"Sberbank of Russia has purchased 18.53% shares of Mercator at a public auction at the starting price", the bank said in a press release, adding that it "fully understands Mercator's crucial role for the Slovenian economy and will act in the best interest of the company".

The bank explained that the starting price equalled the average weighted monthly price per share prior to the announcement of the auction multiplied by the number of shares on sale.

Up for sale were 1.13m ordinary shares of the Slovenia-based retailer which were seized by the private Russian bank from an Agrokor subsidiary in the Netherlands that is in 100%-ownership of Agrokor's former boss Ivica Todorić.

The stake, put up as collateral by Todorić when taking out the last loan with Sberbank, is not subject to the Croatian law dealing with Agrokor, which prohibits the sale of shares held by the indebted Croatian conglomerate.

Agrokor took over Mercator in 2014 and holds a 69.57% stake. An additional 10% stake in Slovenia's largest retailer is held by Croatian pension funds through fiduciary accounts.