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Nino Varga Resigned, Čakovečki Mlinovi Currently Without a CEO

NINO VARGA, Čakovečki mlinovi
NINO VARGA, Čakovečki mlinovi / Image by: foto Dražen Lapić

Nino Varga is no longer the CEO of Čakovečki Mlinovi, as announced on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. He submitted his resignation effective March 6, and in his place, the current chairman of the Supervisory Board of the company Krešimir Kvaternik will now serve on the Management Board. He has been temporarily appointed as the Deputy CEO, while Marijan Sršen remains a member of the Management Board. Kvaternik’s term begins on March 7 and will last until October 7 of this year, until a new CEO is appointed. During this time, he will not perform the duties of the chairman of the Supervisory Board, for which period that duty will be suspended.

The announcement on the Zagreb Stock Exchange did not explain Nino Varga’s resignation, but it can be assumed that it is a consequence of ownership restructuring that has occurred in recent months. Recall that the Sisak company Mlin i Pekare purchased shares from the Varga family at the end of September, which we reported in Lider. Until then, Stjepan Varga had a 13.42 percent ownership stake in Čakovečki Mlinovi and sold 11.67 percent to Mlin i Pekare, while his wife Ružica Varga also sold 13.11 percent to the same company.

Stjepan Varga remains a shareholder of Čakovečki Mlinovi with a 1.75 percent stake, which is assumed to have been an agreement between the Varga family and Mlin i Pekare. Namely, if the Sisak company had taken over the remaining Varga stake, it would have crossed the threshold of 25 percent co-ownership, and in that case, it would have had to announce a mandatory offer to other shareholders. Mlin i Pekare now hold 24.78 percent of Čakovečki Mlinovi, while pension funds together have a 37.93 percent ownership stake. If we add the Zaba custodial account with 3.2 percent, then that ownership stake amounts to 41.13 percent. Namely, the AZ mandatory pension fund has 18.2 percent of the company’s shares, AZ Profit has 2.9 percent, and the PBZ-CO fund (categories A and B) has 16.83 percent.

What exactly happened that it took six months for a change in the company’s Management Board, and that Varga ultimately initiated that change with his resignation, we do not officially know for now. However, it is not excluded that the largest co-owner of Mlin i Pekare was unable to agree on the appointment of a new Management Board with the pension funds. Recall that the pension funds did not agree with the Varga family while they were the largest shareholders of Čakovečki Mlinovi, and if it is true that the pension funds have not been able to agree with the Plodinec family (owners of Mlin i Pekare), it is possible that Varga decided not to wait any longer for that agreement with his resignation.

We sought a response from the parties involved, and as soon as we receive it, we will publish it.

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