Diverta CEO: It became impossible for us to pay our suppliers

Diverta, a major book retailer, together with Humanitas and Carturesti bookstores, has ended up filing for insolvency this year, though in 2009 it cut the number of employees by 40%, wages by 45% and renegotiated all the rents paid by stores in shopping centres. With debts to suppliers and shopping centres topping 10m euros and investment loans of 8.5m euros, Diverta bookstore chain controlled by businessman Octavian Radu is ready for reorganisation with a view to paying its debts. “It was our only way out. Problems started emerging in August 2008, the first month when the company’s sales stagnated, which we hadn’t expected,” stated Amalia Buliga, 29, the new general manager of Diverta, who took the reins of the operations last month. Diverta currently operates 62 stores domestically with a total area of 24,000 square metres. “It became impossible for us to pay our suppliers. Those for whom we secured 5-10% of total turnover understood the situation we were going through, but smaller suppliers wanted to have our companied declared insolvent,” Buliga says. “We’re now trying to pile up cash, but I don’t believe we will manage to start paying our debts earlier than September, December (…),” the Diverta official said.