Latest breaking news is that one of the companies under the auspices of FORTENOVA GROUPA, d.d. - which some time ago committed a squeeze-out of Slovene minority shareholders from MERCATOR, d.d. - bought a 44% equity interest in the holding company owned by the Russian state bank SBERBANK. By selling "to themselves", they are trying to speed up the sale of the Russian share in the company, which is a prerequisite for the refinancing of its liabilities. The meeting at which the owners will reach a decision has not yet happened, because the shareholders do not have a quorum due to suspended voting rights of the Russian bank. Meanwhile, the Russian ownership of FORTENOVA GROUP poses such a problem for the company that they are rushing with the sale of the 44% share indirectly to the company itself, however, Slovene court unfortunately did not foresee such problem when FORTENOVA GROUPA entered the decision to squeeze out the MERCATOR minority shareholders into the court register, in spite of the registry lock won by VZMD. VZMD appealed such a decision and launched a judicial review process regarding the adequacy of remuneration.

The 17^th Bled Strategic Forum concluded at Bled. This year's motto was "The Rule of Power or the Power of Rules?" The events were followed by the VZMD.tv team, which produced a VIDEO REPORT: https://youtu.be/nI2xR4DjQfI.

A business event was held in Ankara just before the Wednesday's reception of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the event, the members of the Slovenian economic delegation and the representatives of numerous important Turkish companies and institutions were addressed by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, as well as the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han, and the President of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK), Nail Olpah. The activities included a round table with presentations of the Slovenian companies, as well as active networking and B2B talks.

During the official visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, to Turkey, a prominent Slovenian economic delegation, coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and SPIRIT Slovenia, will also visit Ankara and Istanbul in the following week. The business event in Ankara will take place in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) and will be attended – together with the Slovenian President – by the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han; the event will be followed by individual business meetings in Istanbul. As part of the efforts of VZMD’s international business-investor programs: Invest to Slovenia – investo.si and International Investors` Network – investo.international, the delegation will also include the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič.

As the manager of the civil society "Share SUPPORT" (VIDEO), VZMD – who is constantly advocating for a joint sale of minority shareholders' shares and maximizing their yield – again issued an invitation to a (non-binding) tender for the purchase of a whopping 58 blocks of various securities, put together as part of the Shareholder's Agreements and "Share SUPPORT". In addition to the usual ongoing intensive activities – negotiations, legal proceedings, assembly activities, participating at business events at home and abroad etc. – VZMD hopes to provide, at least in a few cases, additional options for a joint sale of minority shareholders' shares under suitably favorable conditions. 

This Wednesday, the Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management (BVI) held a banquet at the Royal Palace of Brussels. BVI represents the interests of 116 investment companies and asset managers, which together manage a whooping 4000 billions in capital. At the organizer's invitation, the VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič attended the event, where he met and spoke with numerous distinguished guests, including the keynote speaker of the evening, the Director-General of the Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Mr. Thomas Westphal (in the photo), the CEO of BVI, Mr. Thomas Richter (in the photo) and the Managing Director of BVI, Mr. Rudolf Siebel.

This past week, VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič actively participated at the Inaugural Session of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG), to which he was appointed this May. The FUSG group has been established in 2010 by the European Commission in order to include the financial services users in the preparation of proposals and policy initiatives at the EU level. At the EU level, Mr. Verbič is also a member of the Financial Innovation Standing Committee's Consultative Working Group (FISC CWG) at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and he was also a member of the Corporate Finance Standing Committee's Consultative Working Group (CFSC CWG) at ESMA. At the recent General meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) in Athens, he was elected for the fifth time to the Executive Board of this influential European association, which houses almost 5 million investors and 40 national associations of shareholders and investors.

The Pan-Slovenian Investors' & Shareholders'Association (VZMD) congratulates Mr. Ludvik Topak, President of the VZMD Expert Council, for the national decoration Golden Order for Merits, awarded to him on Statehood Day by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Borut Pahor, for exceptional contribution to democratization and independence of Slovenia, and its international and academic recognition.

The high-profile international conference entitled 'A New Era of Investor Protection, Sustainability & Pension Reforms', organized by the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) and the Greek Association of Investors (HELINAS), took place last week in Athens. Over 250 participants attended the event with numerous presentations, speeches, and panels regarding the establishment of the capital markets union, promoting self-confidence and protection of investors, major reforms and investment projects in Greece, sustainable finances and investment strategies, as well as the role of the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP).

The conference was attended by, among others, Christos Staikouras, the Greek Minister of Finance; Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs; Adonis Georgiadis, the Minister of Development and Investments; Fausto Parente, the Executive Director of the Board of Supervisors of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA); Natasha Cazenave, the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); Rainer Riess, the Director General of the Federation of European Securities Exchange (FESE); Guillaume Prache, the Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE; and John Kyriakopoulos, the president of HELINAS. The VZMD President, Kristjan Verbič, spoke to numerous notable participants at the event. Just the day before the conference at the General Assembly of BETTER FINANCE, Mr. Verbič had been elected into the Executive Board for the fifth mandate. The association houses almost 5 million individual investors and 40 national associations of shareholders and investors. 

Alongside the General Assembly of BETTER FINANCE and the International Investor Conference, Athens also hosted the meetings of both the previous and newly-elected Executive Board and the Legal Affairs Committee of BETTER FINANCE, a banquet for the conference participants, numerous informal meetings and talks, as well as a rich cultural program in the ever spectacular city of Athens and its vicinity. Similarly to the last year's meeting of BETTER FINANCE in Slovenia (VIDEO: undefined), the event provided many opportunities to present the investment activities, and possibilities included in the VZMD's business-investor programs: investo.si and investo.international.

www.vzmd.si – More on the VZMD – PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association

www.vzmd.tv and www.investo.tv – Over 300 videos from VZMD.TV and investo.tv

www.investo.si – More on the investo.si – Invest to Slovenia Program

www.investo.international – More on the network of 75 national organizations of shareholders and investors

At the General meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) which took place last week in Athens, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, was elected into the Executive board of this influential European association for the fifth mandate. The association brings together almost 5 million individual investors and 40 national associations of shareholders and investors. The voting meeting was followed by an inaugural session of the Executive board immediately after, which named Jella Benner-Heinacher, currently the director of the German Investors' Association (DSW), as President of BETTER FINANCE, while Axel Kleinlein of the German association Bund der Versicherten (BdV) and the incumbent president of BETTER FINANCE, Jean Berthon of the French association FAIDER, became Vice-Presidents of BETTER FINANCE.