Prof. dr. Žan Oplotnik, Univ. B.Sc. econ, born in 1972 in Celje, qualified as a full professor in the field of finance and associate professor in the field of international economics and business at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business. In 2002, he received his doctorate in the field of economic sciences at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, and today he lectures at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Maribor on subjects from the field of finance and international economics. In the field of economic and financial matters, he advises both private and public sector institutions, where we can mention past and some current reference institutions; Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia, Holding of Slovenian Power Plants, Municipalities of Maribor, Velenje and Ljubljana, company DARS d.d., Ministry of Local Self-Government, Ministry of Transport, JZ Mariborske Lekarne, JZ Celjske Lekarne, JP Mariborski vodovod, Lovrenc na Pohorje Municipality, Cerkvenjak Municipality, Municipality Preddvor, Municipality of Duplek, etc. In the past, as an invited lecturer, he also collaborated with various institutions from abroad, of which we can mention; OSI Palgo Center, Belgrade, Central bank of Montenegro, Ludwik Bolzman Institute, Austria, ISSP (Institute for strategic studies and prognosis), Montenegro, UDLA University of Puebla, Mexico, etc. Since 2007, he has been the head of the Institute for International Economics and the Department of Finance and International Economics at EPF Maribor. He primarily deals with the financing of investment projects and economic development, financing of the public sector, decentralization, local communities… He is the author of over 100 scientific and professional articles published in foreign and domestic publications, co-author of several scientific and professional books, papers at scientific and professional conferences, and mentor to over 200 graduates, master's students and several PhDs. In the international bibliographic databases that monitor relevant works in the field of social sciences (SSCI) we find 15 published works and several citations by the author, and he also participates as a leader or member of some research groups under the auspices of ARRS. Between 2005 and 2008, he was a member of the Strategic Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Economic Development, the Government Group for Energy Restructuring and several bodies of control and management of commercial companies or government agencies, such as NS of the newspaper house DELO d.d., NS of Dravskih elektrarn Maribor, d.o.o., member of the expert council of ATVP (Securities Market Agency). From 2007 to 2009, he worked as vice president and member of the board of the Company for Highways in the Republic of Slovenia, responsible for finances and financial engineering, and before that as a consultant and member of the expert council for the finances of this company. He is currently a member of the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Public-Private Partnership and vice president of NS Elektro Ljubljana. At EPF, he also works as a member of the Commission for Scientific Research Affairs.

The most important recent publications:

1. MATOS, José M. A., MORAIS, Paulo, BESSA VILELA, Noemia, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Transparency and risk allocation in PPP : addressing complex contracts' mathematical formulas in the Portuguese case. Lex localis : revija za lokalno samoupravo, ISSN 1581-5374. [Tiskana izd.], Apr. 2022, vol. 20, no. 2, str. 435-453, ilustr. http://pub.lex-localis.info/index.php/LexLocalis/article/view/1798, doi: 4335/20.2.435-453(2022). [COBISS.SI-ID 107923715], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 18. 5. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 0, čistih citatov (CI): 0]
   
2. BREZOVNIK, Boštjan, OPLOTNIK, Žan, MLINARIČ, Franjo, PADOVNIK, Srečko Aleksander, FINŽGAR, Mateja. Financing municipal tasks in Slovenia. Hrvatska i komparativna javna uprava : časopis za teoriju i praksu javne uprave, ISSN 1848-0357, 2019, god. 19, br. 2, str. 173-206, doi: 31297/hkju.19.2.1. [COBISS.SI-ID 5755691], [SNIP, Scopusdo 28. 12. 2021: št. citatov (TC): 2, čistih citatov (CI): 2]
3. KRIŽANIČ, France, MENCINGER, Jože, OPLOTNIK, Žan. How distortion on the electric power market can lead to stagflation. International journal of energy economics and policy, ISSN 2146-4553, 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, str. 26-30, tabele. http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/view/7112/4089. [COBISS.SI-ID 528514841], [SNIP, Scopusdo 5. 2. 2019: št. citatov (TC): 0, čistih citatov (CI): 0]
   Finančna podpora: Agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost RS (P5-0287-0541-18)
4. KRIŽANIČ, France, OPLOTNIK, Žan, MENCINGER, Jože, BREZOVNIK, Boštjan. The influence of ecological taxes on the exposure on waste and CO2 emissions in a selected group of EU countries. Journal of comparative politics, ISSN 1338-1385. [Online ed.], Jul. 2019, vol. 12, no. 2, str. 38-48. http://www.jofcp.org/assets/jcp/JCP-July-2019.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 5738795], [SNIP, WoSdo 26. 10. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 2, čistih citatov (CI): 2, Scopus do 16. 3. 2021: št. citatov (TC): 2, čistih citatov (CI): 2]
5. MLINARIČ, Franjo, OPLOTNIK, Žan, BREZOVNIK, Boštjan. Economic limits of (de)regulation in legal services market. Inžinerinąe ekonomika, ISSN 1392-2785, 2018, vol. 29, no. 3, str. 291-301. http://inzeko.ktu.lt/index.php/EE/article/view/19826, doi: 5755/j01.ee.29.3.19826. [COBISS.SI-ID 5594155], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 26. 10. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 1, čistih citatov (CI): 1, Scopus do 1. 3. 2021: št. citatov (TC): 1, čistih citatov (CI): 1]
6. KRIŽANIČ, France, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Tržne distorzije in makroekonomski učinki nadomeščanja slovenske proizvodnje električne energije z uvozom. Gospodarska gibanja, ISSN 0351-0360, jan. 2017, št. 493, str. 32-43, tabeli. [COBISS.SI-ID 15426897]
7. KRIŽANIČ, France, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Factors of electricity prices in selected EU member states after the financial crisis and during significant market distortions. International journal of energy economics and policy, ISSN 2146-4553, 2017, vol. 7, no. 2, str. 250-254, tabele. http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/download/4336/2802. [COBISS.SI-ID 526243353], [SNIP, Scopusdo 7. 5. 2017: št. citatov (TC): 0, čistih citatov (CI): 0]
8. MIKLUŠ, Matjaž, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Veljavnost teorije signaliziranja dividend in slovenski borzni trg. Bančni vestnik : revija za denarništvo in bančništvo, ISSN 0005-4631. [Tiskana izd.], jan./feb. 2016, letn. 65, št. 1/2, str. 52-55, apr. 2016, letn. 65, št. 4, str. 37-41, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 525415705]
9. VOJINOVIĆ, Borut, BREZOVNIK, Boštjan, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Measuring services and tourism convergence among five old and five new EU member states. Inžinerinąe ekonomika, ISSN 1392-2785, 2016, vol. 27, no. 3, str. 285-293. http://www.inzeko.ktu.lt/index.php/EE/article/view/11145, doi: 5755/j01.ee.27.3.11145. [COBISS.SI-ID 5121323], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 12. 12. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 5, čistih citatov (CI): 5, Scopus do 9. 12. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 4, čistih citatov (CI): 4]
10. PROCHNIAK, Mariusz, OPLOTNIK, Žan, VOJINOVIĆ, Borut. Convergence in the tourism sector at the local level : empirical evidence from the EU regions. V: Lex localis - Journal of Local Self Government Annual Conference 2016 - Porto/Portugal (June 16 - June 17, 2016) : special issue, (Lex localis, ISSN 1581-5374, Vol. 14, no. 3, July 2016). Maribor: Institute for Local Self-Government and Public Procurement. 2016, vol. 14, no. 3, str. 559-574, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 2048145491], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 26. 10. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 2, čistih citatov (CI): 2, Scopus do 11. 2. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 2, čistih citatov (CI): 2]
    tipologija 1.08 -> 1.01
11. MIKLUŠ, Matjaž, OPLOTNIK, Žan. Capital market response to the change in the dividend policy : the case of Slovenian stock market. Research in applied economics, ISSN 1948-5433, 2016, vol. 8, no. 1, str. 42-57, tabele. http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/rae/article/view/8839, doi: 5296/rae.v8i1.8839. [COBISS.SI-ID 525415961]
12. MLINARIČ, Franjo, OPLOTNIK, Žan, BREZOVNIK, Boštjan. Key economic parameters for an optimal pharmacy network in a regulated environment. Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, ISSN 1842-2845, 2016, no. 49 E, str. 60-77. http://rtsa.ro/tras/index.php/tras/article/view/494,https://dk.um.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=66878. [COBISS.SI-ID 5190955], [JCR, SNIP, WoS do 5. 3. 2017: št. citatov (TC): 0, čistih citatov (CI): 0, Scopus do 25. 10. 2016: št. citatov (TC): 0, čistih citatov (CI): 0]
13. KRIŽANIČ, Franc, OPLOTNIK, Žan, KAVKLER, Alenka, KOLŠEK, Vasja. CRM - Capacity Remuneration Mechanism - kot odziv na tržne razmere pri proizvodnji električne energije. Gospodarska gibanja, ISSN 0351-0360, mar. 2015, št. 476, str. 34-49, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 14318929]
14. KRIŽANIČ, France, OPLOTNIK, Žan, KOLŠEK, Vasja. Kreditno tveganje in zahtevan donos na državne obveznice po nastopu finančne krize 2009 - 2014. Gospodarska gibanja, ISSN 0351-0360, avg. 2015, št. 480, str. 32-46, tabele. [COBISS.SI-ID 12094748]
15. KRIŽANIČ, France, OPLOTNIK, Žan, KOLŠEK, Vasja, KAVKLER, Alenka. Production factors use in the European electricity producing companies during the last financial crisis. International journal of energy economics and policy, ISSN 2146-4553, 2015, vol. 5, no. 3, str. 725-730, tabele. http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/view/1246/703. [COBISS.SI-ID 524867097], [SNIP, Scopusdo 5. 4. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 1, čistih citatov (CI): 1]
16. VOJINOVIĆ, Borut, PROCHNIAK, Mariusz, OPLOTNIK, Žan. International aspects of fiscal convergences on regional and local level. V: Lex localis - Journal of Local Self Government Annual Conference 2015 - Bled/Slovenia (June 11 - June 12, 2015) : special issue, (Lex localis, ISSN 1581-5374, Vol. 13, no. 3, July 2015). Maribor: Institute for Local Self-Government and Public Procurement. 2015, vol. 13, no. 3, str. 827-847, ilustr., doi: 4335/13.3.827-847(2015). [COBISS.SI-ID 12005148], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 26. 10. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 4, čistih citatov (CI): 4, Scopus do 31. 8. 2017: št. citatov (TC): 3, čistih citatov (CI): 3]
    tipologija 1.08 -> 1.01
17. BREZOVNIK, Boštjan, OPLOTNIK, Žan, VOJINOVIĆ, Borut. (De)centralization of public procurement at the local level in the EU. Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, ISSN 1842-2845, Oct. 2015, no. 46 E, str. 37-52. http://rtsa.ro/tras/index.php/tras/article/view/450. [COBISS.SI-ID 4967979], [JCR, SNIP, WoSdo 26. 10. 2022: št. citatov (TC): 17, čistih citatov (CI): 17, Scopus do 1. 9. 2021: št. citatov (TC): 15, čistih citatov (CI): 15]