Law professor Miro Cerar, who was appointed as primeminister by parliament last week, said ministers would be named next week when the coalition accord will be officially sealed.

The three coalition parties together hold 52 out of 90 seatsin parliament.

Cerar's SMC said earlier in August economy professor Dušan Mramor would be the next finance minister while the head of Desus, Karl Erjavec was likely to keep the post of foreign minister.

All three coalition parties are lukewarm on privatisational though the European Commission sees selling state firms asessential for Slovenia to bolster its finances after it managed to bail out its banks without outside help last year.

On Tuesday the government's investment fund SDH said it had suspended the sale of the largest telecoms operator Telekom pending the new government's approval.

Cerar has yet to say whether his government will allow the sale, expected to bring the government and its firms some 70 0million euros, to proceed or not.

Cerar, who has to present his cabinet to parliament by next Tuesday, will take over once the cabinet wins parliamentary approval, which is expected in the middle of September.

"The process of searching for ministers is always very demanding and takes time," Cerar told reporters after the coalition accord was signed.

Cerar's SMC party won a snap general election in July after the centre-left Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek resigned in May having lost a battle for the leadership of the Positive Slovenia party.