Weekly Review of Slovene Economy from 12 to 18 January

Ljubljana, 20 January - Croatia on Wednesday banned the transport of oil and oil derivatives on its roads, allowing the oil to transit the county only by pipelines, rail and sea or river routes. The move stirred an exasperated response by Slovenia and other neighbouring countries, therefore the Croatian government on Friday announced to alleviate the measure.

Meanwhile, the second BSE case was finally confirmed in Slovenia, while the first act of the brewers' battle came to an end, with Belgium's Interbrew acquiring an around 40-percent in the Slovene brewer Pivovarna Union after its public bid expired.

Heated debates were stirred by changes to the pharmaceuticals act, which prematurely ended a moratorium on the implementation of a six-year data exclusivity mechanism. Slovene pharmaceutical companies will now have to respect a six-year ban on the production of generic copies of protected drugs.