317 million in liabilities

Company bankruptcies increased moderately in Salzburg

The reasons vary, the liabilities are high. 211 companies have already slipped into insolvency in Salzburg in the first three quarters. Credit protection experts have noted an alarming increase in cases where creditors are left empty-handed.

Recession, geopolitical risks and other reasons were cited by Salzburg companies that have become insolvent in Salzburg since the beginning of the year. According to the KSV1870 credit protection association, the number of bankruptcies in the first three quarters amounted to 244, which the Salzburg regional manager describes as a moderate increase of 15.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The number of cases before the coronavirus pandemic (219, 366 cases) is not expected to be reached this year. KSV1870 in Salzburg has noticed an alarming trend in the number of bankruptcy cases pending in court that were not even opened. Across Austria, this recently affected one in three cases, but in Salzburg it affected 39 percent of bankruptcies.

Verification not possible in many cases
"That's an increase of 20 percent. The causes of insolvency and the business management, including the associated responsibility, are not checked," says regional director Aliki Bellou. In these cases, creditors are left empty-handed, criticizes the credit protector.

With total liabilities of around 180 million euros, the Windhager Group was the largest company bankruptcy in the province of Salzburg this year. It was followed by Weiss GmbH and Haas und Sohn Ofentechnik GmbH with liabilities of 14.8 and 11.5 million euros respectively.

Insolvency drivers this year were trade, construction and tourism/catering.