The report names Pošta Slovenije, the national postal company, and British freight forwarder Xpediator as the bidders still vying to acquire just over 72% in Intereuropa.

The highest bidder is willing to pay EUR 110m for the stake together with Intereuropa's debt, the portal writes, adding that Turkey's Netlog Logistics has unofficially offered much less than rival bidders, so it has dropped out of the process.

The stake is being sold by the creditor banks NLB, SID Banka, Gorenjska Banka, SKB Banka and Banka Intesa Sanpaolo, however, Siol says there have been indications in recent weeks that the state-run SID Bank is no longer in favour of selling.

The bank is allegedly hesitating to endorse an extension of the moratorium for the repayment of loans until the summer when Intereuropa is due to repay a EUR 64m debt, which the company wants to refinance. SID Bank's declining its consent would put an end to the sale procedure.

The report says the issue at stake is the land that Intereuropa owns in the Koper port area, which would pass on to the new owner. This is something that the Infrastructure Ministry is trying to prevent, Siol says.

It adds that the outcome of the sale will depend on whether state-owned Pošta Slovenije will come out as the better bidder. If not, Siol's sources claim that some of the creditor banks may deny the British bidder the right to exclusive talks, so the latter would probably give up on the deal.