Crisis clouds force Xolar into bankruptcy
An Upper Austrian producer of solar collectors has gone bust, it emerged today (Mon).The Austrian Creditors Protection Association (KSV 1870) said Eberstalzell-based Xolar had debts of nearly four million Euros. KSV 1870 added that 74 employees and 100 creditors were affected.Xolar was taken over by Upper Austrian Greiner Group (Greiner Technology & Innovation, GTI) last month.The vast majority of customers of Xolar, which produces and sets up solar arrays, are individual clients and businesses in Austria and Germany.KSV 1870 said the firm suffered a 35 per cent decline in turnover due to a fewer private investments into eco-friendly energy technologies during the economic crisis which started around two and a half years ago.The authority added that Xolars business activities were also affected by the cutback of subsidies for modern electricity generation products in Germany.GTI boss Hannes Möseneder said he planned to keep Xolar alive. Möseneder promised that all orders will be carried out in time. “We guarantee on-time production and delivery of all assignments to the expected high quality,” he said today.A court in Wels will try to find out in April whether Xolar can get its finances in order and continue doing business.The number of business bankruptcies in Austria dropped by 7.6 per cent year on year in 2010 when fewer than 6,400 companies went bust. Around 23,600 employees were affected by last years 6,366 insolvencies.