VZCZCXRO4638
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHLJ #0722 3131238
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091238Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5306
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0017
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0226

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000722 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN IZ SI
SUBJECT: GOS: SUPPORTIVE OF RELIEF FOR IRAQ BUT STYMIED BY 
THE PAST 
 
REF: SECSTATE 181094 
 
 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  The Government of Slovenia (GOS) is 
supportive of assistance to Iraq but regional issues prevent 
them from making any commitment to providing debt relief. 
Most of the debt owed to Slovenia, estimated at $205 million, 
was incurred before the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. 
Until issues surrounding succession and fiscal apportionment 
are resolved amongst the former Yugoslav countries, no 
bilateral commitment to debt relief can be made by the GOS. 
The GOS could not provide a timeline when they thought 
succession talks would conclude. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoff delivered demarche on November 8 to MFA 
official Blaz Masle. Masle explained that there are several 
layers of complications for the GOS regarding debt relief for 
Iraq. Because the debt was incurred while Slovenia was still 
part of the former Yugoslavia, structural decisions regarding 
succession must be determined before other decisions can be 
made. The Iraqi debt held by Slovenia was estimated in 1992 
to be about $205 million, as claimed by Slovenian 
enterprises. The GOS bought debt from the Slovenian companies 
who could provide requested documentation.  This amount came 
to $1 million.  The figures are not exact and more efforts 
will have to be made to get better data. He said that the GOS 
has not made much progress on succession talks so there has 
been no serious discourse on debt relief. Finally Masle said 
that the issue of succession and Iraqi debt relief is a 
multi-ministerial effort and he would share our concerns and 
requests with other ministry officials involved in the 
decision-making process. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Embassy Ljubljana contacted Andrej Kavcic, head of 
the international department at the Ministry of Finance, for 
more information regarding the succession talks and 
commitment to Iraqi debt relief. Kavcic explained that the 
Coordinating Committee, comprised of the Ministries of 
Finance, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Bank of Slovenia and 
experts, is responsible for creating a plan for debt relief. 
Currently there are two options that are being considered: 
either to follow the Paris Club proposal of 80% debt relief 
or relieve the debt as commercial debt. Kavcic also 
reiterated that nothing could be done on this issue without 
proper data and a conclusion to succession talks.  He added 
that Belgrade's refusal to cooperate on sharing federal data 
is hindering progress on succession. 
 
ROBERTSON