NEWS
Prime Minister Janez Janša and TriGranit representatives on revival of Emonika Passenger Terminal project
The Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša today received the representatives of TriGránit: Chairman Sándor Demján, CEO Árpád Török, and the Country Director for Slovenia and Managing Director of Emonika d.o.o, Csaba Tóth. The company's representatives informed Prime Minister Janša of the reasons why the several million euro investment in the Ljubljana Passenger Terminal Emonika, which is also expected to create a large number of new jobs, is still awaiting the green light to go ahead with construction.
The history of complications that have, over recent years, kept delaying the urgently required investment in a new passenger terminal in Ljubljana is too long. Moreover, it is a sad, yet typical example of the reasons why there are too few foreign direct investments in Slovenia, and the reasons for this cast light upon the administrative obstacles and interference of lobbyist interest groups that impede domestic economic growth.
However, blame should also go to municipal authorities which, instead of seeking cooperation and adequate solutions, often invented new barriers. For example, the investment terms and conditions changed after the international public call for tenders had already been completed; these changes involved, among other things, a 50 per cent increase in the public utilities charge and new demands regarding the level of the railway track. Such conduct, which has caused extensive economic damage to Slovenia, is all the more incomprehensible since all this happened during a deep economic crisis and the disintegration of the entire construction industry – at a time when additional efforts should have been made to speed up the necessary procedures.
The Slovenian Prime Minister assured investors that the national institutions responsible will do their utmost to find adequate legal solutions in order to facilitate the resumption of the project. The Government, however, expects that the same stance will also be taken by Slovenian Railways and the municipal authorities.