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This summary is provided by the STA:
National Assembly passes legislation redrawing electoral districts
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed legislation that redraws the boundaries of multiple electoral districts in compliance with a 2018 Constitutional Court decision. At present the difference in the number of voters between the smallest and largest district is 1:3.7; under the amendments, which change the size of 15 of Slovenia's 88 districts, the maximum difference will be 1:2.7. President Borut Pahor, who had been warning for months about the dangers of Slovenia heading to the polls without the legislation being amended, said the amendments came as a relief and would make it "much easier to take decisions concerning elections".
Daily Covid death toll at four-month low
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 740 new coronavirus cases from 4,402 PCR tests performed on Monday as five patients with Covid-19 died, the lowest daily death toll in nearly four months. Hospitalisations hit their lowest since late October at 691, including 127 in intensive care. The 7-day average of new cases rose by 57 to 879, government data show. Slovenia has so far recorded 180,507 coronavirus cases with an estimated 12,077 still active. A total of 3,733 Covid-19 patients have died.
Minister says Slovenia on pace in drafting recovery plan
BRUSSELS - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said Slovenia was in constant touch with the European Commission in drafting its recovery plan and would meet the deadline. He said he would like to see as little red tape as possible while declining to announce when the plan will be in Brussels, saying that "this is not a competition." "We would not like to see too much red tape ... that could delay implementation of such plans," he said after a session of EU finance ministers.
Bank profits after-tax down by 15% in 2020
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks saw their cumulative after-tax profit decline by 15.1% to EUR 450.3 million in 2020. Pre-tax profit fell by a fifth to EUR 472 million, but would have more than halved were it not for the one-off impact of the merger of Abanka and NKBM, a report by the central bank finds. Despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which is expected to continue to affect bank operations, the central bank said the banking system's profit was "relatively high".
Liquidity of businesses good but deteriorating, FinMin says
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The liquidity of companies in Slovenia is good, but deteriorating. The government is working on new schemes to help businesses capable of surviving the crisis, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told his counterparts from other EU countries and the Eurozone in online meetings on Monday and Tuesday. Some schemes already exist, while new ones will also be drawn up, including for the Enterprise Fund. Šircelj also noted that the government adopted last week the decision to join the European Investment Bank's Pan-European Guarantee Fund.
Analysts divided on whether govt will finish its term
LJUBLJANA - After the vote of no confidence in the government failed with the opposition falling six votes short of an outright majority, political analysts quizzed by the STA are divided as to what this means for the coalition. Columnist Rok Čakš believes the vote made the coalition more stable and would mark an end to attempts to bring down the government. Meanwhile, political blogger and podcaster Aljaž Pengov Bitenc expects more ouster motions. He is not sure the coalition is stronger.
Judge sues state secretary over leaked private Facebook post
LJUBLJANA - Urška Klakočar Zupančič, a Ljubljana Local Court judge who has lost her post after criticising Prime Minister Janez Janša in a closed Facebook group is suing Vinko Gorenak, the state secretary in the prime minister's office, who had found about the post and published it. The law firm Pirc Musar & Lemut Strle said that judge "does not accept her not having the right to think in her private life and entrust her thoughts to somebody."
Court throws out Thompson concert case
LJUBLJANA - The Administrative Court has thrown out a lawsuit by the State Attorney's Office against the state over a decision by the Interior Ministry to overrule the Maribor Administrative Unit and allow a concert by Marko Perković Thompson, a Croatian singer accused of glorifying the nationalist Ustasha movement. Going back as far as 2017, the case ultimately led to an ouster motion against Interior Minister Aleš Hojs in 2020 following the ministry's decision to allow the concert.
Top court outlaws free party advertising in local newsletters
LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court annulled provisions in decrees that allowed three municipalities to issue local newsletters in which political parties and lists represented on municipal councils were able to be advertised cost free. The decision comes upon an initiative from the Court of Audit after it had reviewed the operations of a total of twelve political parties in 2014. It challenged free party advertising in the newsletters of Pivka, Moravske Toplice and Trebnje.
Court stays development permit for Mokrice project
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Native Fish Association (DPRS) announced that the Administrative Court stayed the issuance of a development permit for the planned Mokrice hydro plant on the Sava. The power producer HESS, which will operate the plant, said the procedure to acquire the permit can continue. The court decided the permit cannot be issued until its decision on whether the public interest of renewable energy prevails over the public interest of nature conservation becomes final.
Climate fund to finance combustion of sewage sludge
LJUBLJANA - The Environment Ministry proposes allocating EUR 13 million from the fund for climate change in 2021-2023 for processing of sewage sludge in mono-combustion. The ministry published a plan of financing at a website E-demokracija this week under which EUR 355 million would be spent on measures dealing with climate change until 2023, of which EUR 145.6 million would be spent this year, EUR 11.5 million next year and EUR 97.7 million in 2023.
WTA tournament returning to Portorož after ten years
LJUBLJANA - A tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) series is returning to Slovenia, as the national federation has been successful in bidding to host a US$125,000 prize money tournament for ladies in the seaside resort of Portorož between 13 and 19 September. Gregor Krušič, the head of the Slovenian Tennis Federation, told the STA that the federation had taken advantage of the coronavirus crisis to bring back the best female tennis players to Slovenia.
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