Darfur gives up on Boreli – German company interested in leasing Sombor plant

The Board of Creditors of the Sombor-based Fabrika Obuce Boreli in bankruptcy should decide this week about who is to lease the factory's facility, and a German footwear manufacturer which has already cooperated with Boreli has replied to the ad.

There were no other bids sent to the Bankruptcy Supervision Agency, which opened the contest for the lease of the factory until the conditions are met for Boreli in bankruptcy to be sold.

One of the conditions, we remind, was for the lessee to organize the production and employ at least 50 former Boreli workers.

The ad closed on October 12 and it is certain that the former lessee, the Belgrade-based company Darfur, did not reply to the ad. Owner and director of Darfur, Dragan Perovic, confirms that he did not apply, as he has other plans, but adds that the plans are still tied to Boreli.

– I've had talks about another lease, though not here, but in Croatia instead – Perovic said, without specifying the topic of the conversations nor the parties involved.

He thereby gave up on plans presented around ten days ago, when he claimed that he would reply to the ad, that he planned to increase the volume of the production and that he intended to purchase Boreli when the time comes.

The Sombor-based Boreli is the legal successor of the Boreli based in Vukovar, Croatia, which ended up in bankruptcy.

In Serbia, Boreli has around 90 stores, and production and sale of footwear in Sombor began in 1997. There have been several attempts to sell the factory and certain Italian footwear manufacturers were mentioned as potential purchasers. However, the two states have not signed an agreement on succession and the ownership transformation has accordingly not been completed yet.

According to the source of Dnevnik, the factory is capable of organizing the production, as four of the six production lines are operational, making it possible to carry out the entire production cycle. The factory needs investments, but not big ones. Boreli used to have 900 workers and six production lines used to be active each day.

There have been two evaluations of Boreli's property. The first evaluation took place in 2005, during the mandate of Predrag Bubalo, the then minister of economy and privatization, when it was estimated that the factory was worth around EUR 32 million. The second evaluation put the company's capital at around EUR 24 million.

The factory's debts amount to around RSD 1.6 billion, and the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in mid-May 2016.

Boreli Sombor

Darfur d.o.o. Beograd

Agencija za licenciranje stečajnih upravnika Beograd

Fabrika Obuce Boreli

Boreli footwear factory

Boreli in bankruptcy

Darfur

bankruptcy proceedings in Boreli

footwear factory in Sombor

footwear production in Sombor

Bankruptcy Supervision Agency

lease of Boreli facility

sale of Boreli

Dragan Perovic

Boreli Croatia