Bank Hapoalim Files for Insolvency Against Plastic Maker Starplast

Bank Hapoalim has filed a motion with the Nazareth District Court in Nof HaGalil seeking insolvency proceedings and the appointment of a trustee for Starplast, a 59-year-old plastic manufacturing company based in Afula. According to the court filing, the long-standing manufacturer owes the bank approximately 29.8 million shekels, following an interim agreement in July that saw a previous debt of about 38.6 million shekels partially settled.

Founded in 1967, Starplast specializes in manufacturing a wide variety of plastic consumer goods, including kitchenware, garden storage cabinets, and toolboxes, with the vast majority of its products exported to the United States and Europe through subsidiaries. However, local media reports revealed in May that the company fell into severe financial distress due to soaring raw material costs, the appreciation of the shekel eroding its export profitability, and European trade boycotts.

Under the legal petition, filed by attorney Amir Palmer, the bank stated that a temporary consent agreement signed with the manufacturer expired at the end of May. Although the company was required to resume regular debt servicing upon expiration, it failed to pay credit interest or repay loan principals as scheduled. In August, the bank issued a formal demand for immediate repayment within 21 business days, which went unanswered.

Furthermore, the bank noted that negotiations regarding an external investor failed to materialize into an acceptable offer, as the proposed terms suggested repaying only a negligible fraction of the outstanding debt. Bank Hapoalim emphasized that the company is clearly insolvent on both balance sheet and cash flow bases, with tens of millions of shekels in unpaid debts owed to other banking institutions and creditors. No judicial decision has been issued yet.