The Slovenian state property management agency (AUKN) on Monday advised two state-owned banks, at the initiative of the finance and agriculture ministries, to think about the management of their stakes in the Mercator retail chain.
The AUKN posted on its website letters by Finance Minister Franci Krizanic and Agriculture Minister Dejan Zidan, who called on the AUKN to react because of "the huge negative consequences" which could occur if Mercator was sold to the Croatian concern Agrokor.
The two ministers say the chain employs more than 23,000 people and accounts for the turnover of 43 per cent of Slovenia's food products, that domestic producers would have a hard time finding other sales outlets because of the economic crisis and that, therefore, the state must treat the stakes owned by state-owned banks as a "strategic investment" and do everything to protect domestic producers.
In a memo to Nova Ljubljanska Banka and Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, the AUKN said it respected the autonomy of their managements in negotiations on the sale of their Mercator stakes, but added that the situation could change if a decision was to be made that would require the consent of their supervisory boards.
If the supervisory boards vote against selling the stakes in Mercator, the decision should be left to the two banks' shareholders' assemblies, the AUKN said on its website, adding that in that case, for the sake of the two banks' success in the long term, it would push for an integral analysis of the consequences of Mercator's sale.
That would be necessary because sector policies, adopted by the government, are important for the AUKN's operation as an independent agency, as is the capital investment management strategy, which is in parliament's remit, the agency said.
