Ostahie asks for 2m-euro VAT payments to be deferred by six months

Dan Ostahie, owner of home appliances and electronics retailer
Altex, which saw a 50% turnover fall to 180 million euros in 2009,
said he had requested the payment of VAT due for December, worth 9
million RON (around 2.2 million euros), to be postponed by six
months, having lodged a request to this effect with the fiscal
authorities. Altex is among the first companies to request a
postponement of VAT payment after this was made possible through an
Emergency Ordinance passed at the end of last year.
“Apart from VAT, the company has no other unpaid debts. The
extremely unfavourable conditions in January and the other factors
led to an unexpected volume of sales. We want to pay in the summer,
when the cash flow improves,” said Ostahie. Altex officials said
they had to pay 1.7 million RON in interest rates, which they would
pay in the coming period.
Altex expects this year’s business plan to be similar to last
year’s, focusing on cost cuts and financial restructuring. As for
the entire home appliances and electronics market, Altex expects
sales not to exceed 800 million euros, with the 1 billion-euro mark
to be reached only in two years’ time.