The paper says that Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) obviously got "a clear enough hint from the government that foot dragging time is up and that the bank's privatisation, handed down from the predecessors, needs to be cleared off the table at last."

"It is true that the time for NLB sale is not favourable but an ideal situation exists in the economic theory only: stock markets and financial markets are fidgety about geopolitical risks, Brexit, Italy, Trump's politics and worsened economic outlook for Asia and elsewhere.

"But time to wait is no longer. Any further delay of the sale would only reduce the chances of proceeds which would return at least part of the taxpayer's billion invested in recapitalising and repairing NLB.

"There is no way back. The leaderships of the bank and SSH now need to persuade foreign investors with a story about NLB being promising as a regional banking group. Last but not least, it is up to domestic investors to make a move knowing NLB best and wanting it to stay in domestic hands - now they can decide whether it is worth their money."