On the occasion of Romania's presidency of the EU Council, Bucharest, Romania, hosted four high-level meetings last week on investing, capital and financial markets, corporate governance as well as the role and rights of minority shareholders. At the organizers' invitation, the high-profile meetings and conferences were also attended by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič. Besides the annual meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance), during the three days Mr. Verbič also attended the 23rd "European Corporate Governance Conference" – organized by Ernst & Young and the Romanian Independent Directors Association, as a member of the European Confederation of Directors Associations ecoDa – the meeting of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) and the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) as well as the eminent "EUROFI High Level Seminar 2019" and their traditional gala dinner.

On Wednesday, the Chairperson of the National Council Mr. Alojz Kovšca and his expert associates received the VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič. The focus of their meeting was the bill of the Act on Judicial Relief Granted to Former Holders of Qualified Bank Credit (ZPSVIKOB), prepared by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia. Mr. Verbič took the opportunity to present the comments on the new bill, which were drafted by the VZMD, and expressed the hope that the National Council will continue its constructive and proactive approach in addressing the issue of  expropriated investors in Slovenian banks and participation in the pertaining legislative procedure intended to remedy the resulting unconstitutionality. This is particularly important in light of the downright scandalous Bill of the Ministry of Finance, which, given the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia (VIDEO), additionally aggravates the proven unconstitutionality!

This year's 3rd tour of the international business-investor programs investo.si and investo.international kick-started last week with a visit to Moscow. As part of the tour, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, VZMD President also visited Istanbul, Luxembourg and Brussels. In Moscow, Mr. Verbič participated in several meetings scheduled at the eminent Gaidar Forum, at which he actively participated in January. The meetings were characterized by efforts towards strengthening business and investment cooperation between Slovenia and Russia, also in light of the planned visit from the Prime Minister Šarec to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Medvedjev. 

Yesterday, the annual meeting and celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation for Sustainable Peace and Development (IFSPD), an influential international organization, bringing together 36 member countries mostly from the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and South-East Europe region, has concluded in Istanbul. Mr. Kristjan Verbič, President of the VZMD, joined the important event as part of this year’s 3rd tour of the international business-investor programs investo.si and investo.international, immediately after concluding his business meetings in Moscow.

The actions of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Andrej Bertoncelj, who convened a press conference regarding "the tax reform" and thus caused panic and general uncertainty among shareholders, investors and savers in mutual funds, have been met with serious concerns and consternation at the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD). The barrage of calls directed at the VZMD is definitely a clear sign that the thoughtless statements by Mr. Bertoncelj – not supported by an adequate big picture, publication of a bill or any other relevant document – have caused alarming and perilous uncertainty, and even partly panic, which may particularly seriously affect the already fragile Slovenian capital market as well as securities prices and mutual funds!

Last week, Madrid hosted the "World law Congress" - 26th Biennial Congress of the World Jurist Association (WJA) – under the topical title "Constitution, democracy and freedom. The rule of law, guarantor of freedom". The central congress program and other related events were attended by over 2,000 prominent international attendees and prominent guests, presidents, decision-makers, judges, attorneys and influential jurists from over 130 countries. At the invitation of Mr. Javier Cremades García, President of the World Law Congress, the PanSlovenian Investors’ & Shareholders’ Association (VZMD) President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also attended the event, and was the only speaker from Slovenia, alongside with the former President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Danilo Türk.

On Friday, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia published the new bill of the Act on Judicial Relief Granted to Former Holders of Qualified Bank Credit (ZPSVIKOB), which is supposed to remedy the established unconstitutionality of the Banking Act (ZBan-1L) that served as the foundation for the expropriation of shareholders and bondholders (»bail-in«) of Slovenian banks in 2013 and 2014. As they have several times before, the VZMD will thoroughly examine the new bill and present reasoned comments and suggestions in the days to follow.

This month's execution of the agreement finalized the long-lasting, almost a year long endeavors and negotiations to jointly sell the shares of M1, d.d. – the former authorized investment company (PID) which also owns DZS, d.d., and Podjetniški center CVETLIČARNA, d.d. The VZMD conducted these delicate negotiations on behalf of 592 minority shareholders of the company with respect to the Shareholder agreement and the "Share SUPPORT" program (VIDEO). While the share quote stood at EUR 0.60 per share, and had previously varied between EUR 0.30 and EUR 0.50 until the second half of 2017, the VZMD managed to reach the selling price of EUR 1.10 per share for the selling block, which currently comprises 61,528 shares (1.57% of all shares). 

The grand opening of the first regional World Business Angels Investment Forum office (WBAF) in the EU took place in Zagreb, Croatia, this week. The event saw participation from the most important representatives of the Croatian authorities and business sphere, and other important representatives from the region and beyond.

Today, the VZMD published "A detailed presentation of the development of proceedings and negotiations with the main shareholder as well as the technical basis regarding the adequacy of the monetary compensation in the process of exclusion of minority shareholders of ACH d.d." The document is a summarized overview of extensive documentation (over 400 pages) and shows that the adequate remuneration should amount to at least EUR 180.70 per share, which is by 117.70% higher than the offered remuneration to the 251 minority shareholders, which was meager EUR 83.00. The VZMD proved these statements with independent expert analyses, which glaringly show that the appraisal of key ACH d.d. investments – investment of 99.72% of ADRIA MOBIL d.o.o. capital, 75.32% of UNION HOTELS d.d. capital and 100% of AVTO TRIGLAV d.o.o. capital – has not even remotely taken into account the actual economic and financial situation of these companies on the squeeze-out date.