Štecko denies Austrian debt problems

The founder Medusa, Slovakia's largest restaurant group has rejected media reports claiming that he's filed for bankruptcy in Austria and closed two restaurants in Vienna because of debts of €5.5m. Peter Štecko said that an article published by kurier.at was highly misleading. He told Hospodarske noviny that the vast majority of his Austrian branch's debt is owed to companies within the Medusa group. "The real level liabilities to our suppliers is €150,000 and it's covered by cash on accounts and by the value of property which we have set aside according to Austrian regulations." Štecko said the only reason his two restaurants had to close was because of ongoing reconstruction work on Neuer Markt square connected with the construction of underground garages. "We tried for a long time but unfortunately without success to find an acceptable agreement with the landlord. Because of the character of the lease, the only legal solution was to file for insolvency."