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Slovenes Dismiss Director of the Competition Agency Due to Incompetence in the Agrokor Case

The Slovenian government on Thursday requested the premature dismissal of the director of the State Agency for Competition (AVK), accusing him of improper responses in certain cases, including inactivity in processes related to the Mercator retail chain, which is part of Agrokor.

“The government today called on the supervisory board of the AVK to initiate the procedure for the premature dismissal of director Andrej Matvoz due to doubts about his incompetent actions,” it was announced after the regular government session.

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In recent years, it has become evident that the AVK is issuing fewer and fewer decisions on violations of competition rules, and since Matvoz became director, not a single decision has been issued, said Minister of Economy Zdravko Počivalšek. The government noted that Matvoz, as a witness during his testimony before the parliamentary committee regarding some problematic public procurements that are under public scrutiny, acted unconvincingly and showed a “lack of knowledge” of his duties.

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Počivalšek also highlighted the case after the Lex Agrokor came into force in Croatia, considering that the AVK’s response in that case was also incorrect, or rather, absent. Lex Agrokor led to a change of control in Mercator because Croatia gained direct influence in the Slovenian trading company through this law, Počivalšek stated, adding that the AVK should have investigated whether there was an unlawful concentration of ownership, to which the agency should have reacted, but it did not.