Page 30 - bne_November 2018_20181105

30 I Central Europe bne November 2018
Croatia posts highest increase
in insolvencies in CEE in 2017
bne IntelliNews
Croatia recorded a 40.1% increase in insolvencies last year, the larg- est rise in the Central and Eastern European region (CEE), a Coface study showed on October 9.
Despite the fact most of the countries in the region experienced higher rates of economic growth, the overall number of insolvencies in the region rose last year by 6.4%, after a decline of 6% registered a year before and a 14% plunge in 2015. Apart from Croatia, the highest increases in insolvencies were reported by Poland (+16.4%), Hungary (+14.4%) and Serbia (+13.1%).
In addition, more countries were affect- ed by an increase in insolvencies in 2017. During the year, nine countries reported a higher volume of insolvencies (Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Slovenia). Only five reported a decline.
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"High capacity utilisation and solid demand encouraged companies to expand their capacities,” Grzegorz Sielewicz, regional economist, Coface Central & Eastern Europe, explained.
Insolvencies in Central Europe
“In addition to this, positive periods in the economy motivated new businesses to set up, despite the high level of com- petition prevailing in a number of sec- tors. Companies frequently experienced