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         T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                                       E U R O P E

                    Monday, April 23, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 79


                                         Headlines

* B E L G I U M *

FLV FUND: Portfolio Company Under Bankruptcy Protection

* B U L G A R I A *

BALKAN AIRLINES: Bankrupt Airline to Fly Again in May

* C Z E C H   R E P U B L I C *

CESKE ENERGETICKE: Ex-Chiefs Face Probe

* G E R M A N Y *

DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG: To Extend Links With Mitsubishi
EM.TV: 600 Million Deutsche Mark Loss Is Pure Speculation
SUNBURST MERCHANDISING: Applies for Insolvency
TELDAFAX AG: Reaches Injunction Against DT

* I R E L A N D *

EIRCOM PLC: O'Brien Faces Bid Pressures
EIRCOM PLC: Shareholders Face Two Decisions

* N E T H E R L A N D S *

UNITED PAN-EUROPE: Moody's Downgrades Rating to Caa1
VERSATEL TELECOM: Expects Slowdown in Sales

* R U S S I A *

MEDIA-MOST: Gusinsky Will Not Be Extradited
NTV: Gusinsky to Sell Stake

* S P A I N *

AMPER S.A.: Fails to Find Buyer

* S W I T Z E R L A N D *

SAIRGROUP: Corti to Come Up With Quick Fix Option
SAIRGROUP: Decision to Stop AOM/Air Liberte Funding Unlawful

* U N I T E D   K I N G D O M *

BREATHE.COM: For Sale Again
CAMMELL LAIRD: Subsidiary to Continue Trading
CAMMELL LAIRD: Unveils Buy-Out Plan
CHESTER STREET: MPs Condemn Directors for Causing Bankruptcy
CORUS GROUP: Faces Pressure Over Job Cuts
HUNTINGDON LIFE: Stockbroker Stops Holding Shares in Huntingdon
HUNTINGDON LIFE: Sues Animal Rights Activists
MARKS & SPENCER: In Talks to Sell Euro-Stores


=============
B E L G I U M
=============


FLV FUND: Portfolio Company Under Bankruptcy Protection
-------------------------------------------------------

Venture capital firm FLV Fund, which has had close links to
troubled speech technology company Lernout & Hauspie, said on
Thursday in an Easdaq press release that one of the companies in
its portfolio, Hogadata Corp, has been granted bankruptcy
protection from creditors.

The Commercial Court of Antwerp granted Hogadata bankruptcy
protection and a provisional six-month suspension of payments.

According to FLV, the grant would have no effect on FLV Fund
because it had already written off its full participation in the
Hogadata group (shares and loans) for a total amount of US$3.7
million in the fourth quarter of 2000.


===============
B U L G A R I A
===============


BALKAN AIRLINES: Bankrupt Airline to Fly Again in May
-----------------------------------------------------

The receivers and a committee of more than 200 creditors of
bankrupt Balkan airline have decided that the company should
resume flights to Dubai and London in May, Agence France-Presse
in its April 17 edition reported.

Balkan went into receivership with debts of millions of dollars
after its main creditors, including insurance company Bulstrad
and the International Air Transport Association, launched legal
action to have it declared bankrupt.

The obsolete Russian craft Tupolev-154 will service the flights
to Dubai and London. All the company's Boeing craft were lost
after the firm's lessors decided to recover their machines in
February.


===========================
C Z E C H   R E P U B L I C
============================


CESKE ENERGETICKE: Ex-Chiefs Face Probe
----------------------------------------

Power producer Ceske Energeticke Zavody has called for a criminal
investigation of former Chairman Theodor Dvorak and former Chief
Executive Stanislav Svoboda after an audit suggested they might
have damaged company interests, Reuters in its April 19 report
said.

"The filing was made on the basis of a forensic audit, conducted
by Deloitte and Touche, which was ordered by the new board of
directors and supervisory board of CEZ elected at general meeting
on July 4, 2000," CEZ said in a statement.

According to Dvorak, the allegations were unfounded and it was
hard to believe the call for investigation was made. Svoboda, on
the other hand, was not immediately available for comment.


=============
G E R M A N Y
=============


DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG: To Extend Links With Mitsubishi
---------------------------------------------------

DaimlerChrysler will shortly begin detailed talks with Mitsubishi
Motors on extending their alliance to include commercial
vehicles, the Financial Times in its April 18 edition reported.

MMC chief operating officer Rolf Eckrodt said it made sense to
look at the advantages that could be gleaned from scale and the
distribution network of the two car and truck makers.

He also indicated that MMC was reviewing its procurement system
and looking at sharing future vehicle platforms with
DaimlerChrysler, the Times added.


EM.TV: 600 Million Deutsche Mark Loss Is Pure Speculation
---------------------------------------------------------

EM.TV & Merchandising AG, as reported in the April 18 edition of
AFX, said that a report in Der Spiegel that the company will post
a full year loss of up to 600 million dm is pure speculation
since they don't have the figures yet.

At the end of last year, the media company said it expected a
full-year EBIT profit of roughly 50 million dm. It does not take
into account goodwill write-offs from the acquisitions of
TeleMuenchenGruppe, Jim Henson Company and 50 pct of Formula 1.

EM.TV has been given an extension to file its full year results
up to one month after Deutsche Boerse AG's March 30 deadline.


SUNBURST MERCHANDISING: Applies for Insolvency
----------------------------------------------

Sunburst Merchandising AG announced that the company applied for
insolvency proceedings at the district court in Osnabrueck as a
result of imminent insolvency, according to the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange in its April 18 press release.

However, the company intends to continue its trading with the aid
of an insolvency plan.


TELDAFAX AG: Reaches Injunction Against DT
------------------------------------------

TelDaFax has won a temporary injunction at the responsible
district court in Cologne, regaining access to Deutsche Telekom's
networks, Frankfurt Stock Exchange's April 19 press release said.

This interim injunction forces Deutsche Telekom AG to immediately
connect the network of TelDaFax AG to her network.


=============
I R E L A N D
=============


EIRCOM PLC: O'Brien Faces Bid Pressures
---------------------------------------

The union Employee Share Ownership Trust at Eircom have told the
eIsland consortium led by Denis O'Brien they will only support
his bid for the company if they can more than double their 15%
shareholding, according to The Irish Times in its Friday's
report.

O'Brien, who wants to buy the rump of Eircom following the sale
of mobile division Eircell to Vodafone next month, has indicated
that he is prepared to pay 2.2 billion euro for the remaining
non-mobile businesses.

EIsland needs the support of shareholders controlling 80% of the
company before it can acquire the outstanding shares and take the
company private. The consortium is expected to decide within the
next few weeks whether to proceed with a bid. Once it has
declared its hand, a rival group headed by Dermot Desmond is
expected to make its intentions known.


EIRCOM PLC: Shareholders Face Two Decisions
-------------------------------------------

Eircom shareholders have two decisions to make whether they want
the mobile phone subsidiary Eircell to be demerged from the
parent Eircom, or sell the demerged entity to the UK phone giant
Vodafone, according to The Irish Times' Friday edition.

At an extraordinary general meeting on May 11, shareholders will
be asked to vote on a proposal that Eircell be demerged from
Eircom. The purpose of the proposed demerger is to restructure
the business so that Eircell can be sold off to Vodafone.

However, the Vodafone offer cannot proceed unless the demerger
has taken place. This demerger involves the spin-off of the
Eircell business into a new company to be called Eircell 2000.
Vodafone would then acquire Eircell 2000.


=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================


UNITED PAN-EUROPE: Moody's Downgrades Rating to Caa1
----------------------------------------------------

Moody's Investors Service has on April 19 lowered the debt
ratings for broadband communication services provider United Pan-
Europe Communications (UPC) and its subsidiaries, taking the
former B2 and Ba3 ratings for the company's senior unsecured
notes and guaranteed senior secured bank debt to Caa1 and B1,
respectively. The company's senior implied rating is B2. The
senior unsecured issuer rating for UPC is Caa1. The outlook for
all ratings is negative.

The downgrades broadly reflect the company's very high financial
leverage and debt service costs, heightened concerns about the
company's liquidity needs post-2002 and the likely sources of
financing for anticipated shortfalls, the very large requisite
growth in operating performance that needs to be realized in
order to demonstrate some ability to service the company's debt
obligations, and generally diminished recovery prospects in a
downside scenario.

The ratings also continue to reflect significant execution risk
and capital expenditure requirements as the company furthers its
network upgrades and introduces new services across a widely
dispersed subscriber base, structural issues with respect to the
company's corporate organization and consolidated capitalization,
with particular reference to the large and growing layer of still
reasonably well-protected bank debt, and broad-based country
risks related to the company's multinational operations,
including potentially adverse currency exchange, local economic,
competitive, political and regulatory conditions.

The negative outlook further incorporates the prospect of the
company being unsuccessful at essentially executing flawlessly in
all respects over the extended rating horizon, and the
incremental ensuing pressure on its debt ratings that might
result therefrom.

Moody's remains concerned about the adequacy of UPC's liquidity
position beyond the 2002 time period, however, when a
considerable funding gap may well remain, particularly if the
company falls short of its much more aggressive revenue forecasts
for the ensuing period and in advance of when its substantial
debt service costs mount as discount notes reach fully-accreted
levels and begin to cash-pay their interest costs.

Moody's further cautions that UPC's liquidity estimates also
incorporate the ability of the company to draw-down substantial
incremental amounts under their bank facilities, which remain
subject to availability tests, as well as the successful off-
loading of fairly substantial ongoing costs and cash needs for
its Priority Telecom CLEC and media/Chello businesses, in what
may continue to be a very unfavorable capital market environment.


VERSATEL TELECOM: Expects Slowdown in Sales
-------------------------------------------

Telecommunications company VersaTel Telecom International NV said
it expects to see sales slow along with the wider economy in the
second half of 2001, Dow Jones in its April 18 edition reported,
citing head of investor relations Mark Lazar.

He said the impact on the company's earnings would not be extreme
since demand for telecommunications is relatively inelastic.

Meanwhile, VersaTel has posted a net loss of 421.3 million euro
in 2000, up from 197.9 million euro in 1999. It will issue its
first quarter results on May 8.


===========
R U S S I A
===========


MEDIA-MOST: Gusinsky Will Not Be Extradited
-------------------------------------------

Media-MOST chief executive Vladimir Gusinsky, accused of
embezzling US$250 million, has escaped extradition to Russia
after a court ruled against Moscow's request for his return, AFX
in its April 18 edition reported.

Spanish public prosecutors have left to appeal the decision on
behalf of Russian authorities.

Pending this latest ruling, Gusinsky has been living under house
arrest in the south of the country on bail set at US$5.4 million.


NTV: Gusinsky to Sell Stake
---------------------------

Vladimir Gusinsky, former owner of NTV, said he is planning to
sell his stake in the station after state-dominated gas company
OAO Gazprom took over the Russian television network and most of
its best-known journalists left in protest, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Friday.

"For me, it's obvious that after the departure of most of the
journalists who formed the face of the channel, NTV no longer has
any attraction for me," Gusinsky told Ekho Moskvy, a radio
station owned by Media-Most.

Gusinsky would continue to hold stakes in Ekho Moskvy, Itogi,
satellite TV station NTV+ and cable network TNT, among others,
even after the sale of his NTV stake, WSJ added.


=========
S P A I N
=========


AMPER S.A.: Fails to Find Buyer
-------------------------------

Troubled telecommunications company Amper has failed to find a
buyer for up to 24% of its stake, Dow Jones in its April 18
edition reported. All prospective buyers decided the price was
too high.


=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================


SAIRGROUP: Corti to Come Up With Quick Fix Option
-------------------------------------------------

Aviation conglomerate SAirGroup on Wednesday could face a long,
rebellious general meeting as shareholders try to find out what
happened and who is to blame in its worst result in its 70 year
history, unless chairman Mario Corti can come up with a quick
fix, Reuters in its April 18 report said.

Corti planned to make the general meeting the launching pad for
an outline of the new Swissair Group. He is expected to announce
a decision on the future of its three French airlines.

He could also announce that SAirGroup will accept a special audit
for the past few years and delay a vote over the so-called legal
discharge for the supervisory board members, the news agency
added.


SAIRGROUP: Decision to Stop AOM/Air Liberte Funding Unlawful
------------------------------------------------------------

The decision by AOM and Air Liberte's majority shareholder
Taitbout Antibes of not to continue funding the airlines is
incompatible with current European Community legislation, AFX in
its April 19 edition said, citing France's Transport Minister
Jean-Claude Gayssot.

Taitbout Antibes, a unit of Marine-Wendel, owns a 50.5% stake in
AOM and Air Liberte, while SAirGroup holds 49.5%.

At the beginning of April, Marine-Wendel said it only had a
financial role in AOM and Air Liberte, and said it would no
longer fund operations at the loss-making airlines. SAirGroup had
also said it would no longer fund the airlines a few days
earlier.


===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================


BREATHE.COM: For Sale Again
---------------------------

Internet service provider (ISP) breathe.com is up for sale again,
Net Imperative in its April 18 edition reported.

This long-awaited sell-off follows retailer Great Universal
Stores' revelation in March that after they bought breath.com
from administrator PriceWaterhouseCoopers for 1.4 million pounds
in January, they were only interested in tapping the ISP's
technology, particularly its wireless access, for its own
interactive shopping service, Argos Anywhere.
  
Italian ISP Tiscali is likely to be an interested party. Tiscali
is also understood to have approached various other ISPs with a
view to acquisition.


CAMMELL LAIRD: Subsidiary to Continue Trading
---------------------------------------------

Following the announcement by marine services company UK Cammell
Laird Holdings PLC to appoint a receiver at holding company
Cammell Laird Group PLC, Cammell Laird (Gibraltar) stated that it
will continue to do business as usual and is therefore not in
receivership, Tax-News.com in its April 17 edition reported.

However, the liquidators have the power to dispose the Gibraltar
asset as they choose in the interests of the bank appointing
them.

It depends now on considerations such as where the cash is at the
moment of receivership. If the central treasury of Cammell Laird
was doing its job, there won't be much more than a short-term
working balance in Gibraltar's bank account. It is also possible
that the Group used the Gibraltar subsidiary for tax purposes to
book contracts.


CAMMELL LAIRD: Unveils Buy-Out Plan
-----------------------------------

Edward Klempka, a joint-receiver from Price Waterhouse Coopers,
said that they have had initial interest from a management buy-
out team, while two other parties have made approaches for
various bits of Cammell Laird, according to The Daily Telegraph'
April 18 edition. He declined to elaborate.

Cammell chairman Juan Kelly and acting chief executive Jon
Schofield are leading the management team.

Last week, the shipbuilder failed to make its first coupon
payment of 7.5 million euro to its bondholders, prompting credit
rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade its debt to D.


CHESTER STREET: MPs Condemn Directors for Causing Bankruptcy
------------------------------------------------------------

Members of Parliament have condemned the directors of insurance
firm Chester Street for causing it to go bankrupt earlier this
year and have demanded an inquiry into the events surround the
company's insolvency, which could leave asbestos victims without
their compensation payments, according to AFX in its April 19
report.

Chester Street, formerly known as Iron Trades, insured many of
the industries where asbestos exposure was common in the 60s and
70s. The company was left with just 200 million sterling when it
became insolvent in January. Compensation payments were also
stopped.

Labor MP Tony Worthington demanded to know why the company was
sold to Australia's QBE Insurance Ltd in 2000 for 175 million
sterling, 47.5 million sterling less than its book value when
that extra money could be used to pay claims.

Moreover, the Financial Services Authority was criticized for
approving the company's restructuring.


CORUS GROUP: Faces Pressure Over Job Cuts
-----------------------------------------

Steelmaker Corus said market conditions continued to be difficult
in terms of demand, pricing pressure and the weakness of the euro
as it faced unrest from European workers over mass job cuts,
Reuters in its April 19 edition reported.

The ISTC steel union, representing around 80% of Corus' UK
workers, said it had contacted Corus Dutch workers on holding a
possible joint industrial action related to the company's large-
scale redundancy program.

ISTC condemned Corus for not considering its plans to limit the
number of UK job cuts, the news agency added.


HUNTINGDON LIFE: Stockbroker Stops Holding Shares in Huntingdon
---------------------------------------------------------------

Stockbroker TD Waterhouse said it would stop holding shares in
drug testing group Huntingdon Life Sciences after pressure from
animal rights protesters, the Financial Times reported on
Wednesday.

The move comes as animal rights activist group Stop Huntingdon
Animal Cruelty began a campaign against Yamanouchi, despite the
Japanese pharmaceutical company's denial of any link with HLS.

TD Waterhouse is believed to hold a stake of less than 1% in HLS
in the nominee accounts, which enable investors to remain
anonymous.


HUNTINGDON LIFE: Sues Animal Rights Activists
---------------------------------------------

Huntingdon Life Sciences Group plc, one of the world's leading
Contract Research Organizations providing product development
services to the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and biotechnology
industries, announced on April 19 that its US subsidiary
Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc. has joined in the filing of a
lawsuit against various animal rights organizations and
affiliated individuals in response to the defendants' unlawful
campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment directed at
the company and Stephens Group of Little Rock Arkansas, one of
the company's significant shareholders, Business Wire reported.

The action, pending in the United States District Court for the
District of New Jersey, was originally filed by Stephens Group,
and its wholly owned investment banking subsidiary, Stephens Inc.

The Amended Complaint asserts claims under the Civil Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organization Statute (RICO) of the United
States and the State of New Jersey and cited conduct including
physical attacks on individual employees, death threats, bomb
threats, destruction of property, burglary, harassment and
intimidation. The Amended Complaint also asserts claims for
interference with contractual relations and economic advantage.

The complaint names as defendants Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
(SHAC), Voices for Animals, Animal Defense League, In Defense of
Animals, and certain individuals. The suit requests injunctive
relief to stop the defendants and those acting in concert with
them from engaging in acts and threats of force, violence and
intimidation directed at Huntingdon, Stephens, and their
respective employees, customers, shareholders and investors. It
also seeks an award of monetary damages for losses incurred as a
result of the defendants' unlawful conduct.

"This suit represents a next step in the Company's initiatives to
reign in the campaign of a small band of animal rights extremists
who are seeking to destroy our company and undermine the fields
of scientific discovery which rely on the company's crucial work.
Unlike the activists, who defy the law to terrorize people and
entities to bow to their demands, we will seek proper redress in
the US legal system," Huntingdon executive chairman Andrew Baker
said.

HLS filed a similar RICO lawsuit in 1997 against People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals and certain affiliated individuals.
That lawsuit resulted in the defendants entering into a
settlement agreement in which they agreed to give up their
campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc.


MARKS & SPENCER: In Talks to Sell Euro-Stores
---------------------------------------------

Marks & Spencer is in talks with a variety of companies that want
to acquire parts of the pan-European retail operations it plans
to close, according to Namnews' April 19 edition.

Property agent Healey & Baker was appointed by M&S to value and
find buyers for 36 stores, including 18 in France, nine in Spain
and four in Belgium. Savills has been appointed to handle
disposal of the two stores in Germany.




       S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter -- Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ
USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC USA. Kimberly MacAdam,
Salve M. Mordeno and Cristina Pernites, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
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