Church’s Demand That Real Estate in the Triglav Lakes Valley be Denationalized Rejected 

Slovenia (Pixabay)

The Radovljica administrative unit has rejected a request for the denationalization of property in the Triglav Lakes Valley by the Ljubljana Archbishopric. 

A statement said that the church had not been the owner of this property when it was nationalized, B92 has reported. 

According to the Slovenian 24UR website, the Archbishopric wants its properties in the valley to be returned - the Savica waterfall and shoreland area of Lake Bohinj. 

In addition to that, the Archbishopric has also requested the return of the Visevnik military ski resort, as well as several other properties, despite nearly 70 partial rulings in the case, which has not yet been resolved. 

Reportedly for 28 years now, the proceedings have been passed on from executive units in Slovenia’s ministries to courts and then back to the Radovljica administrative unit, B92 has reported. 

However, a new procedure has now established that the properties requested by the Church were never nationalized at all, because during the nationalization of property after WW2, the properties were already owned by the state. 

Furthermore, that means that the Church will have to request the restoration of its property according to a 1946 Law on Managing Property, which was intended for landowners whose property was seized during the occupation. 

Meanwhile, the Ljubljana Archbishopric has asked to be awarded damages of EUR185,000 in state bonds instead of asking for the property back. 

The Archbishopric’s legal representatives in Ljubljana claim that the property was seized based on regulations on agrarian reform even before the end of a possible deadline for requesting this according to the 1946 law.