According to Sunday's report by the the Siol.net new portal, the court on Friday admitted upon Ramljak's request the insolvency of Agrkor as the primary procedure, which de facto means Mercator is falling under the provisions of Lex Agrokor.

The Croatian government adopted the special law in April in order to safeguard its largest company during its debt restructuring.

The Slovenian government immediately responded with Lex Mercator amid reports that funds were being diverted from the Slovenian grocer, which was taken over by Agrokor in 2014.

Siol.net says the court's decision gives Ramljak, also appointed by the Croatian government in April, free reign over Mercator, which is the biggest employer in Slovenia.

He could for instance manage or sell Mercator or some of its assets, such as Serbian company Mercator-S, and be protected from any potential counter-measures by Mercator's or Agrokor's creditors.

The news portal fears this paves the way for the potential abuse of Mercator as the crisis is deepening for Agrokor's Croatian retailer arm Konzum.

It wonders why the court, whose decision can be appealed by the end of the month, did not use the possibility of rejecting Ramljak on the legitimate grounds that the move undermines Slovenia's public interest.

Siol.net moreover sees the move in the context of Ramljak's recent announcement that Mercator stores in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which were rebranded as Konzum in 2014 - in what Ramljak admitted had been a mistake hurting sales - would fall under Mercator again by September.

Mercator is reportedly not happy with the Bosnia idea and creditor banks are also opposing it, seeing it as the transfer of Konzum's burdens onto the shoulders of the Slovenian grocer.