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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:
Slovenia's GDP growth slows marginally to 2.3% in Q3
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's economy expanded by 2.3% at the annual level in the third quarter of the year or a seasonally adjusted 2%, the slowest rate in three years, as growth continued to decelerate in line with predictions. Exports were sluggish, growing by 4.5% compared to 5% in the quarter before, but their lacklustre contribution to growth was offset by robust domestic spending and investments, which rose by 3.8% and 4.4% respectively.
Mini pension reform passed
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed amendments to the pension and disability insurance act that will raise the pension base for men to equate it with women's and offer incentives to those who stay in work after meeting retirement requirements. Men who have worked for a full 40 years will have their pension set at 63.5% of their wages as of 2025, up from 57.25%. Those eligible for retirement who keep working, will initially get, alongside the salary, 40% of the pension they are entitled to and then 20%.
Inspectors find irregularities in intel agency hiring
LJUBLJANA - Inspectors have detected irregularities in the hiring practices at the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA), in a case connected with the employment of a friend of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec. The Public Sector Inspectorate said it had found violations of vetting requirements in four cases and two cases of workers not having had all the qualifications required for their job, but it stopped short of demanding that the employees in question be terminated.
Unemployment benefits rising, requirements stiffened
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed amendments to the labour market regulation act that significantly increase the minimum monthly unemployment benefit while stiffening eligibility conditions across the board. The minimum benefit is being raised from EUR 350 to EUR 530 gross, the same level as the basic minimum income for single-person households, which currently stands at EUR 402 net. Foreign citizens wanting to claim unemployment benefits will need meet language skill requirements.
NLB sees nine-month group profit rise 2% to EUR 162m
LJUBLJANA - NLB, Slovenia's largest bank, posted a group net profit of EUR 162.2 million for the first nine months of 2019, up 2% over the same period last year. All banks within the group generated profit, with the parent company's profit rising by 21% to almost EUR 163 million. The group's profit before impairments and provisions stood at EUR 170.3 million, up 7%. The group released provisions to the tune of EUR 9.7 million, down from EUR 19 million in the same period last year.
Koper port operator profit down by third
KOPER - Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port, reported its nine-month net profit drop by 29% year-on-year to EUR 34.5 million. Net sales revenue rose by 3% in the period to EUR 173.8 million. Operating profit (EBIT) was down 32% to EUR 38.5 million, which the company attributed to higher labour costs, transshipment fee costs and a one-off event in 2018. Luka Koper transshipped 17.7 million tonnes of cargo, which is roughly on a par with the figure in the same period last year.
Gorenje plans return to profit in 2020
VELENJE - The Velenje-based household appliances maker Gorenje, owned by the Chinese conglomerate Hisense, will finish 2019 in the red but hopes to return to profit next year. According to chief executive Lan Lin, this will require a change of mindset, and it will determine whether a TV production facility will be built in Velenje. Revenue is expected to rise by 5.5% this year and by at least 10% next year. Lin expects a profit of around EUR 15 million in 2020.
Survey unemployment in Q3 slightly up y/y
LJUBLJANA - Survey unemployment rate in Slovenia slid to 4.8% in the third quarter of the year, down 0.2 percentage points from the same period last year and 0.6pp more than in the second quarter, according to the Statistics Office. Compared to the April-June period, the unemployment rate increased by 0.8pp in men and 0.4pp in women. By age group, the increase was sharpest among 15-29 year-olds.
Annual inflation steady in November at 1.4%
LJUBLJANA - Consumer prices in Slovenia grew at an annual rate of 1.4% in November, which is level with the month before. On the monthly level, prices grew by 0.1%. The annual inflation is driven by higher prices of services and goods, which contributed 1.1 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively, the Statistics Office said. Annual inflation was pushed up the most by more expensive food and by higher prices in the group miscellaneous goods and services.
Unior revenue up, profit down in Jan-Sept
ZREČE - Tool maker group Unior generated EUR 192.4 million in net revenue in the first nine months of the year, 4.7% more than in the same period last year. Group net profit dropped 4.1% to EUR 9.7 million, show unaudited results. The Unior management attributed the decline in profit to poorer results of associated companies. EBITDA reached EUR 24.9 million, up 7.5%, and EBIT was 17% higher, at EUR 12.5 million.
Private school funding in focus of visit by Cardinal Versaldi
LJUBLJANA - Giuseppe Versaldi, the cardinal prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, met Education Minister Jernej Pikalo for talks that focused on funding of private primary schools. According to the ministry, the cardinal argued for plurality of education, and for giving parents the right to choose education for their children. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2014 that private schools should get full public funding, which is yet to be enacted by parliament.
Earliest finds from Slovenia on display at National Museum
LJUBLJANA - A new permanent exhibition was launched in the National Museum. The Earliest Stories from the Crossroads disclose the "furthest and most mysterious past of the territory of Slovenia, as evidenced by the archaeological finds from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age." Finding a special place among the exhibits is a Neanderthal flute, discovered in Divje Babe cave in western Slovenia in 1995 as possibly the world's oldest known musical instrument. The exhibition completes the permanent display of archaeological collections called Stories from the Crossroads, a project that has taken seven years.
BBC airs documentary about Boris Pahor
LJUBLJANA - The BBC aired a documentary about the 106-year-old Boris Pahor, believed to be the oldest living survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. The celebrated author tells BBC journalist Alan Yentob about his experiences of Fascism and Nazism in the 63-minute documentary The Man Who Saw Too Much, which is aimed at raising awareness of the horrors that happened in Europe more than seven decades ago.
Slovenians see waste as biggest environmental challenge
BRUSSELS, Belgium - While climate change is the main environmental problem for a majority of citizens of the 28 EU member states, waste is what bothers Slovenians the most, as 42% of them pointed to this as the main challenge, followed by climate change (37%) and air pollution (36%). At the level of the entire EU, climate change (52%) is followed by air pollution (35%), pollution of the sea (31%), deforestation and increasing quantity of waste (28% each), shows the latest Eurobarometer survey.
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