“It was a paradox of the pandemic. In times of the economic crisis, the number of bankruptcies fell significantly,” says Gerhard Weinhofer, managing director of the creditors’ protection association Creditreform. But since the summer there has been a kind of normalization again. The number of bankruptcies is rising again.
3,076 companies filed for bankruptcy in the previous year, 30 fewer than in 2020. Almost 1,000 were rejected for lack of assets. In Upper Austria the number fell from 295 to 262. In individual districts such as Rohrbach and Perg there were practically no bankruptcies. For comparison: in the years before the pandemic, an average of around 5,500 companies had to go to the bankruptcy court. Since the summer, it has been becoming apparent that this number should be approached again in 2022. This is also confirmed by a calculation by the Vienna University of Technology.
Especially small ones affected
The experts at Creditreform expect that small companies in particular will be the first to be affected by the greater risk of bankruptcy. This risk is not only increased by the consequences of the pandemic such as uncertainty in planning, but also by broken supply chains and the shortage of skilled workers. Larger companies would not immediately get into trouble as a result. This also confirms the assessment of the banks, which speak of an increase in insolvencies, but do not expect a large number of large bankruptcies in the foreseeable future.
It is possible that Upper Austria will not be affected quite as badly by an increase in bankruptcies. Because tourism companies in particular are at risk of bankruptcy if the uncertainty due to Corona continues. And Upper Austria has comparatively few tourism businesses.
There will also be an increase in personal bankruptcies. After the change in personal bankruptcy law with the option of being debt-free after just three years, some people filed for private bankruptcy after July 15th. In the previous year there were 7,657 debt settlement procedures for private individuals across Austria (a decrease of four percent), of which almost 1,000 were in Upper Austria.
Weinhofer expects around 9,000 proceedings this year. “The price increases hit poorer classes hardest. The risk of insolvency increases accordingly,” says Weinhofer.
Source: Nachrichten
