The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) is on behalf of expropriated shareholders of Nova KBM, who joined procedures under the wing of VZMD, lodged at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia a proposal for the issuance of a temporary decree for prohibiting the sale of NKBM, until a decision has been made regarding the Initiative for judging the constitutionality of the contentious amendment of the Banking Act (ZBan-1L). The latter namely established the foundation for expropriation close to 100.000 shareholders of NKBM – alongside the shareholders of five other Slovenian banks, collectively with 2.000 holders of subordinated bonds as well as cca. 500.000 citizens, who save in pension fund companies, trust and insurance companies.

The proposal for the issuance of a temporary decree for the prohibited sale of NKBM was lodged by VZMD via attorneyTamara Kek, as well as mentioned Initiative for judging the constitutionality of ZBan-1L - please see the VIDEO from the press conference of VZMD regarding the May 2014 lodged Initiative regarding erased stocks or in other words, on behalf of expropriated shareholders of Slovenian banks. They were able to join the procedure for the protection of their rights, interests and assets, as led by VZMD, without any kind of costs whatsoever, onlywith a signature, published on the network of VZMD, in relation to the documentsAttorney Authorization and Statement of securities ownership.

In view of numerous and diverse procedures which VZMD initiated on behalf of  expropriated holders of Slovenian bank bonds - as well as with this connected  intensive activities home and abroad - the  VZMD president Mr. Kristjan Verbič, regarding that Proposal to the Constitutional Court once again pointed out: »On the basis of the considerably disputable and the absolutely shocking amendment to the Banking Act from the point of view of repercussions, in addition to the incredible damage to the Slovenian business-investment environment and credibility - despite funds and investment institutions, home and abroad - at the Ljubljana and Warsaw Stock Exchanges, there were more than 100.000 small, largely uninformed investors expropriated, also due to the much publicized public sale of the state's share in NKBM, as well as holders of stocks and subordinated bonds ofNLB, NKBM, Abanka and Banka Celje not to mention Probanka and Factor banka.«

In this regard, it is worth also pointing out, that on 17. November 2014 Mr. Peter Glavič, representative of the Civil Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of NKBM«, and Mr. Verbič, to the members of Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia, directed an Initiative for the establishment of an investigative commission, which should finally uncover the questionable methodology and calculations as well as the notes of the Inter-Ministerial commission and the Steering committee. This was also supplemented by an Analysis of the happenings over the last five months and Emphases and discoveries of expert associates of the VZMD, which were otherwise sent to the  National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia already in May 2014, but were until last week unfortunately not discussed (VIDEO). The initiative, together with rationale, was also sent to the President of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian members of the European Parliament, the Minister for Finance and to the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia

Therefore, on 19. November 2014 they also wrote to the President of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH) and suggested the pre-emptive purchase of stocks for €150 million (at that time the highest known offer). Also offered was an agreement solution for erased stocks in the paid up amount of €524 million + €64 million, taking into account interest and dividends in the years 2007-2014. Assets would be collected from expropriated shareholders and holders of subordinated bonds, funds, employees in NKBM, business entities, local communities, citizens, etc. Expropriated holders of stocks and non-subordinated bonds as well as employees would have, in the sale of NKBM, preferential purchase rights, where during the acquisition of, the state would have to take into consideration the previously taken away property.

The cabinet of the President of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia sent the mentioned offer to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia, which on 5 December 2014 responded that it will not comment on the offer until the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia is known. Immediately upon the announcement of the extended deadline for collecting binding offers, the representatives of the Civil initiative and theVZMD directed the offer to the Slovenian Sovereign Holding. The response was received before the holidays - in which the Slovenian Sovereign Holding »cites« conditions of the European Commission – the subsequent inclusion of an additional bidder in the selling process bypassing tendered conditions could represent a problem from the point of view of the forbidden state aid. They suggested that the initiators directly contact their financial advisor Lazard Frères. This they also did, however the opportunity to hold serious discussions with the executive director Nicole Arditti came only after the holidays and unfortunately, they did not bring about satisfactory results.

»In view of the fact that it is impossible for citizens, as buyers or investors - and not only as payers, taxpaying system rescuers and expropriated persons - to participate in the procedures of the sale of state owned assets, VZMD, and with us connected civil initiatives, are all the more active in also collaborating withcommunity associations and movements 'Citizens against sell-off',« which was pointed out by Mr. Verbič during the active participation at public panel discussions»NO SELL-OFF, BUT BETTER CORPORATE GOVERNANCE« in Ljubljana and in Maribor as well as at the press conference, upon the announcement of the public assembly against the sell-off of public assets, about which the team from VZMD.tv / investo.TVprepared aVIDEO NEWS COVERAGE: the public panel discussion in Ljubljana's Cankarjev dom and the press conference in the premises of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

The proposal for the temporary decree for the prohibited sale of NKBM was lodged by VZMD in accordance with Article 161 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, in which the Constitutional Court may, on conditions provided by law and until the final decision in total or in part, withhold the execution of the act which constitutionality and regularity is assessed. The same authority is provided by Article 39 of the Constitutional Court Act to the Constitutional Court, stating that Constitutional Court, until the final decision in total or in part, may withhold the execution of legislation or other regulation or general act in relation to the execution of a public authority, if by nature of its execution, irreversible damage may result as a consequence.  The initiators wish, with the lodging of the proposal for the temporary retainment of the state's activities in connection with the sale of NKBM d.d., which the state is executing on the basis of public authorization, on the basis of which the decision in relation to the privatization of state assets is made, to prevent irreversible and irreparable damage, which may arise on one hand to initiators and also to expropriated holders of stocks in NKBM d.d. on the basis of already declared and unconstitutional exceptional measures on the basis of the disputed arrangement according to Banking Act, and on the other hand to the bank and state, which intends to sell the respective bank for less than its book and market value, which will consequently also affect public finances and the national interest. .

The initiators were long-term owners of stocks in NKBM d.d., as during the 2007-2013 period they didn't sell; and it was long-.term investors that were espoused by the state, as per the Brochure extract for the offer of public stocks (Nova KBM, November 2007, point 5.2.7). The expropriation and erasure of stocks, executed on 17 December 2013 with the Bank of Slovenia's resolution for extraordinary measures, represents an unlawful deprivation of assets, which is in conflict with the constitution and with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Notwithstanding this, it also contributes to constitutional impermissible and unfair competition to foreign legal entities in comparison with local entities. The procedure for asset deprivation was connected with a number of proven, unlawful, non-constitutional and fraudulent actions of the state. Therefore, initiators to the Constitutional Court suggest that it decides for the temporary suspension of the sale of NKBM, until a decision regarding the initiative has been made.

On 18 December 2013, the Constitutional Court rejected the proposal of owners of subordinated bonds for the temporary suspension of the execution of articles of the amended Banking Act (ZBan-1L), which enabled the erasure of those securities and the expropriation of their owners.  At that time the recapitalization of banks was being prepared, which the temporary decree would halt (this would have been better for the shareholders), the Constitutional Court decided on the basis of unfounded threats from the state and the Bank of Slovenia that the suspension of erasure would lead to insolvency proceedings of the three largest banks and the collapse of the entire financial system in the Republic of Slovenia. With regard to subordinated bonds, the matter concerns the bank's financial commitments with a precisely determined value both of principal and the associated interest, therefore the fair financial redress is possible at a later time.

However, the stocks are different. The value of stocks fluctuates, however they yield benefits over the long-term better than term deposits in banks.  The majority of foreign stock indexes now already exceed the pre-recession level, while the Slovenian, due to poor management of the state and forced closeouts is still far from the level which it attained in years before the recession. Therefore with regard to this proposal, initiators and investors demand the return of stocks to the value of paid up assets, increased by associated interest and reduced by paid out dividends. If the bank will be sold, a normal increase in the value of the stock will no longer be possible, damaging ramifications will no longer be reparable, as the state will no longer be able to return the stocks. And 'to sell'  (effectively to give away) it for a proposed third (€200 million) of its book value (which on 30 September 2014 amounted to €624 million) or a tenth of the objective obtainable value (€1,900 million), is damaging on a national level.

Already from the aforementioned it is clear that with the sale of NKBM before the decision of its initiative addressing the constitutionality of the Banking Act, for which initiators are of the opinion that it is totally reasonable, undeniably worse and disproportionate repercussions arose in comparison with benefits, which on the other side will remain with NKBM and the banking system. With regard to publicly accessible data, as already mentioned, the state intends to sell NKBM far below its book value, which means, that such a sale of a bank in state ownership is not in the interests of the state and citizens of the Republic of Slovenia

With regard to the foregoing, the initiators are certain that to them (as well as to all other ex-shareholders of NKBM), also upon taking into account the unsuitable and constitutionally non-compliant compensation protection pursuant to ZBan-1L, in the case of NKBM's sale before the decision regarding its initiative and related lodged initiatives regarding the decision on constitutionality of ZBan-1, will be faced with undoubtedly irreversible adverse consequences. On the other hand, the damage, as already described, will be inflicted to the bank which will be sold far below its book value. In so doing, the direct damage will be also inflicted to the state and citizens of the Republic of Slovenia

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Doha-presidentLast week the Slovenian business delegation returned from a handball colored Doha, where after five intensive days, the official part of events was concluded with abusiness lunch with the following honorary guests: Qatar's Minister of the Economy, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad Bin Faisal Al Thani and His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, one of Qatar's most influential businessmen. At the business lunch, held at the eminent Ritz-Carlton hotel, the main contingent of the Slovenian delegation spoke with high profile guests about the possibilities of investment and business cooperation, in which the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also actively participated.

Directly after the conclusion of the business lunch and gathering, His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, invited the VZMD President to a meetingwithin the framework of Al Faisal Holding, one of Qatar's most important business entities, to which he is the founder and Chairman of the Board. At the meeting, President Verbič met with some leading representatives of the holding and spoke with them about concrete projects and steps to setting up a business-investor 
DOHA-2collaboration
. After an extremely promising meeting, he attended the match between Slovenia and Qatar, after which the Slovenian delegation set off for home.

Monday's meeting was again one in a string of promising meetings at the highest business and political level, upon the visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, His Excellency Borut Pahor and a business delegation of companies Gorenje, Riko, Halcom, Elan Inventa, Telekom SlovenijePetrol, Union hotels, HIT, NLB, Evrosad, Bluemarine, Amicus and the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), as well as striking events within the framework of the »Slovenian center in Qatar«, which were, upon the World Handball Championships – 2015, organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, the Handball Association of Slovenia and SPIRIT Slovenia, the VZMD also collaborated as a sponsor, with the international business-investor programs: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investor' Network (invest-to.net).

Upon Monday's business lunch and meeting at Al Faisal Holding, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association in the previous two days attendedthe festive opening of the »Slovenian center in Qatar«, which, alongside President Pahor and the President of the Handball Association of Slovenia, Franjo Bobinac, was also attended by a number of representatives of companies and institutions from Slovenia and Qatar. The presentation area of the VZMDand programs investo.si and invest-to.net, which were located in the central part of the »Slovenian center in Qatar«, were, upon numerous and excellent Slovenian representatives, visited by a number of respected guests which expressed considerable interest in Slovenia and the business-investor programs of theVZMD.


DOHA-3On Sunday, President Verbič also attended 
a reception for Slovenian businessmen in Qatar, where he met with numerous people from the Slovenian community, as well as members of the Slovenian national handball team.As a member of the narrower delegation, President Verbič, within the framework of official and unofficial work of Saturday's business event »Opportunities in Slovenia and Qatar«, also met and spoke with His  Excellency Sheik Khalif Bin Jassem Bin Mohammed Al Thani  as well as his co-workers. In light of the discussion, the VZMD President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association, as a non-governmental organization representative, supported Mr. Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia and Mr. Aleš Cantarutti, the State Secretary, in terms of opportunities in Slovenia stressed that »it is now actually the right time to invest in Slovenia, despite previous specifically unpleasant experiences with regard to acquisition interests in Adria Airways and Nova KBM, which are now again in the process of being sold«. With respect to interest shown, in connection with the food industry, as well as interested parties, he also pointed out concrete possibilities, among others an in-depth collaboration with Perutnina Ptuj (Ptuj Poultry Group).

Upon successful presentations during the past two years in AstanaAlmatyBaku,  BelgradeBledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos AiresBuffaloBucharestCape Town,Celje, Dubai, ViennaGrodnoHelsinkiIstanbulYaroslavlKievCopenhagenLjubljanaMadridMinskMontevideoMoscowNew DelhiNew YorkOuagadougou,ParisPiranPrajaReykjavikTehranTokioTorontoWarsawWiesbaden and Zagreb, the international business-investor programs of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association will also this year continue providing efficient attendance and presentation to its partners on five continents.

If you would like to participate in our activities or events, you are kindly invited to contact the investo.si program coordinator at the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association, by telephone on +386 31 770 771 or by e-mail at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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brosura-slovensko sredisce Doha 2015

During the middle of January in Doha, Qatar's capital city, the World Handball Championship will take place, upon which a economic, media, political, social-cultural and sports juncture will be prepared: »the Slovenian center in Qatar«. Its preparation is taking place within the organization of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, the Handball Association of Slovenia and SPIRIT Slovenia, and as a sponsor the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) is also collaborating, with its international business-investor programs Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and the International Investor` Network (invest-to.net).

»The Slovenian center in Qatar« will comprehensively round up the cultural, economic, sport and tourist promotion of Slovenia and alongside matches of the Slovenian team, provide for a number of accompanying events, among them the official reception of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor and the president of the Handball Association of Slovenia, Franjo Bobinac, the celebratory opening of the »Slovenian center – I feel Slovenia«, and the events »Opportunities in Slovenia and Qatar«, »Beauty, nature, health«, and »a Slovenian night on the beach in Qatar« etc. Also presentations of companies as well as gatherings and meetings with (potential) business partners in Qatar will be organized, while a visit to the Emir of the State of Qatar is also being negotiated.

Representatives of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association already last year actively collaborated in a number of related international events and opportunities. Among others, they organized, at the Eurovision song contest in 2014 in Copenhagen a Slovenian business day in Denmark (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of the investo.TV team), and collaborated also at a number of events, which witnessedfriendly matches of the Slovenian national football team against the teams of Argentina and Uruguay, in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, immediately before the World Football Championships in Brazil in 2014.

The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association, as sponsor of the »Slovenian center in Qatar« will also this time take care of the efficient presentation of companies, institutions and investment projects, included in their programs investo.si and invest-to.net. Those interested can submit their informative-promotional materials, by Tuesday, January 13 2015, until 14:00.

Upon successful presentations during the past two years in AstanaAlmaty, Baku,  Belgrade, Bled, Bratislava, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna, Grodno, Helsinki, Istanbul, Yaroslavl, Kiev, Copenhagen, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Montevideo, Moscow, New Delhi, New York, Ouagadougou, Paris, Piran, Praja, Reykjavik, Tehran, Tokio, Toronto, Warsaw, Wiesbaden and Zagreb, the international business-investor programs of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association will also this year continue providing efficient attendance and presentation to its partners on five continents.

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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From the 14th to the 16th of December 2014, the Turkish business angel association (TBAA) and the Istanbul Stock Exchange (Borsa Istanbul) organised a European Business Angels Investment Forum 2014 entitled "Access to finance from start-up to scale-up to exits".

The European Business Angels Network (EBAN) is an international, non profit organisation, bringing together member organisations and individuals from Europe and beyond. EBAN represents a sector estimated to invest 5.1 billion Euros per year and comprises 260.000 angel investors. In 2012, almost 3,000 companies were funded through business angel networks and 17,800 new jobs were created. A business angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.

The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) has actively been cooperating with EBAN since last year's EBAN conference in Vienna, and after visiting this years` conferences in Nova Gorica and Helsinki, VZMD President Mr Kristjan Verbič accompanied by the investo.TV team, also attended the events in Istanbul within the framework of this year's 9th tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia – investo.si and International Investors` Network – investo.international.

The European Commission has also recognised the importance of angel investment. EU based companies can obtain EU funding and support through the Horizon 2020 programme, while the European Angels Fund works hand-in-hand with Business Angels and helps them to increase their investment capacity by co-investing into innovative companies in the seed, early or growth stage.

Before the Istanbul conference, the VZMD President also attended the Investors Conference organized by the European Federation of Financial Services Users – Better Finance in Wiesbaden and Crowdfunding convention organized by the European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) in Paris, where he also met with the EBAN President,  Ms. Candace Johnson. Crowdfunding is a popular practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.

To help start-ups fill the equity gap, Borsa Istanbul introduced a Private Market platform which allows companies to have access to finances without going public, providing liquidity for company partners intending to sell their shares and offering investors the chance to find buyers to liquidate their investments.

As usual, notable presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects included in the two VZMD business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia and International Investors` Network were also presented during all occasions, events and conferences. 

After this year's successful presentations in BelgradeBledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos AirresCopenhagen, GrodnoHelsinki, Istanbul,   MadridMontevideoNew YorkNew Delhi,  OuagadougouParis, PiranPrayaReykjavikTeheran, Warsaw, Wiesbaden, Yaroslavl, and last year's in AstanaAlmatyBled,  BakuBrussels, BuffaloBukarestCape TownCelje,  Dubai,    Kiev,  Ljubljana,  MadridMinskMoscowNew Delhi,  Tokio,  TorontoVienna, and Zagreb, the two VZMD international business-investment programmes continue to provide for their partners effective presence and presentations on five continents!

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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Last week, officials of the Bank of Slovenia, almost the same as exactly one year ago, activated their own secret »calculation« of capital and upon expected communications, discovered that conditions for the deletion of all subordinate bonds of the Bank of Celje were fulfilled, as it was already promised to "Brussels" in April. Just as in five other Slovenian banks, where the deletion was activated last year, it is also expected here, that the »calculation« remain permanently secret, under the pretense of a »risk of the collapse of the financial system«, which would theoretically cause its disclosure, while all warnings, that such a deletion is not undertaken by any other member of the EU, as it was executed in all banks in Slovenia (where it was at all theoretically possible), fell on deaf ears..

Regarding the consequences of unequal adjudication of the Republic of Slovenia, in contrast with its vital interests, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association also warned the European Parliament in March.

The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) already for one year has been calling for the sobering up of crazed officials at the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Slovenia, where, in the wish for themselves, that they would please lower level officials in Brussels and perhaps ensure for themselves (even) better paid jobs west of Slovenia, are prepared to make use of falsified dates and calculations as well as assertions with unbelievable conclusions (www.dnevnik.si/posel/novice/igra-stevilk-datumov-in-nakljucij-ob-resevanju-bank), while filling up the courts with obviously absurd and false pursuances (www.finance.si/8813069/).

We remember: exactly one year ago, the Bank of Slovenia with a secret »calculation« decided, that the capital in most significant Slovenian banks NLB, NKBM, Abanka, Probanka in Factor banka was negative - and that in such a scale, that it enabled the deletion of all subordinate creditors of all the aforementioned banks, after the, at the time, just introduced amendments to the Banking Act. The shocking deletion or expropriation, was already promised three months prior by officials of the Ministry of Finance to lower officials of the European Commission (www.mladina.si/160175/salonski-bojevniki/).

Upon this deletion, only one bank in Slovenia with issued subordinated bonds remained – Banka Celje; also it was last year subject to a capital valuation by a secretive methodology, in non-compliance with any accounting standard and intended exclusively for the execution of deletion, but in Banka Celje, not even that would have led to a negative capital situation and consequentially a foundation for the deletion.

The capital of Banka Celje was also positively revised at the end of last year, but obviously the experiment had to continue and although Banka Celje, also through this year, showed not only positive capital, but also a quarterly profit, in April of this year a resolve was sent to Brussels, that also in this bank all subordinate creditors were to be deleted; this was, after many months of ignorance, finally on 28 August of this year at the General meeting of Banka Celje, upon the question by the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association's representative, publically admitted by the Chairman of the Board of that bank.

And so it was already in April stipulated, that the holders of issued subordinated bonds, also in the last remaining banks, are to experience the same fate, as all others, which were deleted last December. The promise, given to lower officials in Brussels in secret communication, had been obviously decided upon by officials of the Bank of Slovenia to fulfill despite the obvious fact that it was based on totally unreal expectations: upon the announcement of the catastrophic losses of the bank (which actually traded with a profit) and an even more catastrophic fall in Slovenia's GDP (which already during the time of this promise grew and in the last months actually grew the quickest in the entire euro zone).

As can be therefore seen, a total removal is, with respect to the sanctioning or at least the cessation of the destructive policy of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia and the Bank of Slovenia, unfortunately still far away, as the Bank of Slovenia has now deleted all bonds, which were possible to delete. The Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, only half an hour after, when the media was informed of the new magnitude of successful deletions or expropriation, set off on a pre-New Year party of bankers and stockbrokers, and there was treated to shrimp tails and champagne and paid tribute with a high-flying speech about the successes in integrating trust into the Slovenian banking system!?! 

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On Tuesday, 11 November 2014, started the introductory, domestic part of this year's 8th tour of the VZMD (PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association) international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - invest-to.net. In the framework of this year's tour the VZMD representatives attended in the first three days four important conferences in different places around Slovenia.    

The VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, MSc, thus attended, together with the investo.TV team, the international conference »SouthEast Europe Business Networking« in Pomurje region. The conference, organised by the Regional Development Agency Mura, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, and SPIRIT Slovenia, was attended by the representatives of more than 100 companies from Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey. The representatives spent two days discussing the possibilities of business cooperation, and there were more than 1.300 B2B business meetings.   

The very next day the VZMD team was in Nova Gorica where, within the framework of Coinvest project, the »Balkan Venture Forum« took place. The three-day forum, organised by COBIK (Centre for Excellence), Europe Unlimited and Balkan Unlimited, was attended by numerous domestic and foreign start-up companies, and representatives of investors from Europe, Israel, Russia and the USA. The assembled participants were in the introduction addressed by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Mr Janko Burgar, MSc, who showed a great deal of interest also for the VZMD international business-investment programmes and additional possibilities of cooperation with the Ministry.

Besides Mr Burgar, Mr. Verbič, spoke about the possibilities of deepened cooperation with numerous representatives of the organiser, the Club Business Angels of Slovenia, and other participants, primarily in the light of his visit to Helsinki, where he departed the following day, and where he met the most prominent representatives of the European Trade Association for Business Angels (EBAN), Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN), and numerous important participants from all over the world who actively attended the four-day annual conference.

The products of the Slovenian innovators were at the same time also presented in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana where the 9th Slovenian Innovation Forum took place.

On Thursday the VZMD President, on the invitation of the Slovenian Association for Quality and Excellency (SZKO), attended their 23rd Annual Conference which took place in Portorož. The assembled audience was in the introduction addressed by the SZKO President Janez Benčina, Director General of the European Organization for Quality, dr Eric Janssens, and the representative of the European Foundation for Quality Management, Mr Gianluca Mulè. In the framework of the conference there were many lectures and reports of some domestic and foreign experts, and in the evening the award ceremony "Slovenian Quality Mark" took place, as well as the award ceremony of SZKO awards and recognitions.   

The VZMD President continued this tour of the international business-investment programmes investo.si and invest-to.net with his visit to Helsinki where the International Conference of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) took place, and VZMD has been actively cooperating with them since the last year's conference in Vienna. After his visit to Helsinki, Mr Verbič also took part in the delegation managed by Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission »Mission for Growth« at Cape Verde, where Mr Verbič met the President of the Republic, (VIDEO REPORT TCV from the reception at the Presidential Palace), the Prime Minister, and numerous high representatives of the Government, diplomatic corps and business representatives there. The VZMD President attended some B2B meetings, and he had business talks with some domestic and foreign representatives of companies as well. He was also present at the gala reception held by the EU Ambassador, and he attended the International Conference opening and FIC 2014 Expo.

The VZMD President is going to conclude the 8th international tour this week by attending the award ceremony of the prestigious awards »European Small and Mid-Cap Awards 2014« in Brussels, organised by the European Commission, EuropeanIssuers and Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE).

After this year's successful presentations in Belgrade, BledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos Aires, Copenhagen, Grodno, Madrid, Montevideo, New DelhiNew York, Yaroslavl, Ouagadougou, Paris, Piran, Reykjavik and Tehran, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna,  Kiev, Ljubljana, MadridMinsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, the two VZMD international business-investment programmes continue to provide for their partners effective presence and presentations on five continents!  

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The prestigious »European Small and Mid-Cap Awards 2014« were given on Wednesday in Albert Hall in Brussels. The awards, which are granted by the European Commission, EurpoeanIssuers and the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), shall promote good practices, and encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to search for the capital through public offers of new shares.

The nominated companies are listed on securities markets: Borsa Italiana S.p.A, Euronext, London Stock Exchange, Mercado Alternativo Bursátil (MAB), NASDAQ, Oslo Bors, SIX Swiss Exchange and Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).

The winner in the category »Best new listed company 2014« is a logistics company ID Logistics Group SA, the first prize in the category »Most innovative newcomer 2014« was awarded to the Polish company FEERUM S.A., and the winner in the category »Most internationally-minded newcomer 2014« is Italia Independent Group. The first prize for the most promising company in the category »Rising star 2014« was given to the bio-pharmaceutical company Bionaturis.

Apart from numerous eminent participants, representatives and influential European companies, associations and institutions, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, also attended the award ceremony. Mr Verbič was visiting Brussels at the conclusion of this year's 8th tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia - investo.si in International Investors` Network - invest-to.net.

In Brussels the VZMD President also held a working meeting with the representatives of the European Federation of Financial Services Users EuroFinUse – Better Finance, and yesterday he met the representatives of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN). With the EuroFinUse representatives Mr Verbič mainly talked about the recent common remarks and opinions related to the European Directive Amendments and the upcoming traditional Investors' Conference in Wiesbaden in December, whereas with EBAN representatives the VZMD President spoke about the continuation and intensification of successful cooperation – after the last year's EBAN Conference in Vienna (investo.TV EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT) and this year's conference in Helsinki the VZMD team will actively participate also at the »European Business Angels Investment Forum« in December in Istanbul.

Apart from visiting Brussels and Helsinki the VZMD representatives, in the framework of this investo.si and invest-to.net tour, in the past three weeks also participated in the delegation led by Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission »Mission for Growth« at Cape Verde, and they were also present at four international conferences around Slovenia!.  

After this year's successful presentations in Belgrade, BledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos Aires, Copenhagen, Grodno, Madrid, Montevideo, New DelhiNew York, Yaroslavl, Ouagadougou, Paris, Piran, Reykjavik and Tehran, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna,  Kiev, Ljubljana, MadridMinsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, the two VZMD international business-investment programmes continue to provide for their partners effective presence and presentations on five continents!  

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The official part of the visit of the delegation led by the management team of the General Directorate for Entrepreneurship and Industry at the European Commission "Mission for Growth" was concluded on Wednesday at the Cape Verde Island Santiago.

In the framework of the intense Tuesday's events the assembled participants were addressed, among others, by the Minister of Tourism, Investments and Entrepreneurial Development, the President of the Government Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Export »Cabo Verde Investimento«, the Ambassador of the European Union, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce there. Mr. Verbič also met the President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Jorge Carlos Fonseco in the Presidential Palace. (VIDEO REPORT TCV from the reception held by the President of the Republic). After the meeting he also attended the organized B2B meetings in the framework of which he carried out 8 business meetings with domestic and foreign representatives of different companies and institutions, followed by the evening gala reception at the EU Ambassador's residence.  

The official part of the delegation's visit was concluded on Wednesday, when members of the delegation visited the headquarters of different companies dealing with energetics, farming and tourism, and at the end the delegation's members were also attending, at the invitation of the organisers, the opening of the resounding 18th International Expo Cape Verde, where they also met numerous high representatives of the Government, diplomatic corps, and business representatives there. The VZMD President discussed the possibilities of the increased cooperation also with the Prime Minister José Maria Neveso. (in the photo together with the Minister of Tourism, Investments and Entrepreneurial development, and the President of the Cape Verde Chamber of Commerce).   

After the additional talks, meetings and after having strengthened personal and business contacts, Mr Verbič is going to continue this tour with his visit to Brussels, and he is also going to attend the award ceremony of the prestigious »European Small and Mid-Cap Awards 2014«, which has been organised by the European Commission, Europeanissuers, and the Federation of European Securities Exchange (FESE).

Otherwise this three-week tour started with the participation of the VZMD representatives at four important conferences which took place across Slovenia. Before visiting the Cape Verde Islands the VZMD Presidents also visited Helsinki, where the International Conference of the European Network of Business Angels (EBAN) took place, and VZMD has been actively cooperating with it since the last year's conference in Vienna (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DXIsp5N6Ag). In December the VZMD team is going to, as agreed in Helsinki, also actively participate at the »European Business Angels Investment Forum« which will take place in Istanbul.

After this year's successful presentations in Belgrade, BledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos Aires, Copenhagen, Grodno, Madrid, Montevideo, New DelhiNew York, Yaroslavl, Ouagadougou, Paris, Piran, Reykjavik and Tehran, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna,  Kiev, Ljubljana, MadridMinsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, the two VZMD international business-investment programmes continue to provide for their partners effective presence and presentations on five continents!  

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), already for some time warned of the extremely unequal adjudication, to which investors in shares and subordinate bonds of Slovenian banks were exposed, when on 18 December of last year they were, upon the country's capital increase in three banks expropriated without replacement and deleted from the register without any legal opportunities of complaint. In conflict with the assertions of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (RS) and the Bank of Slovenia (BS), as if to say that the measure was unavoidable and that the European Commission (EC) already from 1 August 2013 had demanded from every approval of state aid to banks, the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association had until that time already many times warned, that the EC did not demand from the Republic of Austria that kind of measure, in the approval of state aid to Hypo bank (the case arose quite a lot of interest at the presentation of the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association at the Annual conference of the International network of law firms, the International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN), in May in New York).

And so as is, in the abovementioned case – now new cases are emerging (!) - Slovenia put in it its request for the approval of state aid for NLB on 7 January 2013, while Austria did the same for Hypo Bank on 29 June 2013; Slovenia finally defined the final applied aid amount on 9 December 2013, while Austria did the same on 27 August 2013; in both cases aid was announced before 1 August 2013, while the final amount of aid was defined after 1. August 2013. Nevertheless the EC approved state aid to Austria without intervention into the subordinate bonds of Hypo, while from Slovenia it, as the correspondence released by  Dnevnik and Mladina uncovers, demanded the commitment to the deletion of all subordinate bonds of NLB without replacement, all the way back from the beginning of September 2013 of NLB, and only upon the receipt of this commitment, approved state aid to that bank on 18 December 2013.

»This, in the interests of (the citizens) the Republic of Slovenia, is necessary to decisively oppose,« the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association once again warned the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, at the International Conference of the International Monetary Fund and the National Bank of Poland, last week in Warsaw (in the photograph on the left), as he also already did already many times before that the, at that time, Prime Minister of Slovenia, mag. Alenka Bratušek and the minister, Dr. Metod Dragonja – in May at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forum in Paris (in the photograph on the bottom right).

The report of the results of stress tests, which were released a few days ago by the ECB, explicitly expressed, that with regard to the described inequitable treatment of Slovenia in comparison with Austria, that this was not only a reflection of some kind of personal sympathy or antipathy of some Brussels bureaucrat, but an example of the treatment of Slovenia as an inferior member of the Union that can be seen in more instances also in comparison with other members. How can one otherwise explain the fact, that the ECB upon the implementation of the stress tests of Slovenian banks for 2014 took the forecasts, which were completely incompatible with reality and with respect to all discussed indicators that were explicitly worse than their actual, last known values?!

Regarding the consequences of unequal adjudication of the Republic of Slovenia, in contrast with its vital interests, the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association also warned the European Parliament in March.

The most basic scenario, which may be the most plausible, is that the ECB so presumed, that this year's change in GDP in Slovenia would be the second worst in the euro sector, even though the latest data shows, that it to be the second best! That the negative stress test forecasts were the most unrealistic in Slovenia, is witnessed by the fact in regard to deviation between the last revision of the capital suitability of banks and the forecast suitability for the end of 2016 upon the unpleasant scenario: The ECB forecast for banks in Slovenia by far the greatest fall in capital suitability and respectively by 15 percentage points, followed by banks in Greece with 10 and in Cyprus with a fall of 9 percentage points; the ECB forecast banks in Portugal a fall of only 6, in Italy 5 and in Spain by only 2 percentage points!

With the exception of Slovenia, the ECB in all other countries, where movements are actually better than expectations from the beginning of the year (Greece, Cyprus, Spain), agreed to the use of fresh data (»dynamic« valuation), while only in Slovenia, where the improvements were the greatest, remained with the use of out-of-date, »static« and decisively more pessimistic assumptions, which consequently led to the worst and most unrealistic and pessimistic forecasts. Did it therefore act with a reason? Perhaps in the context of the sale of state acquired Slovenian banks and because this would be enough, that NLB and NKBM would once again find themselves on the »black list«, the Bank of Slovenia did not provide useful »proof« for its assertions, as if to say that last year's capital increase was not an overuse of taxpayer's money and that banks cannot pay off expropriated investors, as they need every euro of current capital?

The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association therefore appealed to the ECB and the BS, that they clarify, which of them is responsible for the inequitable and completely unrealistic »static« balance sheet valuation of NLB and NKBM: did the ECB reject the suggestion of the BS for the use of fresh data, or did the BS »forget« to suggest this?!?

The report of the ECB in regard to the stress tests also uncovers a new specific example, where a foreign bank has been subject to a considerably more favourable proceeding than that, as the BS claims, is the only possible and also only correct one. The Italian bank Monte dei Paschi, for which the Republic of Italy declared state aid in June 2013 and the completed plan in November 2013 (therefore already after 1. August 2013), on 27 November 2013 received permission from the EC (europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1174_en.htm), and also in regard to this the EC did not make the permission for state aid conditional with the deletion of subordinate bonds, as the balance sheet of Monte dei Paschi as at 30 June 2014 showed 3.3 billion euros in issued subordinate bonds. And still, in the report on the result of stress tests the ECB also uncovered, that Monte dei Paschi during this year executed the discounted purchase or exchange of its own subordinate bonds, although that measure alone did not suffice for the fulfilment of the capital adequacy of the bank and the stress test showed, that it now needs further fresh capital.

A similar situation exists in the Bank of Celje, which just as Monte dei Paschi has positive capital, however under the quotient demands of capital adequacy. However, when the Bank of Celje during the spring of this year suggested to the BS, that it would improve this adequacy with the discounted purchase or exchange of its own subordinate bonds, the Bank of Slovenia categorically forbade the Bank of Celje to do this, as if to say that this is not allowed, as without additional measures this will not suffice for the fulfilment of the capital adequacy of the bank. Because this also did not suffice in the Monte dei Paschi bank, the  Italian Central Bank and the EC – likewise during the spring of this year(!) – despite this allowed that measure, an incensed mag. Kristjan Verbič asks himself: »Its all to do with extreme rigidity and »strictness« of the BS to yet another local bank (Bank of Celje) perhaps also for hidden motives – it all has to do with something of a legitimate suspicion of »those things forgotten« and probably the intentionally left out use of fresh, strong showing valuations of indicators of Slovenia with respect to the stress tests in relation to the two largest local banks NLB and NKBM – perhaps in the context of the sale under "whatever are possible" difficult conditions?!«

Otherwise in relation to the actual problems of the Bank of Celje, the president of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association, mag. Kristjan Verbič, also in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, during the October session of the Committee on Finance and Monetary Policy, upon the adjudication of the proposal for a temporary suspension of the individual articles of the contested amendment to the Banking Act (Banking Act 1L), in the discussion warned, that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia's own argument for a non-temporarysuspension of the contested  Banking Act 1L was copied word for word from that, which the previous government wrote in December of last year, although the banking system from then on was thoroughly renovated and expressed outrage above all at the copied burden, that is perhaps the consequences of this law to "get rid of the constitutional appeal" and "so that it would not come to difficult-to-fix consequences", and highlighted, that is »a completely unnecessary expropriation, despite the economic damage and amount of distress, which has also already led to suicides, therefore it is necessary upon all the lies and stupid acts of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia and the BS to face the facts, that it is a matter of long term and irreparable consequences,« and added, that »the authors of the  arguments for the non-temporary suspension of the contested individual articles of the Banking Act 1L – besides the substituted name of the Minister – exactly those officials, for which the media recently exposed, already in the beginning of September last year – by email - negotiated, that the capital of NLB, d.d. will be, at the end of September 2013 negative (!!), that they will change the law in such a way, and that a fictitious calculation be made so as to demand the removal of all holders of subordinate bonds without replacement«. The released correspondence clearly shows, that the hereinunder officials of the Ministry of Finance thoroughly understood the inconsistency with the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and International banking law, and they pushed it through the law making procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, with false execution and inevitability, legality, promises of transparency, etc., which the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association already warned, that »it is actually a matter of national treason, for which the consequences will be borne by a greater number of the future generation«.

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As part of the »Warsaw Capital Market Summit 2014« two-day international conference which took place at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the Polish National Museum hosted a gala reception with the award ceremony for categories »The Bridge Award 2014«, »Best International Emerging Europe Long Fund 2013/2014« and »Best IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange 2013/2014« on Thursday night. The event in Warsaw was also attended by the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), Mr. Kristjan Verbič, MSc, who also attended an additional conference at the Warsaw Stock Exchange »Building Market Economies in Europe: Lessons and Challenges after 25 Years of Transition« on after the award ceremony on Friday, organized by the National Bank of Poland and International Monetary Fund. The conference was attended by numerous high representatives of central banks, investment funds, banks and financial institutions, among others also by Mr. Boštjan Jazbec, PhD, Governor of the Bank of Slovenia. Mr. Jazbec conducted an interesting panel discussion titled »The plumbing: financial sector development«.

As the panel participants, before Sunday reports on the European bank stress test results, did not touch upon either the current issue or the computation methodology issue, which in the case of Slovenian banks indicated professionally unfathomable negative capital, Mr. Verbič asked for the floor, but was kindly rejected. Nevertheless, Mr. Jazbec, the Governer, and Mr. Verbič had an intensive conversation regarding the current problems and issues related to the shocking expropriation of 100,000 shareholders of the three Slovenian banks, 2,000 holders of subordinated bonds and thus indirectly of 500,000 citizens (a quarter of inhabitants), with savings in the pension funds, trust and insurance companies totaling over EUR 500 million.

In addition, they touched upon the VZMD's request for disclosure of documentation regarding alleged requirements for and against expropriations in Slovenian banks, publicly offered by the Governor at Consultations on Slovenian banking development strategy, in March at the National Council, where he pointed out that he may provide all requirements and meeting minutes of Bank of Slovenia where they tried to avoid cancellation of subordinated bonds of Slovenian banks, but in the end it was simply requested to pursue the cancellation (by European Commission or European Central Bank?!). (Statement of the Governor - video by VZMD.tv and investo.tv).

In the evening, Mr. Verbič attended a special reception and dinner of central bank representatives, IMF and powerful financial institutions in the eminent Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science.

Moreover, numerous representatives of investment funds, banks, and law firms at both conferences were asking the VZMD President about the scandalous expropriation of Nova KBM, which was also listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

On this occasion, the VZMD President used this opportunity to establish and strengthen business and friendly contacts in the framework of activities and efforts of VZMD international business investment programs: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investor` Network (invest-to.net).

After this year's successful presentations in Belgrade,BledBratislavaBrusselsBuenos AiresCopenhagen,Grodno,  MadridMontevideoNew DelhiNew York, OuagadougouParis, Piran, Reykjavik and Tehran, and last year's in Astana, AlmatyBaku, Bled, BrusselsBuffaloBucharestCape Town, Celje, Dubai, ViennaKievLjubljana,MadridMinskMoscowNew DelhiTokyoToronto and Zagreb, the two VZMD international business-investment programmes continue to provide for their partners effective presence and presentations on five continents!      

If you would like to take part in our events and activities, you are kindly invited to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

 

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