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This summary is provided by the STA:
Supreme Court sets important precedent in hate speech case
LJUBLJANA - The Supreme Court set an important precedent in a case involving hate speech against the Roma by holding that public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance is a crime not only when it threatens public peace and order, the way the legal provision has been interpreted until now, but also in case of threats, abusive language or insults as such. The case involves a comment posted by a Dolenjska man in February 2011 on the web portal of a local radio station. The court said that prosecution of public incitement to hatred, violence or intolerance did not protect only public peace and order but also human dignity.
Japan's foreign minister due in Slovenia next week
LJUBLJANA - Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono will visit Slovenia next Wednesday to meet President Borut Pahor and Slovenian counterpart Miro Cerar. This will be the first visit of a Japanese foreign minister in Slovenia, which in itself shows that the two countries want to strengthen bilateral dialogue, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said. The visit will focus on bilateral cooperation in economy and science, as well as multilateral cooperation and international issues. Kono and Cerar will visit the Japanese Yaskawa robotics plant in the southeastern town of Kočevje, which opened in April. Moreover, they will also meet a Slovenian-Japanese business council in Kočevje.
Chemical waste company Kemis stops accepting waste
VRHNIKA - Hazardous waste processing company Kemis will decide within 15 days whether to appeal against a decision by building inspectors to remove the facilities it has built after it was hit by a devastating fire in 2017. Nevertheless, it will stop accepting waste today. The facilities Kemis renovated extensively after the May 2017 fire were found to have been built illegally. Kemis stopped receiving the waste of its business partners in Vrhnika a day after it received the decree to stop using the facilities immediately and remove them by 30 June 2020.
Qualified opinion issued for 2018 budget closing account
LJUBLJANA - Like in the past, the Court of Audit has issued a qualified opinion on the draft of the 2018 budget closing account and regularity of budget implementation, discovering salary and expenditure irregularities as well as failure to fully comply with regulations. "We think that certain errors and irregularities should be prevented in the future by changing systemic regulations, in particular those in the public finance act and accounting act, to provide more transparency in displaying performed transactions," the court said.
Lekarna Ljubljana restores information system after ransomware attack
LJUBLJANA - Lekarna Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest pharmacy chain with more than 50 units, was able to gradually restore its information system after a ransomware attack seriously crippled its operations for two days. The gradual reconnecting to the information system came after Monday's attack forced Lekarna Ljubljana to close all of its pharmacies on Tuesday. The details of the attack remain unclear, but Lekarna Ljubljana said the incident had been reported to the law enforcement authorities.
Ikea gets building permit for its shop in Ljubljana
LJUBLJANA - Swedish furniture giant Ikea obtained a building permit for the shop it plans to build in Ljubljana's BTC City shopping district. Construction works are expected to start soon. Vladislav Lalić, regional property and expansion manager at Ikea South East Europe, said the construction would be conducted in several phases, but the store was expected to open about a year after the start of construction. Ikea is expected to open the shop in 2020. The project has been estimated at EUR 80m and is expected to create around 300 jobs.
Adacta sells part of its business to German company
LJUBLJANA - Adacta Holding, the parent company of a leading Slovenian ICT company, was revealed to have sold its Adacta Services Business, a leading Microsoft Dynamics, Qlik and Cornerstone partner in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, to BE-terna, a company owned by the German Deutsche Private Equity (DPE) fund. By acquiring a part of Adacta's business and its 300 employees, BE-terna Group is taking the first step to realizing its long-term business strategy to become the leading global IT service company, Adacta said in announcing the deal.
Nomago taking over Brežice peer to facilitate Croatia reach
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana-based coach group Nomago said it had signed an agreement to take over its Brežice-based counterpart Integral Brebus in a bid to expand its business in Croatia, where it wants to acquire at least 30% market share. In a written statement, Nomago said that the takeover was part of its strategy of geographic growth and expansion of Nomago InterCity links, occasional transfers, on-demand services and travel services. The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of the year pending the approval of the competition watchdog.
Two biggest insurers taking over top private diagnostics centre
LJUBLJNA/BLED - Insurance group Sava Re has acquired Diagnostični Center Bled, the country's biggest private medical diagnostics centre. Sava Re signed a purchase agreement for an 80% stake in the centre with Cypriot company Cinxro Holdings today, thus acquiring 100% of voting rights. The value of the deal was not revealed. It also signed an agreement with Zavarovalnica Triglav, the biggest insurance group in Slovenia, under which Triglav will be able to acquire a 40% stake in the centre, or 50% of voting rights. This transaction is pending regulatory approval.
Demand for workers in Q2 strongest in construction
LJUBLJANA - Demand for new workers in the April-June period was strongest in construction, when the sector's job vacancy rate - showing how many vacancies were advertised by employers - reached 6.2%. Around 3,800 vacancies were advertised in construction, which was followed by manufacturing (over 3,700) and commerce (over 2,500), latest Statistics Office data show. Meanwhile, the overall job vacancy rate decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 2.3% over the previous quarter and by 0.3 points over the second quarter in 2018.
Maribor in a two-goal hole after first leg with Rosenborg
MARIBOR - Maribor are in a two-goal hole after the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League after losing to Norway's Rosenborg 1:3 at home on Wednesday. The Slovenian football champions are looking at a virtually impossible mission of advancing to the last round as they are hosted by Rosenborg in Trondheim next week. All goals were scored in the second half, with Rosenborg's Mike Jensen sealing the deal with a goal in the 71st minute. The return leg with the Norwegian champions is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Freediver Artnik shares world record, title with arch-rival
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Slovenian freediver Alenka Artnik has set another world record and won the world championship title in monofin, but she has to share both with her Italian rival Alessia Zecchini. At the Freediving World Championships in Honduras, Artnik dove to 113 metres, improving the world record set by the Italian just a week earlier by one metre. But Zecchini struck back, like Artnik plunging to a depth of 113 metres.
Guide to Slovenian Mountain Trail now available in English
LJUBLJANA - One of the oldest long-distance trails in Europe, the Slovenian Mountain Trial is hugely popular among Slovenians and increasingly also among foreign hikers, who will now be able to hit it with an English guide book in their pocket. More than 10,350 people have completed the entire 617-kilometre trail traversing Slovenia, among them 866 foreigners, the Slovenian Alpine Association (PZS) said in launching the English version the guidebook.
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