Arhar and his Croatian counterpart will propose possible solutions to the two governments after studying the issue, as was agreed by Slovenian and Croatian foreign ministers, Karl Erjavec and Vesna Pusić, respectively, in Dubrovnik on Saturday.

Erjavec told the public broadcaster TV Slovenija late on Wednesday that Arhar was the best for the best man for the job, as he "was central bank governor and knows exactly what has been discussed in relation to this issue."

Arhar, who had served as the central bank governor between 1991 and 2001, was chairman of the Unicredit Slovenija bank from 2003 until 1 June, when he was appointed the head of the Bank Association of Slovenia. He had also taken part in Yugoslavian succession negotiations.

The issue of Croatian savers in LB stems from the time Yugoslavia broke up and LB bank went bankrupt. In line with an agreement from 2001, the LB issues was to be treated as a multilateral problem.

Erjavec noted today that the experts' goal was not to solve the issue bilaterally, but to examine whether there was any grounds for the suits two Croatian banks had launched against LB and its offshoot, Slovenia's biggest bank NLB.

"We believe that it is not right that these disputes be addressed by Croatian courts, as the agreement was to solve the issue as part of succession negotiations," Erjavec added.

The Zagreb Court however dismissed today one of the 18 suits the Zagrebačka banka bank had filed against NLB with the authorisation of the Croatian government in 1995 and 2001.

The court's ruling is a proof that the Croatian government has no arguments for suing LB and NLB, Erjavec said in response to the ruling, expressing a wish that the experts, whom Croatia has not appointed yet, would begin with their work as soon as possible.