Faced with the prospect of bankruptcy, Greek supermarket chain Marinopoulos has filed for protection from its creditors in a bid to avoid confiscations.

According to Kathimerini, the retailer, which now carries a debt of €1.324 billion euros to its name, filed the application on Tuesday, with the case scheduled to be heard today.

To avoid bankruptcy however, all parties involved with the chain must work towards streamlining it and reach an agreement by some stage this month.

Until the court ruling, Marinopoulos has temporary protection, however in the instance that their application is rejected the repercussions will be grave with over 12,000 employees set to find themselves unemployed, and over 2,000 suppliers and creditors losing out financially.

Implementing the provisions of Article 99 however, will be examined by the court in September and will not include the agreement to streamline the chain, given that all stakeholders have yet to come to an agreement about its future sustainability.

The worst case scenario is predicted to lead to the sale of all assets, which Tuesday’s application revealed to be €279.14 million euros.

Aside from those who face losing their jobs, it is the small and medium suppliers that will get the rawest end of the deal, expected to receive only €36.78 million euros out of a total €722.78 million euros that they are owed. The state however will be reinstated all its dues, and the banks 93.46 per cent.