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This summary is provided by the STA:
Šarec urges comprehensive, fully implementable Kosovo-Serbia agreement
BERLIN, Germany - PM Marjan Šarec stressed as one of the participants of Monday's informal summit on the Western Balkans that the much needed agreement between Kosovo and Serbia would have to be in line with international law, well coordinated and comprehensive. While the summit, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, failed to revive the stalled dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, Šarec highlighted Slovenia's support to the region on its Euroatlantic path. He stressed the EU needed to remain active in encouraging good relations and pointed to the Greece-North Macedonia agreement as an import model for how to reach compromise.
Annual inflation rate at 1.7% in April, monthly at 0.8%
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate in April was at 1.7%, up 0.1 percentage points compared to March, while 0.8% inflation was recorded on the monthly level. Annual inflation was mostly driven by higher prices of energy, and monthly inflation by dearer holidays and footwear, the Statistics Office said. In one year, service prices went up on average by 3.6% and goods prices by 0.8%. The annual rate has been rising since the start of the year.
First quarter budget deficit down 9% y/y to EUR 201.8m
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's budget deficit amounted to EUR 201.8m in the first quarter of the year, down 9% compared to the same period last year, the Finance Ministry said, adding that a deficit was nothing unusual in that part of the year due to the payment of a major part of interest and subsidies. Budget revenue increased by 9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019 to EUR 2.36bn, while expenditure was up by 7.5% to EUR 2.56bn. Tax revenue was up by 8.5% to EUR 2.04bn, while the state paid EUR 402m in interest in the first quarter, which is 12.6% less year-on-year.
German president to visit Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - The president's office announced that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will arrive in Slovenia for a two-day official visit on 9 May. The future of the EU and the upcoming elections to the European Parliament will be in the focus of talks between President Borut Pahor and his guest. They will also discuss the situation on the international community, especially the Western Balkans and the "possibilities and the readiness of countries in the region to join Euro-Atlantic integrations".
Erjavec appoints new army's force commander
LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Karl Erjavec has appointed Brigadier Milan Žurman the new force commander of the Slovenian Armed Forces, to succeed Brigadier Miha Škerbinc, who was dismissed at the beginning of April. Žurman, who previously served as the deputy force commander, will take over today, the Defence Ministry said, noting that the appointment came on the proposal by the chief of the general staff, Maj Gen Alenka Ermenc. Škerbinc was dismissed ostensibly because he allowed shooting with heavy weapons late at night at the Poček training grounds near Postojna.
SDS only issued reprimand over illegal EUR 450,000 loan from Bosnian
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Local Court has drastically reduced the fine originally issued to the opposition Democrats (SDS) in connection to the first of two violations of the political parties act, while only issuing a reprimand as opposed to a fine in connection to the second, shows a report by the weekly Demokracija. The SDS was indicted by the Court of Audit in March 2018 over two contentious loans it took out in 2017, and found guilty by the local court earlier this year, but reports about the details have been conflicting. The local court, which maintains that the SDS broke the law in both cases, has revised upon the SDS's appeal both of its original verdicts.
DZS group increases profit, revenue
LJUBLJANA - Tourism and media group DZS posted EUR 2.5m in net profit last year, an improvement over the EUR 91,000 in profit generated the year before. Sales revenue was at EUR 87m, slightly higher than in 2017, DZS said in the business report. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) went up by a third, from EUR 3.2m to EUR 4.3m, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went from audited EUR 8.6m in 2017 to EUR 9.9m.
Report says Turkish embassy spied on Erdogan critics in Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - The Swedish news portal Nordic Monitor claims it has obtained secret documents revealing that diplomats working at the Turkish Embassy in Ljubljana spied on a number of critics of Turkey's government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Foreign Ministry told the STA that it was not familiar with Nordic Monitor's report and does not want to comment. The STA has also contacted the Turkish Embassy for comment.
