Brussels - The European Commission said on Tuesday it would keep monitoring closely the situation of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) following the signing of the contract on the STA public service for the last two months of the year. The Slovenian authorities must ensure that the independence of the agency is fully preserved, it added.

The Commission is aware of the recent developments and will keep monitoring the situation closely both in terms of the STA's financial sustainability and autonomy, said Commission spokesman Christian Wigand.

He pointed out that the Commission had said a number of times that the Slovenian government was obliged to provide adequate funding of the STA.

The national authorities must ensure that the independence of the STA is fully preserved as well, Wigand said, adding that as the arrears had been paid off and financing unblocked, special attention should now be paid to the terms of financing.

Igor Kadunc, the new acting director of the STA, and Uroš Urbanija, director of the Government Communication Office (UKOM), signed on Monday the agreement on the STA public service for November and December 2021.

According to Urbanija, the STA should receive some EUR 2 million for this year under the contract, which is in line with the agency's business plan.

Kadunc said today that the STA had managed to negotiate some key changes to the contract as put forward by UKOM, but it also had to agree to some compromises to avoid bankruptcy.