Less companies want to attend the For Arch construction fair than last year

Prague - For this year's construction fair For Arch in Prague-Letňany, 760 exhibitors have so far registered, which is about one-fifth fewer than the number of participants in 2009. The area where the builders will exhibit is also smaller so far. The data on this year's edition was published today by ABF, the company organizing the fair. The event is set to take place from September 21 to 25.
    Construction companies have so far rented around 18,000 square meters of exhibition space at the fair, while last year it was 21,650 square meters. Companies from 17 countries have registered so far, including the USA, India, Egypt, Pakistan, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
    ABF is preparing For Arch 2010, even though it is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings. The insolvency proposal was submitted against ABF by Terinvest. Together, ABF managed the exhibition area PVA in Prague's Letňany. Terinvest stated in the proposal that ABF owes it 3.3 million crowns including interest for unpaid work and services related to the preparation of the fairs. The company PVA Service allegedly owes ABF another approximately 17.9 million crowns for services during the fairs and for renting non-residential premises.
    The board of ABF "strongly rejected" the insolvency proposal. On the contrary, Terinvest allegedly owes ABF 35 million crowns, as previously stated by the chairman of the ABF board, Pavel Sehnal. "The board of ABF declares with full responsibility that the company ABF is being properly managed, has been profitably operating for the last five years, and is in good economic and financial condition," said the company's head. The board considers the insolvency proposal to be "harassing" and intends to seek "satisfactory compensation" in accordance with the law.