DUE TO ACCUMULATED DEBTS: American company seizes Pančevo Azotara under executor’s order!

On February 25, a lien was registered on Pančevo Azotara due to debts of its current owner, allowing the factory to potentially be sold to settle the claim, according to APR (Business Registers Agency) data, as reported by Forbes Serbia.

The document published by APR on that day recorded the following change:

“A public executor’s decision from February 20 of this year and the ruling of the Commercial Court in Novi Sad from February 12, determining the enforcement proceedings, are registered, namely: seizure of shares, registration of a pledge on the shares, appraisal, sale, and initiation of enforcement proceedings for the sale of 100 percent of the debtor’s shares in the company HIP Azotara Pančevo.”

The debtor in this case is the Novi Sad-based company Promist LLC, the sole owner of Azotara, holding 100 percent of its shares. The ruling approved the registration of a pledge on the entire shareholding, based on a request from the Register of Pledged Rights.

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Who are the Americans

The Register of Pledged Rights shows that the pledge on Azotara was registered by Nitron Group LLC, a company registered in Delaware, USA. Nitron is the secured creditor, while Promist is the pledged debtor.

The amount of the claim leading to the enforcement order on the shares was $16.7 million, with February 12 as the date the debt became payable.

Court twist

However, the story took a turn the next day. On February 26, the same court accepted Promist’s appeal and annulled the previous decision, effectively removing the Americans’ pledge on Azotara, Forbes Serbia learned from reliable sources.

Publicly available data from the National Bank of Serbia shows that Promist’s account was blocked from February 19 to 26. The blocked amount was 1.66 billion dinars, corresponding to the debt owed to Nitron. As of now, the NBS site reports the blocked amount as 0 dinars. The court decision annulment appears to have lifted the account block.

Nitron declined to comment on the situation for Forbes but confirmed that the debt still exists and that a pledge on Azotara’s shares remains registered in APR. However, publicly available data indicate that the debt has increased to $23.5 million.

Court records show that Nitron initiated two parallel proceedings: one for 1.67 billion dinars ($16.7 million) and another for an additional 684.5 million dinars ($6.8 million). Both proceedings were started on February 3, and the court ruled in Nitron’s favor for both cases on February 12. Promist filed appeals for both decisions on February 25, and both were accepted the next day. APR only registered the first, larger claim.

Debts responsible for temporary loss of Azotara

According to available data, Azotara had a net profit of €6.3 million in 2024, up more than 230 percent compared to 2023. Promist, Azotara’s owner, reported a profit of €8.7 million, more than double the previous year.

However, Promist recently faced an account block, which lasted until February 25, amounting to 1.66 billion dinars, the exact sum owed to Nitron Group, a key supplier. Forbes Serbia requested comment from Danilo Tomašević, co-owner of Promist, who said he could not comment. Nitron Group confirmed only that the debt remains unpaid. The company trades in artificial fertilizers.

Legal framework

Under Serbian law, registering a pledge gives the creditor the right to satisfy claims from the sale of the pledged asset. If Promist fails to pay, Nitron would have been able to recover its debt by selling Azotara, returning any surplus to Promist. The law also requires the creditor to return any excess if the sale value exceeds the debt.

Owners of Azotara

Promist acquired Azotara in 2021 by purchasing the company in bankruptcy for €5.5 million. Azotara had been in bankruptcy for three years following proceedings initiated in 2018. After the acquisition, the company quickly returned to profitability, with 2024 profits exceeding the purchase price.

Promist, founded in 2002 and trading wholesale in chemical products, is owned by two individuals: Nebojša Petrić holds 80 percent, and Danilo Tomašević holds 20 percent.