EBRD President: I'm Here to Offer Support to Govt Decisions
"I'm not here to buy assets, but to support government decisions," head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Jean Lemierre said after meeting PM Janez Jansa and Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk in Ljubljana on Wednesday.
"I have not come here with a set agenda, I came here to [talk], as the final decisions will be passed by the government", Lemierre added in a reference to his discussions with Slovenian officials that examined privatisation plans in the country.
Bajuk meanwhile assessed talks on key decisions Slovenia expects from the EBRD as successful. He added that EBRD has been a partner in Slovenia's leading bank, NLB, for many years.
Slovenia is counting on the EBRD in fields where it can help, "not only in energy infrastructure but also in railways and state roads", Bajuk explained.
Moreover, Bajuk added that Jansa assured Lemierre the government would examine the privatisation proposals for the NLB, Slovenia's second-largest bank, Nova kreditna banka Maribor (NKBM), the national telco Telekom Slovenije and the energy sector in six weeks. The proposals were drafted recently by expert groups.
Bajuk also said that EBRD is prepared to invest a "large sum of money" in Slovenia, although he refused to specify. According to him, the investment would not only involve money, but also experience.
Lemierre, who began his two-day official visit to Slovenia on Wednesday also congratulated Slovenia on its economic achievements in the past few years. He added that the talks centred around modernisation of the banking sector, the privatisation of the telco, railway infrastructure projects and on the energy sector.
The EBRD has been an important lender in Slovenia's private and public sectors since 1993. By the end of 2005, it has signed agreements for 46 projects, worth a total of EUR 580m.
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