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This summary is provided by the STA:
Logar, Maas, Silva say EU better prepared for potential second Covid-19 wave
BRDO PRI KRANJU - Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his German and Portuguese counterparts, Heiko Maas and Augusto Santos Silva, found the EU was better equipped to deal with a potential second wave of coronavirus infections. Speaking after a trio EU presidency meeting at Brdo estate, where Maas was present in person and Santos Silva via video link, the ministers said they did not wish for strict preventive measures to be reintroduced, but they were willing to step up efforts if needed. Apart from the trio presidency plans they also discussed the EU multi-year budget and recovery plan. Maas also met Prime Minister Janez Janša and President Borut Pahor.
Three countries removed from Covid-19 safe list
LJUBLJANA - The government confirmed delisting of Croatia, Czechia and France as Covid-19 safe countries from Saturday, while decreeing that Belgium and the Netherlands be moved from yellow to the green list. As a result, a 14-day quarantine will apply to citizens of the new yellow-listed countries, safe for exceptions, while even Slovenians returning from Croatia would have to prove they had actually come from there rather than from a red listed country, or else they will be served quarantine orders. Interior Minister Aleš Hojs threatened the border could be "fully closed" should the latest measures not help to contain the virus's spread.
Sixteen Covid-19 cases on Thursday
LJUBLJANA - In what is in keeping with the slightly raised but mostly flat curve of new coronavirus cases in Slovenia in the past week, 16 infections were confirmed as 1,274 people were tested on Thursday. Ten patients are hospitalised. The latest data take the number of active cases to 136 and the overall tally to 1,649. The death toll remains at 111. The epidemiologists are currently following 11 infection clusters in Slovenia, most of which were imported from abroad. One of them appeared in a large trade company, while restaurants are also a source of infection, a public health official said.
Jobless total down 1.1% in June after three months of growth
LJUBLJANA - The registered jobless total in Slovenia stood at 89,377 at the end of June, a 1.1% decrease on May but 26.3% more year-on-year. The Employment Service said this was the first decrease after three consecutive months of unemployment growth. The number of newly registered fell by 4.7% from May to 7,558, up 83 year-on-year. Roughly half saw their fixed term contracts expire, 588 were first-time job seekers, 69 lost jobs in bankruptcies and 2,201 were permanently redundant.
European Commission president to receive Janša next Thursday
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will receive Prime Minister Janez Janša in Brussels next Thursday, European Commission chief spokesperson Eric Mamer announced. While no official information about the context of the meeting is available, the talks are expected to focus on the recovery package after the Covid-19 pandemic and Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2021. Unofficially Janša is also expected to meet European Council President Charles Michel, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Janša talks Covid-19 situation with Hungarian, Czech PMs
LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša talked with his Hungarian and Czech counterparts on the phone. With Hungarian PM Viktor Orban he talked about the preparations for the upcoming session of the Council of the EU and about the coronavirus situation in the region. The talks with his Czech counterpart Andrej Babiš focused about the epidemiologic situation in their respective countries as well as about measures to allow safe tourism. This was after Babiš criticised Slovenia for remove his country from the list of Covid-19 safe countries.
Pahor on phone with Icelandic counterpart
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor talked with his Icelandic counterpart Gudni Johannesson on the telephone, congratulating him on his landslide victory in Saturday's election. According to the president's office, the pair also talked about their countries' successful response to Covid-19. Phor invited the Icelandic president to visit Slovenia, an invitation that Johannesson accepted, announcing he would visit as soon as a suitable opportunity arose.
Coalition makes pact with opposition SNS, minority MPs
LJUBLJANA - The ruling coalition parties signed a deal on cooperation with the opposition National Party (SNS) and the Italian and Hungarian minority MPs. The SNS and the two minority MPs agreed to support government bills and projects in the 2020-2022 period. The parties committed to adopting systemic reforms necessary for development and overcoming the coronavirus crisis. Other opposition parties turned down the offer to join the partnership on the grounds that Janša did not inspire trust. They admitted though that any action against the government was now doomed to failure.
Security tightened as rival protests held in Ljubljana
LJUBLJANA - Police security was beefed in the centre of Ljubljana as anti-government protesters took to the streets for the 11th consecutive week, while a smaller group of government supporters wearing yellow vests staged a counter-protest. The anti-government protesters and some media linked the yellow vests to the neo-Nazi groups and to the ruling party. Despite some tension the protests passed off without a major confrontation, as did similar campaigns in Maribor.
Banks receive EUR 400m-worth of loan payment deferral requests
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks received EUR 401.1 million worth of requests for a deferral of loan payments in the three months since the relevant legislation took effect. The number of requests filed was 23,700, which amounts to 3.6% of all loans, Banka Slovenije said. Banks have processed over 90% of the requests, approving the bulk of them. Deferred loan payments for SMEs amounted to EUR 160.7 million, for large companies to EUR 150 million, for micro companies to EUR 54.9 million and for individuals to EUR 35.6 million.
GZS proposes changes to state loan guarantee scheme
LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) urged changes to the state loan guarantee scheme for companies beyond those envisaged by the new stimulus package because of delays in its implementation. It proposes that the maximum possible amount of loans be raised to 25% of the company's annual sales. GZS conducted a survey among 272 companies showing that only less than 10% of them are interested in the guarantee scheme. "Among those companies, 54% inquired about a loan of EUR 100,000 to one million, and 33% about a loan of over one million euro."
Hoteliers expect tourism recovery in 2024
BLED - Experts expect tourism to achieve 2019 results again as late as in 2024, said Gregor Jamnik, the head of the Slovenian Association of Hotels told a conference held by the organisation. Hotel operators estimate that business will somewhat return to normal in the second half of 2021, depending on the air traffic situation. Business as usual or at least some kind of normalcy next year hinges on the coronavirus situation stabilising to a certain extent at the start of 2021, open borders and air links being resumed, said Jamnik.
Govt overhauls 2TDK supervisory board
LJUBLJANA - The government replaced four of the five supervisors of 2TDK, the company established for the construction and management of a new rail link to the port of Koper, appointing Robert Rožič the new chief supervisor. The new supervisors of what is the country's largest construction projects, roughly estimated at EUR 1 billion, are Rožič as one of two Finance Ministry representatives along with Iztok Černoš, as well as Infrastructure Ministry representatives Andrej Špenga, Peter Pungartnik, and Matej Čepeljnik. The move comes amid speculation the government will also replace the management.
Telekom Slovenije has not yet decided on sale of Planet TV
LJUBLJANA - Following unofficial reports that Telekom Slovenije has decided to sell its subsidiary Planet TV to the Hungarian free-to-air channel TV2, news broke that the supervisors of the state-owned telco had postponed a decision on the matter to next Tuesday, unofficially because they had had too little time to examine the bids. It was the editor of the news portal Požareport, Bojan Požar, who wrote on Tuesday that Planet TV, which produces the eponymous TV channel, has been sold for EUR 5 million, transaction still outstanding, to TV2.
Govt absolves four hospitals of bailout payback duty
LJUBLJANA - The government absolved four hospitals of the duty to pay back EUR 1.8 million in restructuring funds they had used in 2017 for costs that occurred after a retroactively set cut-off date. It was reported in January that five hospitals needed to return the funds spent for invoices issued after the cut-off date, but the government said the interpretation of the relevant act, passed in March, absolved them of this responsibility.
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