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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Almost 200 organisations join appeal for climate action
LJUBLJANA - A great number of organisations, including environmental NGOs to associations representing pensioners and healthcare workers, as well as trade union, made an urgent appeal to the government to recognise climate change as a national crisis and start dealing with it in a comprehensive fashion now. The joint appeal has so far been signed by 179 organisations and more than 8,000 individuals, including the Slovenian Beekepers' Association, Pensioners' Association (ZDUS), Friends of the Youth Association (ZPMS), Municipalities' Association and Youth for Climate Justice.
FM: 55 persons asked for repatriation from Venezuela; worried about Middle East escalation
LJUBLJANA - Answering questions from MPs during a session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said the government will do all in its power to bring from Venezuela the 55 persons of Slovenian descent who have asked for repatriation as soon as possible. Moreover, he expressed concern about the escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the aftermath of drone attacks on two major Saudi oil facilities. Given that the situation is complex and dangerous, it should be resolved in dialogue to avoid unilateral moves, Cerar summarized Slovenia's stance.
New exec appointed at Slovenian Sovereign Holding
LJUBLJANA - The supervisory board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) has appointed Boris Medica, a former pharma and insurance exec, to the management board position that will be vacated by Andrej Božič in December. Medica, who holds an MBA, worked as manager at Johnson&Johnson for 19 years, most recently as director for Central and Eastern Europe, before joining the insurance group Sava Re in 2015.
European Defence Agency head praises Slovenia's contribution
LJUBLJANA - Jorge Domecq, chief executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), praised Slovenia's cooperation with the EDA as he paid a visit. However, he called for increased participation of Slovenian industry in EDA programmes. Domecq and Defence Minister Karl Erjavec discussed key European initiatives in defence and security today, according to the Foreign Ministry. Defence Ministry top officials presented Slovenia's views on all segments of defence cooperation within the EU.
Coalition SAB proposes referendum on primary education funding
LJUBLJANA - In a bid to end a conundrum about the financing of private primary schools, the coalition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) announced it would start collecting signatures to call a referendum as the issue remains unresolved almost five years after the top court decided the state must fund them 100%, not just 85% as is the case now. The party would like to ask voters whether they agree that it should be written down in the Constitution that the state is obliged to finance only public schools. The SAB will start collecting the signatures for the referendum, which has to be called by parliament, at the end of the month, despite the fact that most of the coalition and opposition parties were rather critical of the move today.
Court of Audit asked to examine all tenders in mega rail project
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary commission in charge of keeping an eye on public finances asked the Court of Audit to examine all public tenders issued by 2TDK, the state-owned company managing the construction of the EUR 1bn-plus rail link between Divača and Koper. The resolution was put to the Commission for the Oversight of Public Finances by the opposition Democrats (SDS), who argued that the government has failed to do anything to prevent contractors from hiking up their prices. MPs also asked the auditors to review a zoning decree for a section of road on the upcoming third development axis, a project that is supposed to be launched soon and which will cost significantly more than the Divača-Koper rail track.
Police looking into Janković-linked debt write-off
LJUBLJANA - Police are looking into three cases of simplified debt restructuring that would allow companies owned by Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković's sons to write off about EUR 29 million in debt, the General Police Administration confirmed for the STA. Web portal Siol.net meanwhile reported that the Notary Chamber is checking the work of notary Miro Košak in the cases of debt restructuring of Electa Inženiring, Electa Naložbe and Electa Holding.
Low prices, limited programmes pushing UKC Ljubljana into the red
LJUBLJANA - UKC Ljubljana, the country's leading hospital, incurs an annual loss of seven to eight million euro because their services and programmes are underrated, consequently receiving less funds then necessary, its director general Janez Poklukar told the press. To improve the situation, UKC Ljubljana has asked the ZZZS public health fund to expand some of its programmes and raise prices, but is still waiting for reply. The hospital makes a loss of up to EUR 5,000 per procedure for which it has no adequate funding, or even up to EUR 50,000 per patient for external mechanical circulatory assistance and mechanical ventilation assistance, the director explained.
Anti-graft body looking into Črnčec's link with Westinghouse
LJUBLJANA - The indirect connection between Damir Črnčec, a state secretary in the prime minister's office, and Westinghouse as the largest supplier to the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK), is being looked at by the anti-corruption watchdog due to potential conflict of interest, the commercial broadcaster POP TV reported on Tuesday. The report comes after the news portal Požareport noted recently that Črnčec, the prime minister's advisor for national security, had employed the head of the Slovenian office of Westinghouse as director of his private institute.
Amber Rail Freight Corridor officially launched in Koper
KOPER - The Amber Rail Freight Corridor, which connects industrial centres and inter-modal terminals in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, was formally launched in a ceremony. It has been operational since January as the first rail freight corridor established on the initiative of member states. The corridor connects the Adriatic Sea - with Koper being the only maritime port within the corridor - with the Poland-Belarus border, and its position represents an alternative to the transport routes between the north and south of Europe.
New slasher by Slovenian horror king in cinemas
LJUBLJANA - Tomaž Gorkič, the director of Slovenia's first feature-length horror film, the 2015 slasher Idyll, has returned to the genre that brought him acclaim. His latest film, which he describes as a "politically incorrect mix of horror and black comedy" will be on show at Kino Šiška tonight before it premieres in cinemas on Thursday. Prekletstvo Valburge (Curse of the Valburga) has the brothers Bojan and Marjan hoping to make some easy money from hordes of tourists in their home town by organising a tour of an abandoned local castle that is closed to the public.
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