Conergy iterates that insolvency is not the end
After opening preliminary insolvency proceedings for Conergy AG and both its German subsidiaries Mounting Systems GmbH and Conergy SolarModule GmbH & Co. KG last Friday, the responsible local Hamburg court has appointed Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz from White & Case as insolvency administrator. Undritz began his mandate at the weekend and is currently getting acquainted with the company's overall situation.
"The initial task is to analyse the complex position of the company and its subsidiaries," said Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz. "Our main aim is of course to continue business as usual with as few changes as possible, securing jobs and maintaining customer and supplier relationships. The wages and salaries of all Conergy employees are guaranteed for the meantime by the insolvency payments. Advance financing of these insolvency payments has already started."
Business operations at the parent group Conergy AG will continue as usual in the first instance. This was announced to around 200 workers at an employee meeting at the Hamburg site by the preliminary insolvency administrator. The same applies for around 50 employees that work at Conergy's facilities in Zweibruecken.
In Rangsdorf, Brandenburg, production of mounting systems for solar plants continues at Conergy's subsidiary, Mounting Systems GmbH: "Production at Mounting Systems has not been interrupted and will continue as it is in the future. Business will continue uninterrupted," said Undritz. "Manufacturing is running at very good utilization levels and Mounting Systems will therefore continuously be in a position to supply. Initially, nothing will change for the 200 or so employees there."
At Conergy's module manufacturing plant in Frankfurt (Oder), production is currently on hold. However, the preliminary insolvency administrator wants to restart the machines as quickly as possible, to deliver on the well-filled order books of Conergy's Brandenburg subsidiary: "Much like the employees and the works council, we want to quickly restart module manufacture," said Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz. "However, we are currently consulting with various stakeholder groups including political representatives."
Conergy"˜s foreign subsidiaries are not currently affected by their parent group"˜s opening of preliminary insolvency proceedings. "Of course, we are evaluating the effects of the application for preliminary insolvency proceedingson all our sales units both in Germany and abroad," said Undritz. "In Germany, neither Conergy Services GmbH nor Conergy Deutschland GmbH are currently affected by the insolvency proceedings. We are also optimistic that our international subsidiaries will continue activities as normal."
