A three-day international conference »Israel Innovation Conference (MIXiii)« started in Tel Aviv on Tuesday with a gala opening. The conference is a key business-scientific event in Israel, the country with most innovative or start-up companies per capita. It is also one of the biggest conferences of this type in global context with more than 7,000 attendees from all over the world. The assembled participants were in the introduction addressed by the Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli President Shimon Peres, and both of them later exchanged a few words with the President of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Kristjan Verbič, MSc.

The VZMD President attended the conference with numerous B2B meetings on the invitation of the Slovenian Embassy in Israel and Jožef Stefan Institute, and he attended the conference in the framework of this year's third tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net). In the framework of this tour Mr Verbič in the past 22 days prepared Slovenian business day in Denmark, he actively participated at the OECD Forum 2014 in Paris, joined the Slovenian business delegation visiting Teheran and Isfahan and he attended the annual conference of the International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN) in New York.

Participants at the business-scientific conference in Tel Aviv had the possibility to talk and exchange opinions with numerous esteemed experts and representatives of world corporations which have the leading role in the area of innovations, development and investments. Lectures, round-table discussions and receptions have been divided according to individual areas, mostly the areas of biomedicine and high-technology. In addition to this B2B meetings have also been organised for the conference participants, with the purpose to exchange opinions, give presentations, finance new ideas and start-up companies and to establish business contacts.

Besides the conference, the official visit of the Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport Dr Jernej Pikalo took place as well, granting the awards to start-up companies. After the conference was concluded an evening reception, organised by the Slovenian Embassy in Israel, also took place.

After this year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Bled, Bratislava, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, New York, New Delhi, Ouagadougou, Paris and Teheran and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo,Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana,Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning to be actively present and to carry out the presentations on five continents this year!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to participate in their events in activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone 031 770 771 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">info@inves>to.si.  

After a considerable length of time the Slovenian representative at this year's Eurovision Song Contest Tinkara Kovač brought excitement to her native country and abroad by qualifying for the Eurovision Final in Danish capital Copenhagen. In addition to an excellent performance Tinkara also made a great impression in Denmark with a comprehensive presentation of her homeland, which was prepared in cooperation with Invest to Slovenia – investo.si programme of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) and the Slovenian Embassy in Denmark. 

The Annual Conference of the International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN) began on Monday on the premises of the renowned Labaton Sucharow law office in New York. The President of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, was also invited by the organisers to be a guest-speaker at the Conference.Immediately after arriving from the business visit in Iran Mr Verbič presented to the numerous participants, founders, owners and representatives of the esteemed law offices from around the world the scandalous expropriation of the owners of shares and bonds at Slovenian banks and the activities being carried out and planned by VZMD in response to this problem. Mr Verbič also pointed out a real danger that the radical measures enforced in Slovenia might also be implemented in some other European countries after the forthcoming round of stress tests.

The VZMD President warned of the above mentioned problems or dangers at last year's IFLN Conference in Madrid, at a time when Slovenian legislation was in the phase of preparation that only a few months resulted in the actual cancellation of shares and bonds of more than 100.000 owners. During the Conference, protesters - who welcomed the filing of a lawsuit by the law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo (one of the IFLN founding members) against the Central Bank because of tort on behalf of more than 347,000 small shareholders in the case involving Spanish state bank Bankia - gathered in front of the Central Bank of Spain simultaneously with the visit of IFLN representatives.

At the request of the hosts the VZMD President presented the Nova KBM (Slovenian bank) case in detail. Nova KBM's action actually represents - considering the expropriation of 100,000 mostly domestic small shareholders and some bigger international (institutional) investors (especially those related to the secondary quotation at the Warsaw Stock Exchange) - a bigger scandal than the previously mentioned Bankia case.

The International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN) otherwise comprises some distinguished and influential law offices which represent the interests of investors in Austria, Brazil, Central America, Denmark, Finland, India, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Columbia, Macao, Morocco, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey and the USA.

The VZMD President is visiting New York in the framework of this year's third tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net), promoting the cooperation for which he already visited Copenhagen, Paris and Iran.

Progress towards opening deeper relations between Slovenia and Iran was made after Slovenia's Eurovision representative qualified for this year's final and following the successful implementation of Slovenian business day in Denmark – organised in Copenhagen by the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) and its Invest to Slovenia – investo.si programme, with the assistance of Tinkara Kovač and the Slovenian Embassy in Copenhagen. In the framework of the above-mentioned investo.si programme VZMD President Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc., flew to Iran on Friday evening and is participating in a strong business delegation accompanying the President of The Slovenian National Assembly Mr Janko Veber on his visit to Tehran and Isfahan.

The Iranian-Slovenian business conference, which took place on Saturday evening at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Mines (ICCIM) in Tehran, was, apart from 25 Slovenian representatives and numerous Iranian companies and institutions, also attended by the Chairman of the Parliament of Iran Ali Larijani. Many B2B meetings took place and all necessary provisions were made for the successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects included in the two VZMD international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net).

The second Iranian-Slovenian Business Conference with business B2B meetings among Slovenian and Iranian businessmen took place yesterday 460 km away in Isfahan at the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA). On this occasion the members of the Slovenian business delegation also backed a special appeal for the establishment of a Slovenian diplomatic-consular post in Iran. The initiative given by the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with 25 companies and organisations participating in the business delegation, is actively also backed by VZMD since such a representative body would significantly improve the possibilities of business cooperation among the companies in both countries.   

Following the receptions held by two Iranian Minsters on Wednesday, the President of the Slovenian National Assembly met the President of Iran Hassan Rouhani.

The VZMD President is otherwise visiting Iran in the framework of this year's third tour of investo.si and invest-to.net programmes. In the framework of the tour this time the VZMD President, apart from carrying out many duties in Eurovision Copenhagen, also paid a one-day-visit to the OECD Forum in Paris. Immediately after the activities in Iran are completed, he is to depart for New York to attend an annual conference at the invitation of the International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN). As a guest-speaker at the IFLN annual conference, the VZMD President is going to present the problems tied to the scandalous expropriation of the owners of shares and bonds at the Slovenian banks and the activities related to this problem which are carried out by VZMD. He is going to point out that the measures that were put into force in Slovenia might also be implemented in some other European countries during the forthcoming new round of stress tests. 

After this year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Bled, Bratislava, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, New Delhi, Ouagadougou and Paris, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo,Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb,VZMD is planning to be actively present and to carry out the presentations on five continents this year!

VZMD invites all who would like to take part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si coordinator by phone 031 770 771 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) on Tuesday successfully carried out the Slovenian Business Day in Denmark, which took place in the framework of the international business-investment programme Invest to Slovenia – investo.si. The Slovenian Business Day was carried out in cooperation with the Slovenian Embassy in Denmark and the Slovenian representative at Eurovision 2014 Tinkara Kovač.

The Slovenian Business Day in Denmark began with a formal reception at the residence of the Slovenian Ambassador in Denmark, and it continued with the Slovenian Evening and a feast featuring Slovenian food delicacies, a toast and a party at the renowned VEGA-EuroClub in Copenhagen (official Eurovision VIP club). The central event of the Slovenian evening, which was attended by more than 500 visitors, was a live concert by Slovenian representative Tinkara Kovač which included a special »a cappella«version of her Eurovision song.

Enthusiastic participants from practically all countries taking part in Eurovision 2014 were excited about the VIDEO REPORT prepared by the investo.TV team showing the journey of Tinkara's band and camera-crew travelling by Adria Mobil camper vans from Novo mesto to Copenhagen. The Slovenian Evening was followed by a broadcast of the first Eurovision Semi-final and socialising late into the night while feasting on culinary delicacies from Mercator, Perutnina Ptuj (producer of poultry products), Laško Brewery, Union Brewery and Ptuj Wine Cellar. (to view the programme, sponsors and partners click on the photo on the left).

Numerous guests and visitors at the Slovenian Business Day in Denmark were, besides Tinkara, also addressed by the Slovenian Ambassador, His Excellency Tone Kajzer and VZMD President, Kristjan Verbič, MSc. Mr Verbič also provided for the notable presentation of Slovenian companies, trademarks and business environment, as was done in Paris on Monday when he actively participated at OECD Forum. As the only Slovenian representative in the framework of the formal evening reception in Paris, Mr Verbič also provided for the additional presentation of Slovenian wines served to the guests attending the evening reception.

After his duties in Copenhagen are finished the VZMD President will depart to Iran where he will participate in the Slovenian business delegation attending business conferences in Teheran and Isfahan during the visit of the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia Mr Janko Veber. 

The traditional OECD Forum started in Paris yesterday and this time it takes place under the title "Resilient Economies for Inclusive Societies". In the framework of the opening session, the assembled audience was addressed by the EOECD Secretary-General Mr Angel Gurria, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the White House Jason Furman, and the Slovenian Prime Minister Mrs Alenka Bratušek, MSc.

VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, MSc, who is currently occupied with many duties and preparations for the forthcoming Slovenian business day in Denmark which is being prepared by the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) and its international business-investment programme Invest to Slovenia – investo.si during the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, was also on a one-day visit to Paris yesterday. Mr Verbič actively participated at the OECD Forum for the second time, after he participated at the Forum in 2011 when he spoke with, among others, the President of the European Council (Mr Herman Van Rompuy), OECD Secretary-General (Mr Angel Gurria), US Secretary of State (Hillary R. Clinton), President of the European Commission (José Manuel D. Barroso) and President of Chile (Sebastián Piñera E. M. J.).  

In the framework of the current Forum, Mr Verbič also attended a joint press conference with the Slovenian Prime Minister and OECD Secretary-General and he asked them both a question related to the Slovenian Prime Minister's speech in which she stated that in December last year the trust into the Slovenian financial and banking system had once again been restored. Mr Verbič emphasized the expropriation of more than 100.000 owners of shares and bonds in the Slovenian banks and pointed out that the above-mentioned move caused extreme outrage among foreign investors. The VZMD President also provided an example of the total loss of trust of the investors at the Warsaw stock exchange where Nova KBM shares were quoted until the radical expropriation measures took place.

Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek did not provide any additional explanations for the statement that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia was obliged to act according to instructions from Brussels – a topic which so far the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia as well as the Finance Minister have been asked about many times by VZMD expert associates. The VZMD President pointed out the above mentioned problems on 28 March in the European Parliament at the International Conference »Better Finance Manifesto«. After his presentation numerous representatives of European Institutions, decision makers and regulators expressed their surprise regarding the statement that the cancellation of subordinate bonds had supposedly resulted from the insistence of the European Commission, and all competent co-speakers, with no exceptions, completely denied such a possibility. 

Given that the Slovenian Prime Minister in her address speech twice emphasized that »Slovenia is on the right track again«, the VZMD President also asked her if she did not consider this statement to be paradoxical since on the very same day she resigned as Prime Minister.

Otherwise, the famous Forum is being attended by numerous important representatives of states, institutions and companies from all over the world, among them the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Turkish Minister of Economy Ali Babacan, Indonesian Finance Minister Muhamad Chatib Basri, Slovenian Foreign Minister Karel Erjavec and Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology Metod Dragonja. Besides the Slovenian Prime Minister there are two more Slovenes speaking at the current forum: Drago Kos, President of the Slovene OECD Working Group on Bribery and Mateja Kožuh Novak, President of the Slovene Federation of Pensioners' Association. Thus, Mr Verbič yesterday met numerous Forum participants and the highest Slovenian and foreign representatives and again provided an adequate presentation of the VZMD international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net).

Immediately after the conclusion of yesterday's Forum Mr Verbič returned to Copenhagen where he carried out the final preparations for today's Slovenian Business Day in Denmark.

Together with the Slovenian Representative at Eurovision 2014, VZMD invites you to join them at the biggest official feast, party and concert accompanying the Eurovision events – WELCOME TO THE SLOVENIAN EVENING!

After a notable press conference of the Slovenian Eurovision 2014 representative, organised by the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD)in the framework of the international business-investment programme Invest to Slovenia – investo.si, VZMD President Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, yesterday departed to Copenhagen, the Eurovision 2014 host city. Mr Verbič joined the Slovenian Eurovision team there, and he also met the Ambassador of the Republic of Sloveniain Copenhagen His Excellency Mr Tone Kajzer, representatives of the Slovenian National Radio and TV Station (RTV Slovenia), Slovenian Eurovision representative Tinkara Kovač, and EuroClub management team. Mr Verbič, visited Copenhagen with a purpose to establish and strengthen economic and business links and prepare the Slovenian Business Day in Denmark, which also includes a formal reception at the Slovenian Ambassador's Residence, and the Slovenian evening with a feast, Slovenian culinary delicacies, a toast and a party in the renowned EuroClub in Copenhagen (the official Eurovision VIP club), where the live concert of the Slovenian Eurovision representative Tinkara Kovač will take place.

The socialising event prepared for all the performing artists, representatives, media, eminent guests and other interested people from all Eurovision countries will be – apart from the Slovenian culinary delicacies from Mercator (the biggest Slovenian supermarket chain), Perutnina Ptuj (producer of poultry products), Laško Brewery, Union Brewery, Ptuj Wine Cellar and an excellent concert – also enlivened by a video presentation of the two-day journey of the band and team of the Slovenian representative travelling from Slovenia to Denmark by camper vans.

The Slovenian evening will take place on 6 May 2014, at 5.30 p.m. in EuroClub in Copenhagen, and it will be followed by a viewing of the 1st Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final at the same location at 8 p.m.

VZMD invites you to join them at the biggest official feast and party accompanying the Eurovision events – WELCOME TO THE SLOVENIAN EVENING!

FREE ENTRY and FREE EXCELLENT SLOVENIAN FOOD AND DRINKS, ENTRY ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVE BASIS – THE NUMBER OF VISITORS UP TO 400

A formal reception will take place at the Residence of the Slovenian Ambassador before the Slovenian evening. Please inform us if you would like to attend the Ambassador's reception, since you need to obtain a personal invitation for it. For more information send us an e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We cordially invite businesspeople, representatives of companies and institutions, media, and all who have an interest in presenting, establishing or maintaining contacts in Denmark, wider in Scandinavia, at home and international arena, to join us at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen − during all performances and receptions of the Slovenian representative Tinkara Kovač and at a special Slovenian Business Day, on May the 6^th 2014, with the reception at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia and the subsequent gathering in renowned EuroClub, with excellent program while feasting on Slovenian delights and viewing this year's Eurovision song contest preliminary selection.

The Slovenian business delegation was visiting Bratislava on Thursday and Friday, and it was accompanying the Foreign Minister, Mr Karl Erjavec, who was visiting Slovakia. 

Minister Erjavec on Thursday evening at the Slovenian Embassy in the centre of Bratislava received members of the business delegation comprised of the representatives of 15 companies: Adria kombi, Datalab, Fersped, Fining, Interservice, Kolektor Etra, Luka Koper, Metrans Adria, Sinergise, Slovenija Trade, Slovenian railways – cargo traffic, TIB Transport and the Pan−Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD). Some important points of view and starting points were established during an extensive discussion, among others the necessity to start building a 2nd rail line which is very important from a logistics−transport perspective – not only for Luka Koper, but also for the wider Slovenian and European business environment. Andrej Mertelj, the director of Datalab, presented an exceptional initiative for the establishment of a European competence centre for agriculture and informatics in Slovenia.   

Minister Erjavec, together with the representatives of the Slovenian Ministry for Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, listened attentively to the initiatives, plans and arguments, and he promised that the Foreign Ministry will provide support for the presented proposals.

The VZMD President, Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, was also attending the events in Bratislava in the framework of the endeavours of the two VZMD international business−investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - invest-to.net. At the reception and at the bilateral and multilateral meetings, Mr Verbič presented the two programmes which – apart from the possibility of the presentations on the investo.si, and invest-to.net web portals, promotional materials, etc. – also enable the establishment of direct contacts with the representatives of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), the World Federation of Investors (WFI), and 57 national associations of shareholders and investors, and also with partner associations: International Knowledge Economy Network (KEN), International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), the European Issuers Association (EuropeanIssuers), European Business Angels Network (EBAN), the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN), etc.

On Friday the members of the business delegation were attending the Slovenian−Slovakian business forum, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovakia. Beside the Slovenian Foreign Minister, the assembled audience was in the introduction also addressed by the Secretary at the Slovakian Foreign Ministry, while the representatives of the Slovakian Investment and Trade Development Agency SARIO, the director of Datalab, Mr Andrej Mertelj, and Čedomir Bojanič, the director of the Slovenian Association of Port Logistics Providers, also presented Slovakian and Slovenian business environment in the field of information−communication technologies and logistics. The presentations were followed by two separate round−table discussions on the themes of logistics and information technology. The business forum ended with bilateral talks between Slovenian and Slovakian companies, and it was concluded by a mutual press conference of the Slovenian Foreign Minister Mr
Erjavec and the Slovakian Foreign Minister, Miroslav Lajčák.  

Otherwise Mr Verbič was attending the Bratislava conference in the framework of an intensive tour of the investo.si in invest-to.net programmes, and in the following days he will also be attending »India-Central Europe Business Forum«which will take place in New Delhi, and afterwards Mr Verbič will be present at the International Conference of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse) entitled »Better Finance Manifesto« (VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT of VZMD.tv). It is his second longer tour this year, after the one in February in the framework of which he actively participated at the 5th Congress of the Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders (AEMEC), International Investors' Conference at the Madrid Stock Exchange, and at the West African Business Investment Forum Africallia 2014, which took place in the capital of Burkina Faso Ouagadougou.

After last year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone 031 770 771, or e-mail tratar@investo.si.

Prof Dr Peter Glavič, a representative of the Civil Society Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of Nova KBM Bank« and of the NKBM Section at the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), and the VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, MSc, on Tuesday addressed a letter to the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, reminding him of the expropriation affecting 100.000 owners of shares at three Slovenian Banks, 2.000 owners of subordinated bonds, and indirectly also nearly 500.000 citizens (a quarter of the population) who have been saving in pension companies, fund management companies, and insurance companies. They have all been expropriated for nearly 500 million euros in total. The Republic of Slovenia (RS) has in this way, on demand from and in cooperation with the European Commission, plundered the biggest Slovenian banks and robbed their owners!

The two signers have also pointed out that none of the »crisis«countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain) have so far invalidated the property of small investors. The shareholders of the Nova kreditna banka Maribor (NKBM) have been erased contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the RS and the Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The State of the Republic of Slovenia has expropriated the owners in two phases. First it oppressively devaluated their deposits (5.6 million shares, each worth 27 €, 151 M€ in total); it forbade them bank recapitalisation, while at the same time it transformed coco-bonds and 10% fixed interest on them into shares: 100 million shares each worth 1 €, and 185 million shares each worth 1,3 cents, in total 285 million shares for 102,4 M€! The book value of a share has thus dropped from 5, 37 € to 0, 76 €, and the market value has dropped to only 0, 10 €. The small investors have thus practically been pushed out of the ownership, and a 92% bank ownership has been established which then, with a special law which so far none of the EU countries has adopted, erased their shares!

Last year's review and estimation of bad debts is also extremely questionable, which is also true for the conditions of transmission on the 'bad bank' whose criteria have been dictated by the European Commission, since the European Central Bank has at that time asked The European Banking Authority (EBA) for the criteria which, at that time, had not yet been formally approved. There is a difference between the valid international accounting standards and the forced illegal criteria, and because of this difference shareholders and the owners of subordinated bonds have been expropriated – the procedure was in a stark contrast with the basic principles of the rule of law.

The Government of the RS and the Bank of Slovenia have both claimed that the European Commission is responsible for the unique expropriation of shareholders, but in the notice written by the European Commission there is no word about the necessity of expropriating shareholders. Even those countries which have accepted a bailout (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain) have not erased shares and subordinated bank bonds. Germany, Belgium, Austria and other member states have even recapitalised private banks themselves, without expropriating the existing shareholders, and the European Commission did not consider it helpful. Spain and the Netherlands even had to cancel the decisions about the nullification of the shareholders' property. Dr Glavič and Mr Verbič, MSc, have emphasized in the letter to Mr Barroso that it is more than obvious that Slovenia has been treated unequally.

The expropriation of small investors is a disproportionate measure, and the implementation of the Decision of the Bank of Slovenia jeopardizes the financial stability of the capital market, the bank system, the economy and the country of the Republic of Slovenia as a whole – among other things they also caused that, before the elections into the European Parliament, Euro-sceptical political parties began to grow and gain influence because of the destruction of the social-market economy and the double-crossing of small investors caused by the finance industry, large capital and their lobbies. Therefore Dr Glavič and Mr Verbič, MSc, have suggested to the President of the European Commission to support their endeavours in order to reach an out-of-court settlement, in accordance with the Article 45 of the European Commission, excluding demands of the Articles 43 and 44.

Mr Verbič, MSc, is going to present the letter to the President of the European Commission on March 28 in the European Parliament at the international conference Better Finance, which is being prepared by the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), whose active member is also VZMD. It is a part of a wider campaign »Better Finance Manifesto«, which is being managed by EuroFinUse before this year's European Parliament elections, and in the framework of which it summons all political parties to take their stand on four basic principles which have to be implemented in the next five years (VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT which has been prepared by VZMD.tv and investo.tv).

Apart from the President of the European Commission, the letter has also been sent to the attention of: Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services; Dr Janez Potočnik, Slovene Commissioner for Environment; Slovene Members of Parliament Tanja Fajon, MSc, Dr Romana Jordan, Jelko Kacin, Mojca Kleva Kekuš, MSc, Zofija Mazej Kukovič, Alojz Peterle, Ivo Vajgl, Dr Milan Zver; vice president of European Investment Bank Anton Rop, MSc; and a member of the European Court of Auditors Milan M. Cvikl, MSc.

You can see the entire letter by clicking the photo of the document. 

The West African Business Development Forum Africallia 2014 took place last week in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Many distinguished regional and international representatives of states, institutions, and companies were attending the extremely well-visited forum. Apart from 240 African companies, there were at least 160 companies from all over the world present at the forum. In the introduction the assembled audience was also addressed by, among others, the following guest-speakers: Luc Adolphe Tiao, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso; Alizèta Ouedraogo, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Burkina Faso; Christophe Dabire, a representative of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA); Ginette Nzau-Muteta, a representative of the African Development Bank Group; Bettina Acquier, a representative of the Futurallia organisation; and Gaspard Ouedraogo, the president of the Forum Africallia Organisational Committee.   

Burkina Faso is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which represents a common market for eight West African states which have more than 100 million inhabitants altogether. UEMOA, which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, was established at the beginning of 1994, primarily with an aim to increase competitiveness through the common market, coordination of the member states' economic policies, and the supervision and harmonisation of the fiscal policies. These countries are considered to be very promising countries, and they have gained considerable attention from various foreign multinational corporations.

The forum was also attended by a Slovenian delegation which was present at the event in the framework of the successfully organised business trip that had been arranged by Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia. The following representatives of the Slovenian delegation attended the forum: Tina Lukan, SPIRIT Slovenia; Ivo Boscarol, Pipistrel company CEO; Roman Žnidarič and Boris Lipovšek, Cetis company representatives, and VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, M.Sc. (in the photo at Friday's gala dinner).

After the successful collaboration at the fifth congress of the Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders (AEMEC) and the international investment conference at the Madrid Stock Exchange, Mr. Verbič carried out numerous B2B talks in Ouagadougu, with, among others, the representatives of the following institutions: International Consulting and Investment Group (Burkina Faso), Taiwan-Africa Business Association (Taiwan), Togo Chamber of Commerce (Togo), World Trade Centre Istanbul (Turkey) and CVS SPRL (Democratic Republic of Congo), Ivory Coast Chamber of Commerce, International Cabinet of Consulting and Brokerage (Morocco), and Afrique Agro-Export Association (AAFEX)(Senegal). These B2B talks were held in the framework of the two VZMD international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net).     

After actively participating in the last year's international conference Europe for Africa & Africa for World in Ljubljana, and after the Global KEN Forum international conference in Cape Town, VZMD, by participating at this event, substantially expands endeavours and activities of investo.si and invest-to.net programmes in the area of Africa which has huge potential and many opportunities for the future.

After last year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone 031 770 771, or e-mail tratar@investo.si.

The European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), of which the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) is also an active member, has announced the campaign »Better Finance Manifesto« in the framework of which it summons all political parties to take their stand on the four basic principles that need to be implemented in the next five years. EuroFinUse announced the campaign before the upcoming European elections. The manifesto will be presented at the international conference in the European Parliament, which will take place on March 28th in Brussels. EuroFinUse kindly invites all to join the »Better Finance Manifesto«endeavours either by directly participating at the conference, or by contributing their opinions and ideas, and by supporting the campaign via websites and Facebook.

EuroFinUse is starting the campaign with a concise and eloquent VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT which has been prepared by the VZMD.tv and investo.tv teams. Some important points have been emphasized in the announcement, among them the fact that households are the main source of funds for financial investments. Another fact accentuated in the announcement is that trust into the financial system has been in great deal lost. It was lost after the crisis in 2008 that, in many cases, on one hand and in many cases led to »privatising profits«gained by small elite circles, and on the other hand the crisis led to »socializing losses. «It is time for European politicians and regulators to now combine their existing focus on financial stability with a new focus on fairness and on shoring up the real economy by engaging in the protection of savers.  

The four main principles of the »Better Finance Manifesto« campaign are:

 FIRSTLY: Ensure households provide adequate long-term savings for the real economy

In EuroFinUse they have been warning that the ongoing destruction of the real value of households' savings has to come to an end. It is necessary to promote the role and involvement of individual shareholders in the long-term financing of the EU economy through enhancing minority shareholders' rights and facilitating the exercise of their voting rights, especially for cross border voting. It is necessary to promote equities as an adequate, simple, cheap, liquid and transparent long term investment tool. Capital markets (equities and bonds) should return to their natural participants – end investors and non-financial issuers. It is important to improve the governance of listed companies and investment intermediaries to avoid situations where executives depart with huge bonuses and non-insider shareholders and taxpayers end up with many more billions of losses.

SECONDLY: It is crucial to improve and harmonise savers' and investors' protection, whatever the product and whoever the distributor.

All EU citizens should be allowed the access to unbiased and cost-efficient financial advice, whilst at the same time ensuring direct access for citizens to capital markets. It is vital to achieve a »level playing field«for pre-contractual information for investment products, regardless of the type of the product, whether it is a simple investment or a more complex financial product.

THIRDLY: Further improvement of the European financial supervision and enforcement

FOURTHLY: Stop tax discrimination against European savers.

Individual investors and other real economy financial users have to be exempt from all FTTs (financial transaction taxes). It is necessary to put an end to the double taxation of cross-border dividends. Taxation above 100% of real income from savings has to be forbidden.