Court of Appeal upholds rehabilitation plan of Eldorado

The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of some of the creditors of Eldorado (Diesa LLC) and upheld the approved rehabilitation plan of the company, the press service of the legal company Ario Law Firm reported.

"A well-developed pretrial rehabilitation plan, which was confirmed by courts of two instances, allowed our business to stay afloat and begin recovery. Unfortunately, some creditors, although significantly fewer, still do not agree that a working business has a better chance of paying off its debts than an insolvent one, so they are trying to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Eldorado.ua," Maksym Baidyk, director of the legal department of Diesa LLC, is quoted in the press release.

He pointed out that in May the company began to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the rehabilitation plan and has paid off about 5% of the approved amount to date, adhering to the payment schedule.

According to Ario Law Firm partner Andriy Fylyk, the company is ready to defend its rights in the Supreme Court.

"I am convinced that creditors who disagree with the pretrial rehabilitation plan will appeal to the Supreme Court with a cassation appeal. We, in turn, have strong arguments that the decisions of the court of first instance and the appeal are fair," he noted.

According to the press release, the Eldorado chain has already received two court decisions to recover $3.6 million and $15.9 million from the Russian Federation for damages caused to the business. At the same time, the total amount of damage to the chain from the Russian invasion is estimated at UAH 1.1 billion.

As reported, in April 2024, the Kyiv Economic Court approved a pretrial rehabilitation plan for Eldorado, which provides for a guaranteed return of 30% of creditors' claims, another 40% after compensation for damages from the aggressor country, and a write-off of 30%.

During the general meeting on September 22, 2023, Eldorado creditors, who own more than 60% of the claims from the total debt, approved a debt rehabilitation plan for more than UAH 1 billion. At the same time, a number of creditors disagreed with the pretrial rehabilitation and demanded rehabilitation within the bankruptcy procedure, which guarantees the return of debts.

The first Eldorado store in Ukraine was opened in 1999 in Kyiv. As of August 2023, the Eldorado.ua network included 70 stores in 49 cities.