Shareholders led by the government are voting Thursday on a proposal to oust Dragomir Matic as president of the management board, based on the state asset manager’s allegations of irregularities under his leadership, which he rejects. If rubber stamped by a supervisory board meeting on Friday, Matic is set to lose his job despite a sharp increase in earnings since the start of what was meant to be a five-year term at the helm in 2014. Slovenia has had a fraught relationship with state companies, including lengthy delays on a pledge to the European Commission to sell Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. after a bailout. With elections just months away, the government has been accused of inconsistency in its approach to corporate governance.“

The logical question arises why this scrutiny is against Luka Koper management and not against some other companies, also partially state owned, where results are clearly lagging," Saso Stanovnik, an economist at Alta Invest in Ljubljana said in an email. "Profitability is clearly not the criteria.”

The port operator’s shares have risen 20 percent this year compared with the 11 percent rise the Slovenian benchmark index of 11 most traded stocks. Even though the company is performing quite well, the management hasn’t been able to remove irregularities and hasn’t controlled risks indicated in a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, the Slovenian Sovereign Holding said in response to emailed questions. The management isn’t enjoying its trust anymore, the agency said.

Matic said the government’s planned move was unacceptable.Business partners are finding it "hard to comprehend all these back-door dealings and political games,” Matic said last week in an interview at the company’s headquarters overlooking the port.

Kristjan Verbic, president of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders Association, which says it represents a fifth of Luka Koper’s approximately 10,000 individual shareholders based on data from earlier this year, also said the move was connected to upcoming elections.“They are working on destabilizing the company while we all know stability is paramount to business,” Verbic said over the phone from Koper where he attended a meeting of port workers to discuss the issue.

Radivoj Pregelj, a portfolio manager at Zavarovalnica Triglav’s asset management arm which holds Luka Koper stock, said high economic growth in the countries that receive the cargo leaving the port would support the company’s performance even after a change in management. Dredging carried out in 2014 that enabled bigger ships to enter was also helping, he said.“Luka Koper is really doing very well," Pregelj said. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Medij: Bloomberg

Avtor: Boris Černi