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Big Deals Of The “Young Boys”: Is Jamnik’s Appointment To The Board Of The SID Bank Helping Set The Stage For The Privatisation Of The Energy Sector?

In the spring, shortly after the elections to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister announced a new era in Slovenian politics. With him would come the “era without godfathers from the background,” to paraphrase the headline of one of the main transitional media outlets. The headline, of course, lacked an explanation – the godfathers will no longer rule from the background but will instead step into the forefront now that the electorate had given them an almost unlimited mandate. Thus, Borut Jamnik, the chairman of the board of the “Modra zavarovalnica” insurance company, has now also become a member of the management board of the SID Bank (Slovenska izvozna in razvojna banka – Slovenian Investment and Development Bank). And the Slovenian public got the news on Friday evening, just before Christmas. Which is very convenient and highly strategic, as this will reduce the media footprint of the news in question, and after the holidays, the taxpayers will “simply forget” about the latest venture of the deep state. Or so they hope.

Jamnik was appointed as a new member of the Management Board by the Bank’s Supervisory Board. The Management Board will now consist of three members, as Borut Jamnik will join Damijan Dolinar, Chairman of the Management Board, and Stanka Šarc Majdič, Member of the Management Board, after obtaining regulatory approval. The Bank’s Supervisory Board remains unchanged, with six members. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is Janez Tomšič, the Deputy Chairman is Leo Knez MSc, and the members are Marjan Divjak MSc, Marko Tišma, Zlatko Vili Honjec and Dr Igor Masten, who is also a professor at the Faculty of Economics.

According to the press release sent by the bank, the supervisors appointed Jamnik for a five-year term, but it is not yet known what functions and duties he will perform as a member of the Management Board. The functions and responsibilities will be divided when the mandate comes into effect, they said. Borut Jamnik is a member of the “Young Boys” group, probably the most influential group of people in the country, with a meaningful name. It refers to the new generation of heirs of the “Tekovine Revolution” who, with the election of Robert Golob, got wind in their sails and started to break away from the “old generation,” marked by the last President of the Communist Party of Slovenia, Milan Kučan.

The link between Golob and Jamnik

It has been known for some time now that there is a certain mutual affection and, as you will read below, very probably also a business relationship between Golob and Jamnik. This has been confirmed in his own way by the Prime Minister, who has publicly stated the following: “If Borut Jamnik wants to join the reconstruction of the country as envisioned by the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje svoboda) and publicly support the coalition’s plans, he will find that the door is not closed.”

Is the privatisation of the energy sector in the pipeline?

Jamnik had had his sights set on the SID Bank for some time now, for more than two months, which is when the alleged deal was made between Jamnik and Prime Minister Golob. The latter had allegedly approached Jamnik some time ago, from whom he mainly wanted advice and assistance to help him “privatise the state energy sector”, to paraphrase the words of political commentator Peter Gregorčič. According to Golob, Jamnik had the necessary experience and capital to do this. Of course, Golob also had to offer Jamnik something in return, leaving him the choice of what he wanted. As we have already reported in October, Jamnik wanted a position at the SID Bank. Our predictions have therefore come true.

The “Young Boys” take the reins

On Nova24TV, we have written extensively about the (not so) Young Boys in the past. Today, the group includes Prime Minister Robert Golob, the aforementioned Borut Jamnik, followed by Matej Narat, Klemen Boštjančič, Tone Rop and Žiga Debeljak. The latter, in particular, is much talked about these days as a possible successor to Robert Golob. According to our sources, during his few months in power, Golob has managed to get on the nerves of many representatives of the “old guard”, who are now working fast to replace him. This is also evidenced by the unusual media turn that the reporting on the Prime Minister has recently taken, about which we have also previously written.

Debeljak, Jamnik and Narat are said to have known each other from the early years of the association of young businessmen called YES, which was established in 2004. This was an exclusive circle of up-and-coming elite managers who later more or less successfully shaped the destiny of the Slovenian economy. For example, today’s Finance Minister Boštjančič has been described by old Adria Airways employees as the worst CEO in the company’s history. The latter, however, was supposedly brought into influential circles by Matej Narat, another one of the “Young Boys”.

Gal Kovač

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