German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was willing to assist in the resolution of the Slovenia-Croatia border dispute and praised Slovenia's efforts to protect the Schengen border after she held talks with Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec in Berlin on Friday.

In the face of mounting pressure, the Infrastructure Ministry published on Friday a document related to a planed involvement of Hungary in the upgrade of the rail link to the Koper port. It suggests the cooperation would have no bearing on the state share or management rights in the port operator, which was a key concern of critics.

NLB, the country' No.1 bank, will pay the state EUR 270.6m in dividends, according to a decision taken by the state as the sole shareholder at Friday's general assembly meeting. The figure includes last year's net profit of EUR 189.1m.

Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole sea port operator, generated EUR 166m in net revenue in the first nine months of the year, a 7% increase year-on-year. Cargo transshipment remained roughly the same as in the same period of last year, according to Friday's press release.