Ramljak Quits as Manager of Croatia's Agrokor

Ante Ramljak confirmed his resignation as manager of Agrokor to the daily Vecernji list after meeting Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Economy Minister Martina Dalic.

Agrokor confirmed Ramljak's resignation on Wednesday.

In a public statement, Ramljak explained that he and his associates have stabilised the company's business, preserved employment and prevented the suppliers fall.

The conditions are established for creditors to negotiate the debt settlement, he noted.

"Unfortunately, the uncertainty that was created in connection with my stay in the position of an extraordinary commissioner is strongly against this process.

"I am offering the irrevocable resignation to the position of the extraordinary commissioner, so that I do not become an obstacle to reaching a settlement," Ramljak said.

Agrokor's severe debt problems were revealed in 2017. With revenues of 6.5 billion euros in 2015, equal to almost 16 per cent of Croatia's total GDP, it is the biggest private company in Croatia with a huge role in the country's economy. 

The state reacted to the crisis by passing a special new law, dubbed the "Lex Agrokor", which created conditions for the government to appoint an extraordinary manager for the company.

The settlement plan was expected to be signed by April 10, 2018.

Ramljak was under pressure to resign after media reported that his former company, Texto Management, had been hired as consultants for the restructuring of Agrokor.

Texto advisers were reportedly paid almost a million kuna a month [around 170,000 US dollars] for their consulting work.

Texto Management was engaged by the New York-based company AlixPartners, which Agrokor's management selected on April 25 as an adviser for...