STA, 13 March 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said on Wednesday that he personally believes Britain's exit from the EU would probably be best postponed a little as things currently stand. He feels Slovenia would be ready to back a postponement provided that other member states did the same.

Speaking to the press during a two-day visit to Egypt, Cerar said a postponement "would probably make the most sense right now, but not for too long, since the matter is becoming unbearable".

Responding to Tuesday's rejection of the exit agreement by the British parliament, Cerar said an extension would still be better than a no-deal situation.

He repeated that an extension would need to be reasonably short, since all the cards have been on the table for some time.

"It is truly only about the UK government having to find some kind of path as soon as possible; things have been finalised enough on the EU27 side," Cerar said.

While stressing this was his personal opinion on a situation that still needed to be coordinated at government level, the minister said Slovenia would also be ready to back a reasonable extension should other member states do the same.

In any case, it will be first necessary to wait for a final decision by the British parliament, which will be deciding on a possible no-deal Brexit today, Cerar pointed out.

If this option gets rejected, a vote on an exit deadline extension will follow on Thursday.

All our stories on Slovenia and Brexit are here

Ex-Yu Aviation, the best site we know for flight information in the area, reports that British Airways is set to increase its capacity this summer on flights between London and Ljubljana. By switching from an Airbus A319 to A321, the carrier will be able to carry 76 more passengers, up to 220, on a service that’s scheduled to run from 15 July to 2 September (2019).

There are two services a week on the timetable, operating on Monday and Friday. The flights leave London Heathrow at 17:20 and arrive at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport at 20:35. In the other direction, passengers can expect to take off from Slovenia at 21:20, and touchdown in the UK at 22:35.

All our stories on air travel and Slovenia can be found here

STA, 13 March 2019 - The story of a young woman who cut off her hand with a circular saw to get insurance money has shocked Slovenia, as reported here, and shed a different light on a shooting that happened four years ago. Police now suspect that the 29-year-old who allegedly persuaded the woman to cut off her hand did not shoot his girlfriend by accident four years ago.

After it transpired that the 21-year-old and her boyfriend had intended to trick several insurance companies into paying for the injury the woman inflicted on herself, the 29-year-old has found himself in the spotlight.

The media have reported that the young woman had been allegedly persuaded into the bloody act by her boyfriend and his parents. Reportedly, she has been living with them since she was 18.

Police also said that the 29-year-old man already had a criminal record and that he had been involved in what was considered an accidental shooting four years ago in which his girlfriend at the time was killed.

According to the Celje police department, the investigation of the shooting in which the 24-year-old girl from Žalec died had never been closed.

Her boyfriend had initially been investigated for negligence, as the death was considered an accident, but now new circumstances emerged, suggesting her death might have been premeditated, police say.

The 29-year-old, who was 25 at the time of the shooting, was never charged with the death that he allegedly caused while cleaning his gun.

Now he is in custody together with the 21-year-old suspect of the insurance fraud. The pair, who have been in custody since 7 March, face a prison sentence of one to eight years for fraud.

If the police had not interfered, the 21-year-old would have received EUR 383,400 in damages for the arm injury and potentially several thousand euros per month in annuities until her death.

Investigators assume that the suspects were hoping for her to be declared 100% disabled to collect significantly more insurance money, but doctors managed to sew the hand back on after police brought it to the hospital.

For losing her hand, the woman would get EUR 1.2m in damages and several hundred thousand more over her lifetime in annuities.

STA, 13 March 2019 - The association Counselling Office for Workers said on Wednesday that some Slovenian companies, including several large ones, were blackmailing workers from abroad. Most often they demand that the worker reimburse the company for the costs of obtaining their working permit if they leave the company earlier than agreed.

Such a demand is usually included in the worker's employment contract or a special agreement.

Goran Lukić and Goran Zrnić of the Counselling Office for Workers named two companies making such demands, the builder CPG VG and the elastomers and thermoplastics company Siliko.

A contract with CPG VG says that the employer covers the costs of obtaining a working permit for the worker and the costs of their national professional qualification. But if the worker quits their job in less than three years, they must pay EUR 1,500 to cover these costs.

Similarly, Siliko makes a special agreement with its workers stating that the cost to the company for obtaining the working permit for the worker is EUR 500. If the worker quits their job, they must reimburse the company for the sum and any other possible costs, the agreement reads.

The Employment Service responded by saying that under an agreement on the employment of Bosnian citizens in Slovenia these costs must be covered by the employer, so such agreements were "inappropriate or in fact a violation of Article 9 of the agreement".

Lukić also pointed to a ruling by the Koper Labour Court in a similar case involving the company Retrans which says that such deals run contrary to the constitutional right of workers to pick their employer freely and are as such null and void.

All out stories on employment in Slovenia are here

STA, 13 March 2019 - The Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities has proposed changes to the pension system under which retirement age for persons without 40 years of pensionable service would gradually increase from the current 65 years to 67 by 2034.

Under the current legislation, employees who do not have 40 years of pensionable service may retire at 65, but receive lower pensions.

The new proposal raises the retirement age for these persons to 67 years by two months a year until 2034, Minister Ksenija Klampfer said as she presented the proposal to the press on Wednesday.

The condition that a person must have 40 years of pensionable service for old-age retirement under 67 years remains in force.

The pension rate for persons with 40 years of pensionable service is proposed to be increased in six years to 63% of the long-term average wage for both men and women. The current rate is 57.25% for men and 60.25% for women.

An additional 1.25 percentage points will be added to the rate to persons who were on parental leave in the first year of the child's life, said Klampfer.

The higher pension rate will allow for higher old-age, widow, disability and family pensions and compensations from disability insurance, the minister explained.

Retired persons will also be able to continue to work after meeting the conditions for old-age pensions and receive 50% of their pensions for three years and then full pension after that, with some safeguards being in place.

There will be certain conditions for this right to be exercised, including that contributions for social security have been paid in full, Klampfer said. At present, pensioners who continue working only get 20% of their pensions.

The proposal follows the solutions agreed on in the coalition agreement, said the minister, noting that in 2025, pensions of persons with 40 years of pensionable service would be by 8% higher on average.

All our stores on employment in Slovenia are here

Below is a review of the headlines in Slovenian dailies for Thursday, 13 March 2019, as summarised by the STA:

DELO

Pension reform
"How we will retire under the new plan": 67 will be the minimum retirement age for persons without 40 years of pensionable service, pensions for new old-age retirees will be 8% higher as of 2025, while retired persons who continue to work will receive 50% of their pensions for three years, and then a full pension. (front page, page 2)

Global Climate Strike
"What the world will be like if we remain silent?": Members of the Youth for Climate Justice movement will skip school on Friday to take part in the Global Climate Strike For Future and call on decision makers to take action against climate change. (front page, page 5)

Skiing season ending
"Snow cannons saving skiing": Some of the Slovenian ski resorts will conclude the season this month, while some will operate also in April and even until 5 May (Kanin). Some operators are rather unhappy with the results. (front page, page 4)

DNEVNIK

Pension reform
"We will have to work until 67": The retirement age for persons without 40 years of pensionable service will be gradually increased to 67 by 2034, while the pension rate for persons with 40 years of pensionable service will be increased in six years to 63% of the long-term average wage. (front page, page 2, 16)

Public transport in Ljubljana
"Three hours on Ljubljana city buses": As the LPP operator has reduced the frequency of buses while increasing the price for a single ride as of April, Dnevnik journalists spent three hours on buses in the capital to see how user-friendly the system is. (front page, page 8)

FINANCE

Pension reform
"How to save for pension so that you are not poor as a church mouse": As the Labour Ministry has come up with proposals to reform the pension system, the paper provides advice "which will come in handy for your whole life". (front page, page 2-5)

Information security
"Izola hospital scandal should be a wake-up call for all companies": The paper runs an interview with the former Information Commissioner, Nataša Pirc Musar, and Klemen K. Mišič of InfoHouse on the scandal involving unauthorised access into medical files in Slovenian hospitals. (front page, page 6-7)

Logistics
"EUR 177m coming for investments in sustainable mobility": The paper notes that Slovenian municipalities have EUR 177m on their disposal for sustainable mobility projects, wondering how Slovenia will look like after the money gets spent, including on an estimated 1,000 km of cycling paths. (front page, page 10-11)

Companies
"Weak sales by Cinkarna Celje, and even weaker forecast, but its share blossoms on stock market": As Cinkarna Celje saw its sales revenue drop by 13% to EUR 164m, while posting a record net profit of EUR 30.6m, the paper wonders whether the chemical company will again be looking for a new owner this year. (front page, page 10-11)

VEČER

Pension reform
"Retirement at 67": The Labour Ministry has proposed a reform of the pension system, including the proposal under which retired persons who continue to work could receive 50% of their pensions for three years, and then a full pension. (front page, page 2-3)

Magna investment
"Magna will soon start painting vehicles": The Administrative Court has confirmed for the paper that no disputes have been launched against the environmental permit for the Magna Steyr paint shop in Hoče near Maribor. (front page, page 4)

Maribor central market
"Umbrellas California, goodbye": The large California umbrellas, which have been used at the Maribor central market, will be dismantled and scrapped, as they have become dangerous and impractical. (front page, page 9)

STA, 12 March 2019 - The UK-based company Ascent Resources has announced it will appeal against the Slovenian Environment Agency's decision that it will have to seek an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its gas extraction project in the far north-east of the country.

"The partners plan to appeal the decision within the prescribed 15-day period," the UK company has said as quoted by Your Oil and Gas News portal.

The key ground for appeal will be that all six expert government agencies which the agency is required to consult as part of the screening assessment process concluded that no EIA should be required on the basis that the project to re-stimulate two currently producing wells was not likely to have significant effects on the environment.

The Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) failed to follow the findings even though bound to so, having not undertaken any independent assessment of the likely impacts of the environment, Ascent Resources said in the post.

Ascent Resources has been extracting and selling untreated natural gas from the Petišovci field in cooperation with its Slovenian partner Geoenergo, but the partners have been unable to get permits for hydraulic fracturing and for a new gas processing plant due to repeated appeals by environmentalists.

The company said that the partners had applied for the screening assessment in May 2017, so they also plan to challenge ARSO's latest decision for not being issued within the two-month period prescribed by Slovenian law. "The failure to comply with other provisions of Slovenian law as well as breaches of EU law will be detailed in the appeal."

Related: Ascent Resources CEO - Company May Sue Slovenian Government Over Fracking Permits (Video Interview)

Meanwhile, Ascent Resources welcomed ARSO acknowledging that the proposed project cannot be regarded as "fracking" as defined by the European Commission in its recommendation in 2014.

Ascent Resources has been working with legal experts in Slovenia and London to prepare claims for damages as "a result of the numerous and continued failures and delays by ARSO and the ministry to comply with Slovenian and EU law".

It said that "any potential claim for damages will take into account the amount invested by Ascent in the project, currently in excess of EUR 50m, and future expected profits from the development of the field which is estimated to be a multiple of the existing investment".

Related: PM Surprised By Hunt Lobbying for UK Fracking Company: “In Slovenia We Operate in Line with the Law”

STA, 11 March 2019 - Slovenian companies have started to feel the impact of a downturn in car sales which has followed on the heels of several years of growth. Moreover, cars have become more expensive last year, as the industry had to adapt to new environmental standards that took effect in September.

In general, the number of new cars sold in the EU last year was still higher than in 2017. It went up by 0.1% to 15.14 million new cars.

However, the sales have been dropping since September. Volkswagen, the biggest car maker in Europe, saw its sales drop by 6.5% in January, while Audi saw a decline of 17% and BMW's sales went down by 2.7%.

In Slovenia, car sales went up by 2.7% in 2018 over 2017. However, the number of new cars registered in January was 4.6% lower than a year earlier. Moreover, prices went up by an average of 5% last year, the business newspaper Finance reported recently.

Experts believe that the decline in Europe was caused by a change in emissions testing brought about by new environmental standards in September. The month before, car sales went up by nearly 33% as buyers were offered considerable discounts.

In China as well, sales are going down. The country saw a 3.5% drop last year, which was the biggest decline in new car sales since 1990.

The situation still seems a bit more optimistic in the US, where sales have gone up due to economic growth and low oil prices. However, analysts expect the trend to reverse this year.

Buyers have also started to opt against diesel engines. In the EU, diesel engines made up only 34.1% of all newly registered vehicles in the final quarter of 2018, 7.1 percentage points less year-on-year.

On the other hand, the share of new petrol engines increased by 4.9 percentage points to 57.2%

The number of electric cars and plug-in hybrids has also been on the rise. Last year 2.1 million new alternative-fuel cars were sold globally in 2018, exceeding the two million mark for the first time.

Global downturn of car sales is likely to continue also due to urban ride services providers such as Uber and the increasingly popular concept of car sharing, which is especially popular in cities.

In Slovenia, Avnt2Go is the biggest car sharing service provider. Its services are available in Ljubljana, Maribor, Kranj, Murska Sobota and the Jože Pučnik Airport Ljubljana, the country's biggest airport.

It has a fleet of 200 cars, which it intends to expand by another 100 by the end of the year.

The downturn in car sales is already being felt by Slovenian car parts makers, such as Boxmark, a company sewing car seat covers for several European car makers.

"Last year already brought a slight drop. We expect this to continue and become more pronounced in the second half of the year," Boxmark boss Marjan Trobiš has told the STA.

The company is prepared for the downturn, according to Trobiš. It has expanded its assortment of products so as to branch out into aviation. Among other things, it signed a six-year contract with the Emirates airline.

Currently, the company is taking in enough orders but if the pessimistic forecasts come true, this will affect the company's work force, according to Trobiš.

Dani AFC, a Slovenj Gradec-based leather company servicing the car industry, has meanwhile abolished a third shift, creating 100 redundancies.

All our stories on business and Slovenia are here

STA, 11 March 2019 - Several cases of drunk driving by members of the Slovenian police force as well as one by a state prosecutor have been making headlines in recent weeks. While such cases are set to be on the decline, they have now grabbed public attention for including very senior members.

The first prominent case reverberated in early February, as Maribor Criminal Police head Robert Munda was caught driving off duty with 0.51 of milligrams of alcohol per litre of breath, more than double the 0.24 mg/L legal limit.

This was preceded by a case at the end of January when a member of the criminal police crashed into a traffic light in Ljubljana, also during his free time but allegedly with an alcohol level of 0.97 mg/L.

Related: Drink driving still a problem in Slovenia (feature)

Even more excessive, allegedly involving four-times the legal limit, was the case of a drunk driving district state prosecutor, unofficially Anica Šoštarič from Murska Sobota, who was caught at the end of February.

Meanwhile, the most recent case of a senior representative of the hand of justice driving under the influence was reported today and unofficially includes the head of the Operation and Communication Centre at the Kranj Police Administration Jože Pasar.

Related: Slovenes still drink too much, “40 days dry” launched for Lent

According to POP TV, Pasar was involved in an accident on 16 February while speeding and drunk driving with an alcohol level of 0.62 mg/L. He has been issued a pre-termination warning notice.

Disciplinary proceedings are said to have also been introduced in the remaining cases, but no dismissals have been reported.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar has told the newspaper Večer that the police force has 8,152 employees and that these are not immune to inappropriate behaviour.

Related: Food, alcohol, sex, marriage, divorce and death – recent statistics on Slovenia

She stressed that "unlike some other institutions, we have mechanisms in place to discover this and penalise, tackle it ... there are no taboo topics with regard to this in the police".

Bobnar added that such cases have been on the decline and that the recent weeks have created a distorted impression.

"For instance: the police discovered 13,000 people driving under the influence last year. There were nine police officers among them ... The year before, the figure was ten and in 2016 it was 20," she said.

All our lifestyle stories are here

STA, 12 March 2019 - Exports by Slovenian companies amounted to EUR 2.7bn in January, which is 13.7% more than in the same month in 2017, while imports stood at EUR 2.6bn, a 8.7% year-on-year increase, the Statistics Office (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, SURS) reported on Tuesday.

The trade surplus amounted to EUR 120.9m, the highest January surplus on record. The exports-to-imports ratio was 104.7%.

Slovenia's exports to EU member states amounted to EUR 2.05bn, up 8% year-on-year, while exports from the EU rose by 3.3% to EUR 1.91bn.

Surplus in trade with the EU countries was at EUR 140.1m, or one-third more than in January 2017. Exports to the EU represented 75.6% of total exports and imports represented 73.7% of total exports.

Exports to non-EU countries surged 36% in January to EUR 660.4m, while imports from outside the bloc increased by 27.2% to EUR 679.6m.

A deficit of EUR 19.2m was thus recorded in trade with non-EU countries, the Statistics Office said.

More details can be found at SURS, while all our stories on business and Slovenia are here