The closing date of 21 July for receipt of nominations has now passed, so we can announce that nominations for the vacant reserved seat for Poland have been received from Bartosz Groele, Klaudia Fratczak Kospin and Emil Szczepanik. This will be decided by a vote, open to members from Poland only.

Nominations for the 2 vacant non-reserved seats have been received from José Carles (Spain), Angelina Bakker (Netherlands), Bart Heynickx (Belgium), Laurent le Pajolec (Poland), Luis Martín (Spain), Eduardo Peixoto Gomes (Portugal), Robert Paterson (UK) and Sarah Pople (France), so this will be decided by a vote and the 2 candidates with the highest number will win the seats from October.

Additionally, nominations were received from Andri Antoniou (Cyprus), Pekka Keloneva (Finland) and Konstantinos S. Issaias (Greece) for the 2 special non-reserved seats, open to countries with 20-20 members, so this will be decided by a vote and the 2 candidates with the highest number will win the seats from October.

Full details and the voting link can be found on our website.

In 2024, Slovakia recorded the highest number of insolvency proceedings in the past decade, while the number of restructurings reached its lowest point in five years. This development is highlighted from the latest statistics on restructuring and insolvency proceedings in Slovakia, as reported by Dávid Oršula from bnt attorneys in CEE.

Although the EU Preventive Restructuring Directive was transposed into Slovak law in 2022, the first public restructuring was not initiated until 2025. Given the rising number of bankruptcies, the low interest in preventive restructuring cannot be explained by the overall financial health of companies in Slovakia. 

Rather, it is likely driven by the administrative complexity of the proceedings and the rigid requirements surrounding the preparation and approval of the restructuring plan, which may discourage entrepreneurs from opting for this solution.

Interest in “traditional” restructuring proceedings also remains limited. Since the 2017 amendment to Slovakia’s insolvency legislation, which introduced stricter conditions for business recovery, the number of approved restructurings has declined significantly, averaging only 20 per year over the past seven years. In 2024, courts approved just 19 restructurings, falling below even this modest average.

In contrast, the number of bankruptcies has been steadily rising, increasing from 331 in 2023 to 336 in 2024. Nearly half of these cases involved so-called “small bankruptcies,” where the company’s assets and turnover did not exceed EUR 1 million.

The total asset value of bankrupt companies in 2024 was approximately EUR 333 million—just over one per mille of the total assets of all non-financial enterprises in 2023. Notably, nearly half of the insolvent companies had little to no assets. The net turnover of bankrupt companies in 2024 was just under EUR 350 million, representing around 1.25 per mille of the total turnover of non-financial enterprises in 2023, and marking a 25% increase compared to the previous year’s EUR 281 million. Reported negative equity amounted to over EUR -27 million, roughly consistent with 2023 figures.

The primary drivers of financial distress among companies continue to be rising inflation and the absence of targeted state support. Looking ahead, insolvencies are expected to increase further as the effects of the government’s fiscal consolidation package begin to take hold.

Read further updates from Slovakia and other jurisdictions on our website here.

Emmanuelle Inacio reports on the 19th R3 & INSOL Europe Joint International Restructuring Conference held in London on 3 July*. The event was again sold out, with 115 delegates participating enthusiastically and contributing views from a range of jurisdictions including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Sweden.

A highlight was the panel on Liability management exercises, chaired by INSOL Europe president Alice van der Schee (Partner of Van Benthem & Keulen, the Netherlands). 

Born in the US, LMEs are strategies used by companies to restructure their debt obligations outside formal restructuring proceedings where conventional refinancing is not feasible. LMEs include creditors exchanging existing debt with higher priority, transferring assets to secure new financing, or creating new structural priorities among creditors. In recent years, LMEs have become increasingly sophisticated and often controversial, as they are creative ways to avoid formal restructuring proceedings within the confines of their existing financial documents. 

Panellists Ian Partridge (Partner, AlixPartners, UK); James Simpson (Director, Lazard, UK) and the INSOL Europe member Prof. Omar Salah (Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, The Netherlands) gave a transatlantic perspective of the topic, highlighting that LMEs are here in Europe to stay, and therefore, should be part of the restructuring and insolvency practitioner toolkit!

Other features of the day were the enthusiastic networking and the engagement of delegates throughout the day.

The President of R3, Tom Russell (Partner of James Cowper Kreston, UK), highlighted that R3 will continue to work closely with INSOL Europe – as part of its strategy – to build a wider community.

Last but not least, our President Alice van der Schee reminded delegates that bridging regulatory and professionals is indispensable as well as bridging the UK flexibility and the EU certainty for the stakeholders protection.

R3 and INSOL Europe are already eager to run their 20th joint event next year!

* A detailed report can be read on our website here.