Without Corona aid, more company bankruptcies in Austria
The end of the Covid money lets bankruptcies rise to normal levels. 2500 companies would be bankrupt without help. Personal bankruptcies are on the decline.
A total of 3000 company bankruptcies are expected this year.
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Vienna – The creditors’ protection association Creditreform sees an increase in company bankruptcies after the expiry of the corona aid. Looking at the third quarter, the number of proceedings opened has risen by 30 percent. The reason for this is likely to be the expiry of the deferrals and finance, says the creditor protection association. “With the reinstatement of the obligation to file for insolvency and the termination of deferrals, you are returning to normalcy and that is also leading to more bankruptcies than in the months before,” says Creditreform managing director Gerhard Weinhofer. With the end of the Corona aid, the number of bankruptcies will rise again to the usual level of 5,000 procedures per year.
It was now noticed that problem companies can no longer whitewash their predicament with cheap money and government aid, says Weinhofer. Around 2500 companies are at risk of insolvency without support, Weinhofer calculates with reference to a corresponding study by the Vienna University of Technology. In addition, the current higher inflation and the shortage of skilled workers, especially in industry and tourism, could cause wages to rise and put some companies in a mess, says Weinhofer.
For the current year Creditreform is expecting a total of 3,000 bankruptcies. So far, 1840 bankruptcies have been recorded – due to the Corona aid, this is 29.4% less than in the previous year at this time. In Tyrol, the last 117 insolvencies were counted this year – 14.6% less than a year ago.
With the economic recovery, the number of private bankruptcies is falling. According to Creditreform, there were last 5174 proceedings, 13% fewer than in the previous year. In Tyrol, 319 people become insolvency judges – 10% less than a year ago. (mas)