Judge Gerardo Santicchia has disregarded the bankruptcy plea of printing company Donnelley Argentina, ruling that workers could keep running the business as part of the MadyGraf co-operative formed after the company closed down the Garín plant in Buenos Aires province.
Donnelley had closed its Argentine operations with immediate effect on August 11, leaving 400 employees out of work.
The ruling upheld a request from the Federal Public Incomes Administration (AFIP) tax bureau who on August 14 – just three days after the Argentine branch of US-based printing giants Donnelley had declared bankruptcy – asked the courts to annul the plea on the grounds that it was fraudulent.
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also referenced the case, suggesting that the owners of the firm were related to the ‘vulture funds’ currently fighting a legal battle with Argentina in New York.
According to an AFIP statement, the workers will be obliged to pay a fee for receiving the enterprise, as well as «complying with all essential requisites related to operations.»
These requisites include the purchase and payment of insurance against fire and other property damage, as well as covering employees against workplace accidents. The AFIP assured that the co-operative will also be expected to meet tax requirements and maintain up to date the applicable provincial and national permits to operate in the sector.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald