Ljubljana - Health Minister Danijel Bešič Loredan said on Thursday he was happy that Jože Golobič stepped down as director general of Slovenia's main hospital, UKC Ljubljana. He said the hospital's council would now conduct its regular procedure to hopefully appoint the best possible candidate to succeed him.

He said he did not know who his successor could be but noted that an acting head would probably be appointed first and then a call for applications for a full term would be published.

"I'm happy that my expectations were met," said Bešič Loredan, who urged Golobič to step down two weeks ago over poor business results, numerous missed deadlines and long waiting times.

Golobič initially rejected all accusations and labelled the call for his resignation as a political move. As he tendered his resignation yesterday he provided no additional explanation.

"The matter will now be processed by the hospital's council according to standard legal procedure, the government will take note of the resignation and we're moving on," said the minister.

He stressed the ministry would like to demonstrate using the example of the UKC how the largest health institution in the country should be stabilised and run. "We have to make sure that ... we renovate UKC Ljubljana for EUR 90 million in three years."

He said no replacements of the heads of other Slovenian hospitals were planned.

Bešič Loredan urged Golobič to step down at a press conference on 23 August, giving him 14 days to do so.

Golobič took over his full term at the helm of UKC Ljubljana at the beginning of December last year. Prior to that, he had been acting director of the hospital for less than a year after former director Janez Poklukar became health minister under the previous government.

He had waited for months for the government to appoint him for a full term. Poklukar claimed it was simply government procedure, but unofficially the government could have been reluctant to appoint him because the company RC Preko, partly owned by the company ECOlogic, whose co-owners are Golobič and UKC management adviser Peter Cerar, was being investigated for suspicion of fraud.

In this case, a request had been filed for investigation of an individual and a company. The investigation was officially opened this February and is expected to start in September and October, the Specialised State Prosecution told the STA today.

Golobič has never hid the fact that he was co-owner of ECOlogic. "I've never actively led or cooperated in the managing of the company RC Preko," he said, adding that he was not involved in any lawsuit in relation to RC Preko or ECOlogic.