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The court has decided to halt Liepajas metalurgs legal protection process and launch insolvency process against the company. Liepajas metalurgs legal protection administrator Haralds Velmers has been appointed the company's insolvency administrator.

As reported, Velmers' insolvency petition was submitted to the court on November 4.

If Liepajas metalurgs is declared insolvent, it will be placed under Velmers' supervision, eventually leading to a deed of sale in six months following the court's ruling.

Velmers told the Nozare.lv portal that the insolvency designation will "open new opportunities for the company itself, and – in the long run – a majority of its employees."

"Of course, preparing the company for sale will not be an easy process. The company's workers also need to know they may have certain problems, because the insolvency process will thoroughly consider how many workers should be left at Liepajas metalurgs to keep the company alive until an investor is found. My objective will be to find a buyer willing to renew production and development of the company," said Velmers, adding that this would mean that the laid off workers would be able to return to the company.

Liepajas metalurgs has halted production. In July, the State Treasury repaid from the state budget the principal amount of the loan owed to the Italian bank UniCredit by Liepajas metalurgs – EUR 67,465,056 or LVL 47,414,711.