The Regional Court in České Budějovice has sent the Milevsko company Ekoklima into bankruptcy. The company has stopped operations and fired all employees. It owes hundreds of millions of CZK. This is based on information in the insolvency register and information from the insolvency administrator. The company originally submitted a reorganisation proposal, but withdrew it in October. The company does not even have enough money in its accounts to cover wages for October to December.
“The debtor has no functioning business, generates no profit, the employment of all employees has been terminated and all activities of the debtor’s business have been stopped. The operations of the debtor’s business have been halted. Furthermore, the minutes signed by the chairman of the board of directors show that the planned reorganisation of the debtor is no longer possible, as the debtor does not have a going concern,” said Judge Zdenek Strnad. The company now had 21 employees and laid them off, the last of whom will leave in December.
Ekoklima first filed a reorganisation proposal. The court refused to rule on it in early October, saying the proposal may pursue dishonest intentions. The court had doubts whether the claim of the creditor Pragon Techs in the amount of CZK 50 million even existed. The company then withdrew the reorganisation proposal and asked the court to declare bankruptcy. Martin Raba, the head of the board of directors, said in a meeting with the insolvency administrator that customers were ending their cooperation and new ones were not interested in cooperating because of the uncertainty. The company does not have the capital to start new orders, Raba said.
In early October, the court ruled Ekoklima bankrupt. The company filed for insolvency against itself. This is according to information in the insolvency register. Ekoklima had a net turnover of CZK 287.3 million last year and a loss of CZK 54.8 million, according to its annual report.
It is not clear exactly how much Ekoklima owes. It is in the hundreds of millions. The claims of secured creditors in the insolvency petition amounted to CZK 57.7 million, while the claims of unsecured creditors amounted to CZK 125.3 million. “The debtor (Ekoklima) has gradually lost the ability to pay its liabilities. The most significant contributor to this situation was the bankruptcy of PSJ in 2018, a shareholder and major customer of the debtor, where the debtor incurred bad debts,” the company said. It further informed that its revenues have declined due to the pandemic as well as adverse developments in the construction industry. At the same time, the company said it has registered receivables from other debtors worth 126 million, of which 60 per cent can be recovered, Ekoklima estimated.
Ekoklima Milevsko was founded in 1989. It supplies technical equipment for buildings. During its existence, it has supplied them in the Czech Republic and markets in Austria, Germany, China, the USA, Romania and Turkey, with a value exceeding CZK 8 billion, according to its website. Last year it had almost 60 employees, according to its annual report.
Source: CTK
