Restructuring

An Economy Ministry bill for an out-of-court mechanism allowing overindebted companies to settle their arrears to banks and the state foresees it applying for two years, while sources say that the country's creditors are proposing that it function for no more than a year.

Athens-listed firm Yalco Constantinou SA announced on Wednesday it has reached a provisional agreement for the sale of its Romanian subsidiary, Yalco Romania Srl as part of the restructuring process agreed with its crediting banks, so that it can concentrate on its domestic activities.

The historic chain of electrical stores, Electroniki, announced on Wednesday night that it  launched a bankruptcy procedure.

The company was facing many economic problems over the last few years after its attempt to expand its business activities to Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans, but thanks to coordinated restructuring moves, it managed to survive.

Srbijagas has not slipped behind the schedule in the restructuring process, the public company's CEO Dusan Bajatovic said on Friday.

"Everything is ready for the enterprise to operate through two business units from July 1," Tanjug quoted him as saying.

The Commission concluded that the measures already implemented as part of the bank’s existing restructuring plan of July 2014, in addition to those envisaged in the amended plan, will enable Piraeus Bank to ensure lending to the Greek economy in line with EU state aid rules, in particular the 2013 Banking Communication, and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.

The Anti-Corruption Council has recommended to the government on Tuesday to "avoid selling Telekom Srbija at this point."

Instead, the Council advised "status and financial restructuring with view of improving the company's operation."

French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron told German daily Die Welt on Saturday that the German government has resisted a restructuring of Greece’s debts but France insists that it must be eased.

“It is necessary to reduce the debt burden so that the Greek economy does not go under,” he said. “More competition doesn’t mean saving more!”

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that the country's budget did not include plans to offer Greece financial help and that Russia did not plan to hold talks on restructuring Ukraine's debt.

"That's not factored into our budget," Siluanov said in response to a question from reporters about whether Russia was planning to offer Greece financial aid.

The German Finance Ministry seems to be preparing a plan for the possible bankruptcy of member-states, according to German magazine “Der Spiegel”.

Romania's cash-strapped national airline, Tarom, is to open preliminary talks with several companies interested in restructuring and taking a significant stake in the state-controlled company.