Elektrim repayment talks scheduled for this week

Bondholders optimistic about management change The holders of Elektrim's defaulted bonds expect the beleaguered telecom and energy concern to submit a list of its creditors to a Warsaw court before a Wednesday meeting between the two sides, a spokesman for the bondholders said last week. "There is no reason to believe that the list should not be compiled by next week," said Jarek Golacik, vice president of Centaurus Capital Limited, a London-based asset management firm that represents more than 75% of the bondholders. "Everyone has had ample time to provide the court with information. Any delay would be deliberate and there would be no natural reason for it." Elektrim was ordered to produce the list by Feb. 12 as well as begin repayment talks with bondholders as part of its court-ordered debt-restructuring process. The court must approve and close the list and then call creditors to another meeting when a settlement offer would be proposed. Golacik last week said the bondholders' trustee had submitted their claims in the past few days. Bondholders, who rejected Elektrim's earlier proposal for a 40% debt reduction and an extended repayment period, want quick and full repayment of their money. An Elektrim press office employee said last week that the firm was compiling the list of creditors and would submit it to the court by the Tuesday deadline. The two sides are scheduled to meet with the judge overseeing the debt restructuring proceedings the following day. Elektrim has not yet taken steps to initiate repayment talks despite a previous statement by former chief executive officer Waldemar Siwak that he would send proposals to the bondholders' trustee to create a negotiating team. Elektrim's supervisory board dismissed Siwak last Wednesday and replaced him with Dariusz Jacek Krawiec, the chief executive of steel and metal concern Impexmetal and one of Elektrim's nine supervisory board members. Bondholders were optimistic about the management change. "The bondholders take these developments as a positive sign and are hopeful that they will speed up a solution that's acceptable to (us)," Golacik said. In addition, the bondholders sent a letter to Elektrim's supervisory board last Monday urging it to "get a reputable financial adviser" to replace London-based restructuring consultancy Klesch and Company, according to Golacik. Elektrim appointed Klesch last December to prepare a financial restructuring proposal for its bondholders. The Elektrim press office employee said he did not know when Krawiec would contact bondholders and added that the new president requested a few days before making any statements to the media. Following Siwak's dismissal, Elektrim supervisory board member Ludwik Klinkosz told Reuters that the board may push up an extraordinary general shareholders meeting from May 25 to mid-April to placate a group of shareholders led by BRE Bank. The BRE group has called for a mid-February shareholders meeting to appoint new supervisory board members and repay the bondholders. Elektrim declined to comment on Klinkosz's statement.