STA, 27 August 2019 - Matjaž Merkan, the former boss of the US-owned company Weiler Abrasives, has been appointed new chief executive of Telekom Slovenije, to replace Rudolf Skobe, who quit the post in April.

Announcing the supervisory board's decision on Tuesday, chief supervisor Lidija Glavina said that the vetting commission had put forward Merkan based on interviews with three shortlisted candidates.

"Telekom Slovenije is a good company, operating in a fast-changing sector ... We believe the style of leadership and the vision presented by Mr Merkan will contribute to implementation of the goals and further development of Telekom Slovenije," Glavina said.

Merkan, who will assume his four-year term as CEO of Slovenia's leading telecommunications company on 16 September, said he was glad to be taking on the new challenge.

"I'm guided by good results and target achievement together with employees," he said, noting his 20-year leadership experience.

Merkan headed Weiler Abrasives, the maker of abrasives formerly known as SwatyComet, for just over six years until the end of March this year. He has been advisor to the company's management since.

Merkan, who holds a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in economics, had earlier served for almost three years as a unit head at Swatycomet, and before that worked for lighting maker Siteco Sistemi and its precursor Elektrokovina Svetilke.

Noting his time with the company that was acquired by the US-based Weiler Corporation in 2015, he said that together with the team they implemented many innovations and aspired for business excellency.

He described Telekom Slovenije as an excellent company, a market leader introducing new products, services and trends in Slovenia and the broader region.

"I'm confident that it will retain its leading position in the future - including by expanding into new fields," he said, noting fast changes in the industry.

"Telekom Slovenije will need to become even more digitalised, advanced and agile. It's worth betting on the people who comprise the group and who have something to show for themselves even today," he added.

The appointment comes as the shareholders' meeting on Friday is due to appoint two new members of the supervisory board to replace Glavina and Ljubomir Rajšić.

The pair tendered their resignations in June. Rajšić's term ended on 18 June, while Glavina, the former CEO of Slovenian Sovereign Holding, will continue to serve until the shareholders' meeting.

According to unofficial information obtained by the business newspaper Finance, the candidates for the new supervisors are Barbara Cerovšek Zupančič and Igor Rozman.

The shareholders' meeting will also vote on the allocation of distributable profit for 2018. The proposal is to pay out a dividend of EUR 4.50 gross per share.

STA, 27 August 2019 - There has been a noticeable trend lately in Slovenian information and communication technology (ICT) companies being acquired by foreign buyers, with the acquirers seeing the Slovenian companies as strong players with good potential.

The assessment comes from Nenad Šutanovac of the Association of Informatics and Telecommunications, who has told the STA that the market is getting interesting both in terms of potential targets and supply.

According to him, there are many reasons for the owners of Slovenian ICT companies willing to sell. "Some owners are, for example, older and they are thinking about whether to enter the market transformation or to sell the company instead."

Šutanovac explained that finding new markets is an increasingly important thing for such companies, which may be a tough task for some. "This is especially true for companies which did not have a well-developed sale network in the past."

He believes that strengthening sale strategies and synergies on new markets are the two key advantages brought by foreign ownership. "Of course, development also requires capital, which is lacking in Slovenia," he added.

The biggest ICT takeovers in Slovenia

Among the most important takeovers, Šutanovac singled out Hermes Plus, which merged at the end of the 1990s with the Austrian IT consulting, solutions and services provider S&T to get the name S&T Slovenija.

"This company was positioned well not only in Slovenia, but in the entire region," he said, also pointing to the sale of the software company Hermes Softlab to the Serbian group Comtrade in 2008.

Among the more recent acquisitions, he mentioned NIL, one of the largest IT suppliers, which was taken over in February by the Danish company Conscia, a leading European producer of ICT infrastructure and advanced ICT services.

As the Ljubljana-based NIL told the STA at the time, there would be no major changes in the company after the acquisition, and all jobs would remain in Slovenia.

Furthermore, the management software maker Infotehna has been acquired by Amplexor of Luxembourg to be renamed Amplexor Adriatic, while the US company Emphasys Software has acquired Halcom, a provider of banking software solutions.

Listing a few more examples, Šutanovac said that ICT companies in the country were also attractive to Slovenian companies from traditional industries, including the energy company Petrol and the industrial conglomerate Kolektor.

As of recently, Adacta Services Business, a leading Microsoft Dynamics, Qlik and Cornerstone partner in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, has been in ownership of BE-terna, a company owned by the German Deutsche Private Equity fund.

The transaction does not affect the part of business related to the development and implementation of solutions for insurance companies, which will stay under the wing of the parent company Adacta Holding.

According to Šutanovac, many companies see special potential in solutions for insurers and thus do not want to leave that market. "Opportunities for small companies in other fields are rather limited, so they tend to sell other segments."

He believes that even in the case when an ICT company is acquired by an equity fund, strategic development of the company is not necessarily threatened. "Funds too can look for compatibilities in the content, and not only for short-term profit."

Šutanovac expects that the trend is likely to continue, but he would like to see "domestic capital be stronger and the ICT sector get solidified by the merging of homegrown companies".

ICT job opportunities in Slovenia

According to him, the fate of the sector in Slovenia highly depends on the availability of staff, which have become pretty mobile in this field due to the globalisation of the ICT industry.

"What is more, the number of young graduates in Slovenia cannot meet the demand, and members of our association are looking for staff abroad, not only in the former Yugoslav republics, but also in Poland and Ukraine."

He added that Slovenia should focus on developing complex expertise and solutions and on innovation. "There is a lack of experts, but we have a high level of knowledge and high productivity and quality of software development."

STA, 26 August 2019 - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek highlighted the need for Slovenia to remain at the cutting edge globally when it comes to the transition to clean energy, as she addressed the European Conference of the International Association of Energy Economics on Monday.

Na @EFLjubljana poteka evropska konferenca Mednarodnega združenja za energetsko ekonomiko #IAEE. Ministrica @ABratusek je na otvoritvi poudarila, da ima Slovenija enega najboljših energetskih sistemov na svetu in da se bomo @mzi_rs potrudili, da bo vsaj tako dober tudi v bodoče. pic.twitter.com/dbnzh5hxNn

— Ministrstvo za infrastrukturo (@mzi_rs) August 26, 2019

"Slovenia is among the best and we plan on keeping it this way," she said in reference to the country placing 6th among 125 countries in the World Energy Council's Energy Trilemma Index.

She said users will play a bigger role in energy generation in the future, as will smart grids. Public transportation will have to be strengthened and buildings insulated.

"Some of the measures are free, but in most cases the path to decarbonisation will be expensive. Financing of the transition should be the key issue," she said.

Bratušek also noted that in the transition to carbon-neutral energy sources, Slovenia will have to be mindful to keep energy accessible to all citizens.

The minister delivered the address at the 16th European Conference of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE), organised by the IAEE, the Ljubljana School of Economics and Business and the Slovenian Energy Economics Association.

Through Thursday, the conference will feature debates on smart solutions, the future of gas and gas infrastructure, and geopolitical issues, including relations with Russia.

All our stories on energy in Slovenia are here

STA, 24 August 2019 - Having shortened the standard eight-hour workday by two hours, companies Donar and Plastika Skaza have prompted a debate on whether Slovenia should replace the 40-hour working week with a 30-hour one. Trade unions welcome the idea, although they are aware of certain restrictions, whereas employers warn of negative consequences.

In April 2018, Donar, a designer chair manufacturer, became the Slovenian pioneer in shortening the workday without lowering pay or paying lower social security contributions for their employees.

Its director Matej Feguš has told the STA the idea had been in the pipeline for quite some time before it was implemented.

"Having observed the work processes in the company for a while, we realised people worked efficiently for six hours at the most. The goal was to improve productivity, not with more hours but with better-quality work."

He says their employees now have more time for their families and and have fewer problems, so they are consequently more diligent at work. What is more, relations in the company, which now employs 18 workers, have improved.

However, Feguš admits the shorter workday sometimes means that not all the work is done in time, so the company now plans work processes more carefully.

Also, employees get easily used to their new rights, so when the need to work longer actually arises, they have to negotiate with them as if they had to work overtime.

But Feguš believes the greatest benefit of the six-hour workday is that after working for 40 years, people's total workload would be lower by 20%.

"So after 40 years, they could still be active and contribute to society instead of retiring and be lying at home at the expense of the public health fund."

Ferguš is thus rather disappointed that politics has not yet found a way to legislate a six-hour workday.

Donar's example was this year followed by Plastika Skaza, a much larger company with more than 300 employees and around 100 temps.

The Velenje-based producer of plastic kitchenware will phase in a six-hour workday in October, starting with the accounting service department.

The idea is to allow our employees to better balance their work and private life, Aleksandra Logar, human resources head at Plastika Skaza, told the STA in June.

Although the 40-hour week is the standard rule in Slovenia, labour legislation allows for a shorter, 36-hour, working week, if the employer and employees agree on it in a collective bargaining agreement.

But not all Slovenian employers are thrilled at the prospect of a shorter workday.

Lina Fratnik Andrić of the Slovenian Association of Employers (ZDS) writes in the Delodajalec magazine about Sweden's experience at an elderly home and a hospital.

While the nursing staff and surgeons improved the quality of services and felt happier, more staff had to be hired to do the same amount of work, so labour costs rose.

Fratnik Andrić also says that the 35-hour working week introduced in France several years ago has failed to result in a higher employment rate.

"On the contrary, the number of workers taking two jobs has increased, and the actual working week has remained at 39 hours," she explains.

She nevertheless admits that work processes have radically changed since the 40-hour week was introduced, so new forms of work will have to be put forward.

She believes working at home and flexible work arrangements are two options to facilitate a better balance between work and other life roles.

With automation on the one hand and work becoming ever more intense on the other, Slovenian trade unions have made a shorter workday one of their goals a while ago.

Lidija Jerkič, head of the ZSSS confederation, believes a shorter workday has a positive impact on efficiency and safety at work, as well as on social life and health.

Still, she is cautious, noting that a six-hour workday would not increase employment and reduce costs in all branches of industry.

"If you have a one-shift company, productivity would increase if they do the same amount of work as in eight hours without hiring new staff, and they will save on electricity and heating bills.

"But if you have a company working in four shifts, fixed costs will remain the same, while workers for an entire new shift would have to be hired, which would considerably raise labour costs although productivity would perhaps improve," says the trade unionist.

She explains that the unions proposed a 35-hour working week to employers in the metal and electronics industries ten years ago, "but the answer was simply no".

"Unfortunately, the debate is now going in a completely different direction. Despite the legislated full 40- or 36-hour workday, workday is in practice totally out of control. Many workers work more than the weekday, they put in more overtime than allowed under the law, and have no breaks or rest."

Meanwhile, the ministry in charge of labour says there has been no serious debate on the issue among the government, unions and employers.

Introducing a six-hour workday, if it is to increase productivity, depends primarily on the type of business and the manner in which work is organised, the ministry has told the STA.

STA, 24 August 2019 - The International Agriculture and Food Fair AGRA opened in Gornja Radgona on Saturday, with Prime Minister Marjan Šarec saying that the event was of exceptional importance for Slovenia. He said that the issues in agriculture were solvable, but not overnight, adding that the sector must tackle new challenges.

 Šarec noted in his opening address that he and Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec, coming from the countryside, were well aware what rural areas and Slovenian warmers were.

But the prime minister added that agriculture must focus on tackling new challenges, and get oriented towards digitalisation, modernisation of farms and simplification of work processes.

Šarec added that the government would continue to cooperate well with the Trade Union of Farmers as experts. "And we will always work for the good of Slovenian farmers, because this is our task."

He said that "if there will be no Slovenian farmers, there will be no Slovenian food, and consequently there will be no health. And if there is no health, there will be no Slovenia eventually."

According to the prime minister, Slovenian farmers must be ready for dialogue with the state and be aware that the issues that have piled up in the last 25 years cannot be resolved overnight. "But we have the will and energy."

The opening of the fair was also addressed by European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan, who said that AGRA was a very important event, providing farmers with the opportunity to present their products.

He commended the cooperation in agriculture between Slovenia and the Austrian state of Styria as an excellent example and congratulated Slovenia on being awarded the title of the European Region of Gastronomy for 2021.

According to Hogan, more discussions should be held about incentives for young farmers, modernisation of the Common Agricultural Policy, new tools, modern technologies and digitalisation, in order to make agriculture attractive to young people.

Effort should be made to maintain the balance, to have farmers who are not only smart, but who will be able to survive, otherwise farmers could get into trouble, he said, adding that farmers should be given respect they deserved.

Minister Pivec meanwhile noted that there was a frequent conflict between urban and rural areas, adding that national politics had been neglecting the latter.

The countryside and forests represent more than three-quarters of the Slovenian territory, which is why the countryside should be treated as the key element for the country's development, she added.

"There is no Slovenia without the countryside. This is what the political and other public liked to forget about in in the last twenty years."

According to Pivec, one of the main tasks is to raise the reputation of farmers and agriculture and provide conditions for their further existence and development in the light of modern challenges.

Barbara Eibinger-Miedl, the regional minister for economy, tourism, Europe, science and research of Austria's Styria, commended the good cooperation between Slovenia and Austria, including successful projects co-funded by the EU.

Pivec and Hogan held a press conference after the opening of the fair, commending its organisers and assessing yesterday's meeting of agriculture ministry delegations in Ptuj as successful.

The Slovenian minister noted that delegations from 15 ministries from EU member states and candidate countries had discussed a very important topic, which was also the common thread of the fair.

"We signed a joint declaration which commits us to cooperating and working together in creating and transferring knowledge to practice, in modernisation and technological advancement of agriculture," she said.

According to the minister, AGRA is one of the most important events in Europe for the promotion and meetings of various stakeholders in the agricultural and food sector. She called for participation in the creation of a new strategy for Slovenian agriculture.

Hogan too believes that it is important to talk to all stakeholders, and especially lend an ear to farmers, who should be recognised with playing an important role in the production of safe food.

The commissioner said that rural development was also important for Slovenia, emphasising the concept of smart villages, where Slovenia has assumed a leading role with a conference in 2018 in Bled.

Running until 28 August, the AGRA Fair of Agriculture and Food 2019 will focus on digitalisation, automation, new technology in farming and the agro-food sector, as well as generational renewal.

The slogan of the 57th international trade show, featuring 1,850 exhibitors from 32 countries, is The Fair of the New Generation, with the main focus on the digitalisation in agriculture, local food, and youth in agriculture.

Austria's Styria will feature as a partner region, while presentations will also be organised of Hungary, Croatia, North Macedonia, Poland, Bulgaria and Vietnam.

Tesla has announced on Twitter that buyers in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia. The rear-wheel drive “standard range plus” with a “partial premium interior” costs €39,000, while the dual motor all-wheel drive “performance” model with a “premium interior” is €52,900. You can play with ordering a model here, and the estimated delivery time is early 2020.

Hint: starts with P and ends with oland, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.

Model 3 orders are open today in ?? ?? ?? ??

— Tesla (@Tesla) August 23, 2019

STA, 23 August 2019 - The Koper port placed 80th on this year's list of 900 best connected container ports in the world, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). The port has been listed the highest among all Adriatic Sea container ports since the first such ranking in 2006.

The first place went to the Shanghai port, while the port of Antwerp was the best in Europe, having been placed 6th in the world.

The Unctad ranks ports according to their liner shipping connectivity index, which takes into account the number and frequency rate of their connections with other ports as well as average and maximum vessel sizes.

The higher the index, the easier it is to access a high-capacity global maritime freight transport system and thus effectively participate in international trade.

"The greater the number of destinations and the higher the frequency of connections, the more options clients have in selecting the most optimal logistics solution," said Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port.

The Adriatic transport route has been making a name for itself in the past decade, with four north-Adriatic ports transshipping a total of 1.12 million container units in 2009. Last year, the figure rose to 2.47 million, said the operator.

The maritime transport world has acknowledged the advantages of southern European ports, including in servicing middle-European markets.

According to the Unctad's list, the port of Koper is on par with northern-Adriatic ports in terms of their connections, but the Slovenian port surpasses its neighbouring ports when it comes to the number of container units each vessel transships on average.

The Koper port has a 40% share of all container transport in north Adriatic Sea and is the biggest terminal in the region. Luka Koper expects to reach a record number of a million container units transshipped this year.

More details on Unctad’s list can be found here

STA, 23 August 2019 - A higher court has upheld a ruling under which Abanka has to fully refund two clients whose subordinated debt was wiped out as part of the December 2013 national bank bailout, interest included.

The Celje District Court's ruling from June 2018 has thus become final, so it must be implemented even if Abanka appeals at the Supreme Court, several media outlets reported on Friday.

The clients who took Slovenia's No. 3 bank to court in 2017 are two well-known lawyers from Celje. In 2007, Igor and Marija Karlovšek bought junior securities to the tune of EUR 1.1 million, the Siol news portal reported.

The spouses claimed in the suit that Banka Celje, which merged with Abanka in 2015, had failed to properly inform them about the risks involved.

The courts argued Banka Celje should have told them they could lose the money even if the bank does not go bankrupt.

Ever since 2001, the option of erasing subordinated bondholders if the central bank orders measures to reorganise the bank has been part of Slovenian legislation, Siol said, citing the latest ruling.

The portal also quoted the ruling in saying that when buying the subordinated debt, the plaintiffs "justifiably assumed they had bought ordinary, not subordinated bonds".

Siol reported that the Karlovšeks, who declined to comment on the ruling for the portal, had already received the money back, unofficially around EUR 2 million.

Abanka was ordered to pay them the principal plus interest, yet not since the day of the erasure, but since the day of the purchase.

The Karlovšeks were one of the the biggest individual owners of erased subordinated debt and are among the eight plaintiffs who have turned to the European Court of Human Rights for justice, according to Siol.

Abanka declined to comment on the latest ruling for the newspaper Delo. But the Higher Court confirmed a proposal for review had been filed in the case, with a decision still pending.

Delo speculated the proposal may well have come from Abanka, which said it would protect its interests and which had appealed against the first-instance court ruling.

Last year, Delo reported the ruling handed down by the Celje District Court was the first in cases brought against Slovenian banks after the junior debt erasure.

In 2013 and 2014, Slovenia bailed out its major banks with billions of euro in taxpayer money, but also with a bail-in involving subordinated debt of private investors.

Following years of efforts by the erased holders of subordinated debt, the government drafted a bill designed to provide them with legal recourse after it was ordered to do so by the Constitutional Court.

After almost 80 amendments were filed to improve it, the bill got stuck at second reading in parliament last June.

STA, 22 August 2019 - The EU Cohesion Fund is to contribute EUR 101 million for the renovation of the 16-kilometre rail section between Maribor and Šentilj on the border without Austria, the European Commission confirmed on Thursday. The entire upgrade is valued at EUR 254 million.

The Commission wrote it had taken into account the projected increase in traffic on the Baltic-Adriatic corridor that the section is a part of. The upgrade, which will also have positive economic effects, will increase the daily capacity of the section from 67 to 84 trains.

The renovation will also increase safety and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc expressed the "hope this will convince people to leave their car home an opt for a greener transport option".

Contractors for some of segments of the project have already been picked and some of the works are already nearing completion, while the deadlines for the renovation of two rail stations on the route and for the construction of noise barriers are set in 2020 and the end of 2021 respectively.

The Maribor-Šentilj rail link runs across the hilly terrain of Slovenske Gorice and through two tunnels. It was already built in 1846 as part of the Southern Railway between Vienna and Trieste.

The link however only has one set of rails and plans exist for a second one. The Slovenian Infrastructure Agency has told the STA the decision on this will be taken depending on the transport needs and will also have to taken in Austria, where one segment also only allows for a single train. The agency expects another set of rails will be needed by 2039 at the latest.

STA, 22 August 2019 - Pipistrel, the Ajdovščina-based aircraft maker, has posted a new success as the first woman ever crossed the Atlantic and Pacific solo on its ultralight aircraft. This was after one of its planes crash landed in Norway.

Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old from Mumbai, made history on Wednesday as she landed safely in Russia's Far East region of Chukotka, having flown from Alaska's Unalakleet city across the Pacific Ocean's Bering Sea.

RELATED: Pipistrel Plane Makes Slovene Stop in 1st All-Female Flight Around the World

Aarohi, who is on a global flight in Pipistrel's single-engine Sinus 912 aircraft, had earlier already become the first woman in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean and Greenland solo in a light sports plane.

Initially, the young pilot flew with her friend across India's Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany, France and Britain.

However, since the tiny cockpit had to be equipped with a life-raft, oxygen system and other safety gadgets for the trans-oceanic flights, Aarohi undertook the remaining expedition solo.

Apart from good news, the Slovenian aircraft maker also had bad news after its two-seater all-electric plane was forced to crash land into a lake in Norway last week. No one was injured in the incident.

According to a report by Forbes, the plane, owned by Norway's airport operator Avinor, was being used to showcase the opportunities of electric power in aviation. It was piloted by Avinor CEO Dag Falk-Petersen with State Secretary Aase Marthe J. Horrigmo on board.

The plane took off from Arendal airport, some 285 kilometres south-west of Oslo. Whilst in the air, there was a signal that something was wrong with the engine power, whereupon the engine power weakened and disappeared completely, said the pilot, who landed the aircraft onto a pond.

Forbes commented that the incident would come as a setback to Norway's electric aircraft plans. However, the setback may not be as big because Norway's authorities have ordered two more same-model aircraft from Pipistrel despite the incident.

The Slovenian company confirmed it was made aware of the incident involving its Experimental class Alpha Electro in Norway on 14 August, saying it had activated its team of experts and offered assistance to the investigation authorities to investigate and determine the causes which led to the accident.

"Initial reports indicate loss of power which resulted in a forced landing. There were no human injuries and that safety mechanisms built into the design of the airplane and its systems acted nominally. There was no high voltage shock to the crew when the aircraft and crew were in water," reads the company's release.

This was the third incident involving the model, according to Aviation Safety Network; Pipistrel has so far supplied more than 60 Alpha Electros. In January an aircraft in Switzerland had to make an emergency landing because of loss of engine power and in October last year a crash claimed a human life in the Netherlands in unknown circumstances.