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This summary is provided by the STA:
Merger of publishers Dnevnik and Večer cleared
LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR - The Competition Protection Agency (AVK) has given a nod to the merger of Dnevnik and Večer, the publishers of the second and third largest daily newspapers in the country, respectively. The AVK said on Monday it had established that the merger was in line with the competition rules. The content of the decision is yet to be published, while the managements of both publishers have already received it. The clearance was first reported by the public broadcaster Radio Slovenija, which said the joint company would have a 40% share on the printed media market, which is believed to have been the reason why the deliberations of the AVK on the case took a whole year.
Approval rating for govt, Šarec up in POP TV poll
LJUBLJANA - The voter approval rating for the Marjan Šarec government increased further in a poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster POP TV, while Šarec overtook President Borut Pahor as the most popular politician. The poll, conducted by Mediana and released by POP TV on Sunday, shows 57% of those questioned supporting the government, up 3.1 percentage points on the month before; 11.4% are undecided and 31.5% oppose it. The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) continues to lead the field among parliamentary parties at 19.2%, up 2.6 percentage points, ahead of the opposition Democrats (SDS) at 18.2%, up 3.2 points.
Ex-education officials indicted in Armenian healer case
LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Dnevnik reported that former State Secretary at the Education Ministry Andreja Barle Lakota was among the ten people who have been indicted for alleged abuse of office in a case involving Armenian healer Ruben Papian. He was allegedly paid tens of thousands of euro between 2009 and 2011 by three Slovenian education institutions for two studies allegedly written by Barle Lakota. The paper said that those charged included Mojca Štravs, the former director of the Educational Research Institute, and Andrej Koren, the former head of the National School for Leadership in Education.
Slovenia drops a spot in Global Innovation Index
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia slipped one spot to rank 31st among 129 countries in the 2019 Global Innovation Index, released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and business school INSEAD. Switzerland continues in the lead as the world's most innovative country, ahead of Sweden, the US, Netherlands, UK, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Germany and Israel. Slovenia placed a spot after Italy and one ahead of Portugal. Among the neighbouring countries, Austria ranks 21st, Hungary 33rd and Croatia 44th.
Božič hosts Italian Foreign Affairs Committee chair
LJUBLJANA - Foreign Ministry State Secretary Dobran Božič hosted Marta Grande, the chair of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, to discuss minority issues, the Western Balkans and Slovenia's measures in the protection of the Schengen border. Grande was accompanied for the talks by Italian Ambassador Paolo Trichilo and committee members Filippo Giuseppe Perconti and Francesca Piazza, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said.
Disciplinary procedure launched against army trade unionist
LJUBLJANA - Chief of the General Staff Alenka Ermenc has launched a disciplinary procedure against the head of the Trade Union of Soldiers (SVS), Gvido Novak, over his unionist activities, the SVS said in a press release. According to Maj-Gen Ermenc, who accuses Novak of severe violations of army discipline, there is ground to suspect that Novak made statements between 12 April and 7 May that harmed or could harm the interests of his employer. During that time, the controversial dismissal of the army's force commander, Brigadier General Miha Škerbinc, unfolded at Ermenc's request. The General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces said the procedure had been launched due to Novak's actions as a member of the armed forces and not as trade unionist.
Financial Administration taking on taxdodging crypto miners and traders
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Financial Administration told the STA that serious efforts had been under way to detect and sanction individuals engaged in regular crypto currency mining or trading while failing to pay taxes. It highlighted the example of a miner who had to pay EUR 100,000 in taxes after his undeclared activity was discovered. Furs responded last year to the soaring values of popular cryptocurrencies by issuing warnings that regular crypto mining and trading can amount to a work activity that needs to registered and is subject to taxation.
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