The Serbian bank, whose 20.99% stake makes it the second biggest single owner of Gorenjska Banka, has asked Sava to extend the 16 March deadline for selling the stake after it failed to get the necessary clearance from the Serbian central bank in time.

The National Bank of Serbia said it denied giving AIK the green light to increase its stake in Gorenjska Banka earlier this month, while the takeover approval by the Slovenian central bank expired in late February.

Nevertheless, SSH, which together with the state-run KAD fund owns 45.13% in Sava, urged the shareholders to extend the deadline at the 16 April shareholder meeting.

"The sale of Gorenjska Banka is one of the most important measures in Sava's financial restructuring," said SSH and added that this would help deleverage the company.

Sava's management board called the shareholder meeting to decide on a EUR 12.5m capital injection in the company, which unofficially needs the capital to take over the hotel operator Hoteli Bernardin.

The Ljubljana-based tourism and real estate company which is undergoing a court-mandated debt restructuring has been selling its stake in Gorenjska Banka since September 2015.