The Association of Milk Producers KIM is requesting from the Government of the Republic of Croatia, specifically the Croatian Privatization Fund, to grant it a controlling stake of 25 percent plus one share in KIM. The arguments for such a request were presented today at the entrance to KIM by Zdenko Močnik on behalf of the Association of KIM’s 1,600 cooperatives and Mladen Kešer, the dismissed president of the DC of Koprivnica-Križevci County and president of the association called the Committee for the Protection of Croatian Villages.
Kešer justified the request for the allocation of the controlling stake to the cooperatives by stating that ‘the cooperatives are the industry for milk production, while the dairy is merely a processing facility for milk.’
Zdenko Močnik criticized the politics and executive power for their inability to ’emerge from the swamp that has arisen,’ and equated the current state of KIM, with only a beautified facade, to Potemkin villages, alluding to the technological inadequacy in accordance with the demands of the modern dairy industry and competition. When directly asked whether the cooperatives support Šimić’s selection as the savior of KIM, Močnik replied that such a claim is not true, but that the Association of Cooperatives will support the best offer for the survival and development of KIM, and thus the cooperatives. Močnik perceives the trend of reducing the number of cooperatives as a necessity in the trend of transitioning to European standards and the professionalization of dairy farming, but he also highlighted the incomprehensible state decision to revoke the privileged mountain status for obtaining higher premiums for milk production under objectively much more difficult conditions than those in flatland areas. He added that there are problems with significantly higher production costs in agriculture, alluding to the increase in milk prices.
– We want to reach Polančec and his team at the HFP and have a conversation with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader because our goal is 25 percent plus one share, not to enrich ourselves and become capitalists, but to gain control and thus be the balance against the majority owner. I believe in structures, as well as in their ability to decide who the best bidder is; I believe in value criteria. If the tender conditions are not met, such a decision should not be made. I cannot speak about whether Chemoderm is the best choice because I have not received the documentation, I have not read his offer nor could I evaluate it. I still trust him as an honorable man and from that position, I wrote him a letter of support, as a man from my village. Therefore, I operate on the logic that a man from ‘my yard’ will still have respect for us – said Zdenko Močnik. Given that he does not know the details of the evidently favored Šimić’s offer, when asked why he and the Association’s Management do not request from the HFP insight into all three offers and objectively and thoroughly analyze what has been offered, Močnik said that would be the best solution. – That is why we want to reach Polančec and his people, who have weighed all this, requested supplements four times; this way we will truly assess which offer is the best. There is talk of bankruptcy, and we have been cooperating with KIM for years, which seems to be in bankruptcy – says Močnik. When asked how the sale of shares will be avoided, which workers and some cooperatives have already done by selling them to Dioni and Kentoni in the first privatization, Močnik said he will exclusively seek shares in a package of 25 plus one share, and certainly not the fragmentation of that package into individual shares per cooperative. That package would be deposited, and it would grant the cooperatives the right to their representative on the Supervisory Board and, allegedly, the right to veto key decisions. Močnik compares the initiative for the allocation of that share package to the allocations of shares in Liburnija, Sunčani Hvar, and elsewhere. If a new tender for the purchase of KIM is to be announced, Kešer said that would mean rigging the conditions for someone from the dairy industry or for someone who will ‘finance something in politics.’
