Group 44: Events after the date of the statement of financial position
- The 17th Shareholders’ Meeting of Gorenje, d.d. was held on 3 February 2012. The key item of the Agenda was the proposal of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board that an authorisation be granted to the Management Board to acquire and dispose of treasury shares up to a total of 10% of the Company’s share capital. Kapitalska družba, d.d., the major shareholder of Gorenje, proposed a counterproposal to this item, which differed from the proposal made by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board in that the pre-emptive right of the existing shareholders should not be omitted in case of disposal of treasury shares. The Management Board and the Supervisory Board agreed with the counterproposal made by Kapitalska družba. The Capital Assets Management Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, which exercised voting rights on behalf of Kapitalska družba, voted against the counterproposal. The proposal was thus rejected with 50.7 percent majority of all present at the Shareholders’ Meeting.
- On 14 February 2012, Gorenje signed in Valjevo a Memorandum of Understanding that lays down the starting points for cooperation and the obligations to be assumed by the Republic of Serbia and Gorenje in case of a decision to expand the Valjevo refrigerator freezer manufacturing plant, as currently deliberated by Gorenje. The Memorandum is not a legally binding document and the decision to proceed with the investment project is yet to be confirmed by the corporate bodies of Gorenje and relevant bodies of the Republic of Serbia. Pursuant to the starting points specified in the Memorandum, Serbia would support Gorenje’s new investment in Valjevo by grants and subsidies in the total amount of EUR 5 to 7 million; Gorenje would, in turn, create 400 new jobs at the extended Valjevo plant by the end of 2015. The value of the investment in expansion of the Valjevo manufacturing plant is estimated at approximately EUR 20 million.
- By September 2012, the Gorenje Group plans to move its cooker manufacturing facilities from Lahti, Finland, to Mora Moravia, Czech Republic, where its cooking appliances are manufactured. The Finnish production plant, which is scheduled to discontinue its operations by July 2012, was acquired by the Gorenje Group upon its acquisition of the Scandinavian Asko Group. Moving the production from Finland to the Czech Republic is part of the production restructuring process of the Gorenje Group, which aims at implementing the goals set in the 2012-2015 strategic plan. The previous year’s volume of production of the plant lied at 53,000 cookers. The plant currently employs 106 staff. The production relocation process is to be completed by September 2012, when the production of cookers will be continued in the Gorenje’s plant in Mora Moravia. Based on this measure, Gorenje will optimise its production costs at the Group’s level and enhance its competitiveness.
- The Gorenje Group festively opened a new plant for sanitary equipment production and washing machine assembly in Zaječar on 5 March 2012. The plant has successfully operated since autumn 2011. It employs 96 staff. By the end of the current year, 70,000 washing machines and 30,000 wash basins from this plant will be put on the market. The Government of the Republic of Serbia will support Gorenje's investment with a subsidy intended to fund new job places. Gorenje also has a plant in Valjevo manufacturing refrigerators and freezers, a plant in Stara Pazova manufacturing water heaters, a selling company in Belgrade, and a network of own exhibition of sale centres employing more than 1,100 persons.