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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:
Volleyball: Slovenia through to the final in Paris
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia defeated Poland 3:1 in the semifinal of the European Volleyball Championship on Thursday to qualify for the final in Paris. Playing in front of a raucous capacity crowd in the Stožice arena, Slovenia narrowly won the first set 25:23 but lost a hard-fought second set before rebounding to wrap up the game after more than two hours of play.
Šarec pessimistic about Adria prospects
NEW YORK, US - PM Marjan Šarec expressed regret about the developments at Adria Airways, sympathising with the passengers and the employees' families, but also noted that the air carrier is no longer state-owned and that the outlook for its rescue is not good. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek meanwhile told the STA the situation was being examined by several institutions so that the government will take a decision on Friday or Saturday how to rescue the company to preserve Slovenia's air links with the rest of the world. Citing unofficial sources, POP TV reported that BAMC, the bad bank, suggested the government invest between EUR 15 million and 20 million in Adria on condition the company pay out on Friday the reminder of August pay to employees and settle its International Air Transport Association membership fee.
Šarec meets Guterres, backs multilateralism and urges respecting of agreements
NEW YORK, US - PM Marjan Šarec underlined Slovenia's support for multilateralism and the need to honour human rights and agreements as he met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on Thursday. Šarec's office said the honouring of agreements was particularly important for small countries like Slovenia, which is why the PM stressed the role of the UN in this context too. Šarec, who also stressed the importance of stability in the W Balkans, confirmed for the press Slovenia was sticking to its recognition of Kosovo, but he added it would be hard to revive dialuge between Belgrade and Prishtina if Kosovo does not remove its new tariffs on Serbian goods.
MPs pass Resolution on National Security Strategy
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the Resolution on National Security Strategy with 46 votes in favour and 29 against. The resolution was passed after two opposition parties succeeded in throwing out an expansion of powers of the intelligence service to fight home-grown terrorism. Defence Ministry State Secretary Nataša Dolenc noted that the currently valid resolution had been passed a decade ago. Meanwhile, the security situation has been changing and worsening since 2013, she said, identifying hybrid threats, cyber threats and migration as new risks.
PM: If Croatia Schengen decision political, Slovenia to act politically too
NEW YORK, US - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec commented on the reports that the European Commission would give Croatia the go-ahead to join the Schengen area on 16 October by saying that in case of such a political decision, Slovenia will act politically as well. "I've been taking part in the European Council sessions for a year, and nothing can surprise me any more," said Šarec in New York, where he is attending the general debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
Cerar talks Venezuela repatriation, Iran crisis
NEW YORK, US - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, speaking with Slovenian reporters in New York, said he expected first Slovenians from Venezuela to be repatriated within a few weeks. He also credited the EU for preventing a complete fiasco of the Iran nuclear deal. "The repatriation of the Slovenians from Venezuela will happen soon," he said noting the government's task force was working hard to hash out all the details for what was not a simple operation. "Things will get started within a few weeks."
Retailer Mercator posts higher H1 revenue, profit up almost 60%
LJUBLJANA - Mercator, Slovenia's leading retailer, saw group sales revenue increase by 0.4% to EUR 1.06 billion in the first half of the year. Group net profit rose by 58.4% to EUR 2.4 million, the company said in an earnings release. Normalised profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by almost 73% to EUR 83 million and operating profit (EBIT) by over 76% to EUR 29.9 million.
Chirac paid tribute as Slovenia's ally
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry paid its tribute to late French President Jacques Chirac by describing him as an important ally of Slovenia in its accession to the EU and NATO. "Jacques Chirac will remain in our memory as an important ally of Slovenia in accession to the EU and NATO and as a politician who decisively contributed to peace in the Western Balkans and the enlargement policy of the European Union," the ministry said on its Twitter profile.
Erjavec deepening defence cooperation in Montenegro
PODGORICA, Montenegro - Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec started an official two-day visit to Montenegro to discuss with his counterpart Predrag Bošković options to further deepen cooperation. Reflecting on Slovenia's support to Montenegro's entry into NATO, which happened two years ago, the two ministers agreed today that Slovenia sending a defence adviser to Podgorica in 2011 had been among the most tangible signs of support.
MEP Fajon elected chair of Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee
BRUSSELS, Belgium - MEP Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) was elected chair of the Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee today, her office said in a press release. Another Slovenian MEP, Franc Bogovič (EPP/SLS), was elected one of the two vice chairs, while the other position went to Greek Petros Kokkalis (GUE/NGL). Slovenian Klemen Grošelj (RE/LMŠ) is the third Slovenian member of the delegation.
Fishermen's right to compensation extended until end 2021
LJUBLJANA - Parliament extended by two years the right of Slovenian fishermen to claim compensation for fishing in the Piran Bay being obstructed as neighbouring Croatia refuses to implement the 2017 border arbitration decision by an international tribunal. The right also refers to compensation claims for material damage that their fishing vessels would suffer in incidents with Croatian fishermen, both of which would have expired at the end of 2019.
New indexation of social transfers endorsed, automatic pension increase confirmed
LJUBLJANA - The parliament passed a legislative proposal dealing with the indexation of transfers to individuals and households under which such transfers worth around EUR 1.25 billion will be indexed to inflation once a year. The opposition Democrats (SDS) and the Left were the only parties to oppose the amendment. Meanwhile, the government confirmed at a correspondenace session a 1.5% increase in pensions for December, which is in line with legislative provisions that envisage such a raise for the case of GDP growth in 2018 exceeding 4%. It was 4.1%
Krško plant offline next week for EUR 100m maintenance shutdown
KRŠKO - Having completed the 30th refuelling cycle, the Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) will go offline on Tuesday for a one-month scheduled maintenance shutdown that is expected to cost around EUR 100 million. The reactor will be refuelled and standard maintenance works carried out on all systems and structures of Slovenia's sole nuclear installation, technical director Mario Gluhak told the press on Thursday.
BAMC profit down 12% in H1 y/y due to shrunken portfolio
LJUBLJANA - Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC) generated EUR 17.9 million in net profit in the first half of the year, which was 12% less than in the first half of 2018. The company said in the business report that the results were on par with last year's, considering its portfolio has gotten smaller. BAMC generated EUR 116 million in asset management revenue, accounting for 5.6% of cumulative transfer value of assets. The figure is level with the same period in 2018, despite the fact that the portfolio has shrunk by more than 20% since the start of 2018.
Development pact to help face potential new crisis
LJUBLJANA - The two-day Manager Congress got under way at Portorož with optimism despite the talk of a looming crisis with assessments that Slovenian businesses were in good shape and better prepared for a new crisis than the last time around. Representatives of the government, businesses and trade unions taking part in one of the debates agreed that Slovenia needed a new development pact to brave a potential new global crisis. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the government should put in place a competitive, predictable and stable business environment.
Slovenia gains two spots in IMD Digital Competitiveness ranking
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has gained two spots on the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking over 2018, placing 32nd this year. The US remained at the top of the ranking comparing 63 countries, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. In comparison to other EU members who joined the bloc alongside Slovenia or later, Slovenia fared worse than Estonia in 29th place and Lithuania in 30th.
Exhibition on architect Plečnik moves from Vatican to Ljubljana
LJUBLJANA - An exhibition on prominent Slovenian architect and designer Jože Plečnik (1872-1957) and his designs of sacred objects moved from the Vatican Museums, where it was hosted during summer, to the Ljubljana City Museum, displaying 33 selected liturgical vessels as well as video presentations of his work. Opening today and running until 24 November in Ljubljana, the exhibition, entitled Plečnik and the Sacred, is one of the most important projects promoting Slovenian culture this year.
Sovre Prize for translations of novels by John Williams and Jan Nemec
LJUBLJANA - Translations of John Williams's novel Augustus and Czech writer Jan Nemec's A History of Light won Breda Biščak and Tatjana Jamnik the Sovre Prize, given out by the Slovenian Literary Translators' Association. The award, which is named after Slovenia's greatest translator of Ancient Greek literature Anton Sovre (1885-1963), will be presented in Hrastnik on 24 October.
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