The La Liga club, which has debts of more than 500 million euros and made a loss of 70 million last season, used the cash to build a stake of 72.5 percent via a capital increase to try and stabilise their finances.
They had to suspend work on a new stadium and Llorente told As newspaper he expected a further loss of between 35 and 40 million euros this term.
"Without the intervention of the regional government we would have defaulted on our payments or been relegated to the Segunda B (third tier)," Llorente said.
"We need to start playing (in the new stadium) as soon as possible," he added. "It will have a capacity of 70,000, which will boost our income and free up the current stadium, making it easier to sell."
Llorente's strategy to turn the club's fortunes around involves encouraging fans to invest and he told As Valencia was rich in assets, with two stadiums, two training facilities and a squad that was "the envy of the world".
"It's nice and popular to say you won't sell (players) but there is a difficult road ahead," he said. "You can always sell star players and remain competitive."
