After a notable press conference of the Slovenian Eurovision 2014 representative, organised by the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD)in the framework of the international business-investment programme Invest to Slovenia – investo.si, VZMD President Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, yesterday departed to Copenhagen, the Eurovision 2014 host city. Mr Verbič joined the Slovenian Eurovision team there, and he also met the Ambassador of the Republic of Sloveniain Copenhagen His Excellency Mr Tone Kajzer, representatives of the Slovenian National Radio and TV Station (RTV Slovenia), Slovenian Eurovision representative Tinkara Kovač, and EuroClub management team. Mr Verbič, visited Copenhagen with a purpose to establish and strengthen economic and business links and prepare the Slovenian Business Day in Denmark, which also includes a formal reception at the Slovenian Ambassador's Residence, and the Slovenian evening with a feast, Slovenian culinary delicacies, a toast and a party in the renowned EuroClub in Copenhagen (the official Eurovision VIP club), where the live concert of the Slovenian Eurovision representative Tinkara Kovač will take place.

The socialising event prepared for all the performing artists, representatives, media, eminent guests and other interested people from all Eurovision countries will be – apart from the Slovenian culinary delicacies from Mercator (the biggest Slovenian supermarket chain), Perutnina Ptuj (producer of poultry products), Laško Brewery, Union Brewery, Ptuj Wine Cellar and an excellent concert – also enlivened by a video presentation of the two-day journey of the band and team of the Slovenian representative travelling from Slovenia to Denmark by camper vans.

The Slovenian evening will take place on 6 May 2014, at 5.30 p.m. in EuroClub in Copenhagen, and it will be followed by a viewing of the 1st Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final at the same location at 8 p.m.

VZMD invites you to join them at the biggest official feast and party accompanying the Eurovision events – WELCOME TO THE SLOVENIAN EVENING!

FREE ENTRY and FREE EXCELLENT SLOVENIAN FOOD AND DRINKS, ENTRY ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVE BASIS – THE NUMBER OF VISITORS UP TO 400

A formal reception will take place at the Residence of the Slovenian Ambassador before the Slovenian evening. Please inform us if you would like to attend the Ambassador's reception, since you need to obtain a personal invitation for it. For more information send us an e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We cordially invite businesspeople, representatives of companies and institutions, media, and all who have an interest in presenting, establishing or maintaining contacts in Denmark, wider in Scandinavia, at home and international arena, to join us at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen − during all performances and receptions of the Slovenian representative Tinkara Kovač and at a special Slovenian Business Day, on May the 6^th 2014, with the reception at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia and the subsequent gathering in renowned EuroClub, with excellent program while feasting on Slovenian delights and viewing this year's Eurovision song contest preliminary selection.

This year's second tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - invest-to.net took place in the second half of March. The President of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholder's Association (VZMD), Kristjan Verbič, MSc, took an active part in the Slovene business delegation in Bratislava along with the Slovene Foreign Minister Mr Karel Erjavec, who visited his Slovakian counterpart Miroslav Lajčak.   

Mr Verbič departed from Bratislava to attend the »India-Central Europe Business Forum« in New Delhi, where he established numerous promising economic contacts, participated in more than 30 »B2B« talks and met many esteemed Indian, European and international businessmen as well as representatives of various companies and institutions. He also participated in the formal receptions at the Slovenian and Czech Embassies and in the gala reception held by the Indian Foreign Minister, her Excellency Preneet Kaur (in the photo - VIDEO link).

Immediately after the reception the VZMD President flew to Brussels, where he actively participated at the International Conference of the European Federation of Financial Services Users »Better Finance Manifesto«. More than 200 esteemed representatives of European and international institutions and companies listened carefully to influential European decision makers and regulators who focused their thoughts on the possibilities of gaining back the trust of European savers and individual investors.

In the main thematic part of the conference, Mr Verbič also took part in the discussion, and among other things he presented current problems and burning issues in Slovenia, including a Letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, in which - together with professor Dr Peter Glavič, representative of the Civil Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of the Nova KBM« and of the NKBM Section at VZMD -  he addressed the problem of the unequal treatment of Slovenia and its threatened financial, economic and social stability after the scandalous expropriation of the owners of shares and bonds of Slovenian banks.  

This year's second tour of the VZMD international business-investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - invest-to.net took place in the second half of March. The President of the Pan-Slovenian Shareholder's Association (VZMD), Kristjan Verbič, MSc, took an active part in the Slovene business delegation in Bratislava along with the Slovene Foreign Minister Mr Karel Erjavec, who visited his Slovakian counterpart Miroslav Lajčak.   

Mr Verbič departed from Bratislava to attend the »India-Central Europe Business Forum« in New Delhi, where he established numerous promising economic contacts, participated in more than 30 »B2B« talks and met many esteemed Indian, European and international businessmen as well as representatives of various companies and institutions. He also participated in the formal receptions at the Slovenian and Czech Embassies and in the gala reception held by the Indian Foreign Minister, her Excellency Preneet Kaur (in the photo - VIDEO link).

Immediately after the reception the VZMD President flew to Brussels, where he actively participated at the International Conference of the European Federation of Financial Services Users »Better Finance Manifesto«. More than 200 esteemed representatives of European and international institutions and companies listened carefully to influential European decision makers and regulators who focused their thoughts on the possibilities of gaining back the trust of European savers and individual investors.

In the main thematic part of the conference, Mr Verbič also took part in the discussion, and among other things he presented current problems and burning issues in Slovenia, including a Letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, in which - together with professor Dr Peter Glavič, representative of the Civil Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of the Nova KBM« and of the NKBM Section at VZMD -  he addressed the problem of the unequal treatment of Slovenia and its threatened financial, economic and social stability after the scandalous expropriation of the owners of shares and bonds of Slovenian banks.  

The letter to President Barroso, which was also directed other members of the European Commission and Parliament, was otherwise included in the official material of the International Conference and was distributed to all the present participants. They showed a great interest in the above mentioned problems since – as the VZMD President himself pointed out – measures enforced in Slovenia could also be implemented in some other European countries with the impending new round of stress tests. 

After this year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Bratislava, Brussels, Madrid, New Delhi in Ouagadougou, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana,  Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo,Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD is pleased to invite all who would like to take part in their activities and events to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771, or e-mail tratar@investo.si.

The International Conference of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse) entitled »Better Finance Manifesto« (VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT by investo.tv) began on Friday morning in the European Parliament. Apart from over 200 representatives of  European and international companies, institutions, and media, the conference was also attended by VZMD (Pan-Slovenian Shareholder's Association) President Kristjan Verbič, MSc. In the framework of the conference Mr Verbič also presented a Letter to the President of the European Committee, Mr José Manuel Barroso. Mr Verbič has sent the letter together with Professor Dr Peter Glavič, a representative of the Civil Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of Nova KBM Bank« and of the NKBM Section at VZMD. This letter serves as a reminder of the unequal treatment of Slovenia and the endangered financial, economic and social stability accompanying the scandalous expropriation of the share and bond holders at the Slovenian banks. 

The VZMD President arrived at the conference in Brussels directly from the meetings in New Delhi which followed the evening reception held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of India, Her Excellency Preneet Kaur (at the photo with Dr Šumrada and Mr Verbic). In the framework of the business conference »India-Central Europe Business Forum«, three thematic round-table discussions took place in which many esteemed  diplomatic and business representatives from the Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Sweden took part. One of the introductory guest speakers at the conference was also the Head of the Sector for Business Promotion at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Janez Šumrada, whilst the Director of the Centre for International Business Relations at the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Aleš Cantarutti, took part in one of the round-table discussions.  

Many promising economic relations were established during the successful conference, also because of the two international business-investment VZMD programmes: : Invest to Slovenia - investo.si in International Investor` Network - invest-to.net, as Mr Verbič on Thursday alone carried out more than 20 B2B meetings and numerous individual meetings with the esteemed Indian and European businessmen and diplomats. 

The Slovenian business delegation, whose trip was organised by the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, stayed in New Delhi on Friday, whilst the VZMD President, directly after the evening reception and after some informal meetings, departed for Brussels. The investo.tv team was also following the events in the European Parliament, and they are preparing an exclusive video-report from the noteworthy conference. 

After this year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Bratislava, Brussels, Madrid, New Delhi in Ouagadougou, and last year's in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Bled, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Celje, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Slovenian business delegation was visiting Bratislava on Thursday and Friday, and it was accompanying the Foreign Minister, Mr Karl Erjavec, who was visiting Slovakia. 

Minister Erjavec on Thursday evening at the Slovenian Embassy in the centre of Bratislava received members of the business delegation comprised of the representatives of 15 companies: Adria kombi, Datalab, Fersped, Fining, Interservice, Kolektor Etra, Luka Koper, Metrans Adria, Sinergise, Slovenija Trade, Slovenian railways – cargo traffic, TIB Transport and the Pan−Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD). Some important points of view and starting points were established during an extensive discussion, among others the necessity to start building a 2nd rail line which is very important from a logistics−transport perspective – not only for Luka Koper, but also for the wider Slovenian and European business environment. Andrej Mertelj, the director of Datalab, presented an exceptional initiative for the establishment of a European competence centre for agriculture and informatics in Slovenia.   

Minister Erjavec, together with the representatives of the Slovenian Ministry for Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, listened attentively to the initiatives, plans and arguments, and he promised that the Foreign Ministry will provide support for the presented proposals.

The VZMD President, Mr Kristjan Verbič, MSc, was also attending the events in Bratislava in the framework of the endeavours of the two VZMD international business−investment programmes: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - invest-to.net. At the reception and at the bilateral and multilateral meetings, Mr Verbič presented the two programmes which – apart from the possibility of the presentations on the investo.si, and invest-to.net web portals, promotional materials, etc. – also enable the establishment of  direct contacts with the representatives of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), the World Federation of Investors (WFI), and 57 national associations of shareholders and investors, and also with partner associations: International Knowledge Economy Network (KEN), International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), the European Issuers Association (EuropeanIssuers), European Business Angels Network (EBAN), the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN), etc.

On Friday the members of the business delegation were attending the Slovenian−Slovakian business forum, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovakia. Beside the Slovenian Foreign Minister, the assembled audience was in the introduction also addressed by the Secretary at the Slovakian Foreign Ministry, while the representatives of the Slovakian Investment and Trade Development Agency SARIO, the director of Datalab, Mr Andrej Mertelj, and Čedomir Bojanič, the director of the Slovenian Association of Port Logistics Providers, also presented Slovakian and Slovenian business environment in the field of information−communication technologies and logistics. The presentations were followed by two separate round−table discussions on the themes of logistics and information technology. The business forum ended with bilateral talks between Slovenian and Slovakian companies, and it was concluded by a mutual press conference of the Slovenian Foreign Minister Mr
Erjavec and the Slovakian Foreign Minister, Miroslav Lajčák.  

Otherwise Mr Verbič was attending the Bratislava conference in the framework of an intensive tour of the investo.si in invest-to.net programmes, and in the following days he will also be attending »India-Central Europe Business Forum« which will take place in New Delhi, and afterwards Mr Verbič will be present at the International Conference of the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse) entitled »Better Finance Manifesto« (VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT of VZMD.tv). It is his second longer tour this year, after the one in February in the framework of which he actively participated at the 5th Congress of the Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders (AEMEC), International Investors' Conference at the Madrid Stock Exchange, and at the West African Business Investment Forum Africallia 2014, which took place in the capital of Burkina Faso Ouagadougou.

After last year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone 031 770 771, or e-mail tratar@investo.si.

Prof Dr Peter Glavič, a representative of the Civil Society Initiative »Erased Small Shareholders of Nova KBM Bank« and of the NKBM Section at the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), and the VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, MSc, on Tuesday addressed a letter to the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, reminding him of the expropriation affecting 100.000 owners of shares at three Slovenian Banks, 2.000 owners of subordinated bonds, and indirectly also nearly 500.000 citizens (a quarter of the population) who have been saving in pension companies, fund management companies, and insurance companies. They have all been expropriated for nearly 500 million euros in total. The Republic of Slovenia (RS) has in this way, on demand from and in cooperation with the European Commission, plundered the biggest Slovenian banks and robbed their owners!

The two signers have also pointed out that none of the »crisis« countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain) have so far invalidated the property of small investors. The shareholders of the Nova kreditna banka Maribor (NKBM) have been erased contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the RS and the Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The State of the Republic of Slovenia has expropriated the owners in two phases. First it oppressively devaluated their deposits (5.6 million shares, each worth 27 €, 151 M€ in total); it forbade them bank recapitalisation, while at the same time it transformed coco-bonds and 10% fixed interest on them into shares: 100 million shares each worth 1 €, and 185 million shares each worth 1,3 cents, in total 285 million shares for 102,4 M€! The book value of a share has thus dropped from 5, 37 € to 0, 76 €, and the market value has dropped to only 0, 10 €. The small investors have thus practically been pushed out of the ownership, and a 92% bank ownership has been established which then, with a special law which so far none of the EU countries has adopted, erased their shares!

Last year's review and estimation of bad debts is also extremely questionable, which is also true for the conditions of transmission on the 'bad bank' whose criteria have been dictated by the European Commission, since the European Central Bank has at that time asked The European Banking Authority (EBA) for the criteria which, at that time, had not yet been formally approved. There is a difference between the valid international accounting standards and the forced illegal criteria, and because of this difference shareholders and the owners of subordinated bonds have been expropriated – the procedure was in a stark contrast with the basic principles of the rule of law.

The Government of the RS and the Bank of Slovenia have both claimed that the European Commission is responsible for the unique expropriation of shareholders, but in the notice written by the European Commission there is no word about the necessity of expropriating shareholders. Even those countries which have accepted a bailout (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain) have not erased shares and subordinated bank bonds. Germany, Belgium, Austria and other member states have even recapitalised private banks themselves, without expropriating the existing shareholders, and the European Commission did not consider it helpful. Spain and the Netherlands even had to cancel the decisions about the nullification of the shareholders' property. Dr Glavič and Mr Verbič, MSc, have emphasized in the letter to Mr Barroso that it is more than obvious that Slovenia has been treated unequally.

The expropriation of small investors is a disproportionate measure, and the implementation of the Decision of the Bank of Slovenia jeopardizes the financial stability of the capital market, the bank system, the economy and the country of the Republic of Slovenia as a whole – among other things they also caused that, before the elections into the European Parliament, Euro-sceptical political parties began to grow and gain influence because of the destruction of the social-market economy and the double-crossing of small investors caused by the finance industry, large capital and their lobbies. Therefore Dr Glavič and Mr Verbič, MSc, have suggested to the President of the European Commission to support their endeavours in order to reach an out-of-court settlement, in accordance with the Article 45 of the European Commission, excluding demands of the Articles 43 and 44.

Mr Verbič, MSc, is going to present the letter to the President of the European Commission on March 28 in the European Parliament at the international conference Better Finance, which is being prepared by the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), whose active member is also VZMD. It is a part of a wider campaign »Better Finance Manifesto«, which is being managed by EuroFinUse before this year's European Parliament elections, and in the framework of which it summons all political parties to take their stand on four basic principles which have to be implemented in the next five years (VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT which has been prepared by VZMD.tv and investo.tv).

Apart from the President of the European Commission, the letter has also been sent to the attention of: Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services; Dr Janez Potočnik, Slovene Commissioner for Environment; Slovene Members of Parliament Tanja Fajon, MSc, Dr Romana Jordan, Jelko Kacin, Mojca Kleva Kekuš, MSc,  Zofija Mazej Kukovič, Alojz Peterle, Ivo Vajgl, Dr Milan Zver; vice president of European Investment Bank Anton Rop, MSc; and a member of the European Court of Auditors Milan M. Cvikl, MSc.

You can see the entire letter by clicking the photo of the document. 

The West African Business Development Forum Africallia 2014 took place last week in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Many distinguished regional and international representatives of states, institutions, and companies were attending the extremely well-visited forum. Apart from 240 African companies, there were at least 160 companies from all over the world present at the forum. In the introduction the assembled audience was also addressed by, among others, the following guest-speakers: Luc Adolphe Tiao, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso; Alizèta Ouedraogo, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Burkina Faso; Christophe Dabire, a representative of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA); Ginette Nzau-Muteta, a representative of the African Development Bank Group; Bettina Acquier, a representative of the Futurallia organisation; and  Gaspard Ouedraogo, the president of the Forum Africallia Organisational Committee.   

Burkina Faso is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which represents a common market for eight West African states which have more than 100 million inhabitants altogether. UEMOA, which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, was established at the beginning of 1994, primarily with an aim to increase competitiveness through the common market, coordination of the member states' economic policies, and the supervision and harmonisation of the fiscal policies. These countries are considered to be very promising countries, and they have gained considerable attention from various foreign multinational corporations.

The forum was also attended by a Slovenian delegation which was present at the event in the framework of the successfully organised business trip that had been arranged by Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia. The following representatives of the Slovenian delegation attended the forum: Tina Lukan, SPIRIT Slovenia; Ivo Boscarol, Pipistrel company CEO; Roman Žnidarič and Boris Lipovšek, Cetis company representatives, and VZMD President Kristjan Verbič, M.Sc.  (in the photo at Friday's gala dinner).

After the successful collaboration at the fifth congress of the Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders (AEMEC) and the international investment conference at the Madrid Stock Exchange, Mr. Verbič carried out numerous B2B talks in Ouagadougu, with, among others, the representatives of the following institutions:  International Consulting and Investment Group (Burkina Faso), Taiwan-Africa Business Association (Taiwan), Togo Chamber of Commerce (Togo), World Trade Centre Istanbul (Turkey) and CVS SPRL (Democratic Republic of Congo), Ivory Coast Chamber of Commerce, International Cabinet of Consulting and Brokerage (Morocco), and Afrique Agro-Export Association (AAFEX)(Senegal). These B2B talks were held in the framework of the two VZMD international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net).     

After actively participating in the last year's international conference Europe for Africa & Africa for World in Ljubljana, and after the Global KEN Forum international conference in Cape Town, VZMD, by participating at this event, substantially expands endeavours and activities of investo.si and invest-to.net programmes in the area of Africa which has huge potential and many opportunities for the future.

After last year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD is planning this year to be actively present and to carry out presentations on five different continents!

VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the VZMD investo.si programme coordinator by phone 031 770 771, or e-mail tratar@investo.si.

The European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse), of which the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) is also an active member, has announced the campaign »Better Finance Manifesto« in the framework of which it summons all political parties to take their stand on the four basic principles that need to be implemented in the next five years. EuroFinUse announced the campaign before the upcoming European elections. The manifesto will be presented at the international conference in the European Parliament, which will take place on March 28th in Brussels. EuroFinUse kindly invites all to join the »Better Finance Manifesto« endeavours either by directly participating at the conference, or by contributing their opinions and ideas, and by supporting the campaign via websites and Facebook.

EuroFinUse is starting the campaign with a concise and eloquent VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT which has been prepared by the VZMD.tv and investo.tv teams. Some important points have been emphasized in the announcement, among them the fact that households are the main source of funds for financial investments. Another fact accentuated in the announcement is that trust into the financial system has been in great deal lost. It was lost after the crisis in 2008 that, in many cases, on one hand and in many cases led to »privatising profits« gained by small elite circles, and on the other hand the crisis led to »socializing losses«. It is time for European politicians and regulators to now combine their existing focus on financial stability with a new focus on fairness and on shoring up the real economy by engaging in the protection of savers.   

The four main principles of the »Better Finance Manifesto« campaign are:

FIRSTLY: Ensure households provide adequate long-term savings for the real economy

In EuroFinUse they have been warning that the ongoing destruction of the real value of households' savings has to come to an end. It is necessary to promote the role and involvement of individual shareholders in the long-term financing of the EU economy through enhancing minority shareholders' rights and facilitating the exercise of their voting rights, especially for cross border voting. It is necessary to promote equities as an adequate, simple, cheap, liquid and transparent long term investment tool. Capital markets (equities and bonds) should return to their natural participants – end investors and non-financial issuers. It is important to improve the governance of listed companies and investment intermediaries to avoid situations where executives depart with huge bonuses and non-insider shareholders and taxpayers end up with many more billions of losses.

SECONDLY: It is crucial to improve and harmonise savers' and investors' protection, whatever the product and whoever the distributor.

All EU citizens should be allowed the access to unbiased and cost-efficient financial advice, whilst at the same time ensuring direct access for citizens to capital markets. It is vital to achieve a »level playing field« for pre-contractual information for investment products, regardless of the type of the product, whether it is a simple investment or a more complex financial product.

THIRDLY: Further improvement of the European financial supervision and enforcement

FOURTHLY: Stop tax discrimination against European savers.

Individual investors and other real economy financial users have to be exempt from all FTTs (financial transaction taxes). It is necessary to put an end to the double taxation of cross-border dividends. Taxation above 100% of real income from savings has to be forbidden.

After Thursday's fifth Congress of the Spanish Association of individual investors and shareholders (AEMEC), the International Investment Conference took place at the Stock Exchange in Madrid on Friday. The conference was prepared by the above mentioned association in cooperation with the European Federation of Financial Services Users (EuroFinUse). At Thursday's gala event AEMEC awards were also granted to, among others, MAPFRE Insurance Company and Jazztel telecommunication company. The award for the scientific work in the field of shareholders' protection was given to attorney Bercovitz Alberto Rodriguez-Cano, and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS (Airbus Group) was given the EuroFinUse »Shareholders-friendly Award«, which was in 2011 and 2012 also given to two Slovenian companies (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT).  

Friday's International Conference at the Madrid Stock Exchange was attended by numerous representatives of different companies and institutions, as well as by the following eminent guests: the President of the Madrid Stock Exchange Antonio Zoido; the President of the Association of the Spanish Issuers of Securities and a Board member of the power multinational enterprise ENDESA Salvador Montejo; the Director of the European Commission Representation; Nadia Calviño, a representative of the European Commission; Francisco Fonseca, ex−President of the Spanish Parliament; José Bono, the President of EuroFinUse; Jean Berthon, the EuroFinUse Executive Director; Guillaume Prache, AEMEC Secretary General and a co−founder of the renowned law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo; Wilfried Hübscher, vice−president of the World Federation of Investors; Lourdes Centeno, Vice−President of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission, and many others. 

The VZMD President Mr Kristjan Verbič, M.Sc., also attended the events in the framework of the activities and endeavours of the international business-investment programmes Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investor` Network - investo.international. Mr Verbič, also a member of the EuroFinUse Board of Directors, used this opportunity for numerous bilateral and multilateral talks. In this context this has been his fourth visit to Madrid, after participating there at the following past events: last year's international conference of the World Federation of Investors (WFI) and the conference of the International Financial Litigation Network (IFLN), AEMEC Congress and a meeting with the Santander Bank management team in 2011, and the General Assembly of the European Association of Shareholders (Euroshareholders) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Madrid in 2010.

After having finished his visit to Spain, the VZMD President is, with a stop in Brussels, immediately departing for Burkina Faso, where he will be attending West−Africa Business Forum Africallia 2014, which is taking place in the capital Ouagadougou.

This year's intensive international activities of investo.si and invest-to.net programmes started with these visits to Madrid and Ouagadougou, where Mr Verbič has departed after having attended the festive awards ceremony of high−level recognitions, awarded by the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), in Bled (VIDEO REPORT). Within the framework of these two international programmes active presentations have been planned this time on five different continents! 

After last year's successful presentations of companies, institutions and investment projects in Astana, Almaty, Baku, Brussels, Buffalo, Bucharest, Cape Town, Dubai, Vienna, Kiev, Ljubljana, Madrid, Minsk, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Toronto and Zagreb, VZMD kindly invites those wishing to secure their business interest by taking part in their events and activities to contact the investo.si programme coordinator by phone +386 31 770 771, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..