ZAGREB, May 1 (Reuters) – Slovenia still plans to raise
funds through an international bond, it said on Wednesday,
despite a credit downgrade prompted by fears the euro zone
country will need a bailout.

Moody’s rating agency cut Slovenia’s rating two notches to
Ba1, or ‘junk’ on Tuesday, just as books were being filled with
investor bids for two dollar-denominated issues.

ZAGREB, April 24 (Reuters) – Croatia is looking to sell a
stake in troubled Croatia Airlines, joining the
regional struggle to keep small and ailing carriers in the
former Yugoslavia in the air.

Since being formed after Croatia gained independence in
1991, the almost entirely state-owned flag carrier has largely
survived on government subsidies to keep it airborne in the face
of competition from larger budget airlines.

JELSA, Croatia, April 23 (Reuters) – For Croatian
winemakers, dreams of European Union market bounty came crashing
down after recent trade bans exposed them to the hurdles which
await agricultural greenhorns in the wealthy bloc.

In the face of strict appellation and protection rules in
the EU, which Croatia joins on July 1, tradition and local pride
had to give way, although local winemakers say it’s not over
yet.

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Slovenia will not be the next euro member to need a financial rescue as it can afford to wait for lower borrowing costs before issuing new debt, its top economic official said on Friday.

The new center-left government was widely expected to raise money on financial markets shortly after taking office on March 20 but has not done so because Slovenia’s borrowing costs have soared due to the turmoil in Cyprus.

LJUBLJANA, March 29 (Reuters) – Slovenia will not be the
next euro member to need a financial rescue as it can afford to
wait for lower borrowing costs before issuing new debt, its top
economic official said on Friday.

The new centre-left government was widely expected to raise
money on financial markets shortly after taking office on March
20 but has not done so because Slovenia’s borrowing costs have
soared due to the turmoil in Cyprus.

VUKOVAR, Croatia (Reuters) – The neat, freshly rebuilt houses in Vukovar testify to Croatia’s determination to heal the scars of this town on the Danube after shelling from Serb rebels in the war of independence nearly erased it in 1991.

But plans to add Serb Cyrillic script to signs in Vukovar threaten to inject a sour note into government efforts to rebuild trust between Serbs and Croats just as Croatia prepares to join the European Union on July 1.

VUKOVAR, Croatia (Reuters) – The neat, freshly rebuilt houses in Vukovar testify to Croatia’s determination to heal the scars of this town on the Danube after shelling from Serb rebels in the war of independence nearly erased it in 1991.

But plans to add Serb Cyrillic script to signs in Vukovar threaten to inject a sour note into government efforts to rebuild trust between Serbs and Croats just as Croatia prepares to join the European Union on July 1.

ZAGREB, March 7 (Reuters) – Slovenia has agreed it won’t let
a 20-year-old bank dispute stop Croatia joining the European
Union as planned on July 1, the two countries’ prime ministers
said on Thursday.

The bank closed down when the two countries declared
independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, without reimbursing its
Croatian depositors.

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Slovenia’s prime minister-designate promised on Thursday she would be able to heal its banks and avoid an international bailout after a banking crisis that dethroned her conservative predecessor just a year into office.

Legislators dismissed Janez Jansa’s cabinet on Wednesday night and handed the baton to Alenka Bratusek, a centre-left finance expert tasked with preventing the fourth financial rescue of a euro zone member country since 2008.

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Slovenia dismissed its conservative-led government on Wednesday and offered a centre-left finance expert the task of halting the Alpine country’s fall from post-communist rising star to the euro zone’s latest bailout candidate.

The 90-seat parliament voted 55-33 to dismiss Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s ruling coalition after just a year of trying to navigate through the ex-Yugoslav republic’s worst economic and political crisis in 22 years of independence.