NLB Lost 80 million Euros in Croatia, removed director Ana Kralj
New Bank of Ljubljana fired the head of Optima Leasing over 50 million Euros of bad debt; a lawsuit brought by G. Crncevic gains strength
PHOTO CAPTION: Ana Kralj defends herself saying that she did everything in cooperation with NLB
The management of the Slovenian bank NLB has decided to remove Ana Kralj as president of the management of its Croatian firm, Optima Leasing, according to well informed sources. According to these sources, Kralj has not been formally removed, but has recieved a notice of termination from NLB leasing, its parent company, which is part of NLB. The change is expected to occur when a new Supervisory Board is named for Optima Leasing.
157 million Euro lawsuit
The reason for the removal of Ana Kralj is the legal battle between Optima Leasing and Goran Crncevic, owner of Spektator Group and a former co-owner of Optima Leasing, as well as the devastating financial results of the leasing company in Croatia. Crncevic sued Optima Leasing for compensation for damages in the amount of 157 million Euros, after Optima Leasing blocked one of Crncevic’s firms. Crncevic says that Kralj did this in order to cover up the illegal business practices of Optima Leasing, which he had warned his fellow members of the Supervisory Board about at the time.
An internal audit confirmed that Optima Leasing has 50 million Euros in bad debts, or uncollectible claims. Auditors estimated that 50 percent of the debts will not be possible to collect, because they are not adequately insured.
Optima Leasing is currently operating without a Supervisory Board, since members have recently been replaced one after another. Either they were fired or they quit. The most recent membership of the Supervisory Board quit at the begining of December last year. Nevenka Artic Banovec told us that she quit the board because of non-transparent business conduct, and that the board did not receive all the information. She added that she noticed illegalities in the company’s business operations. Another NLB company in Croatia, OL Real Estate, has about 30 million Euros in bad debts, and NLB’s losses in Croatia are 80 million euros.
Source link: Vecernji list, 2012 g.
