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Empty inner city in Thuringia: concern about the coming bankruptcy wave
Photo: Bodo Schackow / dpa-Zentralbild
It is a low despite the corona crisis: the German local courts reported 15,841 company bankruptcies for 2020.
That was 15.5 percent less than the year before, announced the Federal Statistical Office.
The reason for the low numbers is the suspension of the obligation to file for bankruptcy due to the pandemic.
According to the authority, it was the lowest level of company bankruptcies since the introduction of the bankruptcy code in 1999.
According to the statisticians, the obligation to submit an application for insolvent companies, which has been in effect again since October 2020, has so far only had a slight effect due to the processing time of the courts, among other things.
The obligation was suspended until the end of December for over-indebted companies.
This continues to apply until the end of April for those companies that are still pending the payment of the state aid planned since November 1st.
Usually, an application for bankruptcy must be filed no later than three weeks after a reason for bankruptcy such as over-indebtedness or insolvency has occurred.
Experts initially feared that the number of company bankruptcies would increase this year due to the corona crisis.
Most corporate bankruptcies in 2020 were in construction.
Both here and in the retail and hospitality sectors, however, the figures were well below the previous year's figures.
According to the information, more economically important companies filed for bankruptcy than in 2019. The headlines in particular were the spectacular bankruptcy of the financial services provider Wirecard.
Forecasts: The wave of bankruptcies may not come until 2022
According to the Association of Insolvency Administrators of Germany (VID), the expansion of short-time work benefits, state financial aid and the suspension of enforcement by tax authorities and health insurance companies also relieve the burden on companies.
"A change in the political framework will only be expected in the election year 2021 with the start of political work by the newly elected Bundestag and thus only at the turn of the year 2021/2022," said VID chairman Christoph Niering.
The credit insurer Euler Hermes also expects an increase in insolvencies in 2021 - but only from the second half of the year.
In the course of next year, the bankruptcies are likely to increase significantly more strongly with an increase of around 15 percent, according to Euler's forecast.
In contrast, the credit agency Crif Bürgel expects a wave of insolvencies in Germany as early as 2021 due to the corona pandemic.
The number of company bankruptcies could therefore more than double compared to the previous year.
ime / dpa / Reuters