More and more one-time “heavyweights” of Greece’s retailing sector are now waiting outside the bankruptcy section at Athens’ first instance court to seek protection from creditors.
The latest and most high-profile petitioner for Article 99 protection under Greece’s bankruptcy code was the Marinopoulos super market group, whose parent company has outstanding debts and obligations reaching 1.3 billion euros, according to a report by “N” days ago.
Attorneys for the retailer filed for Article (chapter) 99 protection this past week.
Marinopoulos was preceded by Jet Oil, which belongs to the Mamidakis group, while previous petitioners included Nutriart, Puma Hellas, Glou, Kou-Kou and the Atlantic super market chain.
Conversely, the Dias fish farm group and the Veropoulos super market chain flirted with insolvency over the recent period, but worked out refinancing and merger deals at the last minute to keep them afloat.
Veropoulos’ Greece-based operations, in fact, were picked up by the Metro group.
According to the General Commercial Register, a development ministry bureau, some 1,000 companies have filed for bankruptcy at the Athens first instance courts alone between 2011 and 2015.
