Recent trends in the EU Member States, as well as in the Republic of Croatia, show an increase in the sale of shares of state owned enterprises. In this paper authors sought to investigate permissive and available techniques of selling those shares. The dilemma is how to achieve the best selling price by choosing one of the prescribed methods without being in breach of the rules concerning state aid and free movement of capital. Moreover, since many state owned enterprises are playing vital role in the Croatian economy, the question arises how to protect national interests and in the same time stay in line with principles of free movement of capital and state aid rules. The Croatian law provides seven methods of selling the shares. When selecting the method, in order to be in compliance with state aid rules, it is necessary to take into account Market Economy Vendor Principle as spelled out in the Guidance Paper adopted by the Commission. Although this Guidance Paper does not represent an official position of the Commission on the issue, its importance is highlighted in the Commission’s decisions and court practices in the European Union. As far as principle of the free movement of capital is concerned, the question arises, whether some permissible exceptions as to it could be a source to protect national interest in companies that are of strategic interest. The paper gives an overview of the recent acquisition of Alstom by General Electric in which France protected its national strategic interests by issuing special decree in which it evokes the application of the permissive exceptions to the principle of the free movement of capital. Although the case is still “in the monitoring of the Commission”, authors explore viability of that method in the Republic of Croatia.