A Montenegrin court has launched bankruptcy proceedings for the country's single biggest industrial employer, indebted aluminium plant Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP), a court official said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Adriatic state had last month asked the court to consider bankruptcy for the smelter, which is co-owned by the state and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's Central European Aluminium Co. Proceedings were set in motion over a 24 million euro ($30.8 million) debt to Deutsche Bank, the deputy head of the Commercial Court in Podgorica, Dragan Rakocevic, said in a statement. "The court acted pursuant to a motion by the Finance Ministry ... and claimants now have 30 days to report their claims," Rakocevic said. Under Montenrgrin law, a bankruptcy procedure can either be launched through a reorganisation of the company or its total liquidation. KAP employs 1,200 people and accounted for 4.7 percent of Montenegro's economic output last year. Rakocevic said the company was nursing a total debt of some 380 million euros, more than the previously estimated 350 million, while its total value was estimated at only 183 million. Read more.
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