Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Wednesday, 16 April 2019

By , 17 Apr 2019, 03:00 AM News
Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Wednesday, 16 April 2019 Neža Loštrek

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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

This summary is provided by the STA

Novič acquitted of Chemistry Institute boss murder

LJUBLJANA - Milko Novič was acquitted of murdering Chemistry Institute boss Janko Jamnik in December 2014 in a retrial after the Supreme Court quashed the original ruling sentencing him to 25 years in prison in 2017. The verdict was reached by the judging panel of the Ljubljana District Court after the court heard closing arguments and re-examined expert witnesses who could not make a conclusive judgement. Novič, a former employee at the National Institute of Chemistry, was initially convicted of murdering Jamnik and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2017.

Pahor discusses Brdo-Brijuni summit with Bosnia presidency

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - President Borut Pahor met the three-member presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina as he started his two-day working visit to Sarajevo. The meeting focused on relations between the two countries, which Pahor labelled excellent at all levels. Speaking to presidency members Šefik Džaferović, Željko Komšić and Milorad Dodik, Pahor also exchanged views on the declaration being drafted for the Brdo-Brijuni Summit.

Slovenia expresses support for France after Notre Dame fire

LJUBLJANA/PARIS, France - Slovenia joined the expressions of solidarity with France after a fire damaged the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with President Borut Pahor tweeting that "together, we will rebuild it for the future". The Slovenian Bishops' Conference expressed expressed solidarity with the French Catholic Church.

Chairman Skobe quits Telekom Slovenije

LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije chairman Rudolf Skobe has decided to end his term almost a year and a half early. Effective today, he was replaced by deputy chairman Tomaž Seljak, who will be in charge until a chairman with full powers is appointed, the company said. Skobe was quoted as saying that running the company required "full trust among all key stakeholders," which he no longer enjoyed. The resignation came after weeks of rumours that Skobe was next in line to be removed as the government gradually takes over the levers of power at major state-owned firms.

Opposition asks Constitutional Court to review 2019 budget

LJUBLJANA - The centre-right opposition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) announced they had asked the Constitutional Court to review the state budget for 2019, which was passed last month. The parties believe the budget is not in line with the Constitution because it does not take into account the fiscal rule. The review will apply to three documents: the law on the implementation of the budgets for 2018 and 2019, the supplementary budget for 2019 and the decree on the 2018-2020 framework for public finances.

Šarec critical of European Commission in Politico interview

LJUBLJANA - PM Marjan Šarec called for a European Commission that would consistently implement the rule of law and respect small member states as he gave an interview for Politico. Šarec took issue with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for implying that small EU members did not have the same status as large countries, and for not taking sides in the Slovenia-Croatia border dispute. His vote for the next Commission chief will go to Margrethe Vestager (ALDE), the competition commissioner, who according to Šarec has a "common sense" vision for the EU.

Istrabenz Turizem shares transferred onto bad bank

LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Delo reported that the Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC) had taken control of the owner of six hotels in Portorož, after it was recently ordered by the government to seize the company's stock. The government tasked BAMC to seize Istrabenz Turizem's stock on 14 February, when the bad bank was in the midst of selling the company. The government is now expected to discuss the investment plan for Istrabenz Turizem.

More jobs in February

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian job market grew by 0.4% to around 884,700 persons in employment in February over January and by 3.3% over February 2018, the Statistics Office reported. At the monthly level, both the number of those in paid employment and the number of self-employed increased, by 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. The number of jobs increased in all regions in February over January, but most notably in central Slovenia (+0.4% to some 308,000).

Candidate for ambassador to Croatia raising dust

LJUBLJANA - Marko Makovec, who is tipped as Slovenian's new ambassador to Croatia, has been raising dust with some rather undiplomatic moves, the newspaper Delo reported. Although the appointment procedure is not over yet, Makovec was already thanking people who congratulated him on the appointment on Facebook in the past few days. The media portal Portalplus reported about it, which upset Makovec to the extent that he sent a threatening message to its journalist Dejan Steinbuch. Steinbuch reported this to the Foreign Ministry, which demanded an explanation from Makovec, who said he used an "inappropriate statement" and apologised to the recipient.

TEŠ could burn biomass or waste, HSE CEO says

LJUBLJANA - HSE, the state-owned power utility which owns the Šoštanj coal-fired power station (TEŠ), is looking for a new energy source for TEŠ, according to HSE chairman Stojan Nikolić. "We know that we have to overhaul the plans for the operations of the Premogovnik Velenje mine and TEŠ. It's been clear for a while that TEŠ will not be able to operate until 2054, as originally planned, both for economic and technical reasons," Nikolić told the STA.

Pivec discusses agritourism with Kosovo tourism minister

LJUBLJANA - Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec met the Kosovo minister in charge of tourism, Blendi Klosi, with the pair discussing agritourism and agreed for cooperation in exchange of best practices in agritourism development. Klosi said that the Kosovo government was focusing on improving the country's brand to make it a global player.

Transport sector calls for immediate action

LJUBLJANA - The transport sector called on the state once again to act in order to protect them from price dumping practices of foreign companies operating in the country and to cut waiting times at border crossings. Noting that the sector with more than 8,000 companies employing some 35,000 people generated 7% of the country's GDP, members of the Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS) the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) said the biggest problem was price dumping by foreign-owned companies.

Slovenian, Croatian intervention teams to train for nuclear accidents

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian and Croatian intervention teams will jointly train for nuclear accidents as part of the Ensuring Radiation Safety (ENRAS) project, which has been launched within an EU-sponsored cross-border cooperation programme. ENRAS is the first transfrontier cooperation project designed to ensure safety of intervention units in nuclear or radiological accidents within the Interreg V-A programme. More than 700 staff are planned to be trained from April 2019 to September 2020 as part of the project, which is valued at around half a million euro.

Slovenia among greenest countries in the world

LONDON, UK - Slovenia is one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world, according to the Good Country Index, compiled by analyst and professor Simon Anholt from the University of East Anglia. It ranks fourth among 153 countries in terms of its positive contribution to the planet and climate, preceded only by Norway, Switzerland and Portugal. Slovenia did particularly well in the implementation of environmental agreements and reducing the use of substances that cause ozone depletion.

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