Slovenia News - October 2006

Slovenia News (30 October 2006)

The week's top event, the local elections, saw the spotlight being taken by former CEO of retailer Mercator, Zoran Jankovic, who became the new Mayor of Ljubljana after taking more than 63% of the vote in the capital. Jankovic's independent list also grabbed a majority in the city council, delivering a major blow to parliamentary parties. Other major news included Slovenia stepping up its endeavours for the accession to to Schengen zone. Facing an ever more certain delay in the expansion of the Schengen zone due to problems in setting up the new Schengen information system SIS II, Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate has hinted that despite a possible support by EU members to a solution proposed by Portugal (SIS I plus), Slovenia's accession to the zone might not come in October 2007 as initially planed. A memorial plaque was unveiled at the Jezero Cottage in Brdo pri Kranju on Wednesday, marking the place where numerous key decisions in Slovenia's struggle for independence were made. "Many important things happened here that the public does not know about," Prime Minister Janez Jansa said as he inaugurated the plaque. More » The last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army (JLA) left Slovenia in the morning of 26 October 1991, marking the closure of the final chapter of the struggle for Slovenia's independence. "It is from then on that we could finally start talking about peace and sovereignty," according to Srecko Lisjak, the head of the Association of the Veterans of the War for Slovenia. More » Celebrations were held in Koper to mark the day 15 years ago when the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army (JLA) left Slovenia. The end of the independence war brought democracy to the northernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula and gave Europe a new, free nation, Alojz Peterle, the keynote speaker, said in his address. More » A ministerial conference on the prevention of crime and illegal migration has found that the security cooperation of countries in Southeast Europe is steadily improving. "Data by law enforcement authorities in the region suggests that cooperation is improving and we are getting better at providing security," Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate told the press on Friday. More » Local elections held on Sunday 22 October saw independent Zoran Jankovic emerge as the new Mayor of Ljubljana with more than 63% of the vote. Unofficial results show that the independent list of the former CEO of retailer Mercator will also hold a majority in the capital's city council taking 23 of the 45 seats. While the race for mayor in Slovenia's second largest city Maribor will see a run-off between independent Gregor Pivec and the People's Party (SLS) candidate Franc Kangler, Celje and Koper witnessed convincing victories of incumbent mayors Bojan Srot (the People's Party - SLS) and Boris Popovic (Slovenia Is Ours - SJN), respectively. More » Big Slovenian carbon dioxide (Co2) polluters will be free to produce 41.5 million tonnes of CO2 in the 2008-2012 period according to a plan for the distribution of emission coupons that the government endorsed on Friday. More » A total of 10 Slovenian companies have made it to the list of 500 leading European companies in terms new jobs creation. The top-ranked Slovenian company on "Europe's 500" list is retailer Engrotus, which is ranked 30th, the Brussels-based Entrepreneurs for Growth association, which compiles the list, said on its website. More » The Economic and Social Council, the industrial relations forum, on Friday endorsed the programme of active employment policy measures for the 2007-2013 period and an action plan for the first two years of implementation, worth EUR 172.6m. More » Attending the real-estate fair EXPO REAL 2006 in Munich on Tuesday, Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak took the opportunity to present the possibilities that Slovenia has to offer to investors. More » Two large Slovenian insurance companies are planning a merger that would create a major player on the Slovenian insurance market and a serious competitor for the country's leading insurer, Zavarovalnica Triglav. More » Casino operators Hit and Harrah's Entertainment unveiled at Bled on Thursday an in-depth analysis of the planned construction of a mega gaming and entertainment centre near the western Slovenian town of Nova Gorica to government officials. Finance Ministry State Secretary Andrej Sircelj hailed the meeting as "injecting a new impetus into the talks". More » Slovenia's representative at the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on Wednesday voiced the country's opposition to changing the system of geographical indications, reduction of vineyards and a ban on the use of saccharose to enrich wine. More » Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak has reiterated the importance of the EU forming a common energy policy in order to deal with the increasing challenges in ensuring a stable and cheap supply of energy. More » The European Commission has warned several EU members, including Slovenia, about the need to take additional measures to meet the greenhouse gases emission targets in the 2008-2012 Kyoto commitment period. More » As part of efforts to bring the EU closer to the people, the European Parliament's Information Office in Slovenia is to stage a number of public forums in the coming days. More » The Celje barracks saw a line up of 85 members of the Slovenian army's 20th motorised battalion on Thursday, marking the group's departure for Kosovo, where it will replace the 36 Slovenian soldiers participating in NATO's crisis response mission. More » Projections until 2023 suggest Slovenia will need EUR 6.3bn for the modernisation of road infrastructure until 2023 on top of the existing earmarks. Since it is impossible to secure all this money from the budget, private funding will have to be brought in, a conference on road transport has been told. More » The big winner of the 41st Borstnik Festival is the Ljubljana-based theatre company Slovensko mladinsko gledalisce (SMG). Its production "Fragile!", written by Tena Stivicic and directed by Matjaz Pograjc, bagged the Grand Prix for best performance at tonight's ceremony, with several other awards ending in the hands of those who collaborated in SMG productions. More » The SNG Maribor ballet company will be touring the Netherlands and Belgium over the following fortnight, staging "Radio and Juliet", the latest project of Edward Clug based on the music of the world-famous British band Radiohead. More » A 50-year period in the 16th century that had a profound impact on Slovenehood is to be remembered on Tuesday as the country observes Reformation Day. A ceremony is to be held in Ljubljana on Monday evening, featuring Education Minister Milan Zver as the keynote speaker, to mark the bank holiday. More » The bobbin lacemaking school in Idrija will mark its 130th anniversary on Friday with a conference featuring most recent findings on the traditional Idrija lace. More » Joachim Nshimirimana of Burundi is the winner of the men's competition at the 2006 Ljubljana Marathon. The women's race was won by Inga Juodeskiene of Lithuania. More » Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate is confident that Slovenia could join the Schengen passport-free zone by the end of 2007 if the EU Council endorses in December the proposal that the Portuguese Schengen Information System (SIS) be implemented in the EU newcomers. More » Schedule of Events from 30 Oct to 5 Nov More »

Slovenia News 24 October 2006

The government decided to put together again the Prime Minister's Strategic Council for Economic Development. Prime Minister Janez Jansa has appointed Marjan Senjur as the head of the council. The cabinet has also adopted a bill on the property of the state, provinces and municipalities. The proposed law forms the basis for managing the SIT 2trn (EUR 8.35bn) in property owned by the state and local governments. The island, one of the projects in Slovenia's Development Strategy between 2007 and 2023, is expected to be built by 2020. Besides, the government is planning to construct a EUR 100m artificial island between the coastal towns of Koper and Izola. EU foreign ministers have discussed the relationship between Serbia and the bloc, showing "much concern alongside their support for a democratic Serbia, governed by democratic parties," Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said at the sidelines of the meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday. More » The government is planning to construct a EUR 100m artificial island between the coastal towns of Koper and Izola. The island, one of the projects in Slovenia's Development Strategy between 2007 and 2023, is expected to be built by 2020, Marjan Hribar of the Economy Ministry said in Portoroz on Wednesday. More » Planica, one of the most famous ski jumping venues in the world, is to get a nordic centre worth EUR 100m in accordance with the government's plans for the period until 2023. The centre is scheduled for completion in 2013, according to Education and Sport Minister Milan Zver. More » The cabinet has adopted a bill on the property of the state, provinces and municipalities. The proposed law forms the basis for managing the SIT 2trn (EUR 8.35bn) in property owned by the state and local governments. More » The government adopted on Thursday a bill on a state guarantee for a EUR 300m loan that is to be taken out by the Motorway Company (DARS) at the European Investment Bank (EIB). More » The government resolution on national development projects also includes an informatisation of the justice system, allowing the courts to use information and communication technology to increase their efficiency and transparency and reduce the number of errors, Justice Minister Lovro Sturm told the press on Friday. More » The government decided on Thursday to put together again the Prime Minister's Strategic Council for Economic Development. Prime Minister Janez Jansa has appointed Marjan Senjur as the head of the council and Peter Groznik as his deputy. More » The supplementary budget for 2007 and the draft 2008 budget were scrutinised by the last five parliamentary working bodies on Thursday before the finance and monetary policy committee puts the finishing touches on the documents on Friday. More » Economic cooperation between Slovenia and Greece is fairly modest, so there are plenty of possibilities to join forces in practically all sectors and in particular in Southeastern Europe, established the participants of Wednesday's Slovenian-Greek business conference. More » Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Friday that EU leaders agreed it was impossible to have a coherent foreign energy policy without a coherent interior energy policy. The summit also agreed on establishing a European Institute of Technology (EIT), Jansa said in Finland's Lahti. More » Slovenia intends to answer the challenge of providing for increasing electricity demand primarily by constructing hydro power plants and building a second nuclear reactor at Krsko, Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak has said. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa received Wednesday French Senate Speaker Christian Poncelet. The pair discussed bilateral relations and topical EU issues. More » The European Commission has earmarked EUR 450m to 15 member states for restructuring and conversion of vineyards in the 2006/2007 period, with Slovenia getting EUR 2.4m. The Commission also confirmed the final distribution of money for the 2005/2006 period, including EUR 2.3m for Slovenia. More » The Slovenian Public Administration Ministry has received a special award from the European Commission for its presentation of an example of good practice and a comprehensive approach towards establishing a partnership with NGOs. More » Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, which will successively chair the EU from 2007 to mid-2008, on Monday finalised the 18-month presidency programme in the field of development cooperation, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry has said. More » The transport ministers of Slovenia and Sweden, Janez Bozic and Flemming Hansen, agreed at a meeting on Tuesday that the ministries would draw up a concept for traffic in Ljubljana modeled on the experience of Copenhagen. The draft could be ready in 8-12 months, Bozic said after talks with Hansen. More » The man credited with turning Mercator into the country's leading retailer is set to get a chance to lead the city of Ljubljana for the next four years. Zoran Jankovic is headed for an overwhelming win in Slovenia's capital, according to unofficial results. Meanwhile, the race for mayor of Slovenia's second-largest city, Maribor, is set to be decided in a run-off between two right-leaning candidates. More » Slovenian Health Minister Andrej Brucan and Li Xin, China's deputy health minister, have signed an action plan on cooperation between the two ministries in the area of health and medicine for the 2006-2007 period. More » The e-zdravje (e-health) project will link all Slovenian hospitals in a uniform information system by the end of 2007, Health Minister Andrej Brucan told the press in Ljubljana on Monday. The objective does not end there, as the ministry plans to create a unified national information system by 2013, Brucan added. More » Not only is Slovenia a transit country for trafficking in human beings, it is also a country of origin and a destination country, Interior Minister Dragutin Mate has told a debate on the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. More » EU leaders, who met in Finland's Lahti on Friday, stressed that the expansion of the Schengen border-free zone must also include the establishing of a uniform approach to migration policies, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said at the sidelines of the summit. More » Schedule of Events from 24 to 29 October More »

Slovenia News 17 October 2006

The Slovenian government has adopted a resolution on national development projects between 2007 and 2023 which includes 35 projects worth EUR 24bn designed to boost growth and bring Slovenia's GDP on par with the EU's average in ten years. These key projects will accelerate development and facilitate the achievement of the main objectives of the National Development Strategy - catching up with the EU's average in ten years, or even as early as 2013, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told the press on Thursday. The main projects listed in the resolution involve the creation of a network of business centres which would create 17,000 new jobs and foster the establishment of some 2,000 small and mid-sized enterprises. The exhibition "Slovenians in London 1991-1994" opened at the Slovenian embassy in London on Tuesday, presenting individuals in the time of the struggle for Slovenia's independence and their activities in response to the war in Slovenia, the embassy said. More » Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Janez Podobnik warned on Wednesday that countries should start getting ready today for the problems they will face in meeting the obligations under the Kyoto agreement after 2012. More » The Foreign Ministry has urged Croatia to allow Slovenians to acquire ownership right on property there in line with the stabilisation and association agreement with the EU in which Croatia pledged it would guarantee reciprocity for purchases of real estate by EU citizens. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel came out of talks with his Luxembourg counterpart Jean Asselborn in Ljubljana on Tuesday saying this small country could serve as a "guiding star" to Slovenia, given it had successfully presided over the EU eleven times. More » President Janez Drnovsek has promised Slovenia's assistance in Montenegro's efforts to join the EU as he held talks with his Montenegrin counterpart Filip Vujanovic on Thursday. More » Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel congratulated on Friday the newly elected UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. More » The Slovenian government has adopted a resolution on national development projects between 2007 and 2023 which includes 35 projects worth EUR 24bn designed to boost growth and bring Slovenia's GDP on par with the EU's average in ten years. More » The government has adopted a report on the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in Slovenia, the first annual overview of the enactment of priorities, goals and measures set down in the programme of reforms that was adopted a year ago. More » The government has adopted a bill on state guarantees to finance railroad infrastructure projects in the 2006-2009 period, a Transport Ministry official said on Thursday. More » The Slovenian government is to launch a nation-wide roadshow in a bid to unveil a EUR 24bn package of bold projects that make up its resolution on national development projects for 2007-2023. More » The parliament's committee on finance and monetary policy on Wednesday endorsed the euro bill, which defines the procedures during Slovenia's changeover to the euro as a national currency, which is scheduled for 1 January 2007. More » The Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) wants to expand its activities outside of SE Europe as part of its 2006-2009 strategy, the fund's director Goran Gacnik told the press on Tuesday. More » The number of Slovenian soldiers in peacekeeping missions around the world keeps increasing and we have to guarantee transport, supplies and evacuation for them, Defence Minister Karl Erjavec has enumerated the reasons why Slovenia has decided to purchase a military transport aircraft. More » The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) forecasts that the Slovenian economy will grow at a rate of 4.5% this year and slow down somewhat to 4.3% in 2007. Inflation is expected to stand at 2.5% this year and the next, GZS said on Wednesday. More » Gorenje, the Velenje-based home appliance maker, has launched a new EUR 20m refrigerator and freezer production plant in the Serbian town of Valjevo. More » Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk expressed his opposition to the European Commission's proposal to allow the European Investment Bank (EIB) to approve loans outside the EU to the tune of EUR 33bn in the 2007-2013 period, up from the current EUR 20.7bn. More » The European Commission has warned Slovenia that it is facing a financial crisis because of the rapid ageing of its population. Unveiling a report on the sustainability of public finances on Thursday in Brussels, the Commission said that Slovenia was one of six countries most vulnerable to face problems with the sustainability of public finances. More » Austria's public security director general Erik Buxbaum and his Slovenian host, police chief Joze Romsek, came out of a meeting on Thursday confident about the "good relations and exemplary cooperation" between Austrian and Slovenian police. More » Slovenian, Italian, French, Hungarian and Ukrainian transport ministers have signed a memorandum of understanding with European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot regarding the construction of the fifth pan-European transport corridor that connects the French city of Lyon with the Ukrainian border. More » The Slovenian National Museum was set up in 1821, which makes it the oldest museum in Slovenia. More » The dispute between Slovenia and Croatia over their border has been present virtually ever since the countries gained independence in 1991. Now a Slovenian historian has written a book on the historical aspects of the issue by examining the delineation of the border between the countries in a key stretch during World War II, when the countries were part of what was the then Yugoslavia. More » The Schengen Borders Code became effective in all EU member states, including Slovenia, as of Friday, setting out standards and procedures they have to follow in controlling the movement of persons across internal and external EU borders. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel underscored the need for a comprehensive approach to tackling illegal migration in the EU as he took part in a meeting of foreign ministers from eight Mediterranean EU member states. More » Schedule of Events from 17 to 22 October More »

Slovenia News 10 October 2006

EU interior ministers adopted on Thursday in Luxembourg a new time plan for bringing the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) on line for EU-15 members in June 2008, yet no date date has been set for the bloc's new members, which were originally supposed to enter by October 2007. As the ministers also discussed the possibility of averting a delay in the zone's expansion with the help of a transitional information system, the Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said that an alternative solution via the SIS I Plus system, proposed by Portugal, seems ever more feasible. "Technical details need to be harmonised, with the meeting of EU interior affairs ministers in December expected to bring the final decision on the inclusion of new members," Mate said. Slovenia is in a much better position than it was two years ago when the current government took over, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told the press on Tuesday, exactly two years after the current government parties won the general election. More » The presidents of coalition parties and the heads of deputy groups came out of a meeting with Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Wednesday confident that the coalition is successful, unified and in agreement two years after the general elections. More » German Ambassador Hans-Joachim Goetz has praised the relations his country has had with Slovenia ever since diplomatic ties were established between the two 15 years ago. Moreover, economic ties can definitely be labelled a "success story", Goetz said addressing a reception upon Day of German Unity at the embassy's residence just outside Ljubljana on Tuesday. More » India has voiced its plans to open an embassy in Ljubljana shortly. Moreover, the ambassador has already been appointed, an Indian official revealed during Friday's political consultations with Slovenia. More » The government on Thursday adopted a programme for children and youth for the 2006-2016 period, a document which deals with all crucial aspects of children's lives, in particular those where there are problems. More » The parliament's foreign policy committee on Friday took a decision in which the MPs voiced the expectation that the new Austrian government would put bilingual signs in the province of Carinthia on its agenda in line with Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty and rulings of the Constitutional Court. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk were upbeat about Slovenia's prospects as they presented the amendments to the 2007-2008 budget memorandum and the 2008 budget bill to parliament on Monday. More » The government on Thursday increased the quota of work permits for foreigners from 17,350 to 18,500, as almost all work permits for the year have been used up and there is demand in particular for additional construction workers and posted workers. More » Slovenia has established contact with Italy as a possible partner country in the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) in Lebanon, Defence Minister Karl Erjavec told the members of the parliamentary defence committee on Friday. More » The national postal company Posta Slovenije is preparing for the full opening of the EU postal services market, which the European Commission is expected to set for 2009. This year's priorities include strengthening cooperation with the postal companies from certain foreign markets, and the selection of a strategic partner, the company's press release reads on Wednesday. More » Participants of a panel on risk management expressed their pleasure that risks are finally being talked about and stressed a more active role of the state in managing them after hearing an address by Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak, who described the state's future contribution towards risk management in Maribor on Thursday. More » Serb President Boris Tadic officially opened near Kragujevec on Thursday an auto parts plant built by Grah Automotive from Slovenia. The plant stretches over 2,000 square metres and is to provide up to 250 jobs by the end of the year. More » Energy companies Gen energija and Istrabenz Gorenje energetski sistemi (IGES) on Friday established a 50:50 joint venture, GEN-I, which will sell electricity in Slovenia and the EU. More » European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has urged Slovenian managers to invest more in science and research, saying Europe needs innovation and entrepreneurs who would up the currently low level of investment in R&D. More » Slovenian companies have many competitive advantages in the markets of the Western Balkans, which is why foreign companies are increasingly treating them as important partners for joint ventures there, Economy Ministry State Secretary Andrijana Starina Kosem has told the participants of a business conference in New York. More » The tolar, the Slovenian national currency, will be celebrating its 15th and last anniversary on Sunday. On 1 January 2007, Slovenia will abandon a currency which has been enjoying a very high level of trust among the citizens, to adopt the euro and become the first EU newcomer to join the eurozone. More » A new Faculty of Applied Social Sciences will open in Nova Gorica next year in line with a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday by the city, the Higher Education and Research Centre of Primorsko and the gaming company Hit. More » The national telco Telekom Slovenije and a Ljubljana-based telecommunications company Tok telekomunikacije have been awarded 10-year licences to provide broadband wireless Internet services, Slovenia's telecommunications watchdog said on Tuesday. More » The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a decision on allocating EUR 19.33m to Slovenia from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) for the 2007-2013 period. The total amount of money dished out by the fund stands at EUR 3.849bn in the period. More » Proposals to increase competitiveness, cohesion and employment in tourism, technology and health care, and supported by the EU Innovation Coach project, were presented on Wednesday. More » With Slovenia changing over to the euro on 1 January 2007, the manufacture of Slovenian euro coins at the Finnish company Mint of Finland is running at full steam. More » Making women more equally involved in decision making processes requires the securing of certain preconditions, with experience showing that the most successful companies are those enabling a reconciliation of family and professional life, Mateja Cotman, state secretary at the Slovenian Labour Ministry, said after an informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for the equality of sexes on Saturday. More » Defence Minister Karl Erjavec presented a new military doctrine to the members of the parliamentary defence committee on Friday, the most important military expert document in the country. More » An exhibition entitled "The Allure of the Matrix, the Woodcut in Slovenia in the 20th Century" opened on Thursday, 5 October, in the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC). The exhibition highlights woodcut and linocut art in Slovenia between the years 1911 and 2006 with the emphasis on the period after 1950. More » Over 350 exhibits by designers from 17 countries will be on display at the 20th Biennial of Industrial Design (BIO), which is underway in Ljubljana between 5 October and 5 November. More » In a year that marks the centenary of death of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Slovenia will pay homage to the author with a unique exhibition of first prints and a day-long symposium on Ibsen's influence on Slovenian literature. More » EU interior ministers adopted on Thursday a new time plan for bringing the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) on line for EU-15 members in June 2008, yet no date date has been set for the bloc's new members, said Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate after meeting his counterparts in Luxembourg. More » Schedule of Events from 10 to 15 October More »

Slovenia News 3 October 2006

Slovenia hosted an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in the seaside resort of Portoroz on Thursday and Friday, 28 and 29 September. The ministers agreed to expand the NATO ISAF mission to cover the whole of Afghanistan, including its restive eastern part. They also pledged equipment and weapons for the Afghan army, with Slovenia promising to send 10,000 automatic rifles and up to two million rounds of ammunition. Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel concluded his attendance at the 61st UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, where he stressed the role of small countries in his address because the majority of UN members can identify with that. More » President Janez Drnovsek on Friday was handed the credentials of three new ambassadors to Slovenia on Friday. Presenting themselves were Stefan Speck for Switzerland, Faud Ismayilov for Azerbaijan and Anita Hugau for Denmark. More » With the end of the Town Twinning information campaign, the president of the Association of Slovenian Councils (SOS) and mayor of Maribor Boris Sovic, signed an agreement on Tuesday on the strengthening of inter-regional cooperation between SOS and the provincial groups from Styria and Carinthia in the Austrian Community of Towns. More » State secretaries of Slovenian, Italian, Hungarian and Croatian foreign ministries agreed at their meeting in Rome on Monday that cooperation between the countries should continue to develop within the 1996-established partnership of the four states. More » The cabinet has adopted the changes to the 2007 budget and a budget bill for 2008 at its session on Thursday. The budget deficit is expected to stand at 1% of GDP next year and 0.9% the following year, Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk said. More » Prime Minister Jansa has said that Slovenia would be looking into ways of getting back the Dessault Falcon 2000EX jet, which was purchased by the previous cabinet but leased to a US firm following wide-spread accusations of extravagance. Slovenia would need it in the run-up to and during its presidency of the EU, Jansa told the press on Thursday. More » The parliament on Tuesday adopted amendments to the 2006-2007 budget implementation act to raise the amount of state guarantees by SIT 68bn (EUR 283.7m) to SIT 218bn (EUR 909.7m), with the extra guarantees allocated for the Motorway Company (DARS) and the Agency for Rail Transport. More » Slovenian Defence Minister Karl Erjavec has announced changes to the legislation on the Slovenian Armed Forces to ease restrictions on the activities of Slovenian troops taking part in peacekeeping missions abroad. More » NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer assessed that Slovenian armed forces are capable of taking part in missions abroad, after visiting the Franc Rozman Stane military barracks in Ljubljana on Saturday. More » Baumax Slovenija, part of the Austrian hardware retailer Baumax, generated SIT 8bn (EUR 33.4m) in revenues in its three Slovenian stores in 2005. It expects sales to rise to EUR 80m after five more centres open by 2010, the company's chairman Martin Essl told the press on Thursday. More » Hofer Slovenija, the Slovenian arm of the Aldi Sued discount chain group, has announced plans to increase the number of its stores in Slovenia from 17 to 80 by 2009. More » Pharma company Lek, operating as part of Sandoz, the generic arm of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, has marked its 60th anniversary with a major investment as it began building a 2,800 sq. metre biopharmaceutical development centre just outside Ljubljana. More » The Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED), which is designed to help in the education and development of young entrepreneurs and promote the growth of small and mid-sized enterprises, was officially inaugurated in Ljubljana on Monday. More » Goodyear-owned tyre maker Sava Tires, one of Slovenia' largest exporters, has become part of a new organisational structure of 11 Central and Eastern European countries. The move is to make the company more responsive and does not entail moving production away from Kranj, Sava Tires said in a press release on Monday. More » A four-day Slovenia-US workshop on common research projects in environmental science and engineering kicked-off in Ljubljana on Wednesday, aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries in these fields. More » A two-day international conference entitled "Why Invest in Science in SE Europe" began in Ljubljana on Thursday, with the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology Jure Zupan stressing that achieving general long-term progress is impossible without increasing investment in science. More » The countries of the Western Balkans should be included into European research as soon as possible, as research requires developed human as well as infrastructure resources, European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik told a panel on Friday. More » Slovenia's three universities opened their doors for the new academic year on Monday. While the exact number of students is not out yet, there are more than 25,000 vacancies available for first-year students at university faculties and other higher-education institutes. More » Around 880,000 people aged 10-75 access the Internet monthly through their personal computers, while 90,000 access it through their mobile phones, according to the results of a recent survey, presented on Thursday. More » Slovenia's leading mobile operator, Mobitel, has announced its in the midst of upgrading the bandwidth on its third-generation mobile network to allow for higher download speeds. More » Slovenian members of the European Parliament have welcomed the decision of the European Commission to recommend that Bulgaria and Romania join the EU in 2007. However, they also pointed out that it was crucial for the two countries to fulfil all the conditions for membership. More » The interior ministers of the next EU presiding troika - Germany, Portugal and Slovenia - on Monday adopted an agreement on tighter cooperation in home affairs when they successively hold the rotating EU chairmanship from January 2007 until June 2008. More » Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado on Monday for talks about joint preparations for EU presidency that Portugal and Slovenia will hold in the first second of 2007 and first half of 2008 respectively. More » The two-day informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Portoroz concluded on Friday with an appeal by Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to Georgia and Russia to "moderate and de-escalate tensions", which have become even more aggravated after the arrest this week of four Russian servicemen in Georgia. More » The meeting of NATO defence ministers in Portoroz has shown that the alliance is a "vital organisation capable of taking real-time decisions," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said on Friday after holding talks with the NATO secretary general as well as the foreign ministers of Russia and the US on the margins of the meeting. More » Slovenia will participate at the Frankfurt Book Fair, taking place in the German city from 4 through 8 October, for the 16th year in a row. Nearly 20 Slovenian publishing and printing houses will appear at this leading global book fair. More » The first ever Month of Photography kicked off late on Thursday in Ljubljana, with a total of 15 exhibitions and accompanying events to be organised until 19 November, the organising Photon art gallery wrote on its website. More » Artists from 13 countries will put their work on display in Slovenia's capital over the next few days as the 12th City of Women international festival of contemporary arts gets under way in the Cankarjev dom arts centre later on Monday. Running until 10 October, this year's event will examine the meaning of history and memory. More » Gender equality in Slovenia is in the hands of women, therefore we are often told that it is the fault of women if things are not as they should be, Milica Antic Gaber of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts said on Thursday at a panel comparing the situation in Finland and Slovenia. More » While the annual birth rate in Slovenia in the 18th century still hovered between 34 and 26 births per 1,000 people, it started to drop steadily at the end of the 19th century with the trend still continuing, shows a study on the birth rate in Slovenia for the period between the 18th to 21st century released by the Statistical Office on Friday. More » An example of the Australian Wollemi Pine was presented in the Ljubljana Botanical Garden on Thursday. The tree, widespread at the time of the dinosaurs, was thought to be long extinct until it was found again in 1994, only 150km from Sydney. More » Tourism is the fastest growing business sector in the world and in Slovenia, while the country faces numerous challenges and development opportunities in the field, a panel on tourism heard in Maribor on Wednesday. More » A new five star hotel opened in the spa resort of Moravske Toplice on Tuesday, claiming to be the only hotel in the world with a source of genuine "black" thermo-mineral water in every room. More » A call for providing patients in the EU with more information on medicinal products was the basic message of the first EU Pharmaceutical Forum which closed in Brussels on Friday. More » Foreign and interior ministers of Mediterranean EU members have called for a unified EU policy towards illegal migrations as they met in the Spanish capital of Madrid on Friday. More » Janez Jerovsek, the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, has warned about the consequences of the delay in expanding the Schengen border agreement as he met his colleagues from EU states in Helsinki on Friday. More » Schedule of Events from 3 to 8 October More »

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