Business
STA, 23 April 2020 - Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Andrej Vizjak announced on Thursday a deregulation of construction legislation that he argues will substantially speed up construction in this crucial period. "Every month of delayed investment in construction is a month lost and reduces budget revenue," he told the press.
Vizjak, who explained the proposed changes have been incorporated into the amendments of the first coronavirus crisis stimulus package, pointed to the pending recession. The changes "allow immediate launch of certain investments that are on hold now", he added.
A key segment of the proposed change envisages the integration of several construction permit procedures while ridding potential investors of the obligation to first obtain claims over the land slated for construction.
While legislation was changed in 2018 due to protracted proceedings - in particular environment-related challenges - to allow a construction permit to be obtained simultaneously with the environmental permit, this "integral procedure" would now no longer require investors to first prove their claim over the land in question.
The government argues that this condition has often been impossible to meet in more complex construction projects and that it also made no sense to try to obtain such rights before the environmental review is completed.
Moreover envisaged to be running simultaneously with the "integral procedure" and not after it is the procedure needed for investors to be allowed to override the public benefit of preserving the environment with other public benefits.
Notably, the changes would also affect projects that were subject to the environmental permit phase before the 2018 changes. All these projects would be allowed to automatically enter the integral procedure.
Another major change, which Vizjak said would for instance speed up the construction of the expressway meant to connect the Koroška region in the north with Dolenjska in the south, is a provision allowing construction to start as soon as a building permit is issued and not only after the decree is final.
"Many construction projects are on hold today because of appeals, even in cases where these appeals are unfounded and only serve as extortion," he said.
Some of the appeals have been initiated by small NGOs, which would no longer be possible with the changes, as these stipulate NGOs need to have at least 50 members to be able to challenge permits.
Appeals would also need to be filed within 15 days after a permit decree is published and all challenges would be labelled as a priority.
What is more, the government wants authorities issuing opinions in permit procedures to do so in an unambiguous fashion and without ensuing contradictions. In case the opinions are negative, they would also need to include proposals on how to make an investment feasible.
STA, 22 April 2020 - The Chinese-owned group Hisense Europe is planning to close 2,200 jobs by the end of the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, including as many as 1,000 in Slovenia, TV Slovenija reported, citing a trade unionist.
According to the report, the management of household appliances maker Hisense Gorenje set its plans at a meeting featuring Chao Liu, one of the executive directors, production manager Tomaž Korošec, staffing officials and representatives of the works council, trade union and the employees' representative on the board Drago Bahun.
The management presented data on the situation resulting from the pandemic. Production in Velenje has not yet returned to full capacity after being completely suspended for three weeks.
The head of the in-house trade union Žan Zeba told the public broadcaster that Hisense was to make 1,000 people redundant in Slovenia, including 700 at the production facility in Velenje and 300 in the Ljubljana-headquartered company Hisense Europe.
Zeba said the staff were shocked by the extent of planned layoffs, noting that the company had received state aid "probably also in order not to make redundancies".
The first meeting with employees on layoffs are to be held after May day holidays.
Gorenje is to set out detailed plans about job cutbacks on Thursday.
STA, 22 April 2020 - Slovenia's leading insurance group, Triglav, expects the coronavirus pandemic to slash its profit by at least 10% and premiums by 5% this year. It says though its business is sound enough to cope with the situation successfully.
Triglav Group had initially projected a pre-tax profit of between EUR 95 million and EUR 105 million for this year, however, new calculations show the figure could be 10-25% lower.
The insurance premiums collected, initially projected at around EUR 1.2 billion, were to be 3-5% lower as a result of the pandemic and its impact on the economy and international financial markets.
The company made the impact assessment based on the projected contraction in GDP and various scenarios of how long the stall in economic activity may last and how quick recovery once pandemic measures are relaxed. It expects gradual easing of the situation by the end of 2020.
The projected deterioration of the economic situation and the suspended activity in the manufacturing and service sectors in Slovenia and the region will impact the group's underwriting activities.
In its release with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the company estimates that primarily the written premium and claims result of the non-life insurance segment will be affected.
Motor vehicle insurance premiums are also expected to be affected by lower sales of new vehicles, deregistration of existing vehicles and lower coverage.
Slowed economic activity is to suppress life insurance premium and premium written in real property insurance, credit insurance and general liability insurance; lower demand is expected for travel insurance.
Lower net claims incurred are anticipated for some insurance classes due to reduced economic activity and movement restrictions.
Financial market shocks, particularly changes in credit spreads on government and corporate bonds, will affect not only the return on investment but also the market value of Triglav assets and liabilities and thus the capital adequacy ratio.
The decrease in the market value and thus the amount of financial assets under management will also be reflected in lower income from the management of clients' assets.
However, the insurer assesses that its insurance and investment portfolios are sufficiently resilient and that its capital position appropriate to effectively cope with increased risks arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company expects it will be able to assess the impact on this year's operations with a higher degree of certainty at the end of the second quarter, on which basis it will revise the annual business plan for 2020.
STA, 20 April 2020 - Ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel has started developing cargo aircraft, a sort of a flying van, and a hydrogen-powered passenger shuttle, the company's CEO and founder Ivo Boscarol has said after the aviation authorities rescheduled the launch of its flying taxis.
An extended deadline for the development of flying taxis, commissioned by US ride-hailing company Uber, has enabled the Ajdovščina-based Pipistrel to start working on the planned freighter.
Meanwhile, the hydrogen-powered jet for 19 passengers would be intended mainly for transport between cities, for example from Maribor to Zagreb, said Boscarol.
"Currently, there are no such transports, only on roads. That is one of niche markets and the company has started working on its conceptual development," he told the press a few days ago.
Apart from a spacious facility, manufacturing the shuttles would require vast electricity capacities - the planes would be thus made in Italy, a more ideal setting than Ajdovščina, since all the required conditions are met there, he added.
The development of flying taxis for Uber has slowed down due to a "more conservative approach to using such aircraft" taken by international aviation authorities.
The taxis are supposed to be flying mainly above cities, which are considered a challenging ecosystem. The authorities have hence postponed using such vessels until the end of this decade.
As a result, Pipistrel has somewhat shifted its focus to developing a similar aircraft designed to transport cargo, an electricity-powered flying van that is supposed to fly above smaller cities.
Boscarol believes that the freighter will be launched prior to the Uber taxi.
Meanwhile, the company's investments in new plants in China and Italy have been brought to a standstill. The project in China saw zero activity in the past four months, with the investment estimated to be two years behind schedule.
On the other hand, the first phase of the investment in expanding manufacturing capacities at Gorizia Airport is completed, but the company has been deliberately moving slowly to see what happens with the airport.
"The airport was operating for a while, but it's closed now. We can fly in Slovenia, so we fly here now. The company is lucky to have two locations at its disposal," said Boscarol.
The plant in the making near the Slovenian-Italian border is meant to be for producing drones and bigger aircraft.
STA, 20 April 2020 - Revoz, the Slovenian subsidiary of the French car maker Renault, continues to top the Delo list of Slovenia's largest exporters, followed by pharmaceutical companies Lek and Krka, and the household appliances maker Gorenje, the only four companies whose exports exceeded a billion euro in 2019.
Revoz recorded exports of EUR 1.77 billion, followed by Lek with EUR 1.48 billion and Krka with EUR 1.4 billion. Gorenje was at EUR 1.12 billion, shows a list published by Delo on Monday.
The top ten is rounded off by aluminium producer Impol, steel group SIJ, industrial conglomerate Kolektor, home appliances maker BSH Hišni Aparati, foundry LTH Castings and aluminium producer Talum.
Overall merchandise exports totalled EUR 33.5 billion in 2019 and trade continued to grow through February, but the coronavirus pandemic has probably already led to a sharp contraction.
Delo says the major exporters are now preoccupied with mitigating the damage, as supply chains have been interrupted and entire industries ground to a halt.
"We definitely don't expect a repeat of the results from previous years, but the survival of the company should not be jeopardised," Jani Jurkošek, the general manager of SIJ, told Delo.
Srečko Stefanič, the boss of chemical company Melamin, said that "we cannot count on a reversal of the trend ... before autumn, while the recovery and the return to what had already achieved may take a year or two."
Delo's annual list includes 110 companies that have reported their results. While the top ten are broadly unchanged, some major companies do not yet have audited results for 2019 and have therefore not been included on the list.
STA, 17 April 2020 - Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec has approved a 50% reduction in port fees for Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's only seaport. Talking to the press as he visited the port on Friday, Vrtovec said that this "discount" would remain in place until September and would be extended if necessary.
The goal is to preserve the port's competitive edge in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, with CEO Dimitrij Zadel expressing satisfaction with the move. Vrtovec believes the reduction in fees will attract international shipping companies.
Zadel said that similar measures to increase the competitive edge had also been introduced at other ports and that this brought the Koper port on par with others. Vrtovec also praised the company for taking adequate precautionary measures, as none of its workers had tested positive for Covid-19.
Moreover, the ministry will also approve subsidies for railway transport in short, similar to other countries, said Vrtovec.
The minister also commented on the construction of a second rail track to the port, confirming that the ministry was looking into the possibility of folding 2TDK, a special vehicle company established for the construction and management of the new track, into Slovenske Železnice, the national railway operator.
However, a definitive answer to this will be possible only after analyses are performed and Slovenske Železnice and other key players are consulted, in about a month or two.
Vrtovec dismissed information that Hungary may join the second track project, saying no talks were taking place, but he underlined the importance of countries in the hinterland for the development of Luka Koper.
In terms of the coronavirus epidemic measures, Vrtovec would not say when public transport may be relaunched. He said however that the government may decide as early as today that vehicle inspection services reopen on Monday.
STA, 17 April 2020 - The insurance group Sava has adjusted its expected net profit for this year as a result of the crisis, saying on Friday it is likely to be about 15% to 20% lower than the initially planned EUR 45 million.
Sava originally projected this year's profit to miss last year's record mark of EUR 50.2 million by 10%. While it generated EUR 584.9 million in operating revenue last year, the plan for this year had been set at EUR 610 million.
The changed circumstances, which include an expected 6-8% drop in GDP, lockdown measures that could remain in place until the end of May and a major decrease in car insurance revenue, are likely to impact profit by 15-20% and revenue by 5-7%, the company said.
The assessed impact on the solvency ratio, initially expected to stand at 203% at the end of the year, is 10 to 15 percentage points.
STA, 16 April 2020 - DIY shops, shops selling cars and bicycles, dry cleaners and some repair shops such as tyre replacement shops will reopen on Monday as the government has further eased lockdown measures.
Meeting for a session on Thursday, the government added new exceptions to the restrictions on shops and services imposed in Slovenia on 16 March, allowing hair salons and beauty parlours to reopen on 4 May.
Already from Monday, shops selling mostly construction and installation materials, technical goods or furniture will be back in business.
Between 8am and 9:30am all those shops will be open for vulnerable groups of shoppers only, i.e. persons with disabilities, pregnant women and those above the age of 65. The latter group will not be able to enter the shops outside the dedicated opening hour.
Also reopening on Monday will be dry cleaners and repair shops for technical goods, motor vehicles and cars.
The government also allowed the reopening of services performed outdoors such as gardening services, roof and facade work, and takeaways involving minimum contact with customers.
Outdoor sports and recreational services will also be allowed from Monday provided a safe distance is kept between everyone involved.
More services will be available from 4 May, with reopening of hair salons, beauty parlours, dog and cat grooming salons and shops of up to 400 m2 sales space except for those in shopping centres.
The shops allowed to reopen will need to observe strict safety measures including obligatory wearing of masks or some other face coverings, hand sanitising, airing of premises and allowing 20 square metres per customer, and a two-metre distance between customers waiting in a line.
Only healthy staff and customers are allowed on the premises.
The government today also adopted a decree to include all doctors and dentists not yet licensed but involved in the health system as speciality trainees, interns or secondments in the measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic, along with graduate doctors and dentists.
If you’re an SP in Slovenia whose income fell by at least 25% in March compared to February – the key month in all this aid – then you’re eligible for a €350 payment under the first coronavirus stimulus package, plus you won’t need to pay your social security contribution in April. Important to note that another criterion is you must be up to date with your taxes, and you’ll still need to pay your taxes. You can also apply for €700 in April and May, with details below.
Go to this page on eDavki, scroll down and click on your SP identity. Note that my personal details have been distorted in all these images.
Then you’ll be taken to this page, where you’ll need to click on the COVID link, as highlighted below.
Here you’ll need to enter your phone number, if not already in the system. Then we come to the meat of the page, three items about what you’re claiming. The first asks about your decline in income in March, April and May compared to February. If it fell 25% in March you can get €350, and if it’ll fall 50% in April and May then you can get €700 in those months. I don’t have crystal ball, so only applied for March. I’ll come back next month if the figures tell a sad story.
Underneath that are two more items, which only open up for the months you selected for item 1. Item 2 asks you to choose the months for which you want to apply for aid, while for item 2 you check the months in which you don’t want pay your social security contributions (without penalty). Remember that you still need to pay your taxes.
Underneath those three items there's another with a drop-down menu for you to choose which bank account you want to receive the money in. After that, you just need to click on “oddaj vlogo” (submit the application) and your claim has been filed.
You can learn more about this aid here, while the page you need to visit on eDavki is here
STA, 14 April 2020 - Those eligible for state aid under the EUR 3 billion fiscal stimulus package designed to mitigate the coronavirus crisis for businesses and households have started filing their requests. The Employment Service received 1,154 applications from companies with idle employees between Saturday and Monday.
If you're an SP you can find out how to apply for this aid here - fast, easy and online
Before the stimulus package came into force on Saturday, companies had been filing requests for aid under a less favourable emergency law passed earlier. Unofficially, 8,441 such requests had been filed.
The Employment service told the STA today the data was yet to be analysed, as some employers had filed multiple requests.
Under the emergency law, which took effect on 29 March, idle workers were to get 80% wage compensation, of which 40% would be covered by the state and 60% by their company.
However, under the new stimulus package act the state is to cover the entire 80% compensation, based on a worker's average monthly pay from the last three months.
Some companies have filed separate requests for aid under each of the two laws, although the Employment Service says all applications will be processed under the new law.
All efforts are being put in the processing of applications to make sure employers receive decisions as soon as possible, the Employment Service said.
"We have also significantly expanded our team in charge of registration procedures, as we are dealing with increasingly many applications for registration of businesses these days," it added.
The Employment Service is also offering technical support over the phone or online to those who want to start a business or file for wage compensation.
Eligible for state aid are companies that saw more than a 20% drop in revenue in the first six months of the year and whose revenue in the second half of the year will not rise by more than 50% year-on-year.
Companies founded this year will have to have at least 25% drop in revenue in March and at least 50% revenue drop in April or May compared to February to receive aid.
Only companies that owe no liabilities to the state, are not in receivership, and are not a direct or indirect user of the state budget or municipal budget of the municipality which receives more than 70% of the funds from the state will be able to get aid.
Banks and insurance companies are not eligible.
The self-employed, who will be exempt of payment of all social security contributions for April and May, and will receive a monthly "basic income" of EUR 350 in March and EUR 700 in April and May each, can expect aid from 25 April.
But only those who suffered at last a 25% drop in revenue in March compared to February, and at least a 50% drop in April or May compared to February, are eligible.
If their revenue in the first six months of the year exceeds that from the first half of 2019 by more than 20%, and if their revenue in the second half of the year increases by more than 20% year on year, they will have to return the money.
Religious workers and farmers are also eligible for the "basic income" and will be excused from payment of contributions if they submit a statement by the end of May, saying they cannot perform their activities as usual because of the coronavirus epidemic.
The "basic income" will be paid out by the Financial Administration (FURS). Those who submit the statement by 18 April should receive it on 25 April.
FURS told the STA it had so far received 13,500 requests from the self-employed. Statistics Office data shows there were slightly fewer than 31,000 self-employed in the country at the end of 2019.
We’ll have details of how to file for this online very soon
STA, 14 April 2020 - Companies which have suspended their production due to the coronavirus epidemic are gradually restarting operations and joining those that have only partly shut down or have not closed shop at all. As of Tuesday, a number of major businesses will be active again.
Household appliances maker Gorenje, owned by China's Hisense, temporarily shut down its operations on 23 March. The company's plant producing washers and dryers started its operations last Friday and other production lines in Velenje are expected to restart today.
Adria Mobil, which shut down on 18 March, saw its support services and management resume their work last week. Assembly lines will start running again on Tuesday, with the company introducing flexible working hours to prevent crowding.
Elan, another company that suspended production in mid-March, is sending more than half of its workforce back to work and adopting similar measures of reorganizing shifts to ensure that as few people as possible are working in the same place.
Revoz, the Renault-owned car assembly plant, had considered reopening as well but then extended the shutdown by another week. Restarting operations on 20 April is still questionable though and depends on a number of factors, including the resumption of public transport services, component supply and the developments in France and Spain, a Revoz unionist said on Thursday.
Despite restrictions imposed to stem or at least slow down the spread of Covid-19, it has been business as usual for many major companies, such as food and infrastructure businesses, as well as drug makers Lek and Krka, steel maker Sij, electric motor manufacturer Domel, tool maker Unior and aluminium producer Impol.
Some companies have merely reduced the scope of their operations, including aluminium producer Talum, glassworks Steklarna Rogaška, shoe maker Alpina and Hidria, which mostly manufactures hi-tech products for the car industry.
Another major company, household appliances maker BHS Hišni Aparati, plans to increase production to full capacity this week after it decided to restart three assembly lines in early April.
There has not been a single coronavirus hotspot in any of the companies that have continued to operate through the epidemic. This is one of the reasons why the government is planning to gradually ease restrictions in certain services this week.
All our stories on coronavirus are here
