Following the state recapitalization of the Irish bank Permanent TSB in April, without interfering in shares and subordinated bonds of the existing holders, and the state recapitalization of the Italian Bank BRC, whereby the subordinated bondholders were officially expropriated and entirely paid off on the same day in June, and following the invalidation of the cancellation of the subordinated bonds of the Austrian bank Hypo at the Constitutional Court of Austria in July, in October, we also witnessed the first measures of the fourth restructuring of Greek banks in the past six years, which clearly indicate that not even in Greece where the four state-owned banks have received as many as EUR 45 billion of the state aid which will increase by another EUR 10 billion at least, there will be no cancellation - neither of shares nor bonds!

'Here we could arrive at a simple conclusion that the Slovenian authorities allocated EUR 264 million of the 30-year loan and additional EUR 1.6 billion of guarantees to pay off investors in shares and bonds of Greek banks, whereby they at the same time extremely arrogantly and perniciously for the Slovenian people and the economy - which they have been trying absolutely moronically defend even today -  executed the entire and uncompromising expropriation of investors in shares and bonds of Slovenian banks, which again proves a sad rarity in the EU, with which our authorities willfully and actively cast us in the role of third-class citizens of Europe,' was a sharp criticism by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič in the revealing article 'Total rip-off of bondholders only in Slovenia' in yesterday's Delo newspaper, in light of the Government Report on Guarantees of the Republic Slovenia and the financial aid granted. Among other things, the article in the Delo newspaper also reveals that out of four Greek banks which will be subject to the state recapitalization, two will present the subordinated bondholders with the choice between early discounted redemption and conversion into ownership shares, whereas the other two only with the conversion into ownership shares, both offers being voluntary, whereby the existing shareholders will not lose their shares, but those who acquire new shares through payment or conversion from bonds, will simply join them in the ownership structure.

The article also quotes the new outrageous statement by the representatives of the Bank of Slovenia, something along the lines that is not problematic as out of all EU Member States and their banks (recipients of the state aid) the cancellation was necessary only in Slovenia and even in all six banks, which have had subordinated bonds. As regards the protection of the shocking unique cancellations, the fact that the Bank of Slovenia does not refrain from even the most absurd actions is indicated in their another quotation saying that discounted redemption of subordinated bonds – therefore, precisely the measure taken by the banks in Greece – was forbidden for the banks in Slovenia as »the redemption would supposedly reduce the protection of the bank creditors«!!! In construing that subordinated bonds are debt instruments and that for this reason also their canceled holders are bank creditors, Slovenian banking regulatory authority has faked ignorance or may just have thought that their cancellation without any compensation did not imply reduction of their protection?!

VZMD is again calling upon the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Slovenia to finally concede that the decisions on the cancellations and expropriations which were taken at the end of 2013 have inflicted far-reaching damage and represent a terrible mistake. Hence after two years of pretended ignorance, misleading statements, denials and delays - which have, in addition to the economic damage, even caused numerous human tragedies - they should finally get down on finding ways how to rectify the mistakes in a constructive manner after all.