Slovenia moves to block hotel deal linked to Orban ally
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Slovenia’s premier has moved to block a controversial deal that would hand a large chunk of the country’s biggest tourism group to a buyer with ties to the family of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.
Prime minister Janez Jansa’s cabinet approved an investment in the country’s Sovereign Holding, allowing it to exercise an option to buy a stake of over 42% in Sava, which controls hotels spanning the Adriatic coast to the shore of picturesque Lake Bled in the Alps.
Mr Jansa, who like his nationalist Hungarian ally, is facing general elections in April, has come under mounting pressure from trade unions and political parties, including one from his own coalition, to use his influence to block the sale in a country known for its reluctance to sell assets to foreign investors.
The minority stake in question was held by a private company and the buyer is a Budapest-based company headed by a business partner of Mr Orban’s son-in-law.
“The intent is to consolidate ownership,” Mr Jansa said at a briefing with Mr Orban. He said the ultimate goal would be to find a strategic investor.
The issue resonates in Slovenia, where vested interests, a distrust of foreign capital, and a string of bad experiences — including the 2019 bankruptcy of former national carrier Adria Airways three years after its sale — have all contributed to a slower pace of privatisation following communism.
