Russian companies are expecting a surge in bankruptcies
Due to the end of the moratorium on bankruptcy this year in Russia, the number of companies declared insolvent will exceed 15 thousand.
Izvestia reports this, citing data provided by analysts at FreshStart, a platform for finding arbitration managers for bankruptcy proceedings.
According to various estimates, about 12–13 thousand companies go bankrupt in Russia every year, but in the crisis year of 2020 their number decreased by a quarter and amounted to about 10 thousand. This decline was due to a moratorium on bankruptcy filings in place last year. But already at the beginning of January the moratorium ended.
“Therefore, in 2021 we can expect a slight increase in the number of bankruptcies, the number of which may exceed 15 thousand,” say FreshStart experts.
Analysts at the international company Coface also foresee the risk of a wave of bankruptcies. In their new study, “Russia ViewPoint: Macroeconomic and Industry Review of the Russian Market,” they conclude that the Russian market may well experience a noticeable spike in corporate insolvencies this fall.
“The temporary moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings, thanks to which many uncompetitive enterprises managed to survive 2020, expired at the beginning of this year. And if we consider that on average bankruptcy cases in Russia are considered for about five to seven months, we can expect that the bulk of “crisis” bankruptcies will occur in the third quarter of the year,” predicts Vasily Chekulaev, General Director of Coface Russia.
In turn, the Ministry of Economic Development adheres to a balanced position.
“Of course, a slight increase in the number of bankruptcies postponed due to the moratorium is possible, but those companies that have ceased to be viable will go bankrupt, including for reasons that are not related to restrictive measures,” Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Ilya Torosov commented on the situation. .
Russian companies are facing a surge in bankruptcies.