Supervisory Board chairman Vladimir Malenkovic told a press conference that they could not accept the offer because of last week's decision by the state regulator, the government's Competition Protection Office.

The Competition Protection Office decided last week that Pivovarna Lasko and banks with considerable interests in Mercator may not sell their shares without its consent, thus effectively stopping the management of the overindebted brewery from accepting Agrokor's offer.

Malenkovic said that the Supervisory Board had instructed the management to prepare a new strategy for the sale of non-strategic assets and at the same time continue talks with creditor banks on rescheduling its debt. He could not say when the new strategy would be made.