TALLINN — The billion-krooni bankruptcy of the Kolle building company, the second biggest in Estonian history, is leaving a string of creditors reeling with massive losses.

The company has no assets other than its office building in Tallinn.

Some 23 creditors including Swedbank and SEB Bank are owed between 850 million krooni and 1 billion krooni (€54-64 million) collectively, most of which has been written off as losses.

Swedbank had around 60 million krooni from its pension funds invested into Kolle and SEB bank had invested between 20-30 million krooni, daily business paper Äripäev reported.

The paper reported that bonds in the company that were worth 11.7 million krooni at the end of 2008 were worth 85 percent less by the time the company declared bankruptcy.

The company’s website was taken down and company director Igor Geller cannot be contacted.

Kolle’s biggest creditors are Nordea Bank Finland Latvian branch and Sampo bank.

As well as investment funds, several wealthy Estonian individuals lost money.

Äripäev reported that Andres Hermet, a bankruptcy trustee representing two creditors said at the creditors’ meeting that creditors who don’t have security, have no hope in getting anything.

Kolle has many subsidiaries, but they are worthless in comparison to the debt owed. Kolle’s case is unique since there are nine banks in the bankruptcy process, Hermet said.

“There hasn’t been a process which has so many banks,” he said adding that over-investing has been blamed for the blunder.

The move will leave the banks red faced with Swedbank already in hot water from its third quarter results where is lost significant money from its Private Debt Fund, which is intertwined with its pension funds. The bank is restoring the value of the funds from profits.