CRIF: 28 Firms Went Bankrupt in August, Mostly Engaged in Trade and Transport

Bratislava, 6 September (TASR) - A total of 28 firms went bankrupt in August, which is a decrease by 17 percent from July, but it's an almost fourfold increase when it comes to the amount of registered debts against the state, Slovak Credit Bureau (CRIF) company engaged in credit reporting informed the media earlier this week. Five companies that filed for bankruptcy were engaged in the field of wholesale and retail and the same number in transport and warehousing, while four were offering administrative and support services. "While bankrupt firms owed €2.81 million to social-security provider Socialna Poistovna, the VsZP health insurance company and tax offices in July, their debts exceeded €11 million in August," said CRIF chief analyst Jana Markova. The CRIF analysis showed Talza, s.r.o., a Komarno-based company with a foreign background as a record debtor. Listing consulting services in the field of business and management as its core business, the company's debt towards the Tax Directorate alone reached almost €5.8 million. The second largest debtor is Bratislava-based joint-stock company Grandie, which was supposed to be engaged in wholesale trading of grain, unprocessed tobacco, seeds and feed, but it reported zero sales over the past four years. Its arrears to tax authorities amounted to almost €1.9 million. A total of 24 limited-liability companies and four joint-stock companies filed for bankruptcy in August. Eight of them had one employee, while two entities employed between 5-9 people. Two bigger firms with 100-149 employees went bankrupt in August as well. From the bankrupt companies, the company Retrack Slovakia resided in Bratislava region had the highest turnover and the highest number of employees. It was engaged in freight rail transport and was one of the leaders on the Slovak market. It even reported record-high sales of almost €33 million last year, but its German owners unexpectedly decided to shut it down. The second biggest was the printing company Polygraf Print based in Presov region, which had sales of up to tens of millions in recent years. Nevertheless, its loss deepened to more than €1 million in 2024. ko/mcs/am