This would be the second legal action against Croatia concerning a dispute over foreign currency deposits held in the Zagreb branch of Ljubljanska Banka (LB) at the time of Yugoslavia. Croatia is trying to get this money back from NLB through actions in Croatian courts, even though it had previously confirmed that it was a matter of succession of the former country. In 2001, Croatia signed the Succession Agreement and in 2013 it signed the Mokrice Memorandum, but later Croatia redefined the matter as being an inter-bank dispute.

But, despite Croatia's commitments, the procedures at the Croatian courts continue. There was even an enforcement against NLB carried out in Croatia, and NLB itself paid damages in one of the suits. What is more, Croatian courts only consider NLB as the legal successor to LB in matters of enforcement, and not in cases of the former LB’s claims against Croatian legal entities. NLB has not been recognised as a party in those cases, which have been in abeyance for years.

Slovenia intends to protect its assets by amending the Constitutional Act, which will ensure that NLB would not be permitted to settle claims from final judgements in Croatian courts regarding deposits taken over by Croatia. In the case of any confiscation of NLB’s assets in Croatia, Slovenia would trigger compensation measures including the confiscation of the assets of Croatian companies in which the state holds a majority through the Slovene Financial Administration. The proposal is currently being studied by a group of experts, who need to issue an opinion and answer unresolved legal dilemmas. The proposal will most probably then be considered by parliament’s Constitutional Commission.