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The Emonika project, a pubic-private partnership envisaging the construction of new central train and bus terminals in the capital, is being developed by Hungarian company Trigranit, which has assessed the value of the project at EUR 250m-300m.

But works have been at a standstill for months now as the developer is awaiting a decision on the government subsidy and a resolution of disagreements with public partners on the scope of the project.

Signalling that the government wanted the project to move ahead, Stepišnik announced this week that Emonika meets the conditions for a subsidy that Slovenia grants for foreign investments.

"The state is ready to participate in the project, but for this it must have a finalised financial plan," Stepišnik said on the margins of a business forum held in Ljubljana on Thursday.

He said the subsidy would be granted because of the jobs that the project will create. "While Emonika may not create many jobs at the very beginning, it is expected to bring more jobs later on, which is why it makes sense for the state to help," the minister said.

Emonika has not yet received official word of the subsidy and its director fears that it is not close to being granted the subsidy.

"I fear that we haven't made it that far yet. Until now we have only received a letter from the economy minister, who informed us that the application for the subsidy has been assessed and forwarded to the government for confirmation, but there was no word on the amount or timetable," Csaba Toth told the STA.

Toth announced that the financial plan for the project was ready and that the main precondition for its realisation was securing the subsidy. "If we don't receive the state aid, this will impact on the whole financial plan."

Meanwhile, Emonika still lacks a building permit for the project. While it put in a request for the permit in June, it subsequently withdrew it in September because of a rise in costs envisaged for the public part of the project as proposed by the Ljubljana Municipality and state railways operator Slovenske železnice.

The process of obtaining a building permit has been on hold since. Toth said that authorities have been informed that Emonika will not push ahead with obtaining the building permit until it receives compensation for the higher costs and until the conditions set down in the 2007 contract on the public-private venture are restored.

The launch of construction works now depends on the government's decision on the subsidy and the resolution of the open issues regarding the scope of the public part of the project, he said.

"If we can reach agreement with the municipality and the railways on a timetable and the government comes forward with a decision within a month, the project can be realised without major delays...by late 2015 or early 2016," he added.