ZAGREBACKA BANK REQUESTS BANKRUPTCY FOR 16 COMPANIES OWNED BY JOSIP GUCIC

ZAGREB, Dec 3 (Hina) - Zagrebacka Bank on Friday said in a statement it had requested the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings for 16 companies under the majority ownership or direct management of Josip Gucic. The statement says Zagrebacka Bank requested bankruptcy for those companies "following information that the Ministry of Finance is not willing to implement the Conclusion the Croatian government reached on 22 July 1999, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Economy, which adopts the programme for the financial restructuring of the textile section of the so called Gucic trade association (and its transfer into the ownership of the Croatian Privatisation Fund)." The aim of the restructuring programme was to save about 5,000 jobs, which is the current number of employees in those 16 companies, says the Zagrebacka Bank statement. The statement points out the Bank for a long time tried to find with the companies' owner and management a mutually acceptable solution and facilitate its realisation, and that the Bank will continue to endorse every rehabilitation programme for the companies which the Bank might assess as feasible. (hina) ha mm