STA, 7 January 2020 - The Ljubljana District Court has fully upheld the Competition Protection Agency's decision to temporarily seize Mercator shares from the retailer's owner, Croatian group Agrokor, rejecting the latter's appeal.
The anti-trust watchdog announced the court's decision upon receiving it on Tuesday, while Agrokor's successor Fortenova announced it would use all legal means available to have the seizure annulled.
The agency seized 70% of Mercator shares from Agrokor on 16 December to ensure the insolvent Croatian group pay a EUR 53.9 million fine for failing to notify it of the 2016 takeover of Slovenian-based bottled water company Costella.
Agrokor appealed against the fine as well as against the seizure. The court is yet to rule on the appeal against the fine, which is expected to take more time.
The temporary seizure of Mercator shares suspended the planned transfer of the Slovenian retail group from Agrokor to its successor Fortenova.
Fortenova officials denounced the seizure in December as an attempt by Slovenia to secure better terms for Slovenian suppliers of Mercator, a claim that Slovenia denied.
Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek commented on the court's decision by saying that Slovenia was a country ruled by law and that Slovenian legislation had to be respected.
Meanwhile, Fortenova termed the court's explanation unconvincing and legally weak, insisting the agency's decision was arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
Fortenova noted that Agrokor had notified heads of European and national regulators of the Slovenian agency's contentious conduct in the procedure and of the suspicion that "Slovenian legal and other bodies are preventing transfer of Mercator shares to Fortenova for national political reasons in contravention of Slovenian legislation and EU practice".
Agrokor also notified of the "obstacles it has been meeting with as an investor in Slovenia for the past year" the ratings firms Fitch, Moody's, Standard & Poor's, the World Bank offices in Washington and Brussels and Transparency International in Brussels and Berlin.
