State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Slovenia cannot be understood without highlighting the historically conditioned contradictions of Slovenian society, burdened by a deficit in national (self)consciousness, ideological divisions, the legacy of socialism, resistance to a liberal market economy, and the politicization of social subsystems. Regarding the extent of state involvement in the economy, Slovenia ranks among the highest in the EU and OECD. It is vital for its future to confront the "dark sides" of state capitalism. At the normative level, these are reflected in the weaknesses of the State Assets Management Strategy (OdSUND-1), which was drafted within a narrow political circle, lacking the involvement of experts, the business sector, or the public. Its content relies on an administrative descriptions, lacking clear justifications for state ownership or links to general and sectoral state strategies. The strategy favors SOEs a priori, disregarding alternatives for achieving public interest objectives (e.g. public administration, public-private partnerships, and the market). Emphasis is placed on narrowly defined financial targets, while strategic goals remain vague and are, in practice, determined ad hoc by the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH) rather than by policy. The government fails to report publicly on the strategy’s implementation or assume political responsibility for governance, despite acting as the manager of important SOEs and wielding decisive influence over SDH. For SDH and KAD, the unclear definition of their public mandates allows for the pursuit of objectives inconsistent with the public interest. Governance reform should restrict the potential for abusing the "national interest" in the establishment and operation of SOEs and, following the German model, codify the principle of subsidiarity (SOEs as ultima ratio). Furthermore, policy must shift from party opportunism toward addressing SOE specifics (e.g. the tension between (non)commercial goals and multiplied agency costs) and improving the institutional environment, including the rule of law and economic competitiveness.
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