"It will be economically and socially difficult, but there are great opportunities to prepare things that will allow Slovenia to enter the path of economic growth," he said in an interview with the STA.

He said Slovenia had the opportunity to sort out its public finances and continue with reform. If it manages to release the credit crunch, smaller companies can be expected to get loans, which will help kick-start the recovery.

Asked to comment on the bad bank, which will be set up shortly, Rop said the EIB did not assess the policies of the individual member states, but his personal opinion is that "the worst option is doing nothing".

"In this context the bad bank proposal is better than nothing, so I welcome it," said the former prime minister.

Rop was in Slovenia signing a EUR 500m loan agreement on generous terms that will make it easier for the government to draw EU funds.

He said Slovenia was practically the only EU country not to have resorted to this kind of financing before.

"We had proposed this option to the previous government and this government; apparently the crisis had to deepen before they decided to finally take this opportunity," he said.

Coincidentally, parliament yesterday also ratified a loan agreement between Slovenia and the EIB for a EUR 440m round of financing of the new generator at Šoštanj coal-fired power plant.

Rop suggested that the investor could get the money shortly, in a matter of months.