The coalition have reached a compromise on the strategy for the management of state assets and their classification, so the document providing a basis for further privatisations is expected to be endorsed by the cabinet on Thursday.
Insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav will initially be classed as a strategic investment.
The country's largest insurer will be a strategic investment until the state regains the power to exercise its voting rights in the company. It will then be classified as important investment, a class in which the state wants to retain a controlling stake of 25% plus one share.
The coalition also agreed to put the requirement of dispersed ownership in place only for a few of the companies designated as important investments. Dispersed shareholding for this class of investments was the demand of both junior coalition partners, the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Social Democrats (SD).
Some other changes in the classification agreed today include the designation of pharma company Krka as an important investment rather than a strategic one as initially proposed, head of the deputy faction of the Party of Modern Centre (SMC) Simona Kustec Lipicer said in announcing the compromise.
The state currently holds a 26.86% stake in Krka.
State-owned shareholders of Triglav have had their voting rights suspended since April 2013 under the Securities Market Agency's decision that urged them to reduce their combined holding below the takeover threshold level or publish a takeover bid.
The biggest single shareholder of Triglav is the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ) with 34.47%. A further 28.09% is held by the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH). According to Kustec Lipicer, ZPIZ's stake will be preserved in state ownership once Triglav becomes important investment.
Before disposing of the state stake, the SSH will have to set down in Triglav's articles of association or in some other appropriate way a ban on concentration of ownership by individual private owners or ensure dispersion of their shareholdings to the proportion of ZPIZ's stake, the coalition agreed.
ZPIZ's stake in Triglav will be transferred to a demographic fund, which will finance the shortfall in the pension purse, by means of a special law as envisaged in the SSH act. Only after the demographic fund bill is passed, SSH would be able to dispose of its stake.
ZPIZ's stake and its planned transfer to the demographic fund was the main reason why DeSUS wanted Triglav to remain a strategic investment, a class in which the state wants to keep a majority stake. While he was not entirely happy with the deal, DeSUS deputy faction leader Franc Jurša said compromises were necessary.
Meanwhile, agreement was also reached to have a ban on the concentration of ownership put in place for individual important investments to ensure dispersed ownership of private shareholders. These will not be able to have stakes bigger than the combined state shareholding in those companies.
The dispersed ownership condition will be put in place for the NLB bank, energy company Petrol, reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava and holding Sava.
Source: The Slovenia Times
