THE LARGEST FISH PROCESSING PLANT IN THE NORTH-WEST HAS STARTED BANKRUPTCY

An application was sent to the arbitration of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region by JSC "Fish Processing Plant No. 1" ("ROCK–1"). The largest fish processing enterprise in the region asks to recognize its insolvency by completely stopping production.

The deterioration of the financial condition of ROCK-1, according to experts, began during the pandemic. The combine has accumulated credit obligations. Despite this, the firm ended 2021 with a net profit of 74.4 million rubles. Revenue increased by 19%, reaching 7.2 billion.

However, in February last year, the company faced sanctions from European countries. The credit burden has not decreased, and working capital is in short supply. The delivery time of raw materials has increased. Debt to creditors reached 3.8 billion. At the same time, the company's management failed to reach an agreement with credit institutions and authorities promptly.

Employees of "ROCK-1" (about 200 people) had to be sent to idle on October 1, 2022, stopping conveyor production. The company continued to negotiate with creditors, intending to restructure, as well as searching for a possible investor. At the same time, the banks, apparently, did not plan to compromise, continuing to make demands on the company.

In August 2022, it became clear that the case was heading for bankruptcy. The impetus for this step was the claim of Sberbank, which achieved the introduction of interim measures in the arbitration court. Two production sites of the plant (one in the Coal Harbor, the other in Volkhov) were stopped. Employees of one plant (248 people) they were suspended from work until the end of 2022. Another site (31 employees) stopped working indefinitely.

According to regional publications, the total debt to creditors has reached 3.8 billion. Of these, about 40% is accounted for by Sberbank, which has already announced its intention to enter into business. UniCredit Bank applied to the court with a similar application. In addition, three subsidiaries of ROCK-1 have started bankruptcy. Sberbank has made claims to them for 1.6 billion rubles .

In total, the plant has 6 "daughters". The main beneficiary of ROCK-1 is Alexander Starobinsky, who heads the plant after the death of Mikhail Soshnik, its former owner. The plant has been operating in the region since 1974. Until 2021, the company produced 60-90 tons of fish products daily. Among the 250 items of goods, the most famous were "ROCK", "Amore" and "Own fish".

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