Court declares insolvency of the Commercial Association of the District of Évora

The Commercial Association of the District of Évora (ACDE), which has been in existence for almost 135 years, was declared insolvent by the court, after having filed this request in court due to financial difficulties.

The insolvency notice indicates that the Judicial Court of the District of Évora declared ACDE insolvent last Friday. According to the notice, dated Monday, Sandro de Oliveira Martins was appointed as insolvency administrator and the deadline for claiming credits was set at 30 days.

In the insolvency application, two banks, a former employee, the Social Security Institute and the Agency for Development and Cohesion were identified as creditors.

The president of the ACDE administrative committee, created after the resignation of the last elected board at the beginning of this year, indicated that the insolvency request is the result of the association's financial difficulties.

“Knowing the history of ACDE, that revenues were not sufficient to cover expenses, and there were not enough projects and associates to pay bills, it was decided at the general meeting to file for insolvency,” said Sandra Dourado, quoted by the Lusa news agency.

The person in charge highlighted that the Covid-19 pandemic also contributed to this outcome, making it difficult for companies to participate in ACDE projects, which forced the association to return support funds granted.

Asked whether she still believes in the recovery of ACDE, the president of the association's administrative committee was categorical: “No, it is the end of the commercial association”.

“Commerce is very different, we have big brand stores that don’t need an association for anything and traditional commerce is very old and there are no new stores opening that need an association”, he said, adding that “there are other associations in the district that offer services” like those offered by ACDE.

Founded on July 20, 1890, almost 135 years ago, ACDE had around a thousand members in the Évora district, distributed across the commerce, tourism and services sectors. In 2001, by order, it was declared an Institution of Public Utility.