Belinka Holding, d.d.

I'm about six miles from downtown Ljubljana (population 300,000) and in front of me stands a good-size factory with the three-story head office of Belinka Holding next to it. The building looks to have been built in the 1960's and the surrounding area is mostly farmland.

Founded in 1948, Belinka is a chemical company with about 750 employees in several factories located in several countries. Though a joint-stock company with shares listed and traded on the Ljubljana stock exchange, the company's website give zilch financial data in English on its website. So I haven't a clue as to how much revenue the company generates. Posted on Belinka's website is a notice dated December 5, 2005 saying the site is in the process of being modified and updated. Well, here it is July, 2006 and information is still not available.

A security guard mans the entrance to the building and doesn't speak English. I don't speak Slovenian. An English-speaking employee walking out the building is corralled by the guard to find out what I want. The employee says to follow him and we head upstairs where I'm taken to meet a woman. I explain to the woman my mailing a letter of introduction along with several news clippings a month ago to CEO Silvo Svete. I ask if she could check with CEO Svete's secretary to find out who ended up with the letter. This woman, who wouldn't give her name, says Svete "doesn't answer questions" and my letter was probably tossed. I ask if the letter could have ended up in corporate communications or public relations and this woman answers "no", saying she takes care of those areas. I'm then led out the door.

Jeez, I had added Belinka on to my list of companies to visit because I thought it would give this small unknown chemical concern some positive international exposure.

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