New cohesion minister urges faster EU funds absorption
LJUBLJANA - Angelika Mlinar, new cohesion policy minister, took over at the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion from Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek, her party boss who stood in after the previous minister resigned. Mlinar said key challenges were speeding up EU funds absorption and opening dialogue with other ministries. Milnar's appointment was hailed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), which along with municipality associations expressed the expectation that she would make EU funds phasing more effective. The appointment of Mlinar, an ethnic Slovenian from Austria, was met enthusiasm among the Slovenian minority in Austria and Italy.
SNS deputy defects to SDS
LJUBLJANA - Lidija Ivanuša, an MP for the opposition National Party (SNS), defected to the opposition Democrats (SDS), a move that could further complicate the operational ability of the minority government as the SNS has helped the coalition out in parliament in several key votes. Ivanuša said on Facebook the SNS's willingness to help the government was the reason she decided to leave. "The SNS's recent acts do not reflect the goals and values laid out in the party's manifesto." SNS leader Zmago Jelinčič said the defection must have been in the works for a while, while the SDS rejected having actively courted her and said other like-minded MPs were welcome to join them as well.
DeSUS mulling parting ways with rebel MP
LJUBLJANA - The coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) could part ways with a rebel MP who was the only coalition MP to vote against appointing Angelika Mlinar cohesion policy minister, after he already refused to vote for the budget bills in November. While it is still too early to reach a decision, the deputy group is "close to the point" of severing ties with Robert Polnar and will have a "thorough conversation" with him after the holidays, said deputy faction leader Franc Jurša. Polnar said he did not intend to leave the deputy group and would continue to vote as he pleases. He does not think DeSUS will let him go either, because he is "the best MP in the history of this party".
Changes to health insurance ready for third reading
LJUBLJANA - Parliament backed a set of changes to health insurance as it discussed on Thursday a bill eliminating top-up health insurance by folding it into mandatory insurance. The core of the bill remains the abolishment of a monthly levy of around EUR 35 and its replacement with a new monthly levy of EUR 29. The new levy will no longer be collected by insurers, but by the ZZZS public health fund, which now collects compulsory contributions paid by employers and employees. The MPs cancelled a provision under which a shortage of funds in the ZZZS's budget, estimated at EUR 70 million a year, would be covered by the state budget. The final reading is scheduled for January.
Police record spike in illegal crossings of border
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian police processed more than 15,200 illegal crossings of the border by the end of November this year, a 70% increase compared to the same period in 2018. A total of 3,640 migrants have asked for international protection. Citizens from Pakistan, Algeria and Afghanistan were processed by police officers most often. Asylums applications rose to 3,640 in the first eleven months, from 2,875 in 2018. Mayors of border regions affected by migration met Interior Minister Boštjan Pokljukar today, expressing satisfaction with the dialogue and efforts to find solutions.
Cengiz picked to build Karavanke motorway tunnel
LJUBLJANA - The supervisory board of the motorway company DARS endorsed the selection of Turkish bidder Cengiz as the contractor to build the Slovenian section of the second tube of the Karavanke motorway tunnel. The company offered to complete the contract for EUR 98.5 million, VAT excluded. The last chance for potential complaints expires in eight work days, but even if these are made, DARS expects the contractor will be introduced into the project in March 2020 at the latest.
Slovenia, Austria to jointly upgrade Karavanke rail tunnel
LJUBLJANA - Finance reported that the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency and the company operating Austrian railway infrastructure had published the first in what is expected to be three joint calls for bids to upgrade the Karavanke railway tunnel. Work on the Slovenian part of the tunnel is estimated at EUR 60 million. With the joint call, Slovenia wants to avoid complications that have arisen with the selection of the bidder for the Slovenian part of a second tube of the Karavanke motorway tunnel.
TPV to get EUR 6.5m in state incentive for major investment
NOVO MESTO - TPV, an automotive industry supplier, will receive EUR 6.5 million in state incentive for a EUR 49 million investment into production expansion after it reached two major deals with car makers Volvo Cars and BMW last year. The group will expand its facilities in the town of Brežice, where it now employs 120 workers, with a new factory, which is expected to create around 50 jobs. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek announced the incentive at Thursday's ceremony marking TPV's 30th anniversary.
Mes reappointed railways operator CEO
LJUBLJANA - Dušan Mes was reappointed CEO of railways operator Slovenske Železnice, the state-owned company said in a press release. He will start his third four-year term on 23 March 2020. Since Mes became CEO, Slovenske Železnice has improved its operations. Last year, its revenue reached EUR 562 million, it generated EUR 73.5 million in EBITDA and a net profit of about EUR 30 million.
Bad bank wants to use its assets to build housing
LJUBLJANA - Matej Pirc, the chief executive officer of the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), believes that the state could change the mission of the bad bank and use the real estate in its ownership to pursue housing and demographic policy objectives. Pirc told the STA that BAMC could build rental apartments and retirement homes and provide for an additional 5,000 housing units. This could extend its life beyond the currently scheduled end of activities in 2022.
Money laundering law brought into line with EU rules
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly amended on Thursday evening the act on the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism, bringing legislation in line with EU rules. Slovenia had transposed the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive in 2016, but this March the European Commission warned Slovenia and several other member states that some provisions were missing in their national laws. The amendments fix that.
Home price growth remains strong
LJUBLJANA - Home price growth accelerated in the third quarter of 2019, with average prices rising by 8.5% year on year and 3.1% over the previous quarter on the back of strong growth in prices of used flats, show Statistics Office figures. Prices of second-hand homes rose by 3.1% over the previous quarter and 5.3% on the year before, mostly due to a 6% increase in the prices of houses.
Business sentiment up slightly, still lower y/y
LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment in December reached 3 percentage points (pp) and was slightly higher than the month before (up 0.8pp). It was, however, 8.1pp lower than in December 2018, data from the Statistics Office show. The Statistics Office noted that business sentiment has not been as low as this year since 2014. However, this year's numbers were still 3.3pp higher than the long-term average.
Consumer confidence up but still lower than in December 2018
LJUBLJANA - The end of the year brought the first increase in consumer confidence in four months, data from the Statistics Office show. The index is however still well below that in December 2018. In December, consumer confidence increased by 1 percentage point over November and was 5 points above the long-term average.
Roglič to skip Giro to focus on Tour de France
LJUBLJANA - Primož Roglič, the Slovenian rider topping the UCI world individual ranking, will compete in the world's No. 1 race next year, Tour de France, and in the Tokyo Olympics, but will give Giro a miss. The news was at the press conference of his Jumbo-Visma team. Roglič will captain the Jumbo-Visma team at the Tour, taking on a leading role along with Steven Kruijswijk and Tom Dumoulin.
