He told the press Agrokor was "our strongest company and strongest retail chain."

Vidosevic said he spoke with his Slovenian counterpart this morning, voicing hope that reason would prevail in Slovenia and that "what's going on now won't get out of hand."

"The Slovenians can decide as they please but they can't play, they can't be frivolous, and people who are in no way involved in terms of ownership can't discredit our biggest company and all of us in the Croatian economy without being held to account."

Vidosevic said the president of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce had assured him that the Slovenians had not changed their position of a month ago, namely that matters relating to capital should be dealt with by business people rather than civil servants.

He added that Agrokor's offer for Mercator was excellent and would benefit both countries' economies.