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06/04/2013
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Central European companies in crisis: why?

Central European companies in crisis: why?
PANORAMA COMPANY INSOLVENCIES - Spring 2013

This issue of Panorama contains the results of our Company Insolvency Monitor for April 2012-April 2013. Although the cost of insolvencies continues to rise (+2.7%), the slight dip in number (-0.1%) varies by type of company, with SMEs and MSBs being worst affected. It also ranks sectors of activity by degree of exposure, from which we see that construction, services and automotive continue to be the most at-risk.

This edition also contains the results of a study on insolvencies among Eastern European countries, a region experiencing a sharp rise in the rate of insolvencies (e.g. up 21% in Poland and 10% in Romania in 2012). What reasons are behind the increase which began back in 2007? Have changes in the legal landscape had an effect on insolvencies? What is the role of macroeconomic determinants? Finally, a statistical study provides a forecast for insolvencies in Poland and Romania in 2013.

 

Insolvency Monitor/Spring 2013

The number of insolvencies levelled out under the 60,000 mark in April 2013, but this fi-gure is still high. In strained economic times, French companies continue to prove themselves the most frail.

 

Central European companies in crisis: why?

Since the crisis first began in developed countries in 2008, the macroeconomic performance of CEE countries (see box) has been limited, with an annual average growth for the region of 1.2% compared to 5% in emerging markets. This stuttering recovery after the recession of 2009 has affected companies in particular and in nearly all countries we are seeing a much faster rate of default.

To what do we owe this crisis facing East European companies? Have the legal reforms passed in Central and Eastern Europe resulted in a greater number of insolvencies being declared? Is this upturn in the rate of insolvencies due to the Eurozone crisis? Can we draw any links between insolvency and credit flows? To answer these questions we will look at five countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. But whatever the situation, 2013 will not see an end to the crisis for East European businesses, as can be seen from our insolvency forecasts for the Romanian and Polish markets.

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