The bill entails a maximum of EUR 417 million loan guarantee for the railway and another EUR 360 million for the two expressway sections, between Slovenj Gradec and Velenje and between Novo Mesto and Osredek.

Presenting the bill, Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek said that the loan guarantees could save Slovenia more than EUR 8.34 million a year for loans with maturity of between 20 and 30 years.

The coalition Modern centre Party (SMC), whose former president Miro Cerar in his capacity as prime minister advocated a strategic partnership with a foreign country for the rail construction, would still like to see another country involved, even though this scenario no longer seems likely.

The party "regrets that one of the landlocked countries decided to invest instead in the neighbouring Trieste" port, said SMC MP Gregor Perič, referring to Hungary.

Meanwhile, potential investments by other countries are considered problematic by the Left, the only party to say in the debate that it would not support the bill at first reading.

Left MP Violeta Tomič took issue with the fact that the investment programme for the rail link stipulates that Slovenia's investment would depend on a potential investment of another country.

"It is also not clear in the loan guarantee bill whether Slovenia will build the second rail alone or whether another country would become a co-owner of 2TDK," she said, referring to the special purpose vehicle company established to build and manage the new track.

"It is unacceptable to us that a company, whose ownership, and by that the ownership of the track, remains uncertain, should get a state guarantee for a EUR 417 million loan," Tomič said.

The opposition Democrats (SDS), are even more critical. While supporting the bill at first reading, they are to propose amendments at second reading to scrap from the bill the loan guarantee for the rail link.

The party does not want the Third Development Axis, connecting the regions of Koroška and Dolenjska, to be a hostage of the second rail link project. SDS MP Franc Rosec also said that the party wished the parliament were discussing a state loan guarantee for the entire expressway and not just two sections.

New Slovenia (NSi) as well intends to propose amendments at second reading. MP Jožef Horvat called Bratušek and the government "canny" and said he could not remember "that we ever had an act mixing road and rail infrastructure, for us to be giving loan guarantees to two companies".

While the coalition Social Democrats (SD), the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) and the senior coalition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) expressed support for the bill, the National Party (SNS) said the bill was a mess.

SNS president Zmago Jelinčič believes it was the result of a partnership between the SAB and the SD to fill their pockets.

"What depravity to tie aid to the people of Koroška and Dolenjska and to thrown in there the guarantee for the second rail link," he said. Nonetheless, the SNS supported the the bill at first reading.