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.

This week, Moscow will see the renowned Gaidar Forum 2019 kick off, which is traditionally organized at the beginning of the year by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). The forum is attended by numerous prominent scientists, business people, entrepreneurs, decision-makers, representatives of the authorities, politicians, and public figures from many countries and international institutions. Mr. Sergey Myasoedov, Dean of the Moscow Institute of Business Studies, invited the President of the PanSlovenian Sharehodlers` & Investors` Association (VZMD) Mr. Kristjan Verbič to attend the three-day event, where he will take the opportunity to further strengthen his business connections and cooperation with other attending business representatives.

At the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD), where they decided not to actively take part in the latest attempt to name a candidate for the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia - at least until the President of the Republic of Slovenia makes his decision on that matter - they are extremely surprised at how ignorant the new candidate Mr. Boštjan Vasle is and how he’s beating around the bush with regard to the “recapitalization” of Slovenian banks in December 2013 (VIDEO) and the related contestable  expropriations or cancellations (VIDEO) of all (over 100,000) shareholders and subordinated bonds, who after 5 years, are still unconstitutionally denied the right to judicial relief and haven’t received any compensation, an unprecedented practice in civilized world (VIDEO).

Last week, the Brdo Congress Center hosted the 13^th Slovenian Economic Summit organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Slovenia. This time, top 6 measures for economic excellency ware adopted, which together represent the key formula for achieving the ambitious 2025 objectives.