Banka Slovenije and the European Investment Bank are together organizing a half-day conference, “Revitalizing Investment for a Sustainable Future”. The conference will be held on Thursday, 3 April 2025, between 9:30 and 12:00 at the premises of Banka Slovenije.
This high-level event will explore key economic challenges and opportunities for Slovenia and Europe. Discussion will focus on why Europe’s productivity growth lags behind major economies, the unique challenges Slovenia faces, and the barriers to investment in breakthrough technologies, infrastructure, and energy. We will examine the policies and collaborations needed to drive innovation and ensure long-term growth while leveraging Slovenia’s competitive advantages. Given the uncertain geopolitical landscape, protectionist policies, and structural economic challenges, this event will provide valuable insights into navigating risks and sustaining growth through 2025–2027.
The conference will be opened by Primož Dolenc, Acting Governor of Banka Slovenije, and Simon Savšek, Head of EIB Group Office. The keynote speakers will be Debora Revoltella, Chief Economist at the EIB, who will present the EIB’s Investment Report and the Main Findings for Slovenia 2024/25, and Marko Pahor, Vice-Governor of Banka Slovenije, who will share insights from the Survey on Access to Finance. Their presentations will provide a comprehensive overview of the current investment landscape, key economic trends, and financial challenges impacting businesses in Slovenia.
The main part of the event will be a roundtable discussion chaired by Tina Žumer, Vice-governor of Banka Slovenije, with the participation of:
Maja Bednaš, Acting Director, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development
Nina Dremelj, Managing partner at vesna deep tech Fund, President at Business angels of Slovenia
Matevž Frangež, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy, Tourism, and Sport
Iztok Seljak, President, Managers' Association of Slovenia
Anita Stojčevska, Board Member, OTP Bank
The conference will be held in English and is free of charge. A live broadcast will be available (YouTube).
Maja Bednaš, Acting Director, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development
Maja Bednaš obtained her master’s degree from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana in 2005 with a thesis on economic policies in the European Union. She has been employed at the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) since 1998, during which time she led the preparation of spring and autumn economic forecasts of economic trends. In 2001, Ms Bednaš became the head of the Division for Macroeconomic Analysis and Economic Policy. Between 2005 and the end of November 2018, she served as IMAD’s Deputy Director, leading and coordinating the work related to the monitoring of current economic developments, economic policy analysis, and the coordination of macroeconomic and structural policies. Ms Bednaš then took on the role of Acting Director before beginning a five-year term as IMAD’s Director in June 2019. Since the end of her term in June 2024, she has continued to lead the Institute as the Acting Director.
Nina Dremelj, Managing partner at vesna deep tech Fund, President at Business angels of Slovenia
Nina Dremelj is the Managing Partner, focused on the 50M deep-tech Fund called VESNA, being established as the first Slovenian-Croatian deep tech fund in 2024. She is the President of Business Angels of Slovenia and a Board Member and Vice president of the European Business Angel Network. Her greatest passion is to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into real, successful businesses. In the last five years, she invested as a super angel in more than 18 companies with an average investment multiple above 5x. In the past, she co-owned and successfully managed the Swiss seed fund AlpVent AG. In 2021, under the auspices of business angels, she helped set up the first Slovenian venture capital fund – daFUND, supported by business angels and also invested in it.
Matevž Frangež, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy, Tourism, and Sport
Matevž Frangež holds a university degree in law. Active in youth and student organising from a young age, he was a member of the City Council of the Municipality of Maribor from 2002 to 2010. He was elected a Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for the 2008–2011 and 2011–2014 terms and then worked for a short period as a State Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. In 2015, Mr Frangež set out as an entrepreneur. He then took over the strategic communication in the Social Democratic Party in 2019 and was an assistant of the party’s deputy group in the National Assembly. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed him State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology on 1 June 2022. On 24 January 2023, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed him State Secretary at the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport.
Marko Pahor, Vice Governor, Banka Slovenije
Marko Pahor is a board member – Vice Governor at Banka Slovenije, in charge of the area that includes payments, banking resolution, risk management and financial statistics. Before joining the Banka Slovenije Marko Pahor was for over two decades a professor of statistics and economics at the University of Ljubljana, with his research spanning an array of applications from finance to marketing and management. Besides the role in the central bank, he is a member of the high-level task force on digital Euro at the ECB, high-level task force on integrated reporting framework and the Single Resolution Board plenary.
Debora Revoltella, Director of the Economics Department, European Investment Bank
Debora Revoltella is Director of the Economics Department of the EIB since 2011, serving as Chief Economist. She led the work for flagship publications like the EIB Investment Report and launched the idea for the design of the EIB Investment Survey, a unique asset to understand investment dynamics in Europe. Debora holds a PhD in Economics from Ancona University, Italy. She is member of the SteerCos of the Vienna Initiative and CompNet and a member of the Boards of SUERF and Euro 50Group.
Anita Stojčevska, Vice-President and member of the Management Board, OTP banka
Anita Stojčevska, Master of Economics and Business Sciences, has been a member of the OTP banka Management Board since 23 August 2024 and is responsible for corporate banking. At the same time, she also holds the position of Vice-President of the Management Board of OTP banka. Since the beginning of her long career, she held several responsible positions in SKB banka, mainly in the commercial field. Since 2011, as a member of the management, she co-created the strategy of SKB banka, under the ownership of the Societe Generale Group. Working in an international environment gave her invaluable experience. From December 2019 to August 2024, she led SKB banka as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, which merged with Nova KBM on 22 August 2024 and became OTP banka on 23 August 2024.
Iztok Seljak, President, Managers' Association of Slovenia
Dr Iztok Seljak started his business career in 1989 at Rotomatika, a subsidiary corporation of Hidria. Between 1989 and 2002 he was responsible for purchasing, sales and marketing, and since 1996 he has also been the CEO of Rotomatika. In 2002, he was promoted to the position of Vice President of Hidria. Two years later, in 2004, he took over the management of one of the two main pillars of Hidria, the Automotive Division. Since 2008, he has led the Hidria Group as the Chairman of the Management Board and since 2018 he has been the CEO of Hidria Holding, Hidria's parent company. In 2024, he took over as a member of the Management Board of Hidria.
Tina Žumer, Vice Governor, Banka Slovenije
Tina Žumer is Vice Governor at the Banka Slovenije. Prior to that she worked as Principal Economist in the ECB's Directorate General Economic. She first joined the ECB in 2003 and worked in different areas, most recently in the Euro Area External Sector and the Euro Adoption Division.
Previously Tina worked at the Banka Slovenije in various fields, including as an Advisor to the Governor, when she was also a member of the ESCB International Relations Committee. At the start of her career, she worked in the Analyses and Research Department, where she was, among other things, part of the team designing the process of euro adoption in Slovenia.
She holds a MSC in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Diploma degree from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor.
