Zvonimir Mršić, the CEO of Podravka and former SDP mayor of Koprivnica, after a year and a half at the helm of Podravka, speaks in an interview with Lider about the reasons for the current decisions, their implications, and the future of the company.
• Do the decisions made at the last shareholders’ meeting mark the beginning of a new phase for Podravka?
– It took 20 years for some status changes to occur. One of those changes is that all shareholders are now equal. Until now, the state was a privileged shareholder, and this has removed political influence from decision-making. Additionally, we now have a stable Supervisory Board that can focus on making decisions in the interest of the company. Such stability opens up space for a strong leap forward and for making decisions that could not or would not be made before, such as the divestment of three production segments that we have announced. This is indeed a turning point, and all the prerequisites have now been created for us to make strides in efficiency, focus, further internationalization, and growth.
Mršić also discussed with Lider the expected recapitalization and how it will be implemented.
– The Assembly has delegated the decision-making on recapitalization to the Management, thereby showing trust in the Management and the Supervisory Board to make such a decision between two shareholders’ meetings. It is expected that this move will yield a higher return on capital and faster inorganic growth than Podravka currently achieves on its own. When this will happen depends on several factors – Mršić replied, stating that at this moment they are targeting more goals in food and pharmaceuticals in various markets.
