Business
STA, 21 October 2019 - PM Marjan Šarec told MPs on Monday that China was Slovenia's most important Asian trade partner and that Slovenia wanted to further boost this economic cooperation. For exports to China to increase, new market niches need to be identified for high value added products to compensate for costs of transport and competition.
Šarec discussed cooperation with China as he was challenged by a question from the opposition National Party (SNS) deputy Zmago Jelinčič during Monday's questions time with the government.
Jelinčič said that Slovenia was not included in China's Belt and Road Initiative, and asked how Slovenia, given its geo-strategic position, could make sure that it would not be brushed aside and left without projects as part of it.
The prime minister noted that Slovenia had signed an umbrella document on the initiative in November 2017 as part of the 17+1 summit between China and Central and Eastern European Countries in Budapest.
Šarec said China was Slovenia's most important trade partner in Asia, with the volume of trade increasing by 12% last year. The growth has continued in 2019, he added.
Slovenian products are present on the Chinese market, including milk, honey, canned fish, poultry, pork, wine and pharmaceuticals, he said, adding that Slovenia's exports to China could be further boosted.
This requires "new market niches to be identified for products with high added value, which would sustain the cost of transport and also of the competition in the Chinese market."
According to Šarec, Slovenia wants to boost cooperation with China in particular in transport and logistics, hi-tech, tourism, food industry, new materials, alternative sources of energy and waste and water management.
"What needs to be said is that large EU member states are not too inclined to cooperate within this initiative, but Slovenia will act in line with its interests," the prime minister told MPs.
The best thing Slovenia can to is to construct a new railway to the port of Koper to become more competitive and allow for greater transshipment. "So that the port of Koper would work at full capacity," he concluded.
All our stories on China are here
STA, 18 October 2019 - Iskra Mehanizmi, a development supplier for mechatronic solutions in the automotive, medical and home appliance industries, is feeling upbeat ahead of 2020 after lower than expected profit in 2019. In what is a EUR 30 million investment, the company is expanding production and relocating to Brnik, just off Ljubljana airport.
Iskra Mehanizmi CEO and majority owner Marjan Pogačnik told the STA that the company, which has around 400 employees at its Lipnica location near Radovljica and 300 more in Kamnik, started building a new production and offices complex in Brnik in August.
The production hall should be ready at the start and the offices part at the end of 2020 to provide for 20,000 square metres of new space. This is currently the combined surface area available at Lipnica and Kamnik. While the entire Kamnik production is to be relocated to Brnik, the fate of the Lipnica location is not clear yet.
Pogačnik said the EUR 880,000 in profit recorded in 2018 as the company saw a 5% growth in sales had been below expectations, but he ascribed this to higher pay costs, investments into new projects and the foray into medical solutions.
Things have already improved this year when profit is planned to be on par with previous years, meaning at around EUR 4 million.
Pogačnik said things are looking even better than that and announced a EUR 2 million increase in net revenue this year to over 90 million. Close to EUR 100 million is projected for 2020 and EUR 120 million for 2022. Around 100 new jobs are also expected in the coming years.
The company has so far not been feeling the cooling in the auto industry particularly: "Buyers are telling us that they are experiencing a drop of slightly over 10% in general, but have not been feeling this directly to such an extent and are operating according to plans," said Pogačnik.
STA, 20 October 2019 - Central bank Governor Boštjan Vasle and Finance Ministry State Secretary Metod Dragonja attended this week's autumn meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington where they said that Slovenia's economic condition was currently good despite risks to the global economy.
Vasle, who mostly took part in meetings and discussions at the IMF, said in a statement for the Slovenian media that the IMF had downgraded its global growth projection for this year to 3% and highlighted the risks to the global economy that could potentially further diminish growth.
"We're talking about a trade war which is currently the strongest limiting factor for economic growth. There are still uncertainties related to Brexit and slowing Chinese growth," said the governor.
"Regarding these weaker projections, the IMF says that all macroeconomic policies should be implemented. So far, mostly monetary policies of all the biggest central banks have been striving for stabilisation, but the IMF is highlighting the need for other two policies as well - stronger activation of structural measures and fiscal policy."
According to Vasle, Slovenia is in a situation similar to other euro countries as well as others. Growth is cooling down due to global factors - slowing international trade; however, it is still positive.
The governor said that Slovenia's service sector, which depends on the home environment, was doing very well, which resulted in a stable labour market, with the highest figures since the country's independence.
Asked about whether Slovenia was ready for another financial crisis, Vasle said that the current situation was completely different from the one in 2007 and 2008, pointing out that the processing industry had changed and become more efficient and focussed on development and foreign markets.
He added that people saving up and being moderate in spending have also contributed to this stability, with budget conditions improving as well.
"However, during the financial crisis, the debt increased severely. Slovenia has a three times higher debt than it had before the last crisis arose, which could be one of the factors that would make it harder to respond to a potential further economic deterioration in the next few years," said Vasle.
He added that IMF representatives delivered a positive assessment of Slovenia's fiscal policy and acknowledged that public debt had been significantly reduced in the recent years.
Meanwhile, Dragonja pointed out that the government was tackling a complex issue of some EUR 30 billion debt.
On the sidelines of the Washington meetings, the state secretary met representatives of credit ratings agencies, investment funds and investment banks to discuss reducing interest on the national debt and easing the squeeze on the budget.
"There were 20 talks and the outlook looks promising despite somewhat lowered growth projections. Slovenia is in a good economic and macroeconomic condition; however, it does have an excessive public debt, which is why it needs to maintain strict discipline when it comes to banks and budget," said Dragonja.
"The budgets need to be balanced, surplus needs to be generated and reserves for controlling economic cycles should be created."
Asked about whether the IMF figures on Slovenia's growth were the same as Slovenian ones, Dragonja replied that the figures were very similar, although Slovenia's projection for this year was a bit higher than the IMF outlook which stood at 2.9%.
There were not huge discrepancies and Slovenia is taking into account the IMF suggestions on planning the country's economic policy, said Dragonja, adding that Slovenia was part of the EU economic space and as such could not significantly diverge from its outlook.
Both the governor and state secretary said that the current situation included extremely low interest rates, which benefited debtors but put pressure on the financial sector, with the meeting discussing the future challenges of this issue.
STA, 18 October 2019 - Pošta Slovenije, the state-owned postal operator, which has been closing its offices around the country in line with its optimisation plan since 2012, is in the spotlight again after announcing more cuts at the beginning of the month. Facing protest from the public, the operator said on Friday it would somewhat delay the optimisation.
"Pošta Slovenije will not rearrange or shut down any of its postal offices until the middle of next year," the company, which started the optimisation to adjust to the situation on the market, told the STA today.
The decision comes after the announcement of further optimisation was met with discontent around the country.
In the last seven years, 67 post offices have been closed and another hundred were reportedly scheduled to be shut down in the next three years.
The Ljubljana city council expressed its opposition to the planned shutting down of postal offices in the capital in a press release at the beginning of the month, noting that Pošta Slovenije planned to close down at least five offices in the Ljubljana area.
"There are currently 33 post offices in Ljubljana. The planned shutdowns would reduce this number by 15%," the press release said.
Even more affected are local communities. In Griže in the Žalec municipality, a rally was staged at the end of September against the closing of the only post office in the town.
The initiative against the closing down of post offices, formed by the Ljubljana city councillors of seven parties, also turned to the Agency for Communication Networks and Services (AKOS).
"We've called on the agency to look into the plans for closing down offices and stop issuing consents, as the shutdowns are not in the public interest."
Pošta Slovenije said today the procedure of rearranging and shutting down of post offices depended on several factors and could take months. It added that one of them was AKOS's consent.
According to the Economy Ministry, the universal postal services must be available to all citizens, especially to vulnerable groups.
Regardless of the changes on the market in the last years, each municipality must have at least one postal office or a contract postal unit.
"95% of Slovenian citizens must have a contact postal point within a 4.5 kilometre air range and no compromises are acceptable here," Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said in a reference to a solution introduced in rural areas where postal offices have been shut down.
There are currently 485 contact points in Slovenia, of which 321 are post offices, 138 contract postal units and 26 movable post offices.
Since the optimisation of Pošta Slovenije's network started in 2012, 67 post offices were closed and replaced by 52 postman's cars which operate as post offices.
According to Pošta Slovenije, Slovenia has a quite high share of post offices, 71%, while the share for Germany is only 0.1% and the Netherlands 0.3%, while the rest are contract postal units.
The postal operator also noted that 24 parcel stations had been placed in 16 towns around the country and that a self-service post office was available in Ljubljana as well as in Koper.
Packages can also be picked up at 114 petrol stations around the country.
STA, 19 October 2019 - The Maribor-based pharma company Marifarm is gradually implementing its strategy of becoming a drug manufacturer instead of just providing drug packaging as it used to. So far, they have been manufacturing drugs for other pharmas, but Marifarm wants to enter the market with their own drugs.
The company went private to avoid bankruptcy in 2016. It was acquired by Arterium International, a company registered in Amsterdam, which invested over EUR 11 million in three years.
At the end of August, the company got new owners - the Aquer GMBH group, established in Vienna, while Arterium International remains Marifarm's strategic partner.
Marifarm administration adviser Viktor Gryban told the STA that this shift in ownership had been planned and did not change the pharma's long-term strategy of manufacturing own drugs.
The company's drugs have already been developed and are now waiting for approval from relevant authorities to enter the market - a procedure that could take between three and four years.
To follow this goal and boost its business results, Marifarm has started working for other pharmas in drug manufacturing.
The company has been so far without profit and the owners are not expecting it this year either. Last year, Marifarm generated EUR 1.7 million in revenue and over EUR 3 million in net loss.
Although still in the red, the company has been improving its results and boosting its promotion at international pharma events.
Gryban expects the company to generate almost EUR 4 million in income this year and climb out of the red next year due to possible new business contracts.
The EUR 11 million investment has gone into modernising equipment as well as hiring new employees. The company currently employs some 150 workers and is planning to raise this figure to 170 by the end of the year, according to its director Romana Fišer.
Marifarm's current production capacities are the highest ever and will continue to be expanded. The company cooperates with Slovenia's largest drug maker, Krka, as well as pharmas from Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Ukraine and India.
STA, 19 October 2019 - Notary fees in Slovenia went up slightly on Saturday after more than a decade. Some of the notary fees have not been adjusted to inflation since 2002 and have also gone down several times, according to the Notary Chamber.
The adjustments took effect on Saturday and were set in cooperation with the Notary Chamber after intensive talks, the Justice Ministry has told the STA.
Notary Chamber head Sonja Kralj told the STA that the changes do not concern only the notary fees but also allow revaluation of services and introduce new definitions of individual notary services stemming from the class action act and family law.
In Slovenia, people most often turn to notaries for drafting of contracts and verification of signatures, according to Kralj.
Signature verification fees depend on the value of the contract. For example, the fee for verification of signatures on a contract worth up to EUR 4,590 will increase by a euro to EUR 6.
The drafting of a contract worth between EUR 114,750 and EUR 367,200 has so far cost EUR 275 and will from now on cost EUR 314.
Below is an overview of adjustments of some of the other notary fees in EUR.
Service old fee new fee ------------------------------------------------------------------ Verification of document copies (per page) 1.5 2 Written legal opinion (per page) 23 26 Access to the the property register, cadastre or the company register 23 26 Signature verification based on contract value value of contract subject old fee new fee ------------------------------------------------------------------ up to EUR 4,590 5 6 EUR 4,590-20,655 14 16 EUR 20,655-68,850 23 26 EUR 68,850-150,000 46 52 Source: Notary Fee
In contracts exceeding EUR 150,000, fees increase by EUR 11 (EUR 10 before) for every EUR 50,000 in contract value. However, in total, the fee cannot increase by more than EUR 114 (EUR 100 before).
STA, 17 October 2019 - The construction of the long-awaited first Ikea shop in Slovenia has officially started as the foundation stone was laid on Thursday in the BTC shopping district in Ljubljana. The 31,000 square metre shop, which is expected to employ around 300 people, is to be completed in a year's time.
The ceremony was attended by Ikea South East Europe CEO Sara Del Fabbro, who said that the company was looking forward to the opportunity to cooperate with Slovenian suppliers and local communities.
According to Del Fabbro, Ikea had wanted to open a shop in Slovenia for a long time and boost its presence in Southeast Europe. She added that the shop in eastern Ljubljana would offer a wide range of products to buyers.
The product range will suit various personalities and lifestyles and the Ikea shop in Ljubljana will be one of the most sustainable ones, she added.
Vladislav Lalić, regional property and expansion manager at Ikea South East Europe, noted that the shop would feature a small solar power plant and would also harvest rainwater.
The building is expected to be constructed in one year, while Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković is convinced that it will be finished even earlier, by the end of June 2020.
Janković told the press at the ceremony that commercial logic said that the best time to open a shop was September. "It must not be in December, because it will be too crowded [in BTC] then," he added.
The mayor announced that, by the time the shop opened, the local authorities would finish the development of all roads required for the shop that were in their jurisdiction.
He welcomed the arrival of Ikea to the capital, saying this "shows that Slovenia is developing economically and that the company has numerous consumers here, otherwise it wouldn't have decided for the move."
Janković, who believes that Slovenian suppliers will have many opportunities to cooperate with Ikea, also noted that a Slovenian company would construct the building and that the shop was a great challenge for Slovenian producers.
BTC chairman Jože Mermal said that Ikea's arrival meant "EUR 15 million in taxes for welfare and 300 new jobs," and adding that Slovenians would no longer have to spend half a day visiting Ikea shops in the neighbouring countries.
This advantage was also stressed by Lalić, who said that "we saw that many Slovenians shop in Austria, Croatia and Italy," he said, noting that the shop would stand only 3.5 kilometres from the city centre.
The ceremony was also attended by Samuel Ulfgard of the Swedish Embassy in Vienna, which also covers Slovenia. He said he was looking forward to Swedish products entering Slovenian homes.
The shop will also feature a playground, a restaurant with 450 seats, a cafe, a Swedish food shop, a parking lot for more than 170 bicycles and 1,000 cars, five charging stations for electric vehicles and a bicycle rental station.
STA, 16 October 2019 - The Slovenian Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS) and the Croatian Association of Hauliers called for eliminating traffic jams at the countries' border crossings at a meeting in Croatia on Wednesday. Road congestions on the border are causing enormous economic damage, according to the hauliers.
Peter Pišek, the head of the OZS hauliers' section, said that hauliers from both countries were experiencing unreasonably long queues at the border crossings due to the border authorities' ineffective system.
"This is problematic particularly at the start of the week when crossing the border could take up to 10 hours. Since hauliers have strictly limited working hours, they cannot continue working on the day they cross the border," said Pišek in a OZS press release.
The chamber has also pointed out that hauliers from both countries had been striving for a session of the Slovenian-Croatian haulage commission to be held and include police representatives from both countries.
Both organisations believe that the commission needs to establish ten border crossings between Slovenia and Croatia as soon as possible to allow an easy and unlimited haulier passage. The commission's meeting has been postponed a number of times for unknown reasons.
The hauliers would like to see new haulage rules, including in regular weekly rest periods and changing posted worker regulation so that a person would be a posted worker only if they performed cabotage operations.
Moreover, they advocate the development of secure parking places that are equipped with hygiene and recreation facilities, and could thus serve as a resting period place.
STA, 15 October 2019 - Economy Ministry State Secretary Eva Štravs Podlogar, accompanied by the top executives of Slovenia's bad bank, met with representatives of Lufthansa in Frankfurt to analyse the aviation market in the wake of the receivership of the German-owned Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said the visit by Štravs Podlogar and by Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) CEO Matej Pirc and the chairman of BAMC's board of directors Tomaž Besek was part of the market analysis.
It added that any potential decisions on the part of the government would also need to consider the plans of Lufthansa, which has already established a few new links with the Ljubljana airport through its subsidiaries.
No detailed information about the outcome of today's meeting with the representatives of the Germany airline that was Adria's key partner is expected before Thursday.
Štravs Podlogar, who is in Frankfurt as part of the Frankfurt Book Fair, said in parliament last Friday that the ministry was examining legal and organisational alternatives that would help fill the void created by Adria's bankruptcy. She said talks with different stakeholders were under way.
The efforts also include BAMC representatives, who have already provided explanations regarding the implications of a potential decision to set up a state airline company.
Another alternative, a bill that would allow the government to subsidise air links vital to Slovenia, was defeated by the parliamentary Infrastructure Committee last Thursday.
All our stories on Adria are here
STA, 15 October - Yusen Logistics, a Japanese supply chain logistics company, opened on Friday its subsidiary in the coastal town of Koper, thus becoming the first Japanese freight forwarder in Slovenia. The launch is an important step for the port operator Luka Koper as well since it promotes the transport route via Koper.
The first Japanese logistics subsidiary in Slovenia will also help popularise Slovenia's sole maritime port among Japanese logistics providers, who still prefer the ports in northern Europe.
Yusen Logistics, employing more than 24,000 workers and managing a global network of subsidiaries, has been so far providing services for Slovenia from their Budapest division, said Luka Koper.
The opening was attended by Luka Koper CEO Dimitrij Zadel as well as Takeshi Kondo, chief regional officer of Europe region at Yusen Logistics, and Japanese Ambassador to Slovenia Masaharu Yoshida.
Japan is one of Luka Koper's priority target markets overseas, particularly in terms of containers and vehicles, said the operator.
Last year, Luka Koper transshipped from or to Japan almost half a million tonnes of goods, including about 40,000 vehicles and 27,000 container units.
The operator pointed out that Japanese companies also owned industrial plants in other Asian countries, which transshipped even larger amounts of goods through the Slovenian port, highlighting that the move would help further tap into the potential of the Japanese market.
Luka Koper also drew attention to last year's merger of three Japanese container shipping lines into a single business - the Ocean Network Express (ONE), which ranks sixth in terms of global ranking by vessel capacity.
ONE is not coming to Koper with its own direct shipping line, but it will operate as part of the Intra Mediterranean service, said Luka Koper, adding that setting up a direct commercial maritime link with Japan would definitely vastly increase transshipment business.
Referring to a milestone trade agreement between the EU and Japan which entered into force in February, Luka Koper said that the deal had opened up new possibilities in trade and service exchanges.
Moreover, in the wake of Brexit, Japan, coming up with an alternative to its plants in the UK, could opt for exporting goods, which would enable Luka Koper to capitalise on its own geo-strategic advantage.
Today's opening is another sign that Japanese companies are increasingly interested in the port of Koper. At the start of August, a delegation from Nagoya, the largest Japanese port in terms of transshipment, visited the port, expressing interest in strengthening the economic cooperation.
All our stories on Japan and Slovenia are here
STA, 14 October 2019 - Slovenia met 52% of its energy needs by own sources of energy in 2018. Of the 148,000 terajoules (TJ)) in total energy production, the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) accounted for 42%.
Renewable sources of energy, including hydro-power, contributed 32% to the output and coal 25%. Other sources represented less than 0.5%, the Statistic Office reported.
Petroleum products represented a third of energy supply (34%), with nuclear accounting for 22%, renewable sources (including hydro energy) for 17%, coal for 16% and natural gas for 11%.
Final energy consumption totalled 211,000 TJ, 40% of which was consumed in the transport sector, 27% in manufacturing and construction, 21% by households and 12% by other consumers, including agriculture.
Almost half of the final consumption was covered by petroleum products (47%), followed by electricity (24%), renewable energy (13%), natural gas (12%), heat (3%) and solid fuels (1%).
Slovenian households consumed 44,600 TJ of energy, by far the largest share (61%) for home heating. A further 17% was consumed for each lighting and electrical appliances and water heating, 4% for cooking and less than 1% for cooling.
Households depended on wood fuels for 39% of their consumption, electricity for 27%, natural gas for 10%, extra light heating oil for 9%, district heating for 7%.
They got 3% of their sources from ambient heat, obtained by means of heat pumps, and as much from liquefied petroleum, and only 1% from solar energy.
More details on this data can be found here
