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This summary is provided by the STA:
Govt decides for lockdown, in force as of midnight
LJUBLJANA - With the number of confirmed Covid-19 case continuing to rise - to 319 by 2pm on Thursday -, the government adopted a decree banning gatherings and movement of people in public areas, albeit with a number of exceptions. The measure is in force as of Monday. Despite the stepped up restrictions, people will be allowed to leave home to go to work, the pharmacy and to buy groceries at their closest shop. Oeople will also be allowed to go outdoors and to parks, but only alone or with people living in the same household. They will also be able to run errants related to their household or agricultural activities. Fines for violations will be about EUR 400.
Parliament passes package of laws to mitigate fallout of coronavirus crisis
LJUBLJANA - Parliament passed a package of laws aimed at mitigating the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Measures include pay compensation for temporary lay-offs, credit payment and tax duty deferrals for companies, as well as trade restrictions for agriculture and food products. The act on temporary redunancies, estimated at EUR 50 million, stipulates temporarily laid-off workers will be entitled to 80% of their wage average from the past three months, with the employers having to cover 60% of this sum and the state 40%. One of the acts in the package also gives the government direct control over the budget despite concerns this could constitute a breach of the Constitution.
Number of confirmed coronavirus cases at 319 by 2pm, up by 33 in a day
LJUBLJANA - The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Slovenia stood at 319 at 2pm on Thursday, up by 33 in the last 24 hours. A total of 9,860 persons have been tested so far, up by 1,130 from Wednesday, meaning the number of people tested daily remains at slightly above 1,000. Hospitals are reportedly presently looking after around 40 Covid-19 patients. While no new deaths have been reported since the first confirmed casualty on the weekend, the latest increase is slightly higher than on Tuesday and Wednesday, when it stood at 20 and 13 respectively. With testing restricted to health and emergency workers, the elderly, those in hospital and people exhibiting more severe symptoms, the government has warned that the number of actually infected people is probably several times higher.
Minister mulling police powers for the army
LJUBLJANA - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said he was considering an activation of legislation that would give the army police powers, a move that would need to be endorsed by a two-thirds majority in parliament. Speaking for public broadcaster TV Slovenija on Wednesday evening, Hojs said "I will propose the activation of article 37.a [of the defence act] as the competent minister." The article in question was adopted at the peak of the migration crisis, in October 2015, and has been activated once since, in early 2016. The centre-left opposition indicated they would want more questions as to the necessity of activating the army, echoing some of the same civil rights concerns that accompanied the drafting of the legislation in 2015. Meanwhile, PM Janez Janša announced Thursday evening that the Armed Forces would be supplemented with volunteers.
Half a million face masks delivered to civil protection services
LJUBLJANA - Around half a million face masks were delivered to a civil protection warehouse near Ljubljana on Thursday morning to cover the most urgent needs for protective equipment. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said that the government would try to pull off a planned supply of an additional 1.5 million type FFB2 masks by the end of the week. The same quantity of the more effective type FFP3 masks is expected to be delivered at the beginning of next week. One planned shipment did not work out though, as an order of 1.5 million masks that was expected to arrive through Italy turned out to have been a fraud attempt.
New rules for shops in place
LJUBLJANA - New rules for grocery shops took effect. They must be open from 8am to 8pm, and for the first two hours, until 10am, groups particularly vulnerable to infections - the elderly, pregnant women and disabled persons - must be given priority. All shops bar petrol stations and pharmacies must be closed on Sunday and holidays. This follows from a government decree adopted late on Wednesday as part of ongoing efforts to contain coronavirus by imposing strict social distancing rules. The vast majority of shops, all bars and restaurants, hotels, and services establishments such as hair salons were shut down by decree on Sunday. The trade union of shop assistants responded by threatening with a strike unless the closing time is pushed forward to 6pm.
Slovenian companies in China resuming work after lockdown
ZREČE/TRŽIČ/NOVO MESTO - Slovenian companies operating in China are gradually returning back to pre-coronavirus levels although production is not yet going ahead at full steam. The situation has been brought under control, Unior, which forges car parts in China at a plant employing 460 workers, said. The Cablex group, owning a subsidiary with a 400-strong workforce in China, said saying that after restarting production in mid-February, output is now approaching the planned capacity. Pharma company Krka, which co-owns a subsidiary in China, also reported that the situation is returning to pre-coronavirus levels. The companies are however concerned about the dire conditions in Europe and elsewhere, which are causing supply disruptions.
SBI TOP loses 3%
LJUBLJANA - The SBI TOP index of blue chips on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange lost another 3%. The most active issue was again the share of pharma Krka, which gained 1% and contributed almost EUR 402,000 to the daily turnover of EUR 1.67 million. Apart from the Krka shares, the only issue that was not among losers was port operator Luka Koper, which was up by 3.2%.
Slovenian companies ramping up production of sanitiser
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian makers of disinfectants are working around the clock to meet the spike in demand, in particular for hand sanitiser, caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Production has been ramped up. The biggest producer of medical disinfectants in Slovenia, the Trzin-based Kimi, makes disinfectant only for Slovenia because the majority of foreign providers stopped their supply. Ilirija in Ljubljana increased its output ten-fold but is experiencing issues in securing raw materials. Both Kimi and Ilirija have refrained from raising their prices despite surging demand, quoting ethical reasons.
Govt moves National Public Health Institute boss to healthcare directorate
LJUBLJANA - Adopting a number of staffing decisions, the government dismissed Nina Pirnat as the director of the National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) and appointed her the acting director general of the Health Ministry's Healthcare Directorate. It also appointed secretary generals at the health and foreign ministries. Darja Hrga was appointed acting secretary general at the Health Ministry. Hrga so far served as secretary general at the Defence Ministry, where she is to be succeeded by Marko Doblekar, who to be appointed acting secretary general at the proposal of Defence Minister Matej Tonin. Moreover, Jožef Drofenik was appointed acting secretary general at the Foreign Ministry, replacing Mitja Močnik, who was dismissed.
Govt raising pay for ministers and state secretaries
LJUBLJANA - Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik announced what amounts to a raise of the pay for the ministers and state secretaries of the new government to the highest possible allowed for these posts in the public sector pay system. Koritnik, who argued this was not a pay increase but the determining of wage brackets, said the 61st wage bracket will be used for all state secretaries at ministries and the 64th for all ministers. PM Janez Janša tied the measure to the coronavirus situation. In the previous government, led by Marjan Šarec, all ministers bar the finance minister were ranked in the lowest possible bracket for the post, meaning the 62nd bracket. The same applied for all state secretaries, which meant the 59th bracket.
Support to NATO membership lowest in Slovenia, survey shows
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Only half of Slovenians support NATO membership, while 27% are against it, which is the lowest support among all members of the alliance, suggests a survey presented in Brussels. The average support to membership is 64%. France and Iceland also have only 50% of the population supporting NATO membership but there the percentage of those opposing it is lower than in Slovenia. The country with the highest share of NATO opponents is Montenegro, where it stands at 33%. However, support to the alliance there is slightly higher than in Slovenia, at 54%.
Chief defendant in hospital queue-jumping case back at work
LJUBLJANA - Uroš Smiljić, the main defendant in a hospital queue-jumping racket case which is still being processed by courts, has returned to his job at the UKC Ljubljana hospital after a higher court confirmed he had been unlawfully dismissed in 2018. He managed to prove at the Labour Court that he had been dismissed "for fictitious reasons", while the higher court fully dismissed an appeal by UKC Ljubljana. The investigation against Smiljić is ongoing.
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