The announcement comes after the outgoing government decided on 3 July against completing any of the ongoing privatisation procedures or starting new ones before the appointment of a new government.

PM Alenka Bratušek has been stressing since that this only meant the final signatures needed to wait for the new government.

Meanwhile, the business daily Finance reports today that SSH has obtained a legal opinion that says the government decree is illegal, since it is non-compliant with the law on SSH and the companies' act.

The opinion was reportedly issued by Marijan Kocbek of the Institute for Corporate Law.

The privatisation procedures, based on a list of 15 companies slated for sale, are meanwhile continuing, with airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana and national telco Telekom Slovenije said to be closest to a sale.