Police step up pressure on self-styled militia
NOVO MESTO - Slovenian police confiscated on Saturday seven pieces of weapons from 41 members of a self-styled militia known as the Štajerska Guard on the border with Croatia near the town of Krško. Its members said they were protecting the border against illegal migrants. The weapons will be sent for analysis and the individual prosecuted if found to have broken the law. The encounter was also reported to the prosecution, which however did not detect elements of criminal activity, according to the Novo Mesto Police Department. The government has recently decided to change legislation to be able to tackle the activities of such paramilitary formations.
NSKS in Austria's Carinhita marks 70th anniversary
BLEIBURG, Austria - The National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS), an umbrella organisation of the Slovenian minority in Austria, marked its 70th anniversary, with Slovenian PM Marjan Šarec saying that although divided by borders in the past, "we are all part of one nation" now symbolically and de facto united in the EU. He stressed, however, that Slovenia "must never forget Slovenians living beyond its borders". The NSKS was formed in 1949 based on a Christian-democratic agenda to expand the Slovenian minority's political representation in Austria beyond the regional unit of the Liberation Front for Slovenian Carinthia.
Slovenian ski jumpers to good start of new World Cup season
WISLA, Poland - Slovenia's Anže Lanišek placed second at the first individual event of the new, 41st Ski Jumping World Cup season in Poland's Wisla, only a day after the Slovenian team placed fourth in Saturday's team event. This is the first World Cup podium result for the 23-year-old, whom head coach Gorazd Bertoncelj had mentioned as one of the Slovenian favourites this season. Lanišek is "very happy" with the result. "I've been waiting for four years to finally get to the podium. I didn't think this would happen as early as Wisla."
No swine fever in Slovenia, but pork prices still rise
LJUBLJANA - Although no case of African swine fever has been recorded in Slovenia, pork prices in the country have risen by 10-12% this year as a serious outbreak of the disease in Asia has made global pork prices skyrocket. Slovenian meat producers believe the 10-12% rise will not suffice to cover the constantly rising producer price. The Slovenian Meat Processing Industry Association says the situation shows how vulnerable Slovenia is due to a rather low self-sufficiency rate for pork, which stands at 30%. The industry could survive the crisis if meat prices do not lag considerably behind rising costs, but expects that retailers will also have to rise pork prices sooner or later.
Profit for Slovenian arm of Schenker down in 2018, revenue level
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian arm of the German DB Schenker logistics group generated EUR 45.75m in sales revenue last year, which is on a par with the 2017 figure. Net profit decreased by 18% to EUR 2.79 million, shows the company's business report available on the website of the Agency for Public Legal Records (AJPES). Schenker Mednarodna Špedicija generates most of its revenue from road transport, the share of which increased by 3.1 percentage points to 48.6% after a decline the year before. The Ljubljana-based company ended 2018 with 145 employees, five more than it had at the start of the year.
Environmental sector's output up 6%
LJUBLJANA - The total output of Slovenia's environmental goods and services sector amounted to EUR 1.72 billion in 2017, up 5.8% over 2016, the latest data released by the Statistics Office showed. Around EUR 1,05 billion, or 61% of the total output, was generated by production of goods and services for environmental protection, and the rest by resource management (e.g. renewable energy production). The sector employed almost 25,700 full-time workers, up 4.4%.
