Sale of Jugoremedija fails – No licenses, no buyers

The Commercial Court of Zrenjanin has reached the decision by which the complaint by the creditors is upheld and the public bidding for the sale of pharmaceutical factory Jugoremedija, scheduled for October 16, 2017, canceled.

In the explanation, the bankruptcy judge, Aleksandar Stoiljkovski, states, among other things, that the complaint filed by the creditors points to the fact that the sale is premature and illegal, as well as that a collection of bids would be a better method of sale, as it would achieve getting the most favorable price and the settlement of the creditors' claims.

The creditors also point out that the evaluation does not encompass the permits for the marketing of medical drugs, which, they say, comprise the biggest value of the property, and that the bankruptcy judge has advertised the sale of the litigation for the reacquiring of the permits, for which reason they believe that the decision of the bankruptcy trustee runs counter to the position of the board of creditors.

As the explanation further states, the board of creditors has asked for the sale to be postponed, as they believe that now “only the usurper of the permits, Union Medic Novi Sad, has a legal interest in making this purchase”, thereby achieving a lower price.

The bankruptcy judge says that the complaint about the method of the sale is unfounded, but that the fact is that the former lessee Union Medic refuses to return the medical drug marketing permits and that the bankruptcy judge has initiated an action for the returning of those permits and that the lawsuit asks for the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia to transfer the permits to Jugoremedija.

The bankruptcy trustee has been given 15 days to propose a new timeframe for the sale.

He is also obliged to adjust the evaluation of Jugoremedija taking into consideration the value of the initiated litigation or to end the initiated procedure for stripping Union Medic of its permit at the MMDA, if there are grounds for it.

The bankruptcy trustee of the pharmaceutical factory Jugoremedija, Radomir Savic, advertised the sale of the company through a public auction at the initial price of RSD 1.9 billion. Interested bidders were offered the company as a legal entity, whose the most important property consists of factory halls, equipment for manufacture of pharmaceutical products, trademarks, vehicles and inventory.

The Commercial Court of Zrenjanin declared the factory bankrupt in November 2016, four years after the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings.

Jugoremedija was sold in 2002 to the Macedonian company Jaka 80, owned by Jovica Stefanovic, but the agreement on privatization was terminated after the strike of several months of a part of the workers and the court case which lasted for four years.

Jugoremedija a.d. Zrenjanin

Union-medic Novi Sad

Privredni sud u Zrenjaninu

Agencija za lekove i medicinska sredstva Srbije

Jugoremedija

Union Medic

Board of Creditors of Jugoremedija

Commercial Court of Zrenjanin

Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia

Jaka 80

sale of Jugoremedija

medical drugs

medical drug

pharmaceutical plant

production of medical drugs

pharmaceutical products

Radomir Savic

Aleksandar Stoiljkovski

Jovica Stefanovic

pharmaceutical industry