Financial Administration (FURS) REMOVES UNLAWFUL EXPLANATIONS – VZMD welcomes the clear position of the Ministry of Finance as well as the publication of amended Explanations, and hopes more attention will be paid to experts and civil society in the future, including for restoring trust in the capital market and adequate protection of investors

VZMD welcomes the unambiguous explanations of the Ministry of Finance, which immediately caused the removal of the illegal explanations by FURS regarding the additional taxation of the cheated and squeezed-out minority shareholders. VZMD has waited for an official response to their Call to FURS for more than three weeks and is already preparing to pay out additional compensations to the squeezed-out shareholders of ACH. Namely, the significant monetary difference to the established compensation has already been transferred to the trust account of the authorized attorney in the beginning of February; however, due to FURS' questionable opinion, the funds were held there for the matter to be clarified; otherwise, the minority shareholders would have to immediately and additionally pay a 25% advance income tax return (in case of payouts). Last week, FURS finally removed the 5th edition of the document "Other income under the Personal Income Tax Act" from January 2023 and replaced it with the 6th edition, which does not contain the paragraph 2.1 "Additional cash compensation"!

 

"The associates and I, as well as numerous directly affected investors are happy that common sense has prevailed in this case and that the illegal explanations were REMOVED AS OF TODAY. We wish the state institutions didn't make important and long-lasting decisions and measures without due consideration and that perhaps in the future, the competent ministers and the Government would listen to the informed warnings of the experts and the civil society sooner. Especially since the trust of domestic and foreign, large and small investors in the Slovene capital and financial market, as well as the tax, administrative, and judicial system is at stake – and especially since we can simultaneously watch the initiatives regarding the issuing of the government bonds and the measures for the revival of the securities market and so on," VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič commented on the response and some current predictions of the Minister of Finance Mr. Klemen Boštjančič, and added: "VZMD has extensive direct experience and has always been prepared to participate in such undertakings with extremely concrete and effective suggestions, as well as comparable European and international practice".

On the occasion of the repeal of the second Act on Judicial Protection Procedure for Former Holders of Eligible Liabilities of Banks (ZPSVIKOB) by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia last week and considering the fact that the unjustly and unconstitutionally expropriated investors in the Slovenian banks have been waiting for a decade for justice or at least an effective legal remedy, Mr. Verbič again recalled that "other than filing initiatives for the assessment of constitutionality, (VIDEO), criminal charges, claims for damages (VIDEO), property-rights claims and other legal remedies, as well as holding numerous conversations and meetins, VZMD has also put great effort into preparing their own Bill on Regulating the Status of the Expropriated Investors in the Slovenian Banks. We have publicly unveiled such proposal together with our associates back in 2016 and ever since, we have been inviting the decision-makers over and over to a constructive dialog and settlement solution – a suitable compromise solution is clear!" (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/PC9BfVnR-0k).

VIR: VZMD