Slovenia News - April 2006

Slovenia News 25 April 2006

Reform was the word of the week last week, but in two quite different contexts: it was focal point of the six parties (four coalition and two opposition groupings) which signed the Development Pact, but also a rallying call for an estimated 10,000 students who gathered a day afterwards to decry some of the government's efforts to introduce reform measures in education. In response, Higher Education Minister Jure Zupan said that he needs a clear list of demands by the students so that the ministry can discuss and evaluate them. It would be good if the students met and discussed their demands, Zupan added. An estimated 10,000 students gathered in the centre of Ljubljana on Wednesday, to highlight their belief that a comprehensive set of government-sponsored economic and social reforms would worsen their social situation. They also pointed to the need for a better higher education system. More » In its two years of membership, Slovenia has firmly anchored itself in the EU, with several objective criteria proving it to be the undisputed front-runner among new member states, PM Janez Jansa told the press today. More » A French-Slovenian twinning project for the establishment of a Centre for Education in Judiciary was officially launched on Monday. "The project is also important for dealing with the hefty backlog of pending cases," Justice Minister Lovro Sturm told the press. More » Speaking at a conference on subsidiarity on Tuesday, Slovenian FM Dimitrij Rupel highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in overcoming the disagreements that plagued the region of the Alps and the Adriatic in the past. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met ambassadors to Slovenia in Ljubljana on Friday in order to ask their countries to endorse Slovenia's bid for a seat in the newly-established UN Council of Human Rights. More » The government discussed the restructuring possibilities for the Lipica Stud Farm on its session on Thursday, and tasked the Culture Ministry with managing the transformation of Lipica's status as a public institution. More » The government has adopted a new mergers and acquisitions bill, which will completely overhaul and upgrade the existing legislation in this field, and fully transpose the EU directive on takeover bids. More » "Slovenians are not a threat to EU labour markets," Minister for Labour, Family and Social Affairs Janez Drobnic said at a press conference in Ljubljana on Monday at which the results of a survey into workers' mobility in the EU were presented. More » The government has endorsed Slovenia's joining of the voluntary code of conduct of the European Defence Agency, which enters into force on 1 July and is designed to open up defence procurement in the EU to more cross-border competition. More » A central bank official has told a meeting of business officials that the costs to the state of the anticipated changeover to the euro will stand at around SIT 1bn (EUR 4.2m). More » Slovenia's economy will expand by 4% annually in 2006 and 2007, according to the World Economic Outlook, a report released on Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF believes Slovenian inflation will stand at 2.5% this year and 2.4% in 2007. More » US mobile operator Western Wireless International (WWI) has decided to sell the network of its Slovenian subsidiary, Vega, to the two leading mobile operators in the country, Mobitel and Simobil for EUR 5m. The move marks the end of WWI's rocky five-year adventure in Slovenia. More » Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole seaport of Koper, plans long-term investments in the amount of EUR 450m for the extension of two piers and the construction of a third pier, chief executive Robert Casar told Finance on Wednesday. More » Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak expects the first procedures in the privatisation of telco Telekom Slovenija to get underway at the beginning of 2007. More » The Environment Ministry launched the "Slovenia Lowers CO2" project on Friday as part of celebrations of World Earth Day. More » Slovenia is meeting the inflation criterion for eurozone entry, according to the latest figures of Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. Slovenia's harmonised index of consumer prices was at an annual rate of 2.4%, which is well below the reference rate of 2.6% for March. More » The Slovenian Motorway Company (DARS) has signed four contracts worth SIT 31.8bn (EUR 132.7m) with construction companies working on the Prekmurje (NE) and Gorenjsko (N) motorway stretches. More » The 11th annual book festival Slovenian Book Days began in Ljubljana's Zvezda Park on Tuesday with a series of speeches aimed at reminding the Slovenian public of the bright but also the dark sides of Slovenian book culture. More » An anthology of Slovenian poetry of the second half of the 20th century, dubbed "U jantaru vremena" (In the Amber of Time), has been published in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in what is one of the largest anthologies of Slovenian poems published abroad. More » A standing ovation crowned a four-day guest appearance of Slovenia's Drama National Theatre on Saturday evening, as the ensemble played the last of its four productions at Macedonia's National Theatre in Skopje. More » Guest appearance of the Ljubljana-based Slovensko mladinsko gledalisce (SMG) at this year's 10th Ibero-American Theatre Festival in Colombia's Bogota between 31 March and 16 April was a success despite the poor working conditions and the crowded theatres, actress Romana Salehar told the press on Monday. More » Concerts and other festivities in the Slovenian city of Nova Gorica and its Italian neighbour Gorizia will mark the 2nd anniversary of Slovenia's EU entry. The central celebration of the entry took place on 1 May 2004 on the joint square between the two towns. More » Slovenian readers are showing a lot of interest in the Slovenian version of National Geographic, the first issue of which was published on 14 April, Uros Leban of National Geographic Slovenija told STA. More » Slovenian natural health resorts posted sales revenues of SIT 34.6bn (EUR 144.4m) for 2005, with profit at SIT 3bn (EUR 12.5m). The number of overnight stays topped 2.5 million, the association of natural health resorts told the press on Thursday. More » Schedule of Events from 25 to 30 April More »

Slovenia News 18 April 2006

"The Development Partnership is a continuation of a positive tradition of broad political consensus ahead of important decisions, and is an important development document on the political level, first ever in Slovenia," Jansa said after signing the document. The agreement is important, because is represents a basic framework in which the partners will look for solutions and answers to the Slovenian development challenges, he added. The presidents of six parliamentary parties and both MPs of the Italian and Hungarian minorities signed Tuesday a Development Partnership pact put forward by PM Janez Jansa to secure a broad political consensus on structural reforms. More » Croatia and Hungary have been informed about Slovenia's intentions to build hydro power stations on the Mura river in the northeast, and at the same time set up a balanced ecosystem there, the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry said on Thursday. More » FM Dimitrij Rupel met Austrian Ambassador Valentin Inzko on Friday to discuss the situation of the Slovenian minority in Austria. More » The cabinet adopted the revised version of the bill on international cooperation at Thursday's session. More » The cabinet adopted a program on safeguarding and developing the Lipica stud farm for the 2006-2010 period. More » The government has adopted changes to the insurance act which include the provisions of two EU directives published since the act was last amended in 2004. More » Slovenian ski resorts were visited by 1.835 million skiers by the beginning of April, making a 9% higher profit compared with last year, which makes this season one of the most profitable ones, according to preliminary data of the Slovenian Association of Ski Lift Operators. More » The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) forecasts that Slovenia's economic growth will be 4.1% in 2006 and 4% in 2007. Inflation will stand around 2.3% and go up to 2.5% next year, Irena Rostan of the GZS's Economic Outlook and Policy Services told the press on Friday. More » Slovenia was a net receiver in its second year of EU membership, getting SIT 4.53bn (EUR 18.9m) from the EU budget. Yet this was far below plans, which anticipated Slovenia having a SIT 42.76bn (EUR 178.47m) surplus from the EU in 2005, the Finance Ministry has said. More » The completion of the Slovenian motorway and railroad network is of key importance for the country, as the 5th and 10th cross-European transport routes cross Slovenia, Minister of Transport Janez Bozic has said in Koper. More » The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) in Skopje is to host an exhibition of Slovenian prints from the last 50 years, with the opening ceremony scheduled for Tuesday evening. More » Easter, the greatest Christian religious holiday, was marked by celebratory masses throughout the country on Sunday, while in some places the holiday started with religious processions. More » Journalist, editor and critic Joze Hudecek received the lifetime achievement award as the Slovenian Association of Journalists conferred its annual Consortium Veritatis (Brotherhood of Truth) awards on Thursday in Ljubljana. More » The Programming Council of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija endorsed on Tuesday the nominees for the director of TV Slovenija, Joze Mozina, and for Radio Slovenija, Vinko Vasle. The pair was put forward by RTV Slovenija director general Anton Guzej. More » Slovenia's Forestry Institute began on Saturday the hunt for five brown bears which will be relocated to the French Pyrenees, with the transfer of four females and one male to be completed by late August. More » Schedule of Events from 18 to 23 April More »

Slovenia News 11 April 2006

The Slovenian government decided that two Slovenian soldiers would be taking part in the European Union's mission in support of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government last week also adopted a bill aimed at safeguarding the right to trial in a reasonable time. The bill is a response to judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled in dozens of cases that Slovenia has failed to provide an effective remedy in respect of the excessive length of proceedings. All parliamentary parties bar the opposition LDS signed up in principle to the development partnership, a scheme put forward by PM Janez Jansa to find broad consensus on government-sponsored economic reforms. "Slovenia has made a great leap forward," PM Jansa said on Friday, 7 April, adding that consensus has been reached on the programming as well as the procedural part of the agreement. More » Pope Benedict XVI established three new dioceses in Slovenia. They will be based in the cities of Novo mesto, Celje and Murska Sobota, church officials revealed on Friday, 7 April. The decision doubles the number of dioceses in the country, the old ones being Ljubljana, Maribor and Koper. More » Interior Minister Dragutin Mate and Director General of the Slovenian Police Joze Romsek reiterated Slovenia's support for Interpol and its future projects as they visited the organisation's headquarters on Wednesday. More » The government adopted a bill aimed at safeguarding the right to trial in a reasonable time. The bill is a response to judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled in dozens of cases that Slovenia has failed to provide an effective remedy in respect of the excessive length of proceedings. More » The government established an inter-departmental commission which will deal with the planned construction of two liquefied natural gas terminals in the Gulf of Trieste, Environment Minister Janez Podobnik told the press after the session. More » The National Assembly passed the act on Slovenians abroad in a 46-to-12 vote, with MPs from all parties bar the largest opposition party, the Liberal Democrats (LDS), voting in favour of the legislation at the final day of the March session of parliament. More » The Slovenian government decided that two Slovenian soldiers would be taking part in the European Union's mission in support of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two soldiers would be deployed in the EU mission that is to aid UN peace keepers in ensuring security during elections scheduled to be held there in June. More » London-based Altima Global Special Situations Master Fund (AGSS) has announced its intention to acquire up to 24.99% of the largest Slovenian retailer Mercator. The fund, managed by Altima Partners LLP, will offer SIT 41,000 (EUR 171.12) per share in the course of this week, Slovenian brokerage Ilirika said on Tuesday. More » The biggest owner of retailer Mercator, beverage group Istrabenz and food, energy and tourism holding Istrabenz, have said they would remain long-term strategic owners of Mercator after news that a London-based fund was seeking to buy a quarter of the retailer. More » Slovenia remained in top spot in Eastern Europe alongside Slovakia, according to the April report of the international rating firm Dun&Bradstreet (D&B). Both have a DB2c rating, while Slovenia's trend is still pointing upwards. More » Car maker Revoz, a subsidiary of Renault, remained the biggest Slovenian exporter in 2005, increasing exports by 35% year-on-year to SIT 265.5bn (EUR 1.1bn). Revoz accounts for 7.8% of the country's total exports, according to a survey of exporters . More » Almost two years after Slovenia joined the EU 111 Slovenians have been employed at the European Commission, three of them in top positions and 108 administrators, according to a report released in Brussels on Tuesday. More » President Janez Drnovsek insists that Europe must complete the tasks of adopting the constitutional treaty and pursuing enlargement. This is about the future of Europe and the world, which needs a strong Europe, he told the Crans Montana Forum in Zagreb on Wednesday. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa has welcomed the agreement on the EU's 2007-2013 budget framework that was reached late on Tuesday, saying it was good for Slovenia. More » The European Commission cannot shift the EU into a higher gear by itself, said European Science&Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik as he addressed a public debate on the Lisbon Strategy in the National Assembly in Ljubljana on Friday. More » The 12th annual Exodos festival of performing arts will host a selection of diverse performances, ranging from abstract dance to poetic theatre, yet all the shows will address the time we live in, according to festival selector Ursula Cetinski. More » The Slovenian Student Organisation (SOS) has joined protests in France against a new employment law that would give greater leverage to French employers in firing and hiring young people. More » The 23rd Car Show Slovenia opened for the general public on Friday in the eastern city of Celje in what is the largest car exhibition in the country. The fair, which closes next Thursday, will feature more than 700 exhibitors from 30 countries. More » Slovenia's top swimmer Peter Mankoc has won silver in the men's 100 metres medley final at the World Swimming Championships in China's Shanghai. More » Schedule of Events from 11 to 16 April More »

Slovenia News 4 April 2006

European Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Huebner paid a visit to Slovenia on Friday, 31 March, meeting Slovenian Local Government and Regional Policy Minister Ivan Zagar in Maribor. Huebner expressed a hope that Slovenia would be fully prepared for the drawing of EU funds as much more money will be available than in the first years of membership - according to indicative estimates, Slovenia would get EUR 3.7bn, compared to EUR 456m it got for the 2004-2006 period. The majority of participants of a panel on literature that launched the 38th PEN meeting on Thursday, 30 March, shared a view that globalisation is destroying diversity, also at the level of artistic expression. European Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Huebner paid a visit to Slovenia meeting Slovenian Local Government and Regional Policy Minister Ivan Zagar in Maribor. Huebner expressed a hope that Slovenia would be fully prepared for the drawing of EU funds as much more money will be available than in the first years of membership - according to indicative estimates, Slovenia would get EUR 3.7bn, compared to EUR 456m it got for the 2004-2006 period. More » Slovenia is a positive example in the EU, which the bloc badly needs to rebuild confidence, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told lawmakers on Tuesday as he presented a declaration and guidelines on Slovenia's EU policies for this year. Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008 will therefore be a crucial piece in the mosaic of regaining the trust which the EU needs for decisions that will facilitate growth, job creation and enlargement, Jansa stressed. More » President Janez Drnovsek has addressed a public letter to Prime Minister Janez Jansa, calling for more decisive measures related to the construction of liquefied natural gas terminals in the Gulf of Trieste, planned by two Spanish companies, Endesa and Gas Natural. More » The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is optimistic about Slovenia's short-term outlook, as it is at the threshold of adopting the euro. However, Slovenia will have to tackle a number of long-term challenges, an IMF delegation said after completing a routine mission to Slovenia on Tuesday. More » Slovenia's general government deficit stood at 1.8% of GDP in 2005, down 0.5 percentage points over the year before. Meanwhile, the general government debt amounted to 29.1% of GDP, down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year, according to early data released by the National Statistical Office. More » After a new privatisation plan for the Slovenian Steel Group was adopted by the government in December, investors are expected to be invited to bid for the state-owned stake in the group in June. More » Chairman of the NATO military committee, General Raymond Henault, who began a two-day visit to Slovenia on Wednesday, and his host, Chief-of-Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, Major General Ladislav Lipic, were united in the view that both side have gained a lot with Slovenia's NATO membership. More » Some 40 international and 30 Slovenian writers have gathered for a traditional four-day PEN meeting in the lakeside resort of Bled at the 38th PEN meeting.The majority of participants of a panel on literature that launched the meeting, shared a view that globalisation is destroying diversity, also at the level of artistic expression. More » The city of Kranj is this year celebrating 750 years since it was first mentioned as a city. To mark the anniversary, it will stage an exhibition on the city's history from 1256 until today. More » The advertising agency Futura DDB scored a hat-trick, becoming Best Agency at the 15th Festival of Slovenian Advertising (SOF) for the third year in a row, as SOF closed in Portoroz late on Friday evening. More » Slovenian MEP Alojz Peterle has been elected a vice-president of the European People's Party EPP, which was holding a congress in Rome. More » EU experts are in Slovenia this Monday and Tuesday to continue the process of evaluating the country's readiness to enter the Schengen zone. This time it is the turn of the maritime border, the General Police Administration said. More » Schedule of Events from 4 to 9 April More »

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