The Holy Crash

V branje prilagam članek iz italijanskega časopisa L'Espresso, ki ekskluzivno razkriva dogajanje v financah družb Zvon Ena in Zvon Dva. Članek prilagam v angleškem jeziku, italijanski tekst (Toh, la Chiesa ha fatto crac) pa je dostopen na tej povezavi. Pisanje novinarja E. Fittipaldija je dovolj jasno, da ne potrebuje dodatnih komentarjev. Lahko pa vsak izrazi svoje mnenje v komentarjih.

 

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From porn TV to optical cables: Slovenia's Maribor diocese makes bad investments and loses nearly a billion euros. Here is the secret dossier that makes the pope tremble (21 gennaio 2011)

There's a small diocese that's troubled pope Benedict XVI's sleep over the past few weeks. A church that holds a secret that could ruin the Vatican. This time we're not dealing with the American or the Irish curiae involved in the paedophile priest scandals. Or with the Italian clergy involved in the legal investigations of the "clique" headed by Angelo Balducci and on the alleged Vatican Bank recycling discovered by Bankitalia. The basilica that distresses Joseph Ratzinger and his right-hand men, Tarcisio Bertone above all, is that of Maribor, a small city in northern Slovenia famous for hosting a World Cup slalom race.

The city now risks notoriety as well for one of the most devastating financial disasters in the history of the Church: the arcidiocese , beyond pasturing the souls of some 100,000 believers, in recent years has launched itself into investments that were rash to say the least. Call it the incompetence of the bishop (recently removed), call it the world economic crisis along with a few cases of bad luck; the fact is that the little church and the companies it controls were able to accumulate a mind-boggling 800 million euro debt. A bottomless pit that nobody at present is able to fill. The red ink is equal to 2% of Slovenia's total GDP and, by way of comparison, is three times the income registered for the Vatican's latest balance sheet. Default is therefore highly probable, and will have few precedents in the history of the Holy See. Pillars are crumbling in Rome and in Ljubljana: the liability weighs on various banks, including Unicredit, and on some 30,000 Slovenian investors. But how was it possible for a tiny archdiocese to accumulate twenty years of multinational-level debts?

"L'Espresso" has consulted reserved documents and spoken with authoritative Slovenian sources, who define the situation as simply "catastrophic". We'll take one thing at a time, beginning with the end. Ever since St. Peter's became aware of the enormity of the disaster created by the financial derring-do of bishop Franc Kramberger. The discovery was made almost by chance, when at the end of 2007 a channel controlled by the Slovenian Church began transmitting porn programs. Pandemonium breaks out in the local papers. In Rome they're worried as well, because during the same period Maribor's bishop sends a strange request to the Vatican, asking for authorization to take out two loans for 5 million euros each.

The competent hierarchies begin to smell smoke and request details from the apostolic nuncio in Slovenia. The Pope's ambassador intuits that behind the porn films diffused by the priests' TV to beat the competition there's more; whispers start to circulate about liabilities in the millions and insane investments. Monsignor Mauro Piacenza, secretary of the Congregation for the clergy at the time, requests more detailed information from the diocese. First regarding the T-2 comunications firm that controls its TV, and then on all accounts and various holdings controlled by the diocese. Months later , omissive and incomprehensible answers come in: Piacenza informs Bertone and the pope decides to send a trusted inspector to Maribor for a closer look at the papers. Gianluca Piredda, budget expert , arrives in Slovenia at the beginning of 2010 as an "apostolic visitor." It doesn't take him long to understand that the archdiocese's failure is of Biblical proportions. His conclusions were sent in a report to Rome last October.

Today "L'Espresso" is able to reveal its content. The little church has bitten off more than it can chew, creating an economic empire that's now on its knees. The adventure began in the early 1990s, when the Maribor diocese establishes the Krek bank (within a decade it becomes No. 10 in the country; in 2002 it's sold) and a business firm , the Gospodarstvo Rast. After a few years, two investment holdings and various business enterprises spring up: Zvon 1 e la Zvon 2, in turn controlled by Rast. The companies buy real estate, other joint-stock companies , make mortgages with banks from which they take out loans for tens of millions, decide to invest not only in holding companies and consolidated firms , but also in technological sectors such as optical fibres and telecommunication. The Zvon 1 holding alone has «long-term investments equal to 416 milioni euros» one reads in the fact-finding report, «and off balance-sheet debts of 524 million. » Nothing went as foreseen: «There is the real possibility," concludes the secret dossier, «that all of the companies indicated are on their way to bankruptcy. The consequences will be heavy.».

Among various investments of the Slovena church there's everything: 94 million for shares in the Abanka bank; 72 million for the Hellos company, specialized in building materials; 13 million in the Krek management company; 18,8 in Petrol (energy , gas and oil); another 22 in the mysterious Cinkarna, whose core business is the production and distribution of «titanium dioxide pigments.»

There are also foreign companies, in Croatia, such as Sole Orto, which was sent 20 million euros. The «most critical investment», one reads, is precisely that in T-2 (totaling 120 million all told) a company that defines itself on the web without modesty as "The Future." It's controlled almost entirely by two ecclesiastic holdings, and its activities are focused on telephony, Internet and TV diffused to clients through a specially constructed optical fibre network. "The Future", however, will never arrive: between costs for financing and completion of the network another 200 million euro are needed , while short-term debts are nine times higher than currrent business. KPMG consulting, who made an expert appraisal for the Vatican, estimates that over 70% of the capital invested is lost: the value assessed in June 2010 ranges between 24,6 and 28,6 millon euros. Chicken feed.

«And at this time», explains the Pope's technician, «no one is interested in the acquisition of the T-2 that would offer a higher price.». As in a domino game, the crash could move precisely from here: in September 2010 competitor Telekom Slovenija presented request for bankruptcy filing for T-2, its banking assets were frozen, and on January 2, 2011 the Maribor court ascertained the state of insolvency. The company of the Slovenian church now has 30 days to present a restructuring plan. It will be difficult to save T-2, and at that point a miracle will be needed to save Zvon 1 as well. . In a chain reaction, the survival of sister Zvon 2 (participated by the market for about 35%, divided between some 30,000 small savers) is hanging by a thread: debts off the balance-sheet in this case exceed 189 million euros.

If the two holdings fail, the group leader Gospodarstvo Rast will go down with them. The situation is dramatic and has gigantified over the years, but Ratzinger and his circle only learned of it - according to sources of the Holy See - a few months ago. Piacenza and Bertone, after studying the report, jumped on the chair and tried to identify those responsible for the huge crash. The first head to roll was that of the bishop, substituted by monsignor Turnsek. Co-author in the catastrophe was discovered as the director of economic administration of the Maribor Church, businessman Mirko Krasovec, diocese economist since 1985. «I firmly believe that , in brotherly spirit and with reciprocal assistance, our good faith will help us overcome this trial as well.» wrote Kravosec to the Vatican in a report before being torpedoed. We don't know whether prayers will save the Slovenian church, but it's certain that Krasovec's missive eloquently describes the incompetence of the Slovenian clergy and their collaborators. To expand the «pastoral activity» and the «humanitarian and charitable activities » and to open «new educational institutions » extravagantly funded operations have been ingenuously and imprudently pursued.

Operations that continued for years without the Vatican's being the wiser: it was only at the end of 2007 that was permission requested to take out two loans. «And yet the Holy See, for every operation over one million euros must give written authorization», reason Vatican sources. The economist, in the letter, returns to his senses: «I didn't know that approval was necessary... He thought that limits were for individual loans, not for the cumulative debit, and that those limits were to be considered only for the diocese and not for the companies that owned or were associated with it». The Vatican's defensive line, and Bertone's in particular, will cling to lack of respect for the rules: without an OK from Rome, all operations of the Slovenian diocese - says the Vatican - are to be considered legally irregular.

To all intents and purposes, the 30 ,000 investors, the banks and the other creditors cannot even the score with the Papal State: contracts with the Maribor church will be considered waste paper. We don't know what the bankruptcy court will decide. It's certain that anyone who invested in the companies of the Slovenian clergy is at maximum risk. Especially the small savers.

But also important institutions: for the creation of the digital TV involved in the porn scandal, the Nova Ljubljanska Banka, Slovenia's leading bank , which also has branches in Italy, has loaned about 85 million euros for the creation of the digital TV involved in the porn scandal, while other banks are liable for tens of millions. The church of Maribor could also lose nearly all of its properties and goods given in guaranty: if the Raiffeisen Banka , to concede three loans, obtained stock, the termination of some rents of offices owned by the clergy , land and apartments, Unicredit loaned the little church 11,2 million , and as security received - over and above shares in the Zvon 1 holding - a mortgage on the stupendous 13th century monastery of Studenice and a musical organs workshop. Who knows if , after a crash like this, the Vatican will decide to change its tune with more stringent controls on bishops and priests who fancy themselves latter-day JP Morgans.