Nes.rat se s nima, tam už to jinak nepujde
Orco Group presents its plans for Suncani Hvar
19 novembre 2010
HINA
ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) Orco Property Group, which holds 55.55 percent of shares in the Suncani Hvar hotel company, is determined to continue managing the company and investing in it, having no doubts about its great success in a few years' time. In order to achieve success, it is necessary to make changes in the hotel's business operations, reschedule its debts, find money for new investments and improve cooperation and partnership with the Croatian government, Orco Group's president and executive director, Jean-Francois Ott, said at a news conference in Zagreb on Friday.
Orco Group, which has invested HRK 500 million in Suncani Hvar since 2005, convened today's news conference with the aim to present to the Croatian public its position and plans for the hotel company headquartered on the southern Croatian island of Hvar.
Being the majority shareholder, Orco will continue supporting Suncani Hvar, but it expects the same from the Croatian Privatisation Fund and the Croatian government, which is the second biggest shareholder with a 31.78 percent interest, Ott said, announcing plans to meet Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor later in the day.
Orco Group, which is based in Luxembourg and operates in a number of countries throughout the Central and Eastern European region, has also prepared a plan for restructuring Suncani Hvar, including new investments and the rescheduling of loans awarded to it since 2008 by three banks in Croatia - the PBZ, Erste & Steiermaerkische Bank and Splitska Banka - in the amount of HRK 80 million.
According to Ott, the banks too have requested the rescheduling of the company's debts and offered better, long-term conditions for their repayment.
They have also offered similar conditions for an HRK 18 million loan which the Privatisation Fund has given to Suncani Hvar.
Orco proposes transferring the loans into Suncani Hvar's stock capital, which should be approved by the shareholders' assembly as well as by the company's supervisory board.
Orco is also proposing the reduction of the nominal price of Suncani Hvar shares, and the topic will be discussed at a meeting of the Supervisory Board, to be held later today.
In the event of the Supervisory Board's refusal of those proposals, Orco is ready to turn the said loans into the company's stock capital on its own. However, Ott said that he expected the Croatian government to cooperate and meet its obligations regarding Suncani Hvar.
Ott said that a team of legal experts would otherwise be engaged to protect Orco's investments in the Hvar-based company.
Orco representatives said that upon the expiry of a five-year agreement between Orco and the Croatian government this June, Orco, as the majority owner, has the right to independently decide on the sale of Suncani Hvar's property.
