The property, which includes buildings along the Masarykova street, is to be sold at a starting price of EUR 1.09m, excluding VAT. The public call is open until 12 September at 3 PM.

Dimitrij Podobnik of Slovenske železnice explained for the STA that the property was being sold in a public call because the rail operator was obligated by law to conduct deals through public calls.

"Anybody can apply, but we expect either the Ljubljana Municipality or Emonika to submit their bids," Podobnik said.

With the sale, the rail operator will meet its last obligation towards Emonika, the Slovenian subsidiary of the Canadian-Hungarian multinational Trigranit, which is building the terminal, according to Slovenske železnice CEO Dušan Mes.

The STA inquired with Emonika whether obtaining the property would be enough to acquire the building permit, but the company said it was reviewing the call for bids, including the prices, and could not yet comment.

Trigranit CEO Csaba Toth told the STA that the property in question was only one of the problems pertaining to land issues in the project.

He regretted that the call was not issued earlier, as negotiations about the land between Slovenske železnice, the city of Ljubljana and bus station operator Avtobusna postaja Ljubljana had been launched more than three years ago.

Podobnik told the STA that the dispute between Slovenske železnice and Avtobusna postaja Ljubljana was almost resolved and that the negotiations had reached a level that allows the sale of the property.