STA, 11 November 2019 - The second instalment of Creative Forum Ljubljana will be under way tomorrow, bearing the title of Creative Capital United. Focusing on the Western Balkans and the Southern Mediterranean, the event will unite more than 200 participants from 20 countries in an effort to strengthen ties in support of the creative economy.

The forum, running from 12 to 15 November, is organised by the Foreign Ministry, the Union for the Mediterranean and GIZ, the German Agency for International Cooperation.

It will feature representatives of creative hubs, entrepreneurs, civil society, international institutions and local organisations as well as high representatives of EU institutions and ministries from both regions.

In town and looking for something to do? Check out what’s on in Ljubljana, or just learn 25 things to know about the city…

Petra Kežman, the head of the Foreign Ministry sector for public diplomatic and international cooperation in culture, who runs the project, told the STA the forum was about providing a support environment for the creative sector in the region and beyond.

The event also strengthens Slovenia as a creative country, helping attract creatives from abroad and also opening doors to Slovenian creatives on foreign markets, she added, arguing the essence of the forum was connecting the Western Balkans, the Southern Mediterranean and the EU.

This year's slogan, Creative Capital United, also highlights the importance of cooperation, both at regional level and among individual fields and players in culture, economy and education, Kežman said.

She explained the programme was based on the concrete needs of the creative sector at national and regional level, a key one being space for dialogue, both within the sector and with political representatives.

While culture does not seem to be directly linked to foreign politics at first glance, Slovenia sees it as a very important foreign policy instrument and is striving to raise awareness about the importance of culture in this respect among policy makers in the region and beyond, Kežman said.

She noted culture's role with respect to "intercultural dialogue, stabilisation, peace, security and above all securing good living conditions for the most vulnerable groups, for instance the young".

The forum will start on Tuesday with a keynote address by Macedonian architect Jana Konstantinova and a discussion with legendary Slovenian inventor Peter Florjančič.

The second day will be dedicated to creative hubs and entrepreneurs, who will attend workshops and get informed about examples of good practice in Slovenia.

The forum's main event is scheduled for Thursday at Ljubljana's Poligon centre for creative communities in the form of a high-level political conference, while participants will also attend the launch of the BIO26 biennial of design. The final day is reserved for a creative tourism study trip.

The list of participants at the forum includes Algerian Minister of Industry Djamila Tamazirt, Montenegro Culture Minister Aleksandar Bogdanović, the Kosovo Minister of Economic Development Valdrin Lluka, the Palestine Economy Minister Khaled Al-Osaily, and the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean Nasser Kamel.

Slovenian high-level guests include Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and Culture Minister Zoran Poznič.

You can learn more about the forum here

STA, 8 November 2019 - The supervisory board of energy trader Petrol, which has been subject to mounting criticism in recent weeks for failing to explain October's unexpected management board overhaul, said on Friday the former management had never put forward credible documentation to support plans that substantially departed from the company's strategy.

The explanation comes after the supervisors cited "significant differences of views with respect to the implementation of the 2018-2022 strategic business plan" on 25 October and later argued the former management did not consent to the disclosure of detailed circumstances.

Friday's press release says the Tomaž Berločnik-led management had been urged on several occasions to draw up credible documents that would allow the supervisors to take an informed decision.

This was done because "the material contained errors in the magnitude of several hundred millions when it comes to calculated cash flow and the amount of new debt needed to finance the investments".

"The supervisory board assessed the material to be misleading, which is why it was unable to adopt any decisions on its basis."

The supervisors wrote that the management's plans departed from the strategy until 2022 in that they involved "multifold" increases regarding the size of the investment and the sources needed to finance it.

The supervisors added the documentation had been supplemented several times as a result of the doubts expressed, "but the remarks and demands of the supervisory board for additional explanations and corrections were not observed".

They are confident the documentation was misleading in that it presented a substantially incorrect amount and type of credit, including costlier subordinated debt.

"The importance of the dynamics and size of the planned investment and the associated risks are also highlighted by Standard & Poor's Rating Services in its credit rating justification, where it notes the key risk of major investment (in the amount of EUR 521 million in line with the adopted strategy) in the coming years, mostly outside of the company's core activities," the supervisory board wrote.

The former Petrol management board retorted by accusing the supervisory board of withholding information.

"We have consented to the disclosure of agreements on early termination to secure equal access to information to the shareholders. Clearly the supervisory board is withholding the content of these agreements so that it can offer its positions to the public," the former managers said in a message circulated by the Zdolšek Law Firm.

"The shareholders' meeting is the body which decides on disagreements between management and the supervisory board when they occur. We hope to be given the opportunity to explain our positions."

Explanations regarding the 25 October management overhaul were recently also requested from the supervisors by the government through the SSH state asset custodian.

SSH announced a shareholders' meeting by the end of this week after assessing the scarce additional explanations provided on 30 October as insufficient. The supervisors in turn said they would discuss the call for a shareholders' meeting at their session next Thursday.

Media reported last week that a legal opinion drawn up for the supervisors had revealed the management had changed the sum total of the planned investment several times. The fresh debt needed to finance it was put at around a billion euros, twice the sum envisaged in the 2022 strategy.

The supervisors subsequently explained they had not approved this and that the strategic plan remained unchanged.

STA, 8 November 2019 - Slovenia and Vietnam listed logistics, information and communications technology (ICT) and tourism as areas with most untapped potential for cooperation at the second session of the Slovenian-Vietnamese intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation, chaired by Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and his counterpart Tran Tuan Anh.

The ministers met ahead of the session, discussing current issues of the two countries' economic cooperation and coming to a conclusion that there are opportunities for strengthening cooperation in various sectors, in particular in transport and logistics, ICT and tourism, said the Economy Ministry.

Vietnam has the greatest potential for reinforcing Slovenian exports among all countries of South East Asia, according to the ministry.

Bilateral trade, reaching over EUR 52 million last year and more than EUR 26 million in the first half of 2019, is still below the capacities of both economies; however, it shows a positive trend.

The commission has an important role in recognising those opportunities, with the two sessions focussing on specific ways to strengthen the economic cooperation in the areas with most potential as well as in agricultural mechanisation and food processing.

Počivalšek held talks with Industry Minister Tran Tuan Anh and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh to discuss opportunities in foreign direct investments, digitalisation, agricultural machinery and the wood processing industry.

He said the recent signing of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement would lead to increased trade since "a stable and predictable business environment creates new opportunities for the trading partners".

Počivalšek started a two-day visit to Vietnam on Thursday accompanied by a government and business delegation, including eleven Slovenian executives who held separate meetings with government officials.

A business conference was held in Hanoi where business opportunities in Slovenia and Vietnam were presented; more than 40 Slovenian and Vietnamese companies participated in bilateral business meetings.

STA, 9 November 2019 - Postal workers in Slovenia will go on strike on Monday as the Trade Union of Postal Workers and the management of the national postal company Pošta Slovenije have failed to find common ground on the workers' demands, including higher wages, after the move was announced two weeks ago.

The strike was confirmed on Saturday after another round of unsuccessful talks, with Karmen Lebe Grajf, who represents Pošta Slovenije in the negotiations, announcing a new round for the next week.

The Trade Union of Postal Workers had announced the strike of employees of the national postal operator and its sheltered workshop for 11 November two weeks ago, saying that regular social dialogue would not do this time.

The union demands the number of employees to be increased by 300 so that Pošta Slovenije could meet its obligations and the workers could perform a normal number of hours.

It has also demanded a 10% raise in wages as they believe that the current wages are too low considering the nature and conditions of work.

The newspaper Delo reported at the time the trade union saying that the management of Pošta Slovenije had been rejecting its proposals in the past few months and had not been willing to talk about them.

Lebe Grajf recently said that the two sides had managed to come closer regarding certain points, while the demand for 10% higher wages remained open.

She said that a raise for 2019 and 2020 had already been agreed in February, and that an additional raise would have significant financial consequences on the company's operation.

"It would mean that labour costs would increase in 2020 by an additional EUR 12 million," she said, noting that the February agreement would increase operating costs by EUR 17.7 million.

In line with the trade union's announcement, the strike will start on Monday in the postal and logistics centres. All postal services the company is required to provide under the relevant law and the strike act will be provided.

According to Lebe Grajf, the strike will be felt when it comes to shipping of advertisements, parcels heavier than 10 kg, payment services and some other services, such as sale of goods.

Pošta Slovenije, which does not know how many workers will join the strike, added that the talks would continue next week, but not as early as Monday.

The budget carrier Ryanair has announced a recruitment day in Ljubljana on November 14 (2019), the first time it has sought to hire Slovenian cabin crew members. As noted on Ex-Yu Aviation, successful candidates will take part in a six-week training course covering everything from passenger safety to customer service. In a touch that will be familiar to Ryanair customers, candidates will need to pay a fee for the training, although the company – Europe's biggest airline – will give people the option of having this deducted from their salaries after they start getting paid.

Candidates for cabin crew should have good knowledge of English, both written and spoken, an EU passport and good computer skills, and those who are successful will receive a two-year contract, staff travel rates, a potential productivity bonus of €1,800 per year and a competitive basic salary plus variable flight pay. Registration for recruitment in Ljubljana closes November 12, while the assessment date will be November 14, with more details here.

Although Ryanair briefly operated a service between London Stanstead and Maribor in 2007 and 2008, Slovenia is currently the only EU nation in which the carrier has no services.

STA, 8 November - The state-owned bad bank has rejected reports that it had presented to former Adria Airways pilots a plan for a potential new flag carrier, while confirming for the STA that it would present to the finance and economy ministries next week calculations on the feasibility of establishment of such a company.

Responding on Friday to yesterday's unofficial report by Radio Slovenija, Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) chief executive director Matej Pirc rejected it, while saying he had indeed met with a representative of former Adria pilots.

Pirc said that he had recently met with pilot Primož Jovanović, who has been calling for a state intervention, but added that the meetings had been requested by the latter as he wanted to present his calculations related to feasibility of the idea to establish a new flag carrier.

He said that, given that the bad bank was preparing calculations of its own, which included several scenarios with different assumptions, he was interested in what pilots had to say.

Radio Slovenija said that the new carrier would have five Canadair aircraft and 200 employees, and that a EUR 20 million loss was expected in the first year after incorporation, which Pirc labelled as excessive numbers.

He said that BAMC was advocating a "slimmer organisation", and not a company with 200 employees, but admitted that it would be hard for the company to function without making a loss.

The national radio also said yesterday that the government was expected to decide by the end of the month whether it will establish a new flag carrier, which, according to some accounts, would be called Air Slovenia.

Radio Slovenija added it would be easiest to establish the new company by purchasing Adria Airways, which went into receivership in early October, as a whole. A call for bids issued by Adria receiver will close on 11 November.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the weekly Mladina last week that a regional air carrier could become a partner of the company, while refusing to reveal any details.

STA, 6 November 2019 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has downgraded its May forecast for Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year by 0.3 of a percentage point to 3%, while keeping the projection for 2020 at 2.8%.

Announcing the downgrade on Wednesday, the bank said that the main risk was the weaker demand by main trade partners, with the Slovenian economy strongly relying on exports, especially to the eurozone countries.

According to the EBRD, economic recovery in Slovenia has continued in 2019, although with a slower tempo than in the past two years, when GDP growth was at 4.5% on average, one of the highest rates in the EU.

Slovenia's economy grew by 2.9% in the first half of the year year-on-year, fuelled by domestic consumption encouraged by higher investments and private consumption.

The latter was boosted by the strong labour market, with the unemployment rate standing as low as at 4% in June, and by the growth of income brought by a higher minimum wage, the bank noted.

The favourable financing conditions resulted in an increased lending activity, which supported investments, while business sentiment has been above the long-term average. The growth of exports has been higher than the growth of imports.

The EBRD expects that the trend of decreasing general government debt is to continue, with the fiscal situation of the country having improved significantly in recent years. General government debt, in relative terms, is expected to decrease from 83% of GDP in 2015 to 66% at the end of this year.

The bank's correction follows the downgrade by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in mid-October from 3.4% to 2.9%, and the downgrade by the government macroeconomic think-tank IMAD by 0.6 percentage points to 2.8% in mid-September.

STA, 6 November 2019 - The 30th furniture and interior design fair Ambient Ljubljana and the home construction fair Dom Plus got under way at Ljubljana's Gospodarsko Razstavišče fairgrounds in Ljubljana on Wednesday. The fairs will feature 222 exhibitors from 21 countries until Sunday.

Lifting the curtain on Ambient Ljubljana, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said Slovenia had many excellent designers, "but we are not always capable of joining forces so as to market these products appropriately".

He added Slovenia had already missed opportunities to sell such products for serious money in the past, but he argued a new chance had come now.

The opening ceremony was also addressed by Gospodarsko Razstavišče director Iztok Bricl, who portrayed what used to be called the Ljubljana Furniture Fair as a phenomenon that had weathered all the drastic political and economic changes in the country, including the extinction of the wood-preprocessing and furniture industries in the country.

A number of side events are to be organised at the fairgrounds during the two fairs and scores of awards will be conferred, including for top products and ideas and for up-and-coming designers and architects.

The fair's website can be found here

STA, 4 November 2019 - The parliamentary inquiry into suspected abuse of office at the bad bank interviewed on Monday the former chairmen of NLB and NKBM, Janko Medja and Aleš Hauc, who said that the banks had no power in determining which assets will and which will not be transferred to the bad bank as part of the 2013 bailout.

First to be interviewed was Medja, who said the bank was only an "object" and could not participate in determining the methodology for appraising assets, nor had it final say about which assets and why would be transferred to the bad bank.

He was faced with the questions from the inquiry chair, Jernej Vrtovec of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi), about the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) using "double standards".

Vrtovec noted that the BAMC made different assessments when placing a company or group on the list for transfer of assets, taking the DZS group as an example, as it had been transferred on the bad bank, while KD Group, which is also a financial holding, was not.

Medja, who was the chairman of NLB between the autumn of 2012 and February 2016, which included the state-sponsored bank bailout, said he could not answer the question as he did not remember concrete cases.

Regarding alleged pressures, he said that representatives of certain companies did ask the bank about the transfer, but NLB's answer was always that it stuck to the rules and procedures in line with the law.

According to Medja, the first list of claims to be transferred to BAMC was compiled by NLB, and was sent to an inter-ministerial task force and the Banka Slovenije central bank, with the two coming up with the final list.

Banka Slovenije had data on claims to individual companies from other banks, he said, adding that he could not tell why some claims or assets had not been transferred, as he did not have access to all documents.

According to Medja, the bank did not agree with certain results of asset quality reviews (AQR) regarding for how much claims could be sold. Due to the large quantity of data and relatively short time, he allows for the possibility that not all appraisals were compliant with the international accounting standards, in particular in real estate.

In individual cases, the bank's assessments did not comply with the AQR results, but the eventual estimates on the amount of the required capital were at a similar level, he added.

Medja explained the difference in the initial estimate about how much capital NLB needs and the final calculations with the fact that not the entire portfolio was reviewed in the first estimate.

Surprising things were discovered mainly in investments in foreign countries, he said, adding that NLB services were adopting in 2013 the recommendations of the European Banking Authority (EBA), which were becoming stricter.

Medja stressed on several occasions that when it comes to the bailout measures, NLB was an "object", adding that the bank's management had wanted to get a clearer picture and get a greater role in talks, "but had no chance to discuss it".

The bank could not risk capital inadequacy, and could not get capital on the market, he said, adding that the state-sponsored measures were an "all or nothing" approach, with the bank not being able to pick recapitalisation or transfer or bad claims to the bad bank alone.

"We could only pick recapitalisation as it was envisaged, or capital inadequacy, risking to lose the trust of deposit holders," he concluded.

Also interviewed was Hauc, who managed NKBM from March 2012 to February 2015. He too said that the bank had no say about which assets would be eventually transferred to BAMC, and repeated some of the other explanations offered by Medja.

He said that the the stress tests in 2013 had been "too brutal" and the AQR strongly underestimated the value of insurance of claims. Banka Slovenije was warned about this, but the bank had no influence whatsoever, he added.

Hauc noted that NKBM had wanted that all non-performing assets be transferred to the bad bank, with many of them staying in the bank after the bailout. "There is no logic in carrying out a bailout without transferring everything that is disputable to BAMC."

He also assessed that Banka Slovenije had been rather limited and that the European Commission had the main say, in fact its "lower-ranked officials", who had been sending e-mails about what needed to be done. "The bank had to implement the measures, otherwise it would go bankrupt."

Regarding the estimate of the amount the banks needed in the bailout, Hauc said that no damage had been done. "The state put the money from one pocket to the other. Even if too much money was given, it has not been lost."

He assessed that a majority of bad loans were a consequence of the crisis, and to lesser degree of bad practices. "Companies were borrowing excessively and then stumbled, while banks were not conservative enough in approving loans."

According to him, the US fund Apollo and the EBRD, which acquired NKBM in 2016 for EUR 250 million, got the bank for cheap but are doing a good job. "Apparently a bank had to be sold to show that we are a serious country, not a banana republic," Hauc concluded.

On the other hand, Janez Fabijan of Banka Slovenije said that the banks themselves had sent the lists of companies to the central banks, as he was quizzed about his role in due diligence procedures, transfer of claims to DUTB and other bail-out procedures.

"I never worked in supervision, but I'm objectively responsible as a member of the Banka Slovenije board of directors," he said, adding that when it came to the bailout, it would be wrong if the central bank had acted differently.

According to him, the transfer of claims to BAMC was transparent, with lists of companies to be transferred being made by the banks, as they were obliged to know their clients.

It was determined with a government decree which claims will be transferred, said Fabijan, who could not tell whether Banka Slovenije made any interventions in the lists. "Perhaps something was changed, but not too many times."

This was done in any case with consent from the banks, and the decree determining the criteria for the transfer of claims gave the banks and BAMC absolute advantage compared to Banka Slovenije, he said.

He added that the central bank had only participated in the process and admitted that he had been visited by a few representatives of companies claims to whom were planned to be transferred to BAMC.

STA, 4 November 2019 - Telekom Slovenije, the telecoms incumbent, has been ordered to pay EUR 17.6 million plus default interest to its Greek partner in a media joint venture that the Greeks have long sought to exit.

Telekom had partnered with Antenna Group in 2013 to forge a joint venture that produces Planet TV, a small commercial TV station that has been in the red ever since it launched.

In several steps over the past few years Telekom gradually increased its ownership stake from the initial 51% as it recapitalised the loss-making company, most recently called Antenna TV SL.

The Greeks eventually wanted to exit the joint venture in accordance with a put option, but the two partners had not been able to reach an agreement and resorted to arbitration.

Telekom said Monday that the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce decided on 31 October that Antenna Group had exercised its put option correctly.

The company now has to pay Antenna Group EUR 17.6 million for its remaining 34% stake in the joint venture plus the costs of arbitration.

Telekom was represented by the Swiss law firm Umbricht. "The costs of counselling and of business and legal experts hired by the firm amounted to EUR 1.2 million, the arbitration fee to EUR 200,000, the total costs of the counterparty to EUR 1.1 million, and default interest has to date amounted to EUR 2.8 million," Telekom said in response to a query by the STA.

The dispute between the two partners stemmed from differing valuations of the company: Telekom valued it at under EUR 17 million and Atenna Group at EUR 88 million. The arbiters sided with Antenna.

Antenna TV SL, the company in question, reported revenue of EUR 13.5 million for 2018, up from under EUR 10 million in the year before. It reduced its net loss by almost half from 2017 to EUR 3.8 million.