At the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) last Tuesday the founding meeting of the Slovenian-Ukrainian business council and meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Mr Leonid Kozhara, took place before the imminent departure of the Slovenian Business Delegation to Kiev. The founding meeting named Mr Dušan Olaj, otherwise the director of the company Duol, as president of the new business council.

The president of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) and member of the Board of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), MSc. Kristjan Verbič, attended the important event as a founding member namely within the framework of the efforts of the International Business-Investment programs of VZMD Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and the International Investors' Network (invest-to.net). 

Mr. Verbič took the opportunity to welcome the efforts of an even closer business and investment cooperation and asked the question of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister about the resolving of the outstanding claims, in the vicinity of EUR 2 million, of Helios, d.d., to the Ukrainian state owned company Ukrautodor. The above mentioned claims are a part of those overdue claims within the framework of Aurora, which already for a number of years have been the subject of the efforts of Swedish and Slovenian diplomacy. On 11.10.2011, upon the visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, dr. Danilo Türk, the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, guaranteed help regarding the resolution of these problems. The Ukrainian Minister, in his answer confirmed, that he is, regarding the matter – which represents one of the rare open matters in relation to Ukraine-Slovenia relations – well informed, and that it will be handled at the Ukrainian government level.

Between 1^st and 3^rd September the 8^th Bled Strategic Forum took place under the title 'A Changing Europe in a Changing World'.

The Forum was attended by over 350 respected participants, among others Mr. Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Alenka Bratušek, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Heinz Fischer, Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Enrico Letta, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Mr. Karl Erjavec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

As a guest, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders` Association (VZMD) and Member of the Board of Directors of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), also actively participated at the Forum in the context of the international investors' programs Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and the International Investors' Network (invest-to.net).

The Bled Strategic Forum is one of the leading international conferences in the region and has in the past seven years grown into a successful platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from the private and public sectors focusing on key issues facing Europe and the world in the 21^st century. Welcoming prominent guests from Europe and beyond, the Bled Strategic Forum has established itself as an important annual gathering aimed at making commitments for the implementation of new strategies designed to confront the most pressing issues of today's Europe and the world.

This year's Forum focused on current economic issues facing Europe, especially prospects for the EU Economic and Monetary Union. Respected guests also discussed the economic perspectives of Russia and Central Asia, where the VZMD and its international investors' programs investo.si and investo.international are also strongly present.

Within the framework of the Forum, a commercial contract has been signed between the Slovenian companies Riko, Marmor Hotavlje and Stilles for the supply of furnishings for the Kempinski Hotel in Minsk, Belarus. The whole project is worth over 150 million €, making it the biggest project of this kind led by a Slovenian company. On this occasion, Mr. Janez Škrabec, CEO of Riko Company, thanked the Economic Diplomacy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their assistance and help.

On 18 October 2013 the international conference "The Financial Repression of Savers and Investors" will take place at the Vienna Insurance Group in Vienna, organized by Interessenverband für Anlege (Austrian investor society) and the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse).

At the conference, distinguished guests and participants will discuss the negative short and long term real returns on pensions savings, various taxations and increase thereof, the weaknesses in the protection of investors in the life and pension insurance. EuroFinUse recently published a study on this titled "The Real Return of Private Pensions", which points out a troubling statistic published by OECD and showing that real returns of private pension funds in the last five years were negative in many EU members. They also point out that the OECD study only deals with pension funds, but not with all of the costs, impact of taxation and some other aspects. Read more on the study HERE.

Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), which is among the most active members of EuroFinUse and whose President is a Board member of EuroFinUse, included among the panel speakers a representative of Slovenian insurance industry, expectedly Member of the Management board of Zavarovalnica Triglav, which is one of 26 companies participating in the VZMD investor programs.

As this year's European Business Angel Network Association (EBAN) conference EBAN 2013 in Vienna (click on the image right to watch the VIDEO REPORT) and the EuroFinUse international conference at the European Parliament (click on the image left to watch the VIDEO REPORT), this conference will also be monitored by the investo.tv team, which will prepare a video report.

As part of its international investors' programs invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors' Network (invest-to.net), VZMD will introduce the companies, institutions and investment projects included in the two programs.

VZMD invites all to communicate their esteemed interest in participating at the aforementioned and other events in 2013 to the investo.si program coordinator at VZMD by phone at ++386 31 770 771 or by sending e-mail to tratar@investo.si.

The 19thgeneral meeting of Gorenje, d.d. took place in Velenje on 5 July 2013.  On that occasion, the president of VZMD (Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association), Mr. Kristjan Verbič, acted as an agent of 68,064 shares under authorizations by 322 shareholders, which he received as the ninth nominated authorized agent in view of organized collection of proxies,where 1,282 shareholders (out of 17,718 of Gorenje shareholders in total) granted their authorizations.

The seminar on "How to do business with the Russian Federation" took place in the premises of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia yesterday. The seminar which was organized by SPIRIT Slovenia, the Association of Slovenia and Russia and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Slovenia, was attended by 59 representatives of Slovenian companies and by numerous representatives of diplomacy, institutions and associations, including the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Ljubljana H.E. Mr. Doku Zavgaev, the acting manager of the Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia, Boštjan Skalar, President of the Slovenia-Russia Society, Saša Geržina, Director of the Russian Scientific and Cultural Centre Rifat Pateev, Director and President of the Slovenian-Russian Business Council Janez Škrabec, President of the Slovenian-Russian Business Club in Moscow, Metod Dragonja, and the owner of Kondor Union in Moscow, Oleg Abramov.

During the seminar, the business conference in Moscow was announced, and the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders Association (VZMD) Mr. Kristjan Verbič introduced the activities related to their international investors' programs invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors' Network (invest-to.net). Mr. Verbič also brought forward the possibilities of Slovenian-Russian cooperation at the planned autumn conference "Slovenian Investors Day", which is organized by both the Russian Federation of Investors and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Moscow.

On Monday June 17, 2013, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Mr. Kristjan Verbič met with economic adviser Mr. Denis Mancevič in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation of Investors Mr. Aleksey Smirnov and the Presidium member Mr. Andrew Lesovoy at the Slovenian Embassy in Moscow (in the photo).

The conversations revolved around possible cooperation and efforts to intensify business relations, and among other things, the joint organization of the Slovenian Investors Day was decided upon. It will be carried out with the Russian Federation of Investors and the international investors' programs at VZMD: invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and Intenational Investors' Network (invest-to.net) and will take place at the Slovenian Embassy in Moscow in the fall with the support of the Slovenian economic diplomacy.

Joint meeting was agreed upon after the return of the Ambassador of Slovenia to Russia H.E. Ms. Ada Filip-Slivnik, Mr. Mancevič and Mr. Verbič from the visit of the Slovenian economic delegation in the Kazakh capital Astana and business center Almaty.

VZMD invites you to share your esteemed interest in participating in the aforementioned and other events in 2013 with the coordinator of the investo.si program at VZMD, by telephone: +386 31 770 771 or by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Last week, the Kazakh capital Astana and the Kazakh business, cultural and science center Almaty hosted the Kazakhstan-Slovenian business conferences. The conference in Astana was opened by the Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Karel Erjavec, the Kazakh Minister of Health Ms. Salidat Kairbekova and the Vice President of the Kazakh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Ajana Erenova. The conference in Almaty was opened by the Slovenian Director-General for Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Stanislav Raščan and the President of the Almaty Chamber of Commerce and Industry M.N. Bijarova.

As a member of the Slovenian business delegation, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Mr. Kristjan Verbič (in the picture beside the Ambassador of Slovenia to Russia Her Excellency Ms. Ada Filip-Slivnik and other distinguished participants at the opening of the business conference) actively participated in both conferences. In the context of B2B conversations, he also discussed the possibilities of Kazakh companies cooperating with particular Slovenian companies involved in the international investors' programs Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and Intenational Investors' Network (invest-to.net), especially in the fields of logistics, IT, financial advisory services, construction, engineering, science and technology.

The conferences were attended by over 200 Kazakh companies and 28 representatives of Slovenian companies, who constituted the Slovenian economic delegation. Otherwise, the delegation concluded its visit with a gala meal and a trip to the Kazakh National Museum.

The World Bank, or rather its Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) held a very important international conference in Bucharest yesterday, titled "The Audit Committee: the keystone of the financial reporting and audit process – from policy to practice". Mr Kristjan Verbič, President of PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), also participated (link to the presentation) in the conference as an invited speaker and representative of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), where he acts as a member of the Board.

On this occasion Mr Verbič presented to the public for the first time the VIDEO REPORT from the international conference EuroFinUse "The Audit Reform - Impact on Investors", which took place in the European Parliament. The team at VZMD.TV and investo.tv had prepared the video for the European federation (to view click on the image to the right).

The notable conference was attended by more than 200 guests and visitors in addition to distinguished speakers from all over the world, including Henri Fortin – Head of CFRR (in the picture with Mr Kristjan Verbič), Chris Hodge – Director of Corporate Governance at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), United Kingdom (also Chairman of the European Corporate Governance, Codes Network), Horia Neamtu – President of the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania, Arnold Schilder – Chair of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, Hilde Blomme – Deputy Chief Executive of the European Federation of Accountants, Krzysztof Szułdrzyński – Partner in PWC Poland and many others.

On the 7^th and 8^th of May, the 2^nd African Day »Europe for Africa & Africa for World« took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Forum hosted 150 African and European representatives from Government institutions, European Commission, African Union, research and education institutions, NGOs and business community. 12 African states were present to demonstrate the dynamics of new Africa and its potentials for co-operation with Europe in the field of knowledgebased economy development, political co-operation and business development.

PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) also participated at the conference and provided a proper presentation of companies, institutions and investment projects, which are included in the international investors' programs Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and the International Investors' Network (investo.international).

In addition to the showroom display and personal business meetings, VZMD team, with investo.tv, also prepared a summarized EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT of the conference.

VZMD invites you to share your esteemed interest in participating in other events and activities with the coordinator of the investo.si program at VZMD, by telephone: +386 31 770 771 or by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On the 13^th and the 14^th of May, the significant European meeting of venture and start-up capital funds, along with the annual international congress of the European Business Angel Network – EBAN 2013, took place in Vienna. As a partner of the congress, the PanSlovenian Shareholders Association (VZMD), once more provided a proper presentation of companies, institutions and investment projects, which are included in its international investors' programs: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and the International Investors' Network (invest-to.net).

The notable 13^th EBAN Annual Congress has traditionally hosted influential representatives of companies, investment funds, financial institutions and national associations of business angels, among others, Christian Weinberger from the European Commission, Wilhelm Molterer, the Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Baybars Altuntas, the President of the Turkish Association of Business Angels, Paulo Andrez, the President of EBAN, and many more. As a guest of the EBAN 2013, President of the VZMD, Kristjan Verbič, attended the two day congress with accompanied events and meetings.

The EBAN 2013 congress included numerous lectures and panels, where attendees discussed various topics in relation to innovations, small and medium enterprises, startups, access to financing and the involvement of business angels. The first day of the congress was followed by a gala dinner and the presentation of the 8th annual EBAN awards, held at the prestigious Vienna Grand Hotel.

In addition to the showroom display and personal business meetings, VZMD team, with investo.tv, also prepared a summarized EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT of the congress.

VZMD invites you to share your esteemed interest in participating in other events and activities with the coordinator of the investo.si program at VZMD, by telephone: +386 31 770 771 or by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..