In 2013, the European Commission approved a government-sponsored bailout of Slovenia’s largest bank – on condition that Slovenia sell at least half of the bank by the end of 2017. The government had agreed to the terms, but it recently abandoned the sale process. Therefore, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Friday decided to lauch an in-depth probe into the sale of NLB.

Experts believe that Slovenia could now face additional penalties. If the worst comes to the worst, the European Commission could order NLB to return 2 billion euros to the government. This would automatically result in NLB declaring insolvency. Therefore, additional negotiations are needed to save the bank.

The Slovenian government now has three months to respond to Vestager’s objections.