STA, 12 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec highlighted the port of Koper as the closest link between Central and East Europe, and China as he addressed the eighth summit of China and 16 Central and East European countries in Croatia's Dubrovnik on Friday.

In line with the bill, courts will have to weigh whether Banka Slovenije, the central bank, correctly applied the law in ordering the bailout, and correctly estimated bank losses.

Plaintiffs will be able to launch proceedings within ten months after the law enters into force. Banka Slovenije will be the defendant and if it loses, it will have to settle the damages from its reserves. If those do not suffice, it will be able to borrow from the state.

Banka Slovenije opposes the bill, in particular the solution under which it would have to pay damages if the courts establish to the plaintiffs were wronged, arguing that this would lead to unlawful monetary financing.

The central bank believes the law should state clearly that it is not responsible to pay compensation for the damage. A similar position is held by the European Central Bank.

The government rushed to endorse the bill at yesterday's correspondence session because the upper chamber of parliament, the National Council, was also preparing a similar bill, which however envisages the state launching procedures against Banka Slovenije.

"We rushed it, because we wanted the legislative procedure to start as soon as possible. It is possible that we will be merging the bill with the National Council's legislative proposal," Finance Ministry State Secretary Metod Dragonja said yesterday.

The National Council adopted its proposal today, arguing the government's bill fell short of what had been asked by the Constitutional Court.

The upper chamber's president Alojz Kovšca stressed that excessive procedural costs would discourage potential plaintiffs from suing Banka Slovenije, which means effective legal protection had not been provided.

The National Council would have Banka Slovenije sued by the state and the burden of proof transferred to the central bank.

Kovšca announced cooperation in the adoption of the final act, but added it would be vetoed if it failed to provide a realistic solution.

The bill will go through a regular procedure in parliament and the government is counting on it to be passed in June or July.

In the three months after the passage, special virtual data rooms envisaged by the bill would be set up by the Securities Market Agency (ATVP) where Banka Slovenije will give all interested parties access to information.

Potential damages are estimated between zero and EUR 963.2m, which is how much liabilities were wiped out by the banks which were nationalised in 2013 and 2014, plus extra costs.

The Finance Ministry said in presenting the bill that Banka Slovenije had decided for the measures independently and therefore carried the responsibility and liability for potential damages.

The legislation based on which the measures were taken has been found to be in line with the Constitution, so it is Banka Slovenije and not the state which is responsible for the way the legislation was implemented, the ministry said.

The ministry took into account the central bank's remarks regarding the setting up of data rooms, which it claimed would be too expensive, so the bill envisages the setting up of virtual rooms by the ATVP with the ministry only providing one room where computers and software will be available for accessing data.

But the ATVP warned in a letter today that it lacked the necessary know-how, money and staff to set up the virtual data rooms, so it would have to outsource them, which would require additional funding and a lot more time than the envisaged three months.

The agency also said it had no resources to decide on the potential thousands of applications for access to the data rooms, so it proposes that Banka Slovenije or the Public Administration Ministry take over the task.

In line with the bill, the court will decide whether there are grounds to award damages to plaintiffs and also set the amount of the potential damages, whereas in the original proposal Banka Slovenije was to determine the amount of damages, pending final approval by the court.

All procedures will be handled by the Maribor District Court, where Banka Slovenije will have to prove that it had reasons for the wipe-out and that it takes into account remarks regarding access to information and data protection.

Slovenia spent roughly EUR 5.5bn bailing out and nationalising the three largest banks in the country (two small banks were wound down) in a process seen as saving the economy from ruin.

However, subsequent revelations cast doubt on the methods used to value bank assets, which in turn determined how much capital banks needed and to what extent junior creditors were affected.

All our stories about Slovenia and China are here

STA, 22 March 2019 - Slovenia's sole seaport in Koper is not concerned about the prospect of Chinese investments in the port of Trieste, its biggest rival among north Adriatic ports. It says there is plenty of scope for growth of all ports in the region.

"We've always emphasised our support for development projects of all ports in the region," port operator Luka Koper told the STA, noting that investments were the only way north Adriatic ports can compete with ports in North Europe.

The company quoted a study commissioned by the North Adriatic Port Association showing that ports from Ravenna to Rijeka have a combined potential to transship six million container units per year; in 2018 they handled 2.8 million units.

It is precisely in container transshipments that Trieste poses the biggest threat to Koper with the help of state-sponsored Chinese investors.

Koper handled 988,000 container units last year to Trieste's 725,000, but Trieste's volume was up almost a fifth over the year before while Koper registered only 8% growth in container shipments.

Overall, Trieste and the adjacent Monfalcone handled 67 million tonnes of cargo while Koper handled 24 million tonnes, both figures records for the respective ports.

Not only is it unfazed by the prospect of even stronger competition from Trieste, Luka Koper notes that all ports in the region have the same problem: poor rail connections inland.

Koper has a single track connecting it to the national rail network, Trieste faces bottlenecks within the port itself, and in Croatia's Rijeka the tracks still cut through the city.

"Rather than being concerned about what neighbouring ports are doing, it is important that Koper and Slovenia realize plans that we have adopted," the company said about the coming construction of a new track connecting the port with the inland hub Divača.

Construction of the EUR 1bn-plus track covering a distance of 27 kilometres has already started - contractors are currently building 20 kilometres of access roads - but the project is expected to take many years due to the difficult karst terrain.

Concern about Chinese plans have been raised in Slovenian media after it was announced that during Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing visit to Italy a memorandum of understanding on Chinese infrastructure investments would be signed.

According to plans, one of the pillar of the investment plan would be to strengthen Trieste's rail connections inland, which some see as a serious threat to Koper's competitive position.

Elen Tvrdy, the dean of the Koper Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, told the STA Trieste's plans required not only that the new Koper-Divača was built, but also that the port itself Koper continued investing.

"We must always be concerned about loss of market or partners. Koper must continue with investments, this is the only way it will remain competitive, regardless of whether or not the Chinese come to Trieste.

She noted that the Chinese were looking for a foothold in north Adriatic because of short transport routes to Central Europe. North Adriatic has geographic advantages, but good rail connections are critical, she said.

All our stories on logistics in Slovenia are here

STA, 19 March 2019 - The Koper port transships the biggest share of Austrian imports and exports, with the number of containers increasing by nearly six times over the course of the past decade, port operator Luka Koper said in a press release following a meeting with Austrian business representatives on Tuesday.

Luka Koper holds a 33% market share in Austria, transshipping 7.1 million tonnes of various goods. Luka Koper has been the top port for the Austrian economy for the last eight years, according to data provided by Verkehr, an Austrian logistics journal.

Good cooperation and good rail connections are key factors in this, Luka Koper said, adding that it had established daily rail links with Austrian logistics centres.

There is a container rail link with Graz ten times a week and there are multiple links a week connecting the port with the logistics centres in Villach and Enns. Moreover, 75% of cargo headed to or coming from Austria is transported by rail, the company said.

Today's get-together of Austrian executives and Luka Koper representatives featured representatives of 26 Austrian companies focusing on logistics, transport, IT solution and construction.

STA, 22 February 2019 - Port operator Luka Koper posted a group net profit of EUR 60m last year, an increase of 71% compared to the year before, as net revenue rose by 7% to EUR 226m on a record volume of transshipment.

Operating profit (EBIT) was up 90% to EUR 70m. Discounting one-off compensation payment of EUR 9.6m accounted for in 2017 revenue and provisions for legal liabilities of EUR 15.7m accounted for in 2017 expense, EBIT was up by 15% in real terms, the company announced via the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

Without taking into consideration the compensation received and the provisions, net profit increased by 9% in real terms in 2018.

The port transshipped a record 24 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, up 3% from the year before. Container throughput was up by 8% to 988,000 TEUs and car throughput rose by 2% to 754,000 vehicles.

The port's cruise terminal recorded 101,415 passengers, a rise of 41% from 2017.

Capital expenditure decreased by 56% to EUR 16m, while the number of the group's employees increased by 12% to 1,242.

STA, 26 November 2018 - Port operator Luka Koper reported on Monday a nine-month net profit of EUR 49m, which is a 22% improvement on the same period last year. Net sales revenue was up 6% to EUR 168m.

Excluding the EUR 9.1m compensation received over damage to a bridge crane caused by a ship during a storm, the January - September 2018 net profit would amount to EUR 40.9m, a 3% year-on-year improvement, the company pointed out.

The group's operating profit (EBIT) rose by 29% to EUR 57m or by 8% to EUR 47.4m when discounting the mentioned one off event.

The core company recorded EUR 165.5m in revenue, a 7% increase, net profit rose by 22% to EUR 47.7m, EBIT by 30% to EUR 55.8m and EBITDA by 22% to EUR 77.2m.

Transshipment in the port was just under 18 million tonnes, which is on par with the first nine months of last year. March saw a monthly record of 2.3 million tonnes.

Luka Koper had a workforce of 1,217 at the end of September, a 11% increase on a year earlier.

It spent EUR 9.5m on investment at the level of the group.

All our stories on Luka Koper port are here

STA, 19 September 2018 - The operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port will employ 307 workers currently sourced out through subcontractors, plus an additional 350 agency workers. 

STA - Following media reports that the Koper port could become a major NATO logistic hub, which Slovenian officials denied yesterday, the STA learned from a source at NATO that the port would only be used during a NATO exercise in October. 

STA, 31 August 2018 - The group around port operator Luka Koper posted EUR 35m in net profit in the first half of the year, or 27% more year-on-year, the core company announced on Friday, noting that the result included EUR 9.1m in received compensation. Net sales revenues were meanwhile up by 5% to EUR 113m. 

STA, 30 July 2018 - The government has given consent to Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port Koper, to build a new mooring for vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, also called RORO (roll-on/roll-off) ships. The EUR 8.83m investment is expected to be completed in 2021. 

Record-breaking results for Luka Koper.