Financial experts appointed by the Croatian and Slovenian governments have reached a compromise about the transferred savings of Croatian clients from the now defunct Ljubljanska Banka and now it is up to the governments to decide whether to accept this proposal or not, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic told a news conference in Zagreb on Wednesday.
Our (financial) experts have reached a compromise proposal. And being a compromise, it is not ideal from Croatia's point of view but I believe that it is rational and in my opinion it is acceptable for Croatia, Pusic said commenting on the work of Croatian and Slovenian experts Zdravko Rogic and France Arhar on the issue of foreign-currency savings which Ljubljanska Banka customers transferred from that bank which was seated in Ljubljana, to Croatian banks and which was later financed by the Croatian government.
Rogic and Arhar should now communicate their proposal to the governments of the two countries and the governments have a final say on the matter, according to her.
Asked to comment on the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights that found Slovenia liable for the payback of "old" foreign-currency savings to clients of Ljubljanska Banka outside Slovenia, Pusic said that the ruling "is in accordance with what our opinion".
According to data previously collected by the Croatian National Bank, the entire savings of Croatian clients in Ljubljanska Banka amounted to EUR 420 million, with Croatia later transferring EUR 260 million into its public debt. Some of the 130,000 customers are still requesting Ljubljanska Banka to pay them back EUR 160 million.
