replaced by Marián Moravčík, who was serving as the executive director of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO).
Váhostav-SK filed for bankruptcy protection on September 26 after it failed to reach an agreement with several creditors to agree upon the settlement of their claims even after complicated negotiations, according to the company’s spokesperson Tomáš Halán. Thus the company sees the only possibility to stay afloat in restructuring, the TASR newswire wrote. This means that it will write off a portion of its debts.
“This situation is certainly very complicated for ‘traditional Slovak’ construction companies like Doprastav and Váhostav-SK,” Pavol Kajánek, deputy director of the Research Institute of Transport told the Hospodárske Noviny daily, recalling Doprastav, another big construction company which has recently entered the restructuring process.
Váhostav-SK employs about 1,300 people and is now facing a difficult task; as its revenues exceeded €140 million last year, its claims were at almost the same level, Hospodárske Noviny wrote. Thus, according to Kajánek, several small sub-contractors including Energy Pro, to whom Váhostav-SK owes about €50,000, could end up with their claims uncollected.
The company plans to go on in its agreed-upon projects and does not plan to significantly change its number of employees. It also wants to apply for new orders.
Váhostav-SK ascribes its current problems partly to the cancelled PPP highway construction projects, i.e. the loss of key orders.
