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Unrestrained lending by state owned banks, corruption and cronyism, have led to an increase in non-performing loans and bad debt. Slovenia's government banks made extensive loans for leverged management buyouts of state owned companies in the period 2000-2010. Loans for construction projects also soured, with the capital Ljubljana having many unfinished construction sites. Bad debt at the banks is estimated at 6.8 billion euros, or 19% of Slovenia's GDP, larger than the 16% of GDP for bad debt in Spain. The anti-corruption agency reports large amounts of undisclosed income for the head of the outgoing government, and the outgoing leader of the opposition party who was Mayor of Ljubljana. An election law that requires an endorsement from members of parliament for people seeking to contest elections for the first time makes it difficult to bring new faces and thinking into parliament.

LyrArc Article Gist
Slovenia is a small country of 2 million nestled in the mountains between Italy and Austria, part of the former Yugoslavia. Problems of bad debt at the major state owned banks, including Nova Banka Ljubljana, stem from a series of large management buyouts for home improvement chain Merkur, supermarket chain Mercator, the largest brewer and a major construction firm. Easy lending by state owned banks, corruption, cronyism and fraud have led to a large number of non-performing loans after a credit boom during 2000-2010. The bad debt at 6.8 billion euros is 19% of GDP in 2013. Protests in the capital Ljubljana in 2013 led to the fall of the centre right coalition government, the resignation of the opposition party leader and the appointment of a new opposition leader to run the government. Cuts to benefits and austerity measures have left the public in Slovenia seething about the economic mismanagement. This is another example of how the shift to a market economy after decades of state run economy in communist controlled countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union has run into serious trouble because of opportunistic behaviour of politicians, bureaucrats and business....

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This editorial in the NYT says a two state solution is the best way to justice and peace in the region. It says more states are likely to recognize Palestine as a state, following Sweden and the Vatican, as the negotiations are in total breakdown.

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Yanukovych, the president of Ukraine, is from the industrial eastern part of Ukraine centring on Donetsk. He is intensely disliked by the protesters in Ukraine and unpopular with the western part of the country which favors joining the European Union. Polls show 45% of the people support joining the EU, and only 14% joining Russia in a economic union. Yanukovych failed to bring the country together. The EU had called for the release of a former prime minister Ms. Tymoshenko in prison for the last 2 years, and Yanukovych's failure to do this worsened relations with Germany. The U.S. sees Yatsenuyk 39, a economist who served in the Tymoshenko administration as economy minister, as a person with the credibility in Ukraine and the experience to be part of a transition government. Figures who are popular with protesters but have no connections with previous governments include Vitali Klitschko, 42, a boxing champion, who has his own party Udar, meaning punch. Tymoshenko, was popular during the Orange Revolution in 2004, but her two terms as prime minister came under criticism for mismanagement. Parliament selected the prime minister under the 2004 constitution, and the protests focussed on consolidation of power under the president, including the appointment of the prime minister. As a first step parliament took on powers to appoint the prime minister on Feb. 21, 2014, freed Tymoshenko from prison, and set a date for elections in May 2014. Yanukovych fled Kiev and left for the eastern part of the country as parliament began the transition to a new government. ...

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Turkish decision to conduct operations against Iraqi Kurdistan led to fears in the markets that it would cut off supplies of Iraqi oil. However Turkish premier Erdogan says it would limit its operation to PKK guerillas and its not certain whether this was a way to please public opinion in Turkey that the Government was strong enough to respond to attacks on Turkey or Turkish soldiers and not a real decision to go to war and find itself in difficulties with the US and Iraq. This article shows that Turkey is the largest foreign investor in Iraqi Kurdistan with many projects and a thriving foreign trade there with Turkey. Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey in questions and answers at the National Press Club in Washington DC during the week of November 4th broadcast on CSPAN emphasized that its Iraq move was an "operation" only, no desire on Turkey's part for a war. When asked how it would affect Turkey's south east part he emphasized that many members of Parliament from his party were Kurdish Turks and Turkey had helped large numbers of peshmerga Kurds during Saddam's period and could not understand the Kurdish response. He also emphasized Turkey did not want to touch civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is what the Iraqi Kurds say would lead to their involvement. He emphasized also Turkey's desire to seek a "middle road" in all matters which he described as the best. Have oil prices overreacted to the move by Turkey, or since there is always considerable uncertainty about events in that region (and clarifications come much later after some striking announcement that Turkey would make a strong response), are markets already very sensitive to political volatility especially with stocks lower than usual and rising demand for oil, simply responding to the worst possible outcome....