EIB vice-president Laszlo Baranyay said the bank had entered into loan agreements worth EUR 6.5bn in Slovenia since 1991.

The new office will facilitate the combination of EIB loans with EU funds and provide technical and financial consultancy, he said.

The office will be lead by Peter Jacobs, whom Baranyay described as one of the most experienced EIB staff members.

Given the amount of challenges, this is an opportune time to launch new programmes, Jacobs said.

Finance Minister Mateja Vraničar Erman was confident Slovenia would be able to leverage the EIB's know-how in the structuring of projects, in particular in the private sector.

She noted how the EIB had over the years forged deep ties in particular with SID, the state-owned export and development bank.

Indeed, coinciding with the launch of the office, EIB and SID signed a EUR 50m loan agreement. SID will spend the money on supporting the R&D projects of small, medium-sized and mid-cap companies.

EIB is the EU's non-profit bank tasked with financing projects that contribute to the balanced development of the bloc's internal market.