* Gorenje’s secondary Warsaw offer raises less than planned

* Investors say raises doubts on Slovenia’s privatisation
plans

* Slovenia is struggling to avoid seeking bailout

(Adds market comments, background)

WARSAW, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Slovenian household appliance
maker Gorenje said on Wednesday it raised far less
than planned from listing its shares on the Warsaw bourse, a
sign that Slovenia could face a tough task to pay off its debts
by privatising assets.

Slovenia is struggling to avoid following Cyprus, Ireland,
Greece, Portugal and Spain in seeking an international bailout
to keep its economy afloat, with the World Bank expecting it to
shrink by 1.0 percent next year.

Gorenje, already listed in Slovenia, raised nearly 17
million euros ($23.34 million) in Warsaw, well below the 45
million it was seeking from listing on central Europe’s largest
equity market.

Market insiders said Slovenia’s problems were a factor in
putting off investors.

“The company’s country of origin is an important element,”
mWealth Management fund manager Dawid Czopek said of the Gorenje
share offer. “Slovenia is in a tough situation and it may prove
to be another country in need of some aid,” he said.

The euro zone member announced last week its banks need 4.8
billion euros in extra capital to plug holes in their balance
sheets, though it said it would be able to scrape together the
cash without outside help.

Gorenje’s share listing was a barometer of how much investor
appetite there was for Slovenian stocks at a time when Ljubljana
is preparing to privatise more than a dozen businesses to raise
badly-needed cash.

Companies short-listed for sale by the Slovenian state
include the country’s largest telecoms operator, Telekom
Slovenia, its second-biggest bank, Nova KBM, paint producer
Helios, national airline Adria Airways and Ljubljana airport.

Gorenje, in which Japan’s Panasonic Corp is a
minority shareholder, said on Wednesday it had raised a total of
27 million euros.

But 10 million euros of that was raised via a cash
contribution from Panasonic in exchange for new shares, and so
was not part of the Warsaw offer.

The planned date of the company’s market debut in Warsaw is
Dec. 30, according to the share offer’s prospectus.

($1 = 0.7283 euros)

(Reporting by Pawel Bernat and Adrian Krajewski; Editing by
Pravin Char)