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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
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This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia's economy expands by 3.2% in Q1
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's economy expanded by a robust 3.2% annual rate in real terms in the first quarter of 2019 and by as much as 3.7% when adjusted for season and working days, fresh figures from the Statistics Office showed. Although growth in real terms slowed down from the 4.1% recorded in the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted rate was slightly above the 3.6% from the last quarter of 2018. The quarter-to-quarter slowdown was fuelled by a slowdown in domestic expenditure.
Slovenia's annual inflation rate down to 1.4% in May
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 1.4% in May over April, as significantly higher prices in the group housing were offset by lower prices of alcohol, tobacco and communications, the Statistics Office said. The price group associated with housing accounted for half of the annual inflation rate. The harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU benchmark, stood at 1.6%, down from 1.8% in April.
Mercator posts Q1 group loss of EUR 3.7m as sales decline
LJUBLJANA - Mercator, Slovenia's largest retailer, posted a group net loss of EUR 3.7 million for the first quarter of 2019 compared to a net profit of EUR 1.9 million for the same period last year, as sales declined by 3.1% to just under EUR 500 million, according to preliminary results. Group operating profit (EBIT) rose 5.6% to EUR 9.6 million, with normalised profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 75% to EUR 39.7 million.
President says European Commission must preserve dialogue with W Balkans
BUDVA, Montenegro - Judging by experience, EU enlargement onto the Western Balkans will not be a key priority of the next European Commission, Slovenia's President Borut Pahor said as he addressed a security forum in Budva. However, efforts must be made to preserve dialogue and negotiations with all countries in the region. Pahor, addressing the To Be Secure conference, reiterated his position that EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans is a geo-political issue.
Slovenian, Hungarian ministers talk coop in digitalisation, AI
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek met Hungarian Minister for Innovation and Technology Laszlo Palkovics to discuss cooperation in digitalisation and artificial intelligence, as Slovenian companies are interested in investing in the emerging automotive industry test track in Zalaegerszeg. The ministers also discussed possibilities for cooperation of Slovenian and Hungarian companies in selling their products and investing in Africa.
Legal experts find no ground to end Hungarian minority MP's term
LJUBLJANA - Parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan and deputy group heads held a meeting with legal experts to discuss the case of Ferenc Horvath, the MP for the Hungarian minority who continues to head a body governed by public law while also serving as MP. The experts say there is no legal basis for ending the MP term of Horvath, who refuses give up his seat in parliament or resign as the head of the minority's umbrella organisation as he was urged by the anti-corruption commission.
Doctors adamant about new norms, patients not to be affected
LJUBLJANA - The trade union of doctors and dentists, FIDES, remains adamant about the implementation of new workload standards and norms from 1 June on, however, its boss Konrad Kuštrin as well as Health Minister Aleš Šabeder assured the public that the health and life of patients would not be jeopardised. Kuštrin does not expect anything dramatic to happen as doctors start adhering strictly to the norms and standards that they adopted in 2008, because of the less busy season ahead. Šabeder said that some hospitals had already adopted new standards, while most others were in the process of doing so.
Part of Oncology Institute temporarily closed due to staff shortage
LJUBLJANA - A section of the Oncology Institute had to be closed in mid-May due to a shortage of nurses. Eight nurses left the institute this year. After talking to the management, Health Minister Aleš Šabeder said the situation could not be solved overnight, as staff shortage had been a problem in health for a while. The institute director general, Zlata Štiblar Kisić, expects things to return to normal within a month.
Internal audit at BAMC finds no fault in Logatec land case
LJUBLJANA - An internal audit of the controversial sale of a plot by the state-owned bad bank to Swiss Lonstroff for an elastomer plant in Logatec has found the bad bank had not suffered any financial damage in the deal, while some employees did commit several violations, the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) said in a release. Potential irregularities and wrongdoing in the deal were first reported by the media last September and are still being investigated by the police. Since then, the BAMC management has been overhauled. Last month, Lonstroff cleared its Slovenia director Peter Weber of defrauding his company of EUR 1.7 million with the deal.
Ruling in MP Tomić defamation case upheld by higher court
LJUBLJANA - The Higher Court upheld a 2018 ruling by the Ljubljana Local Court ordering media company Nova Hiša, which runs the Nova24TV news portal, to pay opposition Left MP Violeta Tomić EUR 6,000 in damages for an offensive article about her. In August 2017, Nova24TV published a story headlined "Left MP Violeta Tomić in Hotpants on Vis-Bound Ferry 'Airing It Out'", accompanied by anonymous abusive comments on the social media. Both courts said that by running the story, Nova24TV had not discussed any serious matters of public interest, but discredited the plaintiff. Last year, the lawyer representing the media outlet announced appeals all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
Several state-owned companies pledge to respect human rights
LJUBLJANA - Ten companies, most of them in state ownership, signed a pledge to respect human rights in their business operations at a business forum at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The initiative was launched in line with the government's action plan which lists a set of measures and recommendations for the implementation of the UN guidelines for the protection of human rights in business. Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said it was key for the the state to be capable of setting up mechanisms to protect human rights.
Unior group's net profit up over 18% in Q1
ZREČE - The group around the Zreče-based tool maker Unior posted a new profit of EUR 6.8 million in the first quarter of the year, up 18.4% over the same period in 2018. Its revenue increased by 8% to EUR 68.2 million. The group's operating profit reached EUR 7.4 million, up 13.8%, according to the unaudited first-quarter report.
Adria Mobil revenue up, profit down in six months
NOVO MESTO - Adria Mobil, one of Europe's leading caravan makers, generated EUR 226.2 million in net sales revenue between September and February, which is up 13.1% year-on-year. Net profit dropped by 11.7% to EUR 19.7 million. The company's business year runs from the beginning of September to the end of August next year in line with the policy introduced after the takeover by the French mobile homes maker Trigano at the end of 2017.
Slovenian canoeists win team event at European Championships
PAU, France- Slovenian canoeists Benjamin Savšek, Anže Berčič and Luka Božič won the team event at the European Canoe Slalom Championships in France's Pau, beating the second-placed French team by a mere 0.16 seconds. The third place went to Russia. This is the second gold medal at the European championships for Slovenia in team events, the first coming in 2014 in Vienna with the same line-up of Savšek, Berčič and Božič. The kayak team followed the success up by grabbing silver.
