On paper, Slovenia is attractive for investment bankers looking for privatization mandates and M&A advisory work. The state still has controlling stakes in over 30 companies including the telecoms and electricity monopolies, Ljubljana airport, Slovenia Railways, the port of Koper, Petrol (a natural gas and petrol distributor), Slovenia Steelworks and Nova Ljubljanska Banka. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development values these holdings at between Dm4 billion ($2.3 billion) and Dm6 billion. If companies owned by state-controlled funds such as the Slovenia Development Corporation are included, the total is even higher. The SDC currently runs over 60 that it is ostensibly trying to restructure and sell as soon as possible.
There are, though, several small but competent private-sector companies for example, white-goods manufacturer Gorneje, pharmaceutical company Lek and food processor Kolinksa that need foreign marketing and distribution expertise. Many are already export-oriented.
Matevz Mabic, managing director of the local chamber of economy, reckons that Slovenian products are of higher quality than those in neighbouring transition economies. "We have over 360 companies with ISO 9000 certification," he says. "Many have been exporting goods successfully for decades."
The problem for mandate chasers is that most Slovenian politicians are virulently opposed to sell-offs to outsiders.