The VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, attended the meeting of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) in Brussels, and the meeting of the Executive Committee and the General Assembly of the World Federation of Investors (WFI) in Ghent. Following the informal dinner on Tuesday, the members of the Executive Board discussed the membership request of the Italian association 'New Savers' on Wednesday. They also took note on the reports and developments in various European projects where the Federation members (from 43 national associations of shareholders and financial services users) are involved in. Mr. Verbič took this opportunity to present the developments in Brussels in the past week – including the activities of VZMD at the meeting of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG).

The meeting of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG), composed of 20 members from 11 countries of the EU, took place last week in Brussels. VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also actively participated in the important meeting as a full member and the sole representative of the Republic of Slovenia in the highest professional body of the European Commission, in the field of financial services, their users and consumers. At the offices of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA) – the Expert Advisory Group and the representatives of the European Commission discussed and made proposals on various current issues and sectoral legislative procedures and Directives, including mortgage and consumer credits and remunerations, digital Euro initiatives, open finances etc.

The 54^th International Trade Fair (MOS) started on Wednesday in Celje. This year's edition is all about self-sufficiency and has five different segments: MOS Home, MOS Tourism, MOS Engineering and Energy, MOS B-DIGGIt, and MOS Plus. The grand opening of the fair was done by the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Mr Matjaž Han, and was followed by numerous intriguing round tables and lectures.

The EUROFI Financial Forum started on Wednesday in Prague where – in light of the Czech presidency of the EU Council– over 500 prominent participants were discussing numerous current affairs and issues, as well as possible solutions and policies. The attendees were addressed, among others, by Valdis Dombrovskis, the Vice-President of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Trade, Mairead McGuinness, the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Odile Renaud-Basso, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Werner Hoyer, the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and many others. This 3-day, high-profile forum has been traditionally attended by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, at the invitation of the organizers. Mr. Verbič had arrived to Prague the night before the event and together with the Managing Director of the European Federation of Investors (BETTER FINANCE) and colleagues from France, Germany, and Lithuania attended the informal dinner hosted by Viktor Vodička, the President of the Czech Consumer Association (SČS).

One year has passed since the premiere of the hit song "Mali delničar" (Small Shareholder) by the legendary Pero Lovšin and D.J. Loco (MUSIC VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ssSzXPZVLqM). The song immediately became the hymn of the minority shareholders, and a month later, Pero Lovšin crowned it with a live performance at the International Investors' Conference in Bled, Slovenia, organized by VZMD together with the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance) - VIDEO: https://youtu.be/OYb0lNTQDJA

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. 

VZMD is accepting bids up until Friday, 12 August 2022!

At least a 12-month best price guarantee is expected from interested parties and potential buyers in order to protect the interests of the holders at "Share SUPPORT" and ensure a degree of fairness of the agreement that cannot be reached by any stock exchange, while at the same time enable the buyers to reach a much wider base of potential sellers.

VZMD established "Share SUPPORT" in September 2016 (VIDEO) when registry accounts were abolished at the Central Securities Clearing Corporation (KDD); it was meant as an alternative to the expensive trading accounts at the brokerage firms and banks. Due to the needs of the shareholders, as well as the attempts at disabling and consequent constant amendments to the legislation, "Share SUPPORT" evolved into a civil society that enables the holders to jointly buy and sell. For the shares that are a part of "Share SUPPORT", VZMD regularly and actively monitors the general meetings of the companies, their operations and important business events, and always strives to create conditions for suitable yields, either through the payment of dividends or by creating conditions for a joint sale of shares which were often thought of as non-puttable, and in case of legal proceedings after squeeze-outs, transformations, withdrawals from the stock exchange etc.

In many cases, VZMD also managed to ensure better conditions for sale through direct negotiations with larger or majority shareholders and other interested parties. In case of unsuccessful negotiations or in case of squeeze-outs, VZMD initiates legal proceedings to determine suitably fair remuneration. As part of "Share SUPPORT", VZMD successfully recovered overdue entitlements, such as dividends and remunerations for shareholders who stopped receiving disbursements in 2017 due to the abolishment of registry accounts. 

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.