EU Commission confirmed, Lenarčič will not forget he's Slovenian
STRASBOURG, France - Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner for crisis management, said he was a European commissioner but he would not forget he was from Slovenia, as he spoke to the press after Ursula von der Leyen's Commission was endorsed by the European Parliament. He believes 461 MEPs voting in favour, 157 against and 89 abstaining means a strong endorsement, by far stronger the vote for Jean-Claude Juncker's team five years ago, but the future path would not be easy. Slovenia's eight MEPs, all of whom voted for the new Commission, said it was time the new team got down to work after weeks of delay.
Parliaments want to deepen Slovenia-Friuli ties
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's National Assembly and the regional parliament of Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia plan to expand ties, in particular to benefit the ethnic minorities on both sides of the border, top parliamentary officials said after their Ljubljana meeting. Speaker Dejan Židan thanked Piero Mauro Zanin, president of the regional parliament of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, for his political support for legislation that would ensure the Slovenian minority was represented in the regional parliament. Židan announced the Slovenian minority would get back Narodni Dom, a Trieste cultural centre of huge historical importance, in July 2020, 100 years after the building was burnt down by Fascists.
Three candidates endorsed to run for DeSUS top job
LJUBLJANA - The most senior bodies of the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) cleared two contenders to challenge Karl Erjavec for the presidency of the party at the January congress, Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec and jurist Borut Stražišar. The three candidates presented their candidacies after a vetting commission aired "substantive misgivings" about Pivec and Stražišar, while founding they meet formal requirements for the post. Pivec faced allegations of wrongdoing related to her contribution to an EU-funded project when she served as state secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad.
Committee clears proposal to abolish supplementary insurance
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Health Committee surprisingly endorsed legislation that would effectively end the current system of compulsory and supplementary health insurance as of 2021 in favour of a fully-fledged single-payer system. It was widely expected the amendments, originally tabled by the Left, would simply be voted down since the government said the bill was not appropriate. Instead, the original proposal was transformed with coalition amendments into a bill that folds the current lump sum, roughly EUR 29 per month, into the existing compulsory payments.
Central bank urged to reconsider lending restrictions
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Finance Committee urged the central bank to reconsider the recently imposed curbs on consumer lending, an appeal that came at a session called by all five coalition parties after the central bank curtailed lending to consumers with the argument that consumer loans would pose a risk to the banking system if left unchecked. The committee said the restrictions would have a negative impact on spending and reduce the financial strength of those with the lowest incomes, but central bank governor Boštjan Vasle said action had been warranted to protect financial stability.
New tax boss announces fight against tax evaders
LJUBLJANA - Peter Jenko took over as the new director general of the Financial Administration (FURS) for a five-year term. He announced one of his goals would be to change the tax procedure act so that the names of major tax evaders could be made public. In an interview for the newspaper Delo, he said quite a few known taxpayers had formally moved to Dubai, including the one paying the second largest income tax in the country. So FURS will try to establish whether these taxpayers have indeed become United Arab Emirates residents or has the transfer of their residence been merely fictitious.
Retail group Mercator's net profit down 30% to EUR 6m
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian retail group Mercator posted EUR 6.21 million in net profit in the first nine months of the year, down 30.3% year on year. Mercator explained in a release the group results for this and last year were not fully comparable because of a change in accounting standards and last year's sale of a shopping centre and land in Serbia. The one-off effects excluded, the group's net profit would be almost EUR 10 million higher. The group increased its sales revenue by 1.6% to EUR 1.64 billion. Net financial debt was down by almost a fifth compared to the end of the third quarter last year, to EUR 629.2 million.
Abanka's net profit down 20% to EUR 42.5m in Jan-Sept
LJUBLJANA - Abanka, Slovenia's third largest bank which was privatised in June, generated a net profit of EUR 42.5 million in the first nine months of 2019, a 20% year-on-year drop. In the low interest rate environment, net interest income totalled EUR 45 million, which is on a par with last year's nine-month result, show the business results released today. At the end of September, Abanka's total assets stood at EUR 3,769.8 million, putting its market share at 9.3%. "The bank has high liquidity and a strong capital base," the report says.
Analyst warns time running out to establish new Adria Airways
LJUBLJANA - While the government has not decided yet whether to establish an airline in full or partial state ownership two months into the receivership of the former flag carrier Adria Airways, Croatian civil aviation analyst Alen Šćuric believes that it would be a strategic move by the state and that the time is running out. While many in Slovenia are opposed to the idea, he told the STA a new airline was in strategic interest of the state. He believes the deadline until it would make sense to establish a new company is the summer of 2020.
Cinkarna Celje exports 30 tonnes of radwaste to US
CELJE - Cinkarna Celje, the Celje-based chemical company, has tackled an environmental issue weighing down on it for 24 years by exporting 30 tonnes of radioactive waste to the US. The radioactive waste had been produced in the technological process to obtain titanium dioxide pigment, the company's key product. Cinkarna said in a release the waste had been exported to the US state of Idaho, but did not disclose the value of the deal.
Slovenia's fastest supercomputer coming soon
MARIBOR - The first stage of Slovenia's fastest public supercomputer was launched as part of the EuroHPC network of supercomputers today. The HPC RIVR is a prototype that will be used to develop and test solutions for the primary supercomputer system at the Institute of Information Sciences (IZUM), which is expected to be launched at the end of 2020. The supercomputer in Maribor is one of EU's eight high-performance computing (HPC) centres which provide support to the researchers and industry. The EUR 20-million project is coordinated by the University of Maribor.
Slovenia to cooperate with European Space Agency in Planica
SEVILLE, Spain - Slovenia will join two more programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA) for a total of five, with one of the new projects involving the Planica Nordic Centre, Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti announced in Seville, where he is attending an ESA meeting. The project, carried within the E3P2 programme for human and robotic exploration, will focus on studying the effects of hypoxia and simulated reduced gravity on the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and thermoregulation system, as well as decompression sickness and the impact on immunology and vision. Slovenia has been an associate ESA member since 2016.
Lux Prize for film involving Slovenian co-producer
STRASBOURG, France - God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, a film by Macedonia's Teona Strugar Mitevska that involves Slovenian co-producer Vertigo, won the 2019 LUX Film Prize, given out by the European Parliament. The film tells a story of a young woman who wins the race for the holy cross during the Orthodox ceremony of Epiphany, thus crossing into a traditionally male field. The film is seen as a significant contribution to the feminist struggle against conservative societies. Slovenian co-producer Danijel Hočevar told the STA that apart from the prestige it involved, the prize would make it easier to distribute the film within the EU.
Handball Association sacks national team coach Vujović
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Handball Association decided to part ways with the head coach of the men's national handball team, Veselin Vujović, who was appointed in 2015 and led Slovenia to bronze at the 2017 World Championship. However, the recent period was marked by unconvincing performances and tensions within the team. The 58-year-old Montenegrin, who also coaches Croatia's Zagreb, has recently made headlines because of losing his temper at a game of the Croatian champions. The incident was condemned by the Slovenian association's president Franjo Bobinac, who said Vujović's successor would be appointed by mid-December.
