On 22nd October 2019 the Slovenian Competition Protection Agency imposed a fine of EUR 53,900,000 on legal entity Agrokor d.d. and a fine of EUR 5,000 on legal person responsible for the failure to notify the merger of Agrokor AG and Ardeya Global Ltd. to the Agency (http://www.varstvo-konkurence.si/en/information-centre/news/slovenian-competition-protection-agency-imposed-fines-on-the-breach-of-failure-to-notify-the-agency-of-a-concentration/).
The legal entity filed a request for judicial protection against the decision on the misdemeanour. By a judgement of 1st June 2020, the Ljubljana District Court partially granted the request for judicial protection, as it amended the decision of the Agency in the sanction by imposing a fine of EUR 1,000,000 on legal entity Agrokor d.d., but otherwise it rejected the request for judicial protection as unfounded.
The legal entity Agrokor d.d. filed an appeal against the aforementioned judgement of the Ljubljana District Court, which was rejected as unfounded by the High Court of Ljubljana by judgement of 3rd December 2020. The agency’s decision on the misdemeanour is therefore final; the legal entity Agrokor d.d. must pay a fine of EUR 1,000,000 and the costs of the minor offence proceedings.
On 22nd October 2020, the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia submitted a proposal on behalf of the Agency to secure a monetary claim based on the judgement of the Ljubljana District Court of 1st June 2020 regarding the Agency’s misdemeanour decision od 22nd October 2019. By a preliminary order of 23rd October 2020, the competent court authorized the entry of a lien on dematerialized securities, namely on ordinary shares of legal entity Mercator d.d., which are owned by the debtor, the company Agrokor d.d.