It said that the Administrative Court had annulled the regulator's September 2017 decision to deny Adris clearance to increase its 19% stake to up to 33%.

This will be Adris's third attempt to get the green light to increase its stake in the second-largest Slovenian insurance and reinsurance group.

Its first request was denied in October 2016 after Adris was bidding to raise the stake together with Croatia Osiguranje, its insurance subsidiary which owns the stake in Sava Re.

The regulator said at the time that Croatia Osiguranje's excessive exposure to Croatian treasury debt posed a risk to the group's operations.

Adris was again denied the clearance last summer, when it bid on its own; the agency said its excessive exposure to troubled Croatian group Agrokor was the reason for not giving it a go-ahead.

Adris's exposure to Agrokor, which owns Slovenian retailer Mercator, is according to available data valued at some EUR 135m. According to Siol, Adris is not among Agrokor's preferred creditors.

Since it last decided on Adris's bid, the insurance supervision agency has had a new director.

The government appointed Gorazd Čibej acting boss in December to replace Sergej Simoniti, who had asked to be relieved of his duties for a job in an insurance company.

Deciding on clearance is the agency's council, which has currently four members.

According to Siol, voting against Adris's clearance were the majority of the council members who are close to the ruling Modern Centre Party (SMC).