He noted that the state-owned bank designed this year a strategy for the medium term with "extreme business challenges" and worked on preparations for privatisation, which he said should be finished any day now.

He pointed out that NLB paid the state EUR 43.9m in dividends this year and that this level of dividends was planned every year in the next strategic period, which he said was a way of repaying past state aid.

Brodnjak explained that the extent of bad loans would be brought below EUR 1.4bn or 11%, according to international standards, by the end of the year.

"The amount stood at EUR 3.7bn at the end of 2012. Show me a single bank in central and eastern Europe that comes close to this achievement," he said.

With the current dynamics, the bank is thus expected to reach the European average in the share of non-performing loans in 2018 or 2019.

Brodnjak also complained that, while international banking groups were working intensively on the challenges of record-low interest rates and new regulation, the NLB was busy cleaning its basement and being reviewed by numerous institutions.

In the last year, he listed, the NLB was scrutinised by the Court of Audit, the Financial Administration, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, the National Bureau of Investigation, police and prosecution, the parliamentary banking commission, the Slovenian Sovereign Holding, the Finance Ministry, a regular audit, an irregular international audit, due diligence of privatisation advisers, the Slovenian central bank, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the Slovenian Agency for Insurance Supervision and the Securities Market Agency.

After his presentation, the session of the parliamentary Commission for Public Finance Oversight was closed for the public.