Dutch stakeholders of Gorenje demand resignation of two supervisors

The unofficial reason is (too) friendly ties between the management and supervisory boards

19. november 2017 ob 12.15 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

Panasonic stopped orders of Gorenje’s washing machines and refrigerators this past spring. Foto: BoBo

The Velenje-based Gorenje company has come under scrutiny of its stakeholder due to (too) strong friendly ties between its management and supervisory boards. A co-owner of Gorenje has demanded a recall of two supervisors.

A few days ago Philip Alexander Sluiter, a representative of Dutch-based Home Products Europe - which owns five percent of Gorenje's shares – demanded an emergency assembly to be called, enabling the owners to consider recalling two members of the supervisory board, Marko Voljč and Uroš Slavinc. Gorenje has two months to convene an assembly.

Demand for recall
The company's Dutch co-owner argues that two members of the supervisory board should be replaced. In order for this to happen, at least 75 percent of stakeholders have to support the move, yet the voting result is difficult to predict.

Namely, Gorenje has a relatively scattered ownership structure – the biggest owner, Kapitalska družba, owns 16 percent of shares, followed by International Finance Corporation with 12 percent and Panasonic, which unofficially plans to sell its share, with 10 percent.
Home Product Europe from the Netherlands is Gorenje's fifth largest owner. In its demand for an extraordinary assembly, the company suggests that the supervisory board should be reinforced to ensure better operation in the future as well as greater stability and development. They also propose their CEO Filip Aleksander Sluiter as well as Robert Ličen as substitute members of the board of trustees.

"They're both experienced. Sluiter is from this industry and Ličen has experience in crisis management, which is why they could contribute fresh perspectives and, moreover, would somewhat shake up the currently quite evident close relations between the management and supervisory boards," notes Matej Tomažin from the Gorenje GRVG society that represents small stakeholders.

The assembly demand does not mention friendly relations between Gorenje's managers and supervisors but could be one of the reasons why Peter Groznik, member of the Management Board in charge of Finance and Economics, is allegedly set to leave in February after four years in the firm. "When you're friends with someone, it's hard to say 'Look, you can't do that'. Or 'Come on, let's get moving'. New people could establish new trust," adds Tomažin.

If the assembly opts to replace two supervisors, the future of Gorenje's CEO could also face uncertainty.