A group of ex-communist EU member states is considering setting up an investment bank to fund large cross-border projects, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Wednesday.

`I`m very pleased that our partners have expressed an interest in the concept of a regional investment bank that would be set up by the members of the Visegrad Group and expanded to include Slovenia and Croatia, for example,` Fico told reporters on a visit here.

The Visegrad Group, which comprises Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, held a session in Warsaw on Wednesday and agreed to launch exploratory work on the bank.

Fico said that its goals would include supporting projects, for example in the region`s energy sector.

All of the Visegrad Group`s members joined the European Union in 2004, along with Slovenia, whose neighbour Croatia is expecting to be admitted to the 27-nation bloc in 2010.