SkyEurope Airlines probably doesn't have sufficient assets to allow it to function during its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, SkyEurope’s bankruptcy administrator Emil Čerevka said on Sunday, September 13.
"It seems as though there is cash but that they don't have any other financial assets. Maybe they still have the ownership rights for their brand," said Čerevka, adding that the company is currently in chaos. "It's horrible," he said.
SkyEurope may therefore face liquidation before the completion of bankruptcy proceedings and before its creditors can obtain anything. The administrator can propose cancelling the bankruptcy proceedings if the subjects assets aren't enough to maintain bankruptcy requirements, he said. When the bankruptcy proceedings of a company are cancelled the company goes into liquidation and is removed from the trade register. "If there is no money in the company the creditors won't receive satisfaction," Čerevka stated.
He estimated the number of SkyEurope creditors as being 287,000. "If only those who have bought air tickets claim their rights - which is highly feasible - you already have 280,000 creditors," he pointed out. At the same time, claims can be expected from former business partners, who number 3,000-4,000. Outstanding debts can be also claimed by the approximately 500 employees of the company, who will be the main priority. "They need to receive their notice and pay-slips," said Čerevka.
The administrator pointed out that SkyEurope's bankruptcy proceedings are very demanding as far as administrative work is concerned. "Each submitted claim is being compared with accounting records [to see] whether it is legitimate or not," he said. Due to this Čerevka may call for a prolongation of state-set periods, such as for checking demands, for example. The period during which creditors can claim their outstanding debts cannot normally be extended. It is due to last 45 days from the start of bankruptcy proceedings: September 10, 2009. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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