CEO Roman Glaser explained that the move was made for the benefit of the company, not because the management felt guilty.

SIJ, since the recent capital increase the largest single shareholder of the company, had already urged the board to step down in the aftermath of the abuse of office investigation.

Glaser said that the supervisory board, in which SIJ still does not have its representatives, was yet to decide on the offered resignations, as many legal matters needed to be sorted out first.

According to him, one of the issues is severance pay to which the board members are entitled to as their terms run out next year. The board will stay on until all procedures related to the resignation are carried out.

The long-time CEO of the poultry producer said it was right for the executives to respond to the negativity in the public surrounding the company and the calls from SIJ.

In order to protect the company and the potentially majority owner, the management has offered the resignations, he added.

Glaser stressed that the move was made for the matters to be settled and not because the management felt guilty or had done anything irregular.

The police probe concerned the recapitalisation of Perutnina Ptuj as part of which a 45.8% stake in Slovenia's biggest poultry producer passed to SIJ.

Media reports suggest the specific issue police are after is option contracts that SIJ signed with the owners of Holding PMP, a management buyout vehicle that owns about 5% of Perutnina stock.

Police are reportedly investigating whether the managers would in effect get more money for their Perutnina stock than other shareholders.