Speaking to reporters, Antolovič said that the report, compiled by McKinsey & Company, would serve as a basis as the supervisory board meets with the management at the next session.

Antolovič said that the management was given time to examine the document and use it to adjust its analyses and plans in order to make the company's performance even better, and stable in the long run.

The study was presented to the board today by SSH chairman Lidia Glavina, who told reporters after the meeting that the discussion on the document was constructive.

The document was compiled on the basis of public data and includes a comparison with some other similar port operators. It identifies Luka Koper's strengths and weaknesses, said Antolovič.

Asked about a potential change in management, Antolovič said that if the management did an excellent job it should continue doing so, if it did well it should start doing excellently, and if it could do an excellent job an attempt should be made to find those who could do a better job; if it did not do a good job, it should be replaced. "Replacing the management every day, every month ... that's no good."

Antolovič was appointed chairman of Luka Koper's overhauled supervisory board earlier this month. At the time he said that an audit would be carried out before a decision was made on potential replacements on the management board.

He also said that the management under chairman Drago Matić "has been doing fairly well" but could have done even better.

Luka Koper transshipped almost 12 million tonnes of cargo in the first half of this year, up 6% compared to the same period last year, as sales revenue rose by 9% to EUR 105.4m.

The company has announced it will release an unaudited report on half-year business results on Sunday.