VSŽ sets AGM for May 21

VSŽ, an eastern Slovak steel giant, said on March 11 it would hold a general shareholders meeting (AGM) on May 21 and that it might release preliminary 1997 results at the beginning of April. "The audit of last year's results should be completed by the end of March," said VSŽ spokesman Jozef Marko. "But it is possible that we will decide to release full results at the AGM." Developments in VSŽ have been under a microscope since the company reshuffled its leadership at an extraordinary shareholders meeting (EGM) on February 27. The owners said they split the operational management and long-term planning between the board of directors and the supervisory board. But investors reacted badly to the move and VSŽ's capital market share, the most liquid and the second most heavily capitalized Slovak issue, has since dropped 34 percent on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BSE).