The pair will join the other three members of the supervisory board for five years after the terms of Duško Kos and Damjan Belič expires on 17 July.

Both were appointed with 49 votes in favour, which is three more than needed. Voting against were all MPs of the four left-leaning parties - LMŠ, SD, Left and SAB.

Andreja Zabret of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) argued Simič lacked personal integrity and business ethics.

"Ivan Simič is a man who would like to introduce tax amnesty, who is thinking about how to legalise the money which some individuals acquired in an unlawful way," she said.

The MP recalled that the documents about tax havens revealed he had represented the biggest tax debtor to the Financial Administration (FURS) in tax proceedings.

Simič was director general of the Slovenian Tax Administration (DURS) between January 2006 and July 2008 before it was renamed FURS. In 2013, he also led Serbia's tax administration. He has been in the spotlit lately as a member of a task force advising the Slovenian government on coronavirus legislation.

In mid-May, the government appointed him the head of what it termed a debureaucratisation council, which is tasked with checking the country's laws to cut the red tape. He is seen as belonging to the staff circle of the senior coalition Democrats (SDS).

Apart from leading Grawe for several years, Emeršič also briefly worked at the Finance Ministry under Minister Andrej Bertoncelj in the Marjan Šarec government.

The SSH supervisory board also features chief supervisor Karmen Dietner, whose term runs out at the end of 2023, as well as Igor Kržan and Janez Vipotnik.

After Gabrijel Škof has recently resigned, the supervisors will soon have to appoint a new chairman of the holding.