Marjan Sarec, whose political movement is leading opinion polls before elections in May or June, said that Slovenia should own a strong domestic bank, even as he criticized the government’s delay to sell state-owned lender Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d.
The Adriatic nation is extending talks with the European Commission after the government-in-resignation of Prime Minister Miro Cerar reneged on a pledge to sell NLB, the country’s largest bank, last year. The sale was a condition for a 3.2 billion euro ($3.93 billion) bailout in 2013, when EU officials allowed Slovenia to rescue the bank to avoid a Greek-style international bailout of its state-run lenders.