Slovenia's likely prime minister designate Zoran Jankovic said on Tuesday he was personally against the sale of a 52 per cent stake in Slovenia's largest retail chain, Mercator, of which he used be the director, to the Croatian concern Agrokor.
"I think it would be best if (Agrokor's daughter company) Konzum and Mercator merged by exchanging shares," he told reporters in Ljubljana.
"I don't understand why someone who is buying Mercator hasn't made a public bid. I think the best idea would be if Konzum or Agrokor merged with Mercator through a share exchange, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development eventually having 10 or 15 per cent of the stock (of the merger)," the STA news agency quoted him as saying.
Jankovic indirectly criticised the role of Nova Ljubljanska Banka in the consortium of Mercator owners which are selling their stakes, saying its leaders had not been doing a good job for a long time.
