Slovenia News - September 2008

Slovenia News 30 September 2008

The final tally of overseas votes Monday confirmed a narrow win for the opposition Social Democrats (SD) in the 21 September general election. The gap to the runners-up, the ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS), remained almost the same after over 10,000 votes from abroad were added one week after polling day. Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, saying that the world calls for "transformation" and presented his proposal for reforming the UN Security Council, the President's Office wrote in a press release. Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk has told STA he will soon decide about the nominees for ambassadors put forward by the outgoing government. He also discussed international topics in an interview with the STA following his participation in the general debate of the new UN General Assembly session in New York. More » The largest Slovenian trade union confederation, the ZSSS, said on Wednesday it expected the new government to engage in a rational resolution of open issues. The ZSSS hopes the relationship will be one of partnership and result in enhanced social dialogue, a new social agreement, accessible health care and education, and an adequate minimum wage. More » President Danilo Tuerk received at the Touro Law School in New York on Wednesday the Arthur J. Goldberg Award for his contribution to law. Tuerk, who is in the US for the 63rd UN General Assembly meeting, delivered a lecture at the law school on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More » The final tally of overseas votes Monday confirmed a narrow win for the opposition Social Democrats (SD) in the 21 September general election. The gap to the runners-up, the ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS), remained almost the same after over 10,000 votes from abroad were added one week after polling day. More » President Danilo Tuerk addressed on Monday the 3rd European conference of information commissioners, which is taking place at Brdo pri Kranju, saying that restricting the access to information available to holders of the executive power also meant restricting individuals and the media in their functioning in modern society. More » The European Commission has established no evidence of a breech of the EU's environmental law by Italy regarding the planned construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Gulf of Trieste, as the country has reached no final decision on the matter yet. Nevertheless, Slovenia is considering taking the matter to court. More » The procedures related to the planned construction of gas terminals in the Gulf of Trieste by Italy, currently under way in Slovenia, do not meet the main principles of the Espoo Convention on environmental impact assessment, the international network of environmental NGOs AdriaticGreeNet told the press in Koper on Wednesday. More » Central bank governor Marko Kranjec told a debate on customers' expectations of banks on Wednesday that Banka Slovenije was not noticing any major problems in the Slovenian banking system, possibly because Slovenian banks had not followed the quick development seen abroad. More » Concern for workers, local communities and the environment were the key topics of a conference on corporate social responsibility and cooperation with the non-governmental sector, organised in Ljubljana on Friday by the US Embassy. More » The long mulled construction of a second block of the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) is becoming more tangible, as the owner of the Slovenian half of the power station, Gen Energija, will apply for what is called an "energy permission" by the end of the year, Gen Energija director Martin Novsak has told Dnevnik. More » The lending activities of Slovenian banks are continuing to slow down, according to the Slovenian central bank. This is especially true for the non-banking sector and to a lesser extent for retail customers. The banks secured financing above all through extensive borrowing abroad. More » Consumer prices in Slovenia stayed put in September and the annual inflation rate edged down 0.5 percentage points to 5.5%, largely thanks to cheaper package holidays and petroleum prices, the National Statistics Office reported on Tuesday. More » The Competition Protection Office has no objections against the acquisition of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange by Wiener Boerse, as the office and capital market players believe it does not constitute a threat to competition. The office is expected to issue a formal decision to that effect next week. More » The Economic and Social Council, an industrial relations forum, discussed on Tuesday a draft plan for Lisbon strategy reforms in Slovenia, concluding among other things that their next session needs to be devoted to business education and to employment opportunities for the young. More » The head of the Corruption Prevention Commission, Drago Kos, said Tuesday he was a bit surprised with Slovenia's corruption perceptions index for 2008, published by NGO Transparency International (TI). "I think that Slovenia has never had such a high index," Kos commented on Slovenia's 26th spot among 180 countries. More » Slovenian tourist resorts saw 392,120 tourists in August, which is a 5% increase year-on-year. In the first eight months of 2008, the number of tourists in the country increased by 4% to 1,955,084, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. More » Slovenians used 9% less energy in 2007 in comparison to the year before. Final energy consumption in households had been in decline for the second consecutive year, according to data published by the national Statistics Office on Thursday. More » Slovenia's Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc told an EU ministerial in Annecy on Tuesday that a lack of adequate subsidies as part of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) would jeopardise farming production in certain sectors and in many parts of the Union. More » Wine producers from Goriska brda and Vipavska Valley are satisfied with the quality of this year's vintage, although the quantity of the harvest is smaller than usual due to numerous hail storms. In southeastern and northeastern wine regions of the country, grape harvesting is nearly over too. More » The prices of the majority of agricultural products have fallen compared to last year's, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday. Data of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) meanwhile shows that food prices have grown by 3.9% in the first half of 2008. More » Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Mojca Kucler Dolinar said in Brussels on Friday that the EU should be satisfied with the headway in the Ljubljana Process, which was launched during Slovenia's EU presidency and is aimed at improving the flow of knowledge in the bloc by forming a single European Research Area (ERA). More » Five companies and two research institutes founded a Development Centre for Hydrogen Technologies on Wednesday in a bid to boost research, development and realisation projects in the field of hydrogen and fuel cells. More » Interior Minister Dragutin Mate on Thursday spoke against the launch of the blue card, the EU's equivalent of the US Green Card, at a session of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. He argued that freedom of movement should first apply to all newcomers, only than could this freedom be extended to third countries. More » Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate labelled the Pact on Immigration and Asylum which the EU interior ministers endorsed in Brussels on Thursday an important "framework for the formation of a balanced policy on immigration and asylum". More » Slovenian members of the European Parliament Mihael Brejc (EPP/SDS) and Mojca Drcar Murko (ALDE/LDS) have told STA they would not run at the next elections into the EP. With Borut Pahor (PES/SD) leaving his post following the win in Sunday's general election, many new Slovenian faces can be expected in Brussels and Strasbourg in 2009. More » A book by Milan M. Cvikl, an MP of the SocDems, about the changes that the Lisbon Treaty will bring to the EU legislation was presented on Monday in Ljubljana. It aims to present the novelties in a clear and an comprehensible way. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk held another round of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, meeting on Tuesday Columbian counterpart Alvaro Uribe, Albania's Bamir Topi, and Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, saying that the world calls for "transformation" and presented his proposal for reforming the UN Security Council, the President's Office wrote in a press release. More » Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel attended in New York on Wednesday a meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilisations and a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries supporting the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk is wrapping up his multi-day visit to New York, where he attended the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly. Tuerk is due to address the World Leadership Forum at Columbia University on Friday after taking part in a high-level meeting at the UN headquarters on Thursday. More » The national motorway company, DARS, has published a new call for bids for the construction of a tunnel on the future coastal expressway, after annulling the first one amidst complaints. The call for the Markovec tunnel project was published in Friday's edition of the Official Gazette. More » Ljubljana's streets will host numerous exhibitions, lectures, workshops and performances from 23 September to 19 October as part of an extensive international project of the Ljubljana-based museum of contemporary and modern arts. About 50 artists, theoreticians and activists will participate in the project. More » Established and up-and-coming artists will stage performances and workshops across Slovenia as part of the Dutch-Slovenian Bilateral Focus, a six-week series sponsored by the Dutch Embassy which starts on 26 September. More » One of the most acclaimed Slovenian playwrights and theatre directors, Dusan Jovanovic, has won the Rozanc Prize for best collection of essays for his book "Svet je drama" (The World is a Play), in which he portrays the world as theatre in the broadest sense. More » Slovenia's candidate for this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is "Petelinji zajtrk" (Rooster's Breakfast), directed by Marko Nabersnik, president of the Association of Slovenian Filmmakers (DSFU) Igor Korsic said on Friday. More » Slovenian film "Kratki Stiki" (Short Circuits) by Janez Lapajne received last week the best feature film award at the Eurofest festival of East European film in Montreal. The festival, which ran between 19 and 25 September, hosted a competition of films from 19 European countries as well as Canada and the US. More » President Danilo Tuerk congratulated on Monday Mufti Nedzad Grabus and the Muslim community in Slovenia, a day before they observe Eid ul-Fitr which marks the end of their holy month of Ramadan. More » The accreditation senate of the Higher Education Council gave a positive expert opinion for the establishment of the New University (Nova univerza) connecting three existing independent faculties, the Council said on Monday. This university will be the second privately owned university in Slovenia. More » An exhibition dedicated to deceased former Ljubljana Archbishop Alojzij Sustar was opened on Thursday at Ljubljana's Galerija Druzina gallery. The exhibition will be "a grateful memory and a living message of a great man, great Christian and a great bishop", said Ljubljana Archbishop Alojz Uran at the opening. More » Tone Pavcek, one of Slovenia's most acclaimed poets and children's book authors, is turning 80 on Monday. The occasion will be marked with an exhibition of his books at the National and University Library in Ljubljana (NUK) and a two-week tour of Slovenia by the author. More » Union Olimpija has a strong international tournament that also featured Turkey's Fenerbahce Uelker, Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel and Panathinaikos Athens. The Slovenian club managed to take a decisive win on Sunday over Maccabi and claim the top spot. More » Rogaska Slatina, an acclaimed spa resort in eastern Slovenia, and Medana, a small village in the hilly wine-growing region of Goriska Brda in the west of the country, have found themselves among the award winners of this-year's Entente Florale Europe, the European Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom. More » Schedule of events in the week for 29 September - 5 October: More »

Slovenia News 23 September 2008

The National Electoral Commission published on Monday the unofficial results of the Sunday election with 100% of the votes from all 3,386 polling stations including the votes via mail within Slovenia. The allocation of seats remains unchanged. The results will remain unofficial until the arrival of ballots from abroad by 29 September. Topical international issues dominated talks as Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sunday. The president, who will be attending over the week the 63rd session of the General Assembly of the UN, also announced his new proposal for the reform of the UN Security Council. Rudi Vouk, a member of the Slovenian minority in Carinthia who is running on the list of the Liberal Forum (LIF) and the only party of the Slovenian minority in Austria Unity List (EL) at the upcoming general election in Austria, said in an interview for STA he wanted a thorough reform of the Austrian minority legislation. More » Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek Travnik on Tuesday presented the report for 2007 to National Assembly Speaker France Cukjati. She said the number of claims increased by 10%, while court backlogs and Constitutional Court decisions that have not been implemented remain the biggest concerns. More » The National Electoral Commission published on Monday the unofficial results of the Sunday election with 100% of the votes from all 3,386 polling stations including the votes via mail within Slovenia. The allocation of seats remains unchanged. The results will remain unofficial until the arrival of ballots from abroad by 29 September. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk will decide on the prime minister-designate on the "basis of constitutional norms". "I believe it is simply necessary to find a prime minister-designate who can secure a good coalition," Tuerk told STA in response to Sunday's vote, in which no bloc secured an outright majority. More » Although the final official results of Sunday's general election are still pending the count of votes coming in by mail and those from abroad, the new sitting of the Slovenian National Assembly is set to look quite different from the outgoing one. With 99.97% of the votes counted, only 41 out of the 90 MPs secured another term. More » Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) president Karel Erjavec told STA on Monday that if DeSUS entered the new government, he expected to remain in charge of the Defence Ministry, which he claims to be a difficult and complex position. He also wants to wrap up the Patria affair, he added. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel organised on Tuesday a traditional autumn get-together for the diplomatic corps in Slovenia. More » A joint Slovenian-Romanian commission for economic cooperation, meeting in Romania's capital Bucharest on Thursday, assessed cooperation in trade, investments, industry, energy, tourism and transport, establishing there were still many possibilities for trade between the countries. More » Slovenian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern on Wednesday over the attempts of some coalition parties in the regional parliament of Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia to adopt laws that would result in a differentiation between ethnic Slovenians living in the Udine province and those in the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia. More » The Serbian Agency for Privatisation called off auctions of property of Slovenian companies which was nationalised after the break-up of Yugoslavia, the Slovenian Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitrij Rupel told the press on Thursday. More » Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has expressed his readiness to continue dialogue on solving open issues with Slovenia, irrespective of whether the new Slovenian government will be formed by the outgoing Prime Minister Janez Jansa or the winner of Sunday's election, SocDem leader Borut Pahor. More » The Sustainable Development Council, the government's consultative body, discussed on Wednesday the sustainable package of the European Commission and the council's future role. Its head, Development Minister Ziga Turk, said that the council wanted to gain importance and be influential both in the government and in the public. More » President Danilo Tuerk addressed officers of the Slovenian Armed Forces in the School for Commanding Officers in Poljce on Wednesday. As the supreme commander of the Slovenian army and a lawyer, Tuerk focused on peacekeeping missions and respect of humanitarian law. More » Shortcomings discovered in testing have led to the Slovenia Defence Ministry canceling Israeli company Elbit as the supplier of the overhead remote controlled weapon stations for the 135 APCs bought by Slovenia from Finnish contractor Patria. The stations will instead be supplied by Norwegian company Kongsberg. More » Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak reacted strongly to retailers' announcement of further price hikes in Ljubljana on Tuesday, labelling it as an election manipulation by the retailers and their political sponsors. More » The Slovenian central bank said Tuesday that the bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers did not represent a systemic threat to the Slovenian financial system. More » The TE-TOL cogeneration plant in Ljubljana will test-run in October and launch in November the burning of wood biomass for the production of district heat and electricity, TE-TOL director Blaz Kosorok told the press in Ljubljana on Tuesday. More » The employees of postal company Posta Slovenije will receive a bonus in their wages from profit sharing for the first time on 18 September. Each employee will get a gross bonus of around EUR 415, Posta Slovenije wrote in a press release on Wednesday. More » The Slovenian export and development bank, SID, will get a capital injection of EUR 50.4m from the state, its sole owner, in line with the decision endorsed by the SID general meeting on Friday. SID said on Monday its share capital will increase from EUR 89.6m to EUR 140m. More » Reflecting on their expectations following Sunday's election, economists told STA on Monday they expected no major changes from the new government, while noting it should approach economic reforms seriously. Trade unions meanwhile expect more focus on social dialogue, while employers hope to be involved in legislative decisions. More » Central Bank chief Marko Kranjec told a debate on credit and monetary conditions on Monday that the crisis on global financial markets was not caused by failed mortgages, but has been in the making for a very long time. More » The supervisory board of Slovenia's second largest bank NKBM endorsed on Monday the bank's capital increase and set the price for the new shares at EUR 19.5. The bank will collect subscriptions for up to 5.7m stocks between 24 September and 8 October. More » The Agriculture Ministry granted on Wednesday EUR 100,000 in financial aid to fishermen in order to help them stay afloat in the period of high fuel prices and an overall difficult economic situation. More » Higher Education Minister Mojca Kucler Dolinar opened on Thursday new grounds of Maribor Faculty of Agriculture on the outskirts of Slovenia's second largest city. More » Senior members of New Slovenia (NSi), the junior coalition party that near-final results show failed to make it to parliament in Sunday's general election in Slovenia, have put vice-president Ljudmila Novak in charge of preparing a congress in which the party will elect a new leader. More » The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) conferred on Wednesday golden awards for the best innovations in Slovenia in 2007 to steel manufacturer Acroni and Hidria Institute Klima. More » The Economy Ministry published on Friday in the Official Gazette a public tender for direct initiatives for research and development in micro, small and medium companies. The tender is worth around EUR 8m which should be spent in 2009 and 2010. More » Slovenia slightly improved the competitiveness of its information technology sector this year, ranking 26th among 66 countries included in survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. in 2007, the survey's first year, Slovenia was 27th among 64 countries. More » Slovenian EU Affairs State Secretary Barbra Borota and Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Ivica Bocevski signed on Wednesday a cooperation programme in EU affairs for 2008/09. The programme secures Slovenia's assistance in 67 areas as part of 21 negotiation chapters for Macedonia's accession to the EU. More » The government adopted at Wednesday's correspondence session a draft reform programme for the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in 2008. This is a document with which the government monitors the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy and the set structural reforms, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said. More » Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Ivan Zagar responded on Thursday to opposition's accusations that Slovenia was not successful in drawing from EU funding. Zagar stressed that Slovenia was very good, even a role model to other EU members. More » Slovenian member of the European Parliament Borut Pahor (PES/SD), who is the most probable prime minister designate after the Sunday general election in Slovenia, is to be replaced as an MEP by his SocDem colleague Aurelio Juri, who was next on the list at the last election into the European Parliament, the EP Information Office told STA. More » Topical international issues dominated talks as Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sunday. The president, who will be attending over the week the 63rd session of the General Assembly of the UN, also announced his new proposal for the reform of the UN Security Council. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk called for improvement of Africa's education systems as he addressed Monday's high-level meeting on the continent's development needs ahead of the UN General Assembly's annual session, which gets under way on Tuesday. More » With the acquisition of the building permit to pull down the existing buildings on the premises, the construction of the new passenger terminal called Emonika City Centre officially started in Ljubljana on Tuesday. More » Representatives of Slovenian and Italian hauliers, transport ministries and oversight authorities agreed at a meeting in Nova Gorica on Tuesday to form a joint working group to help Slovenian and Italian hauliers solve a number of problems in transit traffic. More » A 10km motorway section between Vrba and Peracica in NW Slovenia, worth EUR 114.3m, was opened on Monday, which marks a step towards the completion of the 70km southbound motorway from Austria. The motorway is expected to be wrapped up in 2010 when the final stretch is to replace the 2.4-km bottleneck between Peracica and Podtabor. More » This year's European Heritage Days in Slovenia will be dedicated to Primoz Trubar, marking the 500th anniversary of birth of this Protestant reformer who wrote and published the first Slovenian book in 1550. The opening ceremony dubbed "Primoz Trubar and His Time" will be held on Saturday in his hometown Rasica. More » The 18th European Heritage Days got underway on Saturday in Rasica, the hometown of Primoz Trubar (1508-1586). Launching the event, devoted this year to one of the founders of the Slovenian written language, President Danilo Tuerk labelled it "an important project, one of the most interesting initiatives underway across Europe". More » Slovenian-born actor Zeljko Ivanek on Sunday won the US television production award for best supporting drama actor. Ivanek, a long-time New York stage actor and a three-time nominee for Broadway's biggest award, the Tony, got the Emmy for the role of a smooth-talking lawyer with a Southern lilt in an American legal drama television series. More » Constitutional court judges and government representatives from 22 European countries gathered at Brdo pri Kranju on Tuesday for a three-day conference on legal aspects of religious freedom, which focuses on the protection of religious freedom in individual countries. More » Several Slovenian veterans' and patriotic associations signed on Tuesday a cooperation agreement at a reception hosted by President Danilo Tuerk, who said that cooperation among these associations was essential for patriotism. More » A monument commemorating the members of the Sinti community in Slovenia who were executed by Nazis during World War II was unveiled in Begunje na Gorenjskem in northern Slovenia on Thursday at the initiative of the Sinti Association of Slovenia. More » Slovenian basketball player Matjaz Smodis has been named the new captain of perennial Russian and reigning Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow. The 28-year-old, who has been with CSKA since 2005, is the first foreigner to have the honour of captaining the club. More » Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, who made it last week to the semifinals of the US$ 1.34m WTA tournament in Tokyo, has leaped four spots in the WTA rankings and currently sits 21th. The ranking is still topped by Serena Williams of the US, ahead of Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Russian Dinara Safina. More » The Soca valley is the first Slovenian tourist destination to receive the title "European Destination of Excellence" (EDEN) given to the best twenty tourist destinations in the EU, the Slovenian Economy Ministry wrote in a press release. More » Schedule of events in the week for 23-28 September: More »

Slovenia News 16 September 2008

Prime Minister Janez Jansa was confident that the unity demonstrated by the people of Primorsko would reach every pore of the Slovenian nation as he addressed Sunday's ceremony commemorating the reunification of the western region with Slovenia. The ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) would win the election, getting 27.9% of the vote, while the opposition Social Democrats (SD) would get 25.9%, shows a field poll commissioned by POP TV and the business daily Finance and released Thursday. The Slovenian parliament adopted four conclusions after eleven hours of heated debate at an extraordinary session on Tuesday dedicated to allegations of high-level corruption in the purchase of 135 armoured personnel carriers in a deal worth EUR 278m. More » Janez Jansa, prime minister and president of the Slovenian Democrats (SDS), believes that the pace of Slovenia's economic development is sustainable. "We can continue with a similar development pace," he said in an interview for Saturday's Dnevnik. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa was confident that the unity demonstrated by the people of Primorsko would reach every pore of the Slovenian nation as he addressed Sunday's ceremony commemorating the reunification of the western region with Slovenia. More » Political analyst Borut Grgic wrote in an op-ed of Monday's edition of the daily Delo that the West needs a second Helsinki process - a security conference of all the states from the Caucasus and Caspian region, Russia, the US, EU, China, India, Turkey and Iran for reaching stability in the Caucasus and Caspian region. More » Slovenian and Croatian ministers responsible for local government, Ivan Zagar and Petar Cobankovic, presented at Otocec on Monday the IPA operational programme for cross-border cooperation for the 2007-2013 period. More » Austrian ambassador to Slovenia Valentin Inzko awarded on Tuesday the Austrian honorary consul to Maribor Rudolf Vracko the Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria on the behalf of the Austrian president, Heinz Fischer. More » Possibilities for boosting economic cooperation and intercultural dialogue were in the centre of talks between Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and his visiting Philippine counterpart Alberto Gatmaitan Romulo on Wednesday. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk and his Estonian counterpart Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is paying a two-day working visit to Slovenia, discussed on Thursday the Georgia-Russia crisis. The pair agreed that the negotiations for partnership between the EU and Russia could continue only after the EU peace plan was implemented. More » Slovenian Minister of Public Administration Gregor Virant has said that teething problems were bound to occur with the implementation of the new wage system for the public sector, as he held a press conference on Friday to respond to growing concerns about the system implemented in September. More » Slovenian employees received average net monthly pay of EUR 890.24 in July, which is up 0.8% on the month before and up 8.2% year-on-year, according to a report from the national Statistics Office. More » President Danilo Tuerk welcomed home on Tuesday two contingents of the Slovenian army upon their return from peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo. He said the Slovenian nation was proud and thankful to the troops for their commitment to the missions. More » Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.5% in the second quarter of 2007, up from 5.4% in the first quarter of the year, the national Statistics Office said Wednesday. Seasonally and working days adjusted GDP increased 5.1% year-on-year. More » Slovenia has placed 54th in a Doing Business survey published by the World Bank on Wednesday. The country managed to gain one spot from last year among 181 countries in which the survey measured the ease of doing business. More » The International Trade Fair in Celje is not only a display of economic achievements but also a show of values that provide for better future, Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk said at the opening of the fair in Celje on Wednesday. More » The largest Slovenian company in terms of 2007 revenues (EUR 2.4bn), retailer Mercator, has placed 40th on a list of the biggest companies from 17 countries of Central Europe, made by auditing firm Deloitte. The second biggest Slovenian company is energy group Petrol (EUR 2.1bn; 57th), Deloitte reported on Thursday. More » Slovenia exported goods worth EUR 1.76bn in July, an increase of 3.8%, Imports meanwhile jumped by 12% to EUR 2.04bn, making for an export-import ratio of 86.4%, according to the Statistics Office. More » The Novo mesto-based caravan maker, Adria Mobil, says it is successfully coping with the worsened conditions in the market, expecting end-year operating results to be just slightly below last year's record figures. More » Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak told reporters in Celje on Monday that welfare was important, but it should not go at the expense of economic development. He also said that economic growth was not a sufficient but a necessary condition for prosperity. More » The boss of a top Slovenian retailer told a panel on Monday that prices in Slovenia were expected to rise further in September due to higher prices of produce and energy, but he rejected the accusation that retailers were the main culprit for the high inflation. More » Slovenian economists remain sanguine in the face of the latest escalation of the global financial crisis and the news of the bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America. More » Slovenia improved its economic freedom index ranking to 88th out of 141 countries this year, following a slide of 16 places to 91th last year. Toping the list compiled by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, is Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and New Zealand. More » Development Minister Ziga Turk and the opposition SocDem candidate for deputy prime minister, Mitja Gaspari, faced off in a debate hosted by AmCham on Tuesday, calling for modifications of tax legislation, including scrapping the tax on capital gains in case of their reinvestment. More » The ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) would win the election, getting 27.9% of the vote, while the opposition Social Democrats (SD) would get 25.9%, shows a field poll commissioned by POP TV and the business daily Finance and released Thursday. More » Slovenia's population increased by 14,250 on account of positive migration alone in 2007. This means that 14,250 more people immigrated to the country than emigrated from it. Compared to 2006, this marks a 127.4% growth in net migration, the national Statistics Office reports. More » Chancellors of fours Slovenian public universities, the Slovenian Research Agency and the representatives of KORIS, an institution coordinating science research in Slovenia, urged the government on Monday to increase funding for science between 2009 and 2012. More » Higher Education Minister Mojca Kucler Dolinar addressed on Tuesday the opening of the 14th Festival of Slovenian Science, saying that such events bring science closer to the young and make them more susceptible for it. The festival, running until Thursday, will feature about 50 events and is expected to attract 10,000 visitors. More » Firefox web browser was used by 41.99% of visitors of Slovenian web pages in August, which is a good seven percentage points more than in January this year, according to measurements by Iprom, a Slovenian web advertising technology provider. More » Over 56% of Slovenian households had broadband internet access in the second quarter of this year, up from 53.8% in the previous quarter and an increase of over 12 percentage points on a year ago, according to the Agency for Post and Electronic Communication (APEK). More » The government adopted Thursday an initiative to sign a memorandum with Serbia on expert assistance in European affairs, the Government Communication Office said in a press release. More » EU finance ministers failed to find common ground Saturday on lower VAT rates for labour-intensive services. "The debate did not bring any specific conclusions. The EU remains as divided as it has always been," Slovenian Finance Ministry State Secretary Ziga Lavric told STA. More » Slovenian EU Affairs State Secretary Barbra Borota started on Tuesday her two-day official visit to Macedonia. Talks with her host, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Ivica Bocevski, will focus on strengthening cooperation between the two countries and on Slovenia's support to Macedonia's EU accession. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said Monday he did not believe the EU foreign ministers would take the decision to implement the trade part of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia today. More » The Slovenian Chief-of-Staff, Lt-Gen Albin Gutman, attended Saturday the annual conference of the NATO Military Committee, which focused on crisis response operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk delivered on Monday the keynote address at the International Day of Democracy panel of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland. He stressed that the transformational power of democracy could not be denied. More » Two carriers operating the Brussels-Ljubljana route, Adria Airways and Brussels Airlines, have set up a code share partnership and now offer three daily flights on the route, Brussels Airlines spokesman Geert Sciot told STA. One of the reasons for the joint flights are the high fuel costs, he explained. More » The Slovenian flag carrier, Adria Airways, managed to offset the impact of rising fuel prices in the first seventh months of this year, bringing its operating profit to just over EUR 1m, the company said in a press release after Wednesday's session of the supervisory board. More » This year's European Mobility Week, taking place between 16 and 22 September, will bring numerous activities to 22 town and city centres in Slovenia, underlining the importance of clean air. More » The council of the Public Agency for the Book, an agency founded in June, on Tuesday elected Barbara Kozelj of the Culture Ministry as its president and professor Mihael Kovac of the Faculty of Arts as vice-president, the Culture Ministry wrote in a press release. More » On 10 September 1993 a group of artists took over an abandoned military barracks in the centre of Ljubljana, unleashing a processes that gave Slovenia one of its most original and independent culture venues. Metelkova City will mark its birthday with a marathon of events through Sunday. More » This year's Ex ponto theatre festival, which kicks off on Saturday, will be held at four different venues in Ljubljana through 23 September and will feature ten theatre performances, including two premieres, an exhibition and a multi-media performance. More » Conductor Karmina Silec from Maribor is a winner of the Music Theatre Now 2008 award, given by the German International Theatre Institute (ITI) Unesco centre. She won the Other Forms beyond Opera category for the show "Iz veka vekov" (From Age of Ages), ITI Slovenia said on Monday. More » Frozen moments from the 50 years on the Slovenian national public broadcaster, TV Slovenija, are on display in Ljubljana's Tivoli park until the end of October. More » The award for best overall production of the Puppets 2008 festival went to Ivan Cankar's "Hisa Marije Pomocnice" ("The House of Mary the Helper") by Silvan Omerzu. The 9th edition of the biennial festival featuring theatre companies from 15 countries also marked the 60th anniversary of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. More » The Slovenian Bishops' Conference founded on Thursday Catholic Institute, an institution which will serve as a basis for Slovenia's first catholic university. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa opened a new school in Zalna near Grosuplje on Friday, saying that people are of key importance for the future of Slovenia and what people create depends on how well they can use the acquired knowledge. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk underscored the importance remembering the atrocities of World War II as he addressed Sunday's ceremony of women internees, political prisoners and stolen children of Nazi and fascist concentration camps. More » The Roma community in Slovenia is still having to face stereotypes, social exclusion and intolerance, head of the Government Office for Nationalities Stanko Baluh said on Tuesday on the margins of a meeting in Brussels that has been dubbed the first European summit on the Roma community. More » Table tennis player Mateja Pintar, the gold medalist from the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, came in third and won the bronze in women's individual class 3 on Wednesday. She beat the Italian Michela Brunelli for third place with 3:0. Athlete Joze Flere won the third medal for Slovenia at the Beijing Paralympic Games on Thursday. He came in second in the joint F32/F51 category of the men's discus throw with a world record in the F51 category. More » The Slovenian national football team is off to a good start in its qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, as it defeated on Wednesday Slovakia with 2:1. Slovenia now sits atop of Group 3 with four points out of two matches. More » Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia won the EUR 42,500 BMW Ljubljana Open tournament on Sunday. The 5th seed defeated Italy's Giancarlo Petrazzuolo in two sets 6:4 and 6:3, winning his first ATP challenger this year. More » Slovenian Olympic champion Primoz Kozmus won the men's hammer throw at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart on Sunday, while Marija Sestak placed third in the women's triple jump. More » Slovenia's male volleyball team has qualified for the 2009 European Championships in Turkey, having won both additional qualifying games against Portugal. More » The Slovenian national football team will play a friendly against England at the world famous Wembley stadium on 5 September 2009, the Slovenian Football Association said on Monday. More » The number of overnight stays in Slovenia in the first seven months of 2008 increased by 3%, compared to the year before, head of the Tourism Directorate at the Economy Ministry Marjan Hribar said at Thursday's presentation of this year's tourist season, which he said was successful. More » The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted unanimously on Tuesday a draft report on the white paper "Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013", drafted by Slovenian MEP Lojze Peterle (EPP). More » Slovenia's main medical institution, UKC Ljubljana, opened a new automated laboratory on Wednesday. Consolidating, optimising and rationalising laboratory activity in one place will save half a million euros a year, UKC general director Darinka Miklavcic said at the opening. More » Schedule of events in the week for 16 to 21 September: More »

Slovenia News 9 September 2008

The coordinating committee of the Italian and Slovenian governments met on Monday in Rome as part of reinforced cooperation that the two countries agreed on last year. Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said the autumn started very well in Slovenia-Italy relations. Zavarovalnica Triglav, the Slovenian insurance market leader, will be listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) on Tuesday. A total of 22,735,148 ordinary registered non-par value shares will be traded under the symbol ZVTG. The Assembly for the Republic, a right-leaning grouping of intellectuals, announced at a pre-election gathering on Wednesday their support for the government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa, arguing that his government would do a better job than its opponents. More » The government called on the police and prosecution on Thursday to draw up a report on the Patria case and put it forward to the National Assembly for discussion at the extraordinary session scheduled for next week. The Slovenian SocDems meanwhile again strongly rejected having had any role in the Finnish TV report incriminating PM Janez Jansa. More » The government took note Thursday of the second-round compliance report on Slovenia by the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), in which the anti-graft monitoring body established that Slovenia had made important steps in boosting integrity in its institutions. More » The government approved on Thursday the report on strategies of social protection and social inclusion for 2008-2010. The last three years have seen a positive move in economic and social development, a government press release states. More » The extraordinary session at which parliament will discuss suspected corruption in the purchase of 8-wheeled armoured personnel carriers will be held on Tuesday, the college of deputy group leaders decided on Friday. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Monday rejected accusations that the Slovenian government was trying to interfere in Finnish media, saying that through its request to Finnish public broadcaster YLE to also present its side of the Patria story the government was only exercising the right to a correction. More » The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday endorsed the temporary closure of the external relations chapter in the accession negotiations between Croatia and the EU. The MPs also voted for concluding an agreement with Russia for the construction of a pipeline through Slovenia. More » A mission to Georgia would cost the EU some EUR 500m over the next three years, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in Avignon, France, on Saturday. Rupel said that the EU foreign ministers meeting informally in Avignon had agreed that Georgia needed help, while the issue of relations with Russia still needed to be discussed. More » The Government Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy presented on Friday in Maribor an operational programme for cross-border cooperation between Slovenia and Hungary in 2007-2013. More » Slovenian President Danilo Tuerk met on Tuesday during his state visit to Montenegro his counterpart Filip Vujanovic, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and parliamentary Speaker Ranko Krivokapic. The talks focused mainly on economic cooperation between the two countries. More » The British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, will pay her first state visit to Slovenia on 21-23 October, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, the office of the Slovenian president said on Thursday. More » The coordinating committee of the Italian and Slovenian governments met on Monday in Rome as part of reinforced cooperation that the two countries agreed on last year. Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said the autumn started very well in Slovenia-Italy relations. More » Storms that ravaged swathes of northern Slovenia on 13 and 14 July caused direct damage of nearly EUR 22m in 48 municipalities, the government said Thursday. This means the municipalities qualify for special damage relief whose threshold is set at 0.03% of annual budget revenues. More » National Council President Blaz Kavcic on Tuesday rejected suggestions that the upper chamber of the Slovenian parliament should be scrapped, noting that it was a useful and rationally organised national institution. He added that nine months into their term the councillors had justified the council's existence. More » Electoral commissions in all units have confirmed lists of candidates for the September general election. The only list that got rejected was the List for Clean Water (LZCPV) in the Kranj electoral unit, while the electoral commission deciding on the candidates for the seat reserved for the Italian minority rejected one nominee. More » A 45-strong air defence contingent of Slovenian soldiers departed on Thursday to Germany where it is to train, together with German and Hungarian units, for a tactical practice firing of missile systems which is to take place in October on the island of Crete, the Defence Ministry said. More » The Slovenian and Serbian business representatives met on Tuesday in Ljubljana at a conference organised by the Slovenian Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investment (JAPTI) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) to discuss possibilities for cooperation and investment. More » The Slovenian-Croatian commission for the mutually-owned power plant met in Krsko on Wednesday after a three-and-half-year break, satisfied with the operation and management of the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant (NEK). It also welcomed Croatia's formation of a fund for the plant's decommissioning, which has raised EUR 49m so far. More » Zavarovalnica Triglav, the Slovenian insurance market leader, will be listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) on Tuesday. A total of 22,735,148 ordinary registered non-par value shares will be traded under the symbol ZVTG. More » The latest survey commissioned by daily Dnevnik shows a slight lead of the ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) over the opposition Social Democrats (SD). According to the survey, 31.8% of Slovenians would vote for the SDS, while the SD would get 31%. The latest survey published on the website of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija showed that 36.6% of those who intend to go to the polls would vote for the ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS), while the opposition Social Democrats (SD) would get 27.1%. More » The high temperatures have again pushed the date of the first grape harvests in Slovenia a bit further this year, with the harvest in two main winegrowing regions in western Slovenia officially getting under way on Monday. More » Slovenian MEP Miha Brejc (EPP/SDS) presented on Monday in Brussels a report on Visa Information System (VIS) to the European Parliament. His report suggests that random visa number and finger print checks of people from third countries entering the EU are safe enough measures and also cut delays on borders. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa opened at the National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana on Thursday an exhibition on Slovenia's EU presidency. He stressed that Slovenia did a good job presiding the EU Council and that the exhibition was a suitable recognition of the project. More » The tenth consecutive Slovenian contingent started its NATO-lead mission (ISAF) in Afghanistan last week, a press release from the Defence Ministry reads. More » Parliamentary Speaker France Cukjati received on Thursday Albanian and Croatian ambassadors to Slovenia, Sander Kovaci Mario Nobilo, who said they expected from Slovenia to ratify the protocols for Albania and Croatia's entry into NATO as soon as possible, the speaker's office said. More » National rail operator Slovenske zeleznice ended the first half of 2008 in the black, however posted a loss in the transport division. The group's operating revenues stood at EUR 223.3m, while operating costs amounted to EUR 209.7m, putting operating profit to EUR 13.6m. The group's net profit amounted to some EUR 17m. More » The shareholders' meeting of the port operator Luka Koper confirmed the text of the agreement granting Luka Koper a licence to manage the port of Koper, Slovenia's sole seaport, for another 35 years, the company said. More » The national motorway company DARS claims over EUR 5m in damages from SCT and Primorje, the companies that constructed the Sentvid tunnel, for the time the tunnel linking the Ljubljana ring road to the A2 motorway was closed for traffic due to faulty fire-retardant plaster. More » The government and the management of port operator Luka Koper signed on Monday a concession agreement for cargo port operations in the port of Koper. The agreement grants Luka Koper a license to manage the port for another 35 years. More » The restorated baroque Fountain of Three Carniolan Rivers was unveiled at the National Gallery on Thursday, almost 40 years after the idea of moving the fountain indoor in order to protect it had appeared for the first time. More » The 3rd European Day of Jewish Culture in Slovenia will be marked on Sunday in Ljubljana, Maribor and Lendava with a number of historical and artistic performances which will pay tribute to the important role the Jewish community had and still plays in Slovenian society. More » The Council for Slovenians in Neighbouring Countries, a government advisory body established in 2006 as part of the legislation on Slovenians abroad, addressed the status of the Slovenian minorities at its Tuesday session at Brdo pri Kranju. It also discussed future projects to strengthen minorities' links to Slovenia. More » Ahead of the first session of the Slovenian-Italian coordination committee of ministers in Rome next Monday, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met representatives of the Slovenian minority on Tuesday to discuss the issues troubling the Slovenian community in Italy. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met on Wednesday representatives of the Italian Minority in Slovenia, emphasising that relations between the majority and minority were a test of democracy in every civilised country. More » Participants of a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of the first Slovenian victims of Fascism shared the view that the tragic events of the past must be surpassed but not forgotten. More » The Education and Sport Ministry and the Slovenian Ski Association signed on Tuesday a EUR 10m contract for the funding of sports-recreational ski centre Pokljuka (N). Over EUR 6.5m of