PM Miro Cerar met with MPs of his ruling party (SMC). He tried to explain to them the recent decision by the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) to replace three supervisors at the port operator Luka Koper, despite the fact that the company is profitable.

One of the candidates is Jürgen Sorgenfrei, who used to work for the port of Hamburg – a rival company. Sorgenfrei also co-authored an OECD-study which concluded that Slovenia should not construct a second railway track between the port of Koper and the inland hub of Divača.

“I can assure you that the government will intervene on the port operator’s behalf if something goes awry,” said Cerar after the meeting, adding that the candidate selection process should go ahead as planned.

Cerar stressed that the OECD study co-authored by Sorgenfrei did not suggest that Slovenia should give up on the Koper-Divača rail project. The study merely said that the project would only be viable if transportation volumes increased. Cerar added that it is up to SSH to decide whether Sorgenfrei’s views should prevent him from becoming a candidate for the post.