In the 2023 supplementary budget, the government of Robert Golob has allocated €185.13 million for the purchase of shares of small shareholders in five electricity distribution companies. The plan is to pay out €185.13 million to small shareholders this year through the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), while “the Slovenian Sovereign Holding may postpone the second payment to 2024”. The latter means that €185 million is not the final price that taxpayers will pay for this unnecessary and high-risk controversial purchase.
We are talking about the companies Elektro Ljubljana, Elektro Maribor, Elektro Celje, Elektro Gorenjska and Elektro Primorska, where they intend to squeeze out or pay out the small shareholders with budget money. The latter have been working for several years to get out of the ownership of these companies. The state is the majority owner of these companies, while small shareholders hold around 20% of the ownership, which prevents them from influencing business decisions. But they want to get their hands on the money. And that is what they are now getting under Robert Golob.
Small shareholders are expected to earn significantly more by selling low-value shares on the market than if they were sold at the regular price, and the electricity companies will thus become 100% state-owned. According to the information currently available, taxpayers are expected to pay them at least three quarters of the book value of each share. The latter may be far from market value. And not only that. Robert Golob’s government is now giving small shareholders twice as much as those electricity distribution companies offered them a few years ago in their share buyback programme. At that time, they considered the price too low for small shareholders, so they did not sell their shares.
A repeat will follow next year
The government’s current decision has attracted considerable public criticism and justified doubts as to its validity and transparency. This is also because this money from the state budget could have been immediately earmarked to help those affected by the recent floods. With the 2023 supplementary budget, the coalition has reallocated €520 million to the rehabilitation budget. In doing so, they left €185.13 million for the squeeze-out of shareholders of electricity distribution companies, adding that the total amount could rise further next year. The amount of €185.13 million is therefore not yet final.
The whole thing will be managed by a friend of Golob’s
The process of buying out or squeezing out small shareholders in these companies will be managed by the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), which is headed by Žiga Debeljak, a good friend of Robert Golob and the Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković. According to insiders, the next step for the government of Robert Golob or for him personally, is to merge the electricity distribution companies. The merged company would then be headed by none other than Golob, who is thus arranging a new job, a golden parachute for himself, where he could once again scoop with a golden spoon. It is also worth noting that the squeeze-out or pay-out of small shareholders is not a necessary step for the intended creation of the merged company. However, it will be much easier for the management to reign supreme if they do not have others breathing down their necks. Small shareholders also have the right to have access to the company’s business.
Arrogant silence
The government of Robert Golob has so far not explained why the consolidation of ownership in the energy sector is so important to it at this time. Nor have they explained why this money is not being used to help the areas affected by the severe floods at the beginning of August. At the same time, the government had stopped investments before, and publicly announced it after the floods. For example, the construction of the 3rd development axis was halted even before the floods, and one mayor revealed that the Minister for Infrastructure, Alenka Bratušek, had admitted to him that the 3rd development axis, the road from Škofljica to Kočevje and onwards to Croatia, would not even be built during the term of office of this government. While officially, Bratušek and the government claim that building expressways is “their priority”, other things are actually going on behind the scenes. They have also stopped investing in the construction of some primary schools, the Ministry of Education has long had money only for staff salaries, and investments have been cut. Other areas, including healthcare, will also be severely neglected or underfunded after the floods. All because of the excuse that there is no money for such things. At the same time, the government is keeping €185.13 million earmarked in the budget for the energy sector, which will be spent in a non-transparent and controversial, perhaps even corrupt, manner.
Do they not know, or do they not want to know?
There are many questions, but so far, none of the ministers have even answered direct questions from the press about the reasons for the €185.13 million purchase of shares in electricity distribution companies in 2023. So far, none of them has been able or willing to explain this budgetary intention. Thus, at a press conference after a government meeting in early September, when asked by a journalist whether the project was still on the cards for this year, the Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič replied that he would ask the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH). The answer was misleading, as this is a budget expenditure, which is under the control of the Finance Ministry. He also evaded answering the question later. In this context, it is also interesting that the government has not held any press conferences after the last two meetings (mid-September). They only sent out a press release, which is rather strange.
Friends need money
The fact that the Ministry of Finance is also asking other ministries to cut spending by 4%, the same amount they are supposed to have saved according to their plans, because of the floods and the costs involved, makes the €185.13 million even more incomprehensible. Or, as TV presenter Aljuš Pertinač pointed out, “I don’t understand other ministers not resisting these savings at the expense of flood rehabilitation when, on the other hand, the government has €185 million to spend on purely personal, unrelated matters.” When asked why the country urgently needs money for electricity companies that are public and owned by citizens, Pertinač replied that this is because some of Prime Minister Golob’s friends have shares in these companies and need money. Therefore, Golob will take €185.13 million from the budget and give it to his friends to sell the shares.
Taxes on the one hand, wasting money on the other
Political analyst and former MEP Marko Pavlišič believes that the justification of the €185.13 million earmarked for the purchase of small shareholders’ stakes in electricity distribution companies requires a detailed explanation from the minister responsible. He is referring to Golob’s finance minister, Klemen Boštjančič, who, according to the well-known analyst, journalist and editor Bojan Požar, is “more often than not an obedient contractor, in charge of details and trifles.” Pavlišič adds that the €185.13 million requires a detailed explanation, “especially in light of the announcement of new taxes or contributions and the announced tightening of the fiscal situation in view of the necessary reconstruction after natural disasters, as well as the re-imposition of the fiscal rule at the request of the European Union.” He also stated that it is difficult to judge whether this is a reasonable decision without a detailed analysis. However, he pointed out that, in addition to the amount, it is also important that the price of the shares to be redeemed is set appropriately and that there is transparency. As the shares are being bought back, it should be asked whether these funds cannot be provided for in the budget balance B, i.e., in the balance sheet of financial claims and investments.
Who are the small shareholders?
In the five electricity distribution companies, the state holds around 80%, which means that around 20% are private shareholders. These are either private companies or funds, or individuals. According to media reports, the largest small shareholder is Kalantia Limited, owned by the certificate-transaction tycoon Igor Lah. Other important small shareholders include various financial funds, such as the KD Group and others.
Debeljak is also staying silent
The government’s intention to pay out small shareholders through the Slovenian Sovereign Holding was already rumoured in August. At the time, the Holding, which is headed by Golob’s loyal friend Žiga Debeljak during this government, remained silent when asked by the press about the benefits that this project would bring the taxpayers. The N1 SLO web portal reported that the Holding assured them that they were not in talks with the non-state shareholders of the distributions, and that they refused to comment on the process of repaying the small shareholders, explaining that they “have to protect as confidential all information, facts and circumstances about each a capital company.”
They also refused Demokracija’s requests for a comment
Last week, we also sent questions to the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, headed by Golob’s contractor Bojan Kumer, about the purpose of the €185.13 million and whether the squeeze-out of small shareholders in the five electricity distribution companies is really a priority for the state at the moment. We also sent a similar question to the Ministry of Finance, headed by Klemen Boštjančič. We did not receive a reply from either of the ministries.
We were further interested in the exact ownership structure of the individual electricity distribution companies. Some of them sent us information, and some of them directed us to the KDD – the Central Clearing Depository Company (Centralna klirinška depotna družba), which keeps the share register. We are still collecting and verifying the data and will present it in a future article. Given the plans of Robert Golob and his team, this will be a very interesting topic this year.
Vida Kocjan
