The creditors' meeting of the Vitebsk Fur Factory proposes to extend the enterprise's rehabilitation period

January 21, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. The creditors' meeting of RUP "Vitebsk Fur Combine" decided on the necessity to extend the enterprise's rehabilitation period and sent a corresponding petition to the Economic Court of the Vitebsk Region for a final verdict. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Deputy Chairman of the Economic Court, Oleg Kienko. The combine was declared economically insolvent in May 2007, and rehabilitation proceedings were opened. At the same time, the statutory maximum rehabilitation period for a bankrupt enterprise (30 months) expired in December 2009. "The court has to make a difficult decision, as the bankruptcy law clearly outlines only three possible options in such a situation: concluding a settlement agreement with deferral (installment) of the debtor's obligations, terminating rehabilitation due to the restoration of its solvency, or opening liquidation proceedings," explained Oleg Kienko. Despite the fact that positive trends have emerged in the enterprise's operations during the rehabilitation period, and a large amount of work has been done to make it break-even, the rehabilitation plan has not actually been fulfilled, noted the Deputy Chairman of the Economic Court. The combine's financial situation remains difficult, and the enterprise ended 2009 with losses. Unpaid debts totaling about Br13 billion remain in the register of creditors' claims. For example, in 2009, the enterprise failed to sell unused production real estate to activate settlements with creditors and allocate part of the funds for production development. For a long time, the combine has been unable to resolve issues regarding the transfer of non-production real estate to the balance of local authorities, which also leads to the diversion of financial resources for their maintenance. In order to preserve and further develop the enterprise, concluding a settlement agreement between the debtor and creditors, which include tax authorities, the social protection fund, a number of banks, and business entities, seems most appropriate, added Oleg Kienko. Nevertheless, the creditors' meeting, by a majority of votes, expressed its opinion on the necessity to extend the rehabilitation period. The date of the court hearing will be set within five days from the moment the creditors' meeting decision is received by the court. RUE "Vitebsk Fur Combine" is part of the concern "Bellegprom" and is the only enterprise in the country producing fur products. -0-