Sava Osiguranje new owner of Energoprojekt Garant?

Energoprojekt has lost the insurance company Garant, as the majority owner, Napred Razvoj, has decided to sell it to Slovenia’s Sava Osiguranje, Blic learns.

The agreement was signed on Thursday, December 16, 2017, meeting the request of the NBS, which had ordered Napred Razvoj, the majority owner of Energoprojekt Holding, to dispose of its indirect participation in Garant by November 18, as it had failed to obtain its approval in taking over the Serbian construction company, Blic wrote in the issue of November 17.

On August 18, the NBS ordered Napred Razvoj to address the problems within three months by either selling its share in Holding or through the sale of Garant, by Holding.

Other shareholders, who notified Blic of the transaction, believe that it is not appropriate for Energoprojekt to suffer by losing a functioning insurance company due to Napred Razvoj’s omissions.

A Blic source from the government says that the government has not been officially notified of the transaction, but that the information has still reached the prime minister’s cabinet and the cabinets of certain other ministers.

– Prime Minister Ana Brnabic asked for additional information as she is interested in whether the sale was carried out in a legal manner, that is, if an approval by the government should have been sought. She is especially interested in learning whether Serbia, which holds 33% of EP Holding’s capital, will suffer damage due to the transaction. The decision on assembling an extraordinary general meeting in Holding was recently adopted at her insistence – the Blic source explains.

Experts, however, claim that Napred Razvoj’s actions are not unlawful.

– The NBS had provided them with two options and they picked the one that best suited them. From the aspect of their interests, this is quite logical. What’s not logical is for the state to get involved at such a late date – says Dragan Dragasinovic of the Coalition for Supervision of Public Finance.

Energoprojekt garant a.d. Beograd

Energoprojekt Holding a.d. Beograd

Napred razvoj a.d. Beograd

Sava d.d. Kranj

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Sava Osiguranje Slovenia

NBS

sale of Energoprojekt Garant

Dragan Dragasinovic

Coalition for Supervision of Public Finance

Ana Brnabic

extraordinary general meeting of Energoprojekt