Czech Energy Holding Malina's reorganization plan is nearly complete; company to present it to creditors soon

The reorganization plan for the collapsed Energy Holding Malina is nearly complete, and the company's management should present it to creditors in the coming weeks. Malina plans to supply components to clients still waiting, but customers will apparently have to arrange installation elsewhere. According to estimates, clients should expect to pay approximately 60.000 to 80.000 Kč more than under their original contracts. Lukáš Uhl, a member of Malina's board, told the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The company has yet to complete around 2500 orders.

Energy Holding Malina admitted last spring that it was having problems fulfilling orders. The company's management therefore filed for insolvency, declaring liabilities of around 1.4 billion crowns. The company's creditors must approve the reorganization plan, and their meeting is expected to take place sometime in late spring.

According to Uhl, 1900 solar photovoltaic orders and around 600 heat pump orders have yet to be completed. Uhl says the actual figures will be slightly lower, as some customers did not wait for the insolvency proceedings to conclude and cancelled their contracts. Malina is continuing to complete orders for some other customers, Uhl said, but progress has been slow so far.

The company's management is now finalizing a plan under which Malina would supply the remaining customers with components for their systems at a more favorable price, then recommend a list of installation companies to assemble the solar power systems or heat pumps. Customers would then arrange installation with a company of their choice.

According to Uhl, inflation and further cost increases mean that the final price will be around 60.000 to 80.000 crowns higher than under the original contracts. Uhl said the holding itself is reluctant to take on installation work for such a large number of orders, as it lacks the capacity and the work would take a long time.

Malina will probably buy the components from Chinese company GoodHao, which was originally expected to become the holding's new investor. Its offer envisaged Malina paying the Chinese company 80 percent of the price for the goods supplied, with GoodHao exchanging the remainder for an ownership stake in the company. However, according to Uhl, the rules of the insolvency court did not allow a new investor to enter the company immediately while the insolvency proceedings were still underway.

Alongside the insolvency proceedings, Malina is continuing its dispute with Misura IT, owned by entrepreneur Libuše Barková, which helped Malina with crisis management for part of last year. Malina has sued Misura, seeking the return of withheld office assets worth several million crowns. Misura has rejected the lawsuit, saying the company has so far been unable to confirm that the items it is being asked to hand over actually belong to Malina. „Energy Holding Malina has also yet to pay us anything it owes us,“ Barková said.