Thousands of companies sound the Sodra alarm clock: it is time to pay the debts: some will have to pay back millions

During the quarantine, Sodra provided tax assistance to the business whose activities were restricted and the company was included in the lists of insured persons affected by COVID-19 of the State Tax Inspection (STI). The companies on the STI list that requested the non-application of sanctions were unable to pay contributions.

Currently, the recovery does not apply to 4 thousand. companies. Its anticipated deferred contributions amount to $ 61.8 million. Sodra reported. They should hurry.

“At the end of the quarantine, these companies can ask Sodra for a deferral of the accumulated contributions in a simplified way. They have 30 days to do it. So, only after this period will we see how many companies have requested the deferral, how long they have stopped debt side and what is the total amount of liabilities. The experience of the first quarantine showed that after the end of the quarantine, a large part of the companies that took the opportunity to temporarily not pay their fees paid for everything, “he says. Malgožata Kozič, Chief Specialist of the Communication Department of Sodra.

The total debt of the quarantined companies with Sodra, including the indebtedness incurred during the first quarantine, amounts to 182.2 million LTL. of which deferred debt – 110 million. euros.

Bankrupt companies’ debt to Sodra currently stands at LTL 31.8 million. euros. It is declining: in January 2021 it reached 33 million. and in 2020 in January – 41.1 million. euros.

Most of the deferred debt corresponds to the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food services sectors. Deferred contributions do not accrue interest or require proof of solvency.

Companies can defer contributions and stop paying accrued liabilities for up to one year and then spread the payments over four years. Therefore, the total debts should be paid in no more than 5 years. Failure to submit an application before July 30 will allow the payments to be deferred under normal conditions, justifying the possibility of repaying the debt, as well as the interest.

After July 30, Sodra will resume compulsory debt collection procedures: it will try to cancel the debts and, if the debt is transferred to a bailiff for recovery, the property can be seized or a mandatory pledge can be applied.

Among the largest debtors are the companies of Gediminas Žiemelis

Among the most operational companies in debt to Sodra are famous names, the international company Creditreform Lietuva, which assesses the risk of companies, stocks.

At most, 2.5 million. FL Technics, a company in the Avia Solutions Group managed by Gediminas Žiemelis, which is engaged in aircraft maintenance, has not yet paid Sodra.

In second place is the company Metalas ir mediena, which manufactures furniture for institutions and commercial companies, and its debt amounts to 1.6 million. EUR.

1.4 million Biuro has debts with the personnel rental company Biuro.

Fourth: 1.3 million. Fitsout, a furniture manufacturing and interior solutions company controlled by G. Žiemelis, has a billion euros.

The fifth place was occupied by the construction company of metal structures “Montuotojas” (1.3 million euros).

UAB Lelija (EUR 1.1 million), AB Lytagra (EUR 1 million), UAB Kosmelita (EUR 1 million), UAB Delano (EUR 0.9 million) and UAB Humana LT, which has 0.8 million. debt in euros.

“The second and so far the longest quarantine in the history of modern Lithuania will go down in history this Thursday. Increasing restrictions have already allowed corporate social debts to melt away for Sodra, although the rate of meltdown was still timid and the Average debt even increased. If at the beginning of the year one of the 36,748 companies indebted to Sodra had a debt of 4,779 euros, then on June 17. it already amounted to 4,981 euros, but the number of indebted companies fell to 33,653, or a 8.4 percent, ”said Alina Bočkienė, a business analyst at Creditreform Lietuva.

According to her, debtor companies may face problems soon if state aid measures are completed or if creditors are allowed to treat debtors as before quarantine. Before the quarantine, the biggest bankruptcy initiators were Sodra and the State Tax Inspectorate.

Promises to pay in less than 5 years

The companies with higher debts interviewed by Delfi notice an improvement in the situation, some of them intend to pay off their debts earlier.

“It just came to our notice then. First of all, this company was very affected by COVID-19 and we, in April-May, the berods had to lay off about 400 employees and the situation was really very difficult. I had to reorganize the activities of the company, change the processes, move to digitization and that began to give some result. In the end, the revenues have already started to grow. This tax deferral has ensured, in the first place, the financial stability of the company. company, and secondly, again, we are hiring a lot of less skilled workers and people have requested a lot of previous payments, part of this deferral has been used and is still being used to give all employees a week once a month, ”he says Valdas Strazdas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAB Biuro.

Biuro intends to pay the existing debt on time and, if possible, pay earlier.

“As for the future, how the debt will be paid, there is a schedule, we have already started to pay according to this schedule. But we have considerations: when evaluating the results of this year, if they are so stable, satisfactory, there will be working capital. from which it is possible to return, it is considered to return earlier ”, assures V. Strazdas.

Jonas Stragis, the director of Fitsout, assures that the debt was caused directly by the global pandemic.

“Our products are particularly sophisticated furniture and interior solutions for shops, hotels and public spaces around the world. With the onset of the pandemic, most stores and hotels closed, customer development plans were drastically adjusted, resulting in a significant drop in the company’s turnover. The main objective was to maintain the viability of the company and preserve employment in the face of an uncertain market situation and a large operating deficit. We clearly understood that the pandemic situation is temporary and that market demand will recover immediately after the virus is controlled, ”says J. Stragis.

According to him, the last months of operation have already been very successful, which is also related to the release of quarantine restrictions in different parts of the world, as well as the start of travel.

“Ongoing discussions with customers and the signing of new contracts allow us to forecast a very good year for 2022. If the third wave of the pandemic does not adjust our current customer plans, we believe that the markets will try to restore the loss of billing, which will allow us to grow rapidly. After the first quarantine, we entered into a fiscal loan contract with Sodra for 574,432 euros, which was a very important help that allowed us to continue with our operations. We hope to conclude the same contract after the second quarantine for a period of less than 5 years, ”says J. Stragis.

He believes that in the global competitive environment, those countries that will be able to support and preserve export companies that create high value-added products will win: “We have no doubt that our responsible state services will develop appropriate, high-value innovation – added products and services “.