Luka Koper management resigns

Koper – The management board of state-owned port operator Luka Koper agreed on Friday with the supervisory board to resign. CEO Dimitrij Zadel and the other two members, Metod Podkrižnik and Irma Gubanec, will serve until 15 November, chief supervisor Franci Matoz told the press after the extraordinary session of the supervisory board.

Matoz said that the management performed well, but they had concluded that a new management team was needed for the company’s strategic development.

“We believe that Luka Koper needs faster development and a bigger breakthrough,” said Matoz.

The supervisory board agreed that the three managers are entitled to the rights from their employment contracts, including severance pay.

Matoz meanwhile denied media speculation that a new CEO had already been selected after Environment Ministry State Secretary Robert Rožac had been mentioned as the most serious candidate.

He said the supervisors had asked a staffing agency to find suitable candidates. “Once this procedure is over, we’ll discuss potential new board members.”

He said that “for now, nothing has been decided. Nobody has been selected in advance, and we have not talked with anyone,” adding anyone could apply for the jobs.

Should there be no decision by 15 November, the supervisors will look at other solutions, he explained.

Zadel was named Luka Koper CEO in December 2017, when the supervisors dismissed his predecessor Dragomir Matić. He has previously served as CEO of fuel retailer OMV Slovenija.

The outgoing chairman said that the management board had walked a path full of challenges and had made some breakthroughs. “But things are also changing on the market, so there are quite come challenges yet to come.”

The group Luka Koper generated EUR 114.7 million in revenue and a net profit of EUR 15.4 million in the first six months. The group ended 2020 with EUR 209.9 million in revenue and EUR 32 million in net profit.

Luka Koper’s three biggest owners are the Republic of Slovenia (51%), the Slovenian Sovereign Holding, which manages state assets on behalf of the state (over 11%), and the state-owned KAD fund (almost 5%).

The newspaper Delo reported today that this was the eighth replacement of the management at Luka Koper in the last 16 years.

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