Ljubljana - The bankruptcy administrator of Merkur published an invitation for bids for the purchase of claims of the hardware retailer to companies worth more than two hundred million. The highest claim, worth EUR 203.5 million, is to the company HTC Dva, which was involved in the controversial deals for which former Merkur CEO Bine Kordež has been convicted.

According to a press release published on the website of the AJPES agency for legal records on Wednesday, most of the legal entities involved have been or are still insolvent.

The bids are being collected for the entire package and bankruptcy administrator Simona Goriup thus hopes to gather crucial information for finding the most favourable conditions and method of sale of these claims.

Apart from the claim to HTC Dva, worth EUR 203.5 million, other major claims are those to Merfin (EUR 46.8 million) and Factor Leasing (24 million), with all three companies involved in Kordež's controversial deals connected to the 2010 management buyout of Merkur.

HTC Dva was the company that was used to finance the buyout of Merkur, while the actual takeover was conducted through Merfin.

In January 2016, Kordež was sentenced to seven years and a half in prison, and had to pay a EUR 23,500 fine after pleading guilty. He served a year and three months before being released on probation.

Other major claims include that to companies Rent A (EUR 6.8 million), Alpos (EUR 6 million), Viator & Vektor group (EUR 5 million), Vegrad (EUR 2.4 million), Gradbinec (EUR 1.4 million) and Solarius (EUR 1.1 million).