The Croatian government has put pressure on insurance company Allianz and threatened regulatory action after the local pension fund controlled by the insurance company was scrapped from a deal that could have involved a €500m payment to Moscow-controlled Sberbank, according to reports. financial times.
Sberbank tried to find a buyer for its 42.5 percent stake in Fortenova. Fortenova is a retail and food company that is the largest employer in Croatia with 45,000 employees and a turnover of €5.2 billion, and is one of the most important food suppliers in the region.
The Croatian government last year wanted Sberbank to sell its shares to a group of Croatian pension funds, the largest of which is 51 percent owned by Allianz. the volts.
Italy’s UniCredit only has a minority stake in AZ. The deal, which valued Sberbank’s stake in Fortenova at €500m, fell through when AZ pulled out of the deal last October because Allianz did not support the takeover, fearing it would breach sanctions against Russia.
According to Allianz, the AZ Supervisory Board made the decision independently of them to withdraw from the business, taking into account the financial interests of the pensioners.
Allianz refused to review the decision, so the Croatian financial regulator is putting pressure on the German company’s homegrown company.
Weeks later, the regulator launched an on-site inspection in AZ, saying the investigation was simply a regular examination of its decision-making and cyber risk management processes.
