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This summary is provided by the STA:
Head of EP democracy group finds basis to monitor situation in Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld (D66/Renew) said she believed there was sufficient ground for the European Parliament's Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, which she heads, to start monitoring the situation in Slovenia. Speaking in an online debate on media freedom hosted by her party D66, the MEP said the decision on such fact finding would have to be taken in the European Parliament. The monitoring group is part of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. As an example she noted that PM Janez Janša would initially not acknowledge Joe Biden's victory in the US presidential election, and described as unusual Janša's response to Politico article on the media situation in Slovenia as he attacked the author Lili Bayer, accusing her of being "instructed not to tell the truth".
Slow but steady decline in coronavirus continues
LJUBLJANA - A total of 872 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Wednesday as the rolling 7-day average of new cases dropped to 768. A further ten patients with Covid-19 died. The latest case count marks a decline of 36% from Wednesday a week ago. The cases were confirmed in 4,271 PCR tests for a positivity rate of 20.4%. The count includes retested positives suggested by 24,005 rapid antigen tests. Hospitalisations kept declining further, dropping by 29 to 619 as 61 patients were discharged and 42 were newly admitted. The number of patients in intensive care units fell by ten to 116.
New analysis suggests UK variant spreading in Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - The latest sequencing of coronavirus samples conducted by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine suggests the highly virulent UK variant is spreading in Slovenia. The institute sequenced 576 samples from those who tested positive for coronavirus between 1 and 7 February, finding all mutations typical of the UK strain in 13 groups of samples. However, the institute says that most of the mutations still appear in small percentages, that is only individual samples in each of the groups are positive for the new strain.
DeSUS to notify speaker it is an opposition party, will not sign pact with govt
LJUBLJANA - The Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) will notify Speaker Igor Zorčič that it is an opposition party and does not plan to sign an agreement with the government, leader Karl Erjavec said after a session of the party's leadership. The announcement comes after Erjavec unsuccessfully bid to become prime minister, the motion of no confidence in the government having come six votes short of the required majority on Monday. The vote was secret but speculation is rampant that Erjavec did not get the votes of all of his MPs, some of whom have openly contradicted him in recent weeks.
Slovenia supports NATO reform
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin endorsed the proposal for a reform of NATO presented by the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after attending a virtual meeting of NATO defence minister Wednesday and Thursday. Slovenia supports Stoltenberg's guidance, because it means member states have not only rights but also obligations, he said, adding that it was a new way of fair burden sharing. "I see it as the beginning of the end of free riding... This concept involves either providing for our own security, or paying for others to provide it for us," Tonin noted.
Govt dismisses chairman of BAMC management board
LJUBLJANA - The government has dismissed Boris Novak as one of the four non-executive directors of the Bank Assets Management Company. Novak, who has served as chairman of the BAMC management board since mid-June 2020 confirmed his dismissal for the media. "The government has a right to appoint or dismiss me from the post. I respect its decision," Novak, director general of the state-owned postal operator Pošta Slovenije, told the newspaper Delo. He was appointed a BAMC non-executive director by the incumbent government in early June 2020. Delo reports the reason for his dismissal was his inactivity in major areas.
NLB bank's net profit jumps on Komercijalna Banka acquisition
LJUBLJANA - NLB, Slovenia's largest bank, posted a group net profit of EUR 269 million for 2020, more than a third higher then the year before, largely due to the effects of the acquisition of Serbian bank Komercijalna Banka, the bank said in a preliminary earnings report. Without the one-off effect, net profit would have stood at EUR 141.3 million, a drop of nearly 37% on the year before. But this still "exceeds previous forecasts, mostly because of better than expected cost-of-risk performance". Total group net operating income was down 2% to EUR 504.5 million, and profit before impairments and provisions amounted to EUR 210.5 million, a 1% decrease.
Investigation into SRIPT tourism project under way
LJUBLJANA - House searches were carried out around Slovenia as police are investigating an EU-funded tourism project, including at the home of former Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec. Fourteen persons and one legal entity are suspected of fraud involving EU funds and of abuse of office, while no-one has been detained, the NBI said. Pivec said in a written statement the police had arrived at her home this morning investigating the Strategic Development Innovation Partnership Tourism (SRIPT) case. She was invited to take part in it in 2017 while serving as a state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad and received EUR 35,000 gross for her contribution.
Brussels sues Slovenia over waste water directive, issues warning about e-tolling
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission has taken Slovenia to court for failure to comply with the directive concerning urban waste water treatment. Under the urban waste water directive, EU members must provide an adequate system for collecting and treating waste water in urban areas with 10,000 or more residents. The country has also received a formal notice for not complying with the EU's electronic tolling rules. The Commission called on Slovenia to accept European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) providers on Slovenian roads subject to tolling.
Report: Fmr state secretary to become GZS boss
LJUBLJANA - Aleš Cantarutti, former Economy Ministry state secretary, will become the new director general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) in April to succeed Sonja Šmuc, the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija reported on Wednesday. The GZS management board will pick him among ten candidates next week. Cantarutti had worked for the company Javorje and been the head of the GZS's centre for international business operations before becoming state secretary at the Economy Ministry in December 2014.
Bill tabled to legalise growing of medical marijuana
LJUBLJANA - The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) has tabled a bill that would legalise the growing of medical marijuana, a step it says would improve access for patients. "We're not talking about marijuana legalisation, we want to create the legislative conditions to grow this plant for medical purposes," MP Andrej Rajh told the press. According to him, the new legislation, which is modelled on Germany's 2017 law, would regulate the market and provide medical marijuana grown in a controlled way. Borut Štrukelj of the Ljubljana Faculty of Pharmacy said there were currently two institutions in that grow medical marijuana for scientific purposes, specifically to determine which cultivars are best for different growing conditions.
Energy group GEN-I reports record profit for 2020
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian energy group GEN-I sold a record 127.4 terawatt hours of electricity last year to generate the highest net profit to date. At EUR 15.4 million the profit was one percent above that posted in 2019 despite revenue falling by 4% to EUR 2.1 billion. The group, active in trade, retail and purchasing of energy products, was successful across all its divisions and has been improving its financial position further with capital growth, the group said in a regulatory filing with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
Hisense Gorenje closes down Bistrica ob Sotli location
BISTRICA OB SOTLI - Hisense Gorenje, the Chinese-owned consumer electronics and household appliances maker, has shut down its production unit at Bistrica ob Sotli in the east of Slovenia after its sole client decided not to extend partnership. Explaining its decision for the STA, the company said the Hisense Europe group was focusing on production of household appliances and televisions as its core business.
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