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Famous Chocolate Factory “Ideal” Bankrupts

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Famous Chocolate Factory “Ideal” Bankrupts

Chocolate bars, sweets and assorted candies, produced under the Brest brand “Ideal” will soon be out of trade and the factory will get closed.

The newspaper Vecherniy Brest writes about this.

The economic court of Brest region has started the procedure of liquidation of the “First Chocolate Company”. Does this mean that the manufacturing complex in the Free Economic Zone “Brest” in Katin Bor, with a modern office, will be converted and the brand name, loved by so many people, will be sent to oblivion?

Recently, the enterprise ran rough, the staff was often sent to forcible leaves. The “First Chocolate Company” JLLC held negotiations with potential investors, but they were not successful. On May 23 this year, the claim for acknowledgement the enterprise to be in a default arrived to the economic court of Brest region. The case was set for consideration on June 29. However, the owners changed their mind during this time period and decided they would rather choose the way of liquidation of the company.

“If the owners had taken the decision on liquidation under the ordinary procedure, which prescribes setting up the grace period, — Nina Dziarkach, the Deputy Chairperson of the economic court of Brest region, tells, — then the company would have had a chance to go through the rehabilitation procedure, which means, to work and probably reinstate the financial solvency. But we are dealing with the case when only the decision on liquidation can be taken with respect to the debtor. This means, they need to fire the employees, leaving only those who will handle the liquidation procedure. However, if it is established during the liquidation procedure that the company has enough property to pay the debts, the court will terminate the bankruptcy case and give it back to the owners so they decide whether to continue the liquidation or give it up and go on working.

As for the "First Chocolate Company", the gap between the debt and the value of property remains not so big: Br 39 billion rubles of debts, and Br 34 billion rubles of the property value. The company’s destiny looks easier also because the principal amount (about Br 26 billion) is a debt owed to the bank. However, they mostly took loans in the Belarusian rubles, so they will not vitally grow due to the exchange rate differences. And with the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, the amount will be fixed at this date and will not grow like a snowball.

It is difficult to predict today under which scenario the events will go. It is not excluded though that the company will be rehabilitated and continue working.

The situation will get clearer when the creditors’ claims and the value of property will be put on scales. If the decision on liquidation is taken and there is not enough property to cover the debts, then the difference may be surcharged to the founders of the company (there are three of them).

“There are two grounds to subject the participants to the subsidiary (or the so-called “additional”) liability, — Nina Dziarkach says. — The first one is driving an enterprise to bankruptcy by their decisions, and the second one is when the decision to start the bankruptcy procedure is taken untimely. Since the moment they find out that their debts surpass their property value, they are granted a month to file a claim on the company’s bankruptcy, according to the law.”

The best option for the creditors is to sell the company undergoing the pending bankruptcy procedure, as a single property complex. If they manage to find a buyer who would buy the whole chocolate factory by tender, “clean”, with no debts, with equipment and brands, —this would be great. Such option would please the customers with a sweet-tooth, who like the production manufactured under the brand name “Ideal”.

…In 2017, the“First Chocolate Company” would have turned 20. Today, the confectionery manufacturing line is not working at the enterprise with about 40 employees.

"The First Chocolate Company" was registered in the FEZ "Brest" in 1997 under the "lucky" number 7. Initially, the company was called the "Belarusian Coffee Company". It received its current name in 2005. The first product was released in April 1998. It was only three kinds of 100-grams chocolate bars. In the future, the range expanded by different varieties of chocolate with nuts and candied fruits, and chocolate candies (sold by weight or packaged in a box). In 2006, the assortment included 29 candy items. In 2000, the company launched its first export shipment. The factory won prizes at prestigious exhibitions, fairs and tasting competitions in the country and abroad, including the Grand Prix which it received repeatedly.

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