Andrej Bajuk

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Andrej Bajuk
Bajuk in 2005
Prime Minister of Slovenia
In office
7 June 2000 – 30 November 2000
Preceded byJanez Drnovšek
Succeeded byJanez Drnovšek
Minister of Finance
In office
2004–2008
Preceded byDušan Mramor
Succeeded byFranc Križanič
Personal details
Born(1943-10-18)18 October 1943
Ljubljana, Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral, now Slovenia
Died16 August 2011(2011-08-16) (aged 67)
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Political partyNew Slovenia

Andrej Bajuk, also known in

Christian Democratic party called New Slovenia
.

Life in exile

Bajuk was born in a

classical philologist, and his grandfather Marko Bajuk was the principal of the Bežigrad Grammar School, one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Ljubljana. The Bajuks were acquainted with the famous poet Edvard Kocbek
who lived in the same building.

The family left Slovenia in early May 1945, when the

Communists took power in Yugoslavia. They spent nearly three years in refugee camps in Lower and Upper Austria before leaving to Argentina with the help of the Slovene refugee relief network set by Ivan Ahčin and Miha Krek. They settled in Mendoza
, where Bajuk grew up, studied and started a family.

He received his first degree in economics at

Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. He received his first master's degree in a two-year international study program organised by the University of Chicago, receiving the second jointly with his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He returned to Mendoza, where he taught as a professor at the university. After the military coup in 1976 he was fired and soon left for Washington, D.C., working for the World Bank for a year. He then switched to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he stayed for a number of years. He held a range of positions at the IDB, from economist in charge of analysing social projects to adviser to the executive vice-president. For his last six years in Washington he was in charge of the office of the Presidency of the bank and a member of the board of executive directors of the bank. From September 1994 he was IDB representative for Europe in Paris
.

Return to Slovenia

From the second half of 1999, Bajuk spent a considerable amount of time in

Slovene People's Party
, he was elected deputy president of the unified party.

After the fall of

Slovene People's Party. In August 2000, he and his supporters founded a new political party called New Slovenia
(Nova Slovenija, N.Si).

In the elections of 2000, he was elected to the

National Assembly, but Janez Drnovšek returned to power as prime minister. Bajuk’s party stayed in the opposition and formed a shadow cabinet jointly with Janez Janša's Social Democratic Party of Slovenia
.

In the 2004 national elections, he was again elected to the Slovenian parliament. He did not stay an MP for long, as he soon took on the role of the Minister of Finance in the newly elected government, led by Janez Janša. For his actions and work during his time in office, he was declared (the) "finance minister of the year in Europe" by the Financial Times Business magazine, "The Banker" in 2005.

In the

Slovenian National Assembly. Bajuk resigned as president of the party and was replaced by Ljudmila Novak
. At that time, he completely retired from public life.

He was fluent in Slovene, Spanish, English and French. Bajuk was the father-in-law of the Slovenian diplomat and essayist Igor Senčar.

Bajuk died of a stroke on 16 August 2011.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Former Prime Minister Andrej Bajuk Dies" (in Slovenian). Slovenian Press Agency. 2011-08-16. Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  2. ^ "8. Vlada Republike Slovenije (od 3. decembra 2004 do 21. novembra 2008) | GOV.SI". Portal GOV.SI.
  3. ^ R, N. (16 August 2011). "In memoriam: Andrej Bajuk (1943–2011)". old.delo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 11 August 2021.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Slovenia
May 3, 2000 – November 17, 2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Finance
November 9, 2004 – November 21, 2008
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
office established
President of New Slovenia
2000–2008
Succeeded by