Slovenia

The Slovenian government must urgently speed up insolvency and bankruptcy procedures in the financially-troubled euro zone member state, the Bank of Slovenia said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. It said a law recently prepared by the government to streamline the bankruptcy process was "a step forward but too small a step". Insolvency and bankruptcy procedures in Slovenia often take years rather than months. This prevents local banks, burdened with a rising volume of bad loans, from quickly selling assets confiscated from firms that default on loans.

The Maribor District Court has rejected Telekom Slovenije's demand for receivership at rival telecommunication services provider T-2 and confirmed the debt restructuring plan in line with which creditors of T-2 are to be repaid 44% of their claims totalling around EUR 180m by 2020, Slovenian news agency STA reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Slovenia’s left-leaning government was ousted in a parliament confidence vote Tuesday, further complicating Europe’s debt crisis as the small eurozone nation becomes more politically unstable, The Washington Post reported. Prime Minister Borut Pahor’s government faced the motion after months of disagreements between ruling coalition partners and several Cabinet resignations. The opposition has accused the government of corruption and mishandling the economy. The vote in the 90-seat assembly was 51 against the government and 36 for, with other lawmakers abstaining or being absent.

Center Nalozbe, one of the troubled financial firms in what is considered to have been a management buyout chain at brewery Pivovarna Lasko, will go into receivership after efforts for court-mandated debt settlement failed, STA, the Slovenian Press Agency, reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

The Ljubljana District Court initiated receivership proceedings at casino operator Casino Ljubljana, appointing Bojan Klenovsek as the receiver, the Slovenian Press Agency STA reported. Creditors have until 24 June to register their claims against the company. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Carmaker Renault on Friday announced a production boost at one of its French plants but distanced itself from a minister's comments that the move amounted to transfer of foreign auto jobs back to home soil, Reuters reported. As the world's leading carmakers battle to survive the worst sales crisis for decades in an industry now flirting with protectionism, French Industry Minister Luc Chatel characterised the temporary output increase as a first sign that aid measures for the country's auto sector were working.

European Union leaders, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, rejected a call by Hungary for a sweeping bailout of Eastern Europe, as the bloc struggled to find consensus on an approach to the spiraling financial crisis at a summit Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The global recession has greatly strained the bonds holding together the 27 nations that now make up the European Union, formed in the wake of World War II, and poses the most significant challenge in decades to its ideals of solidarity and common interest. Ms.