STA, 20 July 2020 - A total of 72 illegal migrants and three persons helping them enter or cross Slovenia without the required documents were caught at the weekend in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department in the south-west.

A group of illegal migrants was apprehended on Friday near the town of Podgorje together with their guide, a 21-year-old Kosovo citizen, who was taken to an investigating magistrate, who placed him in detention.

On Saturday evening, a 44-year-old citizen of Ukraine was pulled over in the same area transporting 18 Pakistani citizens. He is also in detention.

Early on Sunday morning, the police stopped a van near the town of Koseze in which a 23-year-old Ukrainian citizen was driving 12 Pakistani citizens.

Of the 72 illegal migrants caught in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department, the majority, or 52, were from Afghanistan, followed by Pakistan.

Seven foreigners who entered Italy from Slovenia were meanwhile returned to Slovenia at the weekend, of whom five were Pakistanis and two Afghans.

Etno HistEeria (from Ethno Istria) is an annual ethno, folk and fusion workshop for international musicians, which culminates in a series of concerts that take place in the municipality of Koper and during the Floating Castle Festival in Snežnik. This year’s concert dates and locations are as follows:

July 23 at 20:00, Koper, Ukmarjev trg: Etno HistEria jam session

July 24 at 20:00, Truške village, under the big oak tree: a concert of EH bands

July 25 at 20:00, Kubed village: concert of bands and the big EH orchestra

July 26 at 20:00, Truške village under the big oak tree: puppets and jam session

July 28 at 20:00, Koper Tavern: Etno HistErija Grand Orchestra Concert

July 29 at 20:00, Truške village: an evening with bands and a puppet caravan

August 3 at 19:00, Koper: Floating Castle at the PUF Festival with Ethno HistEria

You can find more about the Floating Castle Festival, which will take place on August 1 and 2 at Snežnik Castle, and will among other events host Etno HistEria, here.

Due to special circumstances this year the organizers have to follow certain coronavirus safety measures which include the limitation of available “seats”. Everyone interested in coming should therefore first make a reservation by SMS to (+386) 041778061.

STA, 15 July 2020 - After reaching above-average levels in early July, the sea temperature has been significantly below average in recent days, hydrologist Mojca Robič of the Environment Agency told the STA on Wednesday. Lower temperatures are mostly a result of a strong bora wind pushing through the coast.

At the start of July, the sea temperature reached 27 degrees Celsius, whereas in recent days it was hardly above 20 degrees.

This month has not been extremely hot, said Robič, adding that a two-day period of a fierce bora and thunderstorms has contributed the most to the cold spell.

"The bora swirls the water, which is why it gets colder," said the expert.

The average July sea temperature stands between 23 and 25 degrees, according to the agency. Usually, the sea enters a warmer phase by the end of the month; this year's trend hence departs from the normal course.

STA, 13 June 2020 - Those living at the Slovenian seaside and those visiting the area will soon be able to make use of a free of charge shuttle ferry service linking Ankaran, Koper, Izola and Piran. The service will be available over weekends during the summer season, starting in late June, and could be used to transport bicycles.

Passengers will be able to use the shuttle transport on Saturdays and Sundays between 8am and 8pm, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon.

The ferry will have a free of charge storage space for bicycles. The five bike spots will be occupied on a first-come-first-served basis, the Koper Regional Development Centre has said.

The free of charge shuttle service is a pilot initiative of the Crossmoby project that is part of the Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 programme.

Crossmoby promotes sustainable mobility by launching intermodal passenger transport options. The summer ferry service will take place over the span of 15 consecutive weekends, starting at the end of June and ending in late September.

Passengers will be able to board or get off the vessel in Ankaran at the Adria Ankaran camp pier, in Koper near the Ukmarjev Square car park, in Izola at the Marina hotel jetty and in Piran at the red lighthouse pier at the entrance of the harbour.

STA, 9 May 2020 - Gathering on Slovenia's beaches and at other public places on the coast remains banned, with the exception of individual sports activities, said Slovenian seaside mayors on Friday, ahead of what is likely to be a sunny weekend, coming a few days after the government extended the ban on gatherings.

Apart from the mayors of Slovenia's Istra region, the Koper Police Department and Health Inspectorate have joined the calls for complying with the ban, saying that any sun-bathing, socialising or loitering on the beaches is not allowed.

Citizens may bathe or swim though, but any time spent on the beach prior or after these activities must be kept short. Physical distancing should be maintained as well.

Patrol officers and representatives of the coastal civil protection unit will be on the lookout this weekend for any violators who might be tempted to hang out outside and enjoy the beach life.

Warmer temperatures and sunny skies are expected to attract more visitors to the seaside, with the police urging tolerant and responsible behaviour.

In the past few days, the government has lifted quite a few lockdown restrictions, including giving a go-ahead for reopening restaurants and certain shops, however preventive measures still apply there. Moreover, gatherings in public spaces are still off-limits.

STA, 27 March 2020 - 2TDK, the state company managing the construction of the new railway between the port of Koper and Divača, has signed an EU 8.5 million contract with a consortium led by Markomark Nival on the construction of bridges across the Glinščica Valley, one of the first large structures on the new track.

The contract covers the construction of two bridges, which is expected to take 15 months. Under initial plans, the work should start in August and finish in November 2021.

The EU is to fund 85% of the Glinščica Valley project. However, missing the December 2021 deadline for the completion of the project would result in the European funding needing to be returned. To catch the deadline, work would need to begin in mid-2020 at the latest.

The contract was signed on Friday by 2TDK director general Dušan Zorko and director Marko Brezigar. Due to coronavirus measures, Markomark CEO Nival Marko Peter and Ekorel CEO Zoran Pogačar signed it separately.

The signing of the contract comes after the consortium, which won the public tender for the first of several bridges on the planned new Koper-Divača railway, was rejected over flawed documentation but was later successful with its appeal. Markomark Nival was asked to supplement its file.

STA, 4 March - Tourism officials in the regions bordering Italy are not yet reporting a decline in visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, a major market for Slovenian tourism. The coastal community of Piran has even seen more visitors than in the same period a year ago.

The tourism association at the seaside of Portorož recorded a slight drop in the number of overnight stays at hotels, which they say was mainly due to the fact that two major hotels are closed for renovation.

Most other hotels in the Piran municipality, which also includes Portorož, saw visitor numbers in February trumping those recorded the same month a year ago. "We've seen growth mainly due to foreign visitors, who generated a good fifth more overnight stays in February than last year," they say.

The Portorož tourism association is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation, following the advice of the National Public Health Institute and the Slovenian Tourist Board, and notifying its visitors in turn.

Slovenian Tourist Board says hotels well-prepared for coronavirus

"Our hotels are well prepared too, keeping their guests up to date on the developments, making sure the premises are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, while the staff have attended training on preventive measures," the tourism association said.

Similarly, tourism officials in the port town of Koper have not noticed any particular effect of the coronavirus outbreak. February statistics are not yet in but the local tourism info point has not yet recorded a decline in footfall.

Nor has a fall been observed at the tourism centres in the Soča Valley, although the main tourism season there is yet to begin.

Restaurants along Slovenia's western border are not reporting a drop in turnout by Italian or other foreign customers either, but they are cautious about any projections and further developments.

Shaded countries had at least one confirmed case of coronoavirus as of 3 March 2020. WHO data, map US CDC - details

Gostilna pri Lojzetu, the award-winning establishment at Zemono Mansion, has had some cancellations from Italian and some other patrons who travelled through Venice airport, "but merely as a preventive measure because they wouldn't want to 'infect' any of our guests, even though they were not infected".

However, the restaurant does not expect any difficulties in the future. "We'll always have the restaurant full, it will definitely stay that way," they say.

The Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS) last week called for state aid arguing that the hospitality sector in the Nova Gorica area had been seeing a "drastic decline" in Italian customers.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia are here

STA, 28 February 2020 - Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port, saw a group net profit plunge by 32% to EUR 40.4 million in 2019 due to a slowdown of global trade. Revenue remained broadly flat at EUR 228.7 million, six percent below plans, the company said on Friday.

Profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by over a quarter to EUR 73.1 million and operating profit (EBIT), at EUR 45.3 million, was 35% lower than in the year before.

The volume of cargo shipments declined across the board, with general cargoes and dry bulk hit particularly hard: the former dropped by 16% and the latter by 17%.

Containers, a major category, saw a small drop in terms of tonnage, but measured by unit (TEU), the transhipment declined by 3%. Cars, another major category, saw a 4% drop.

Liquid cargoes are the only category in which the port registered an improvement, with tonnage increasing by 12%.

The company said that the second half of 2019 had been marked by the cooling of the global economy, in particular the automotive industry, electronics and the production of iron products.

Nevertheless, the bottom line is still 5% above the projections.

In line with the expectations, the results were affected by the implementation of a new business model for port services and the levy on transhipment for the construction of a new Koper-Divača railway.

The return on equity was at 10%, 6.1 percentage points down from 2018 but still 0.4 percentage points above plans.

The figures were also affected by the receipts in damages compensation for a crane to the tune of EUR 9.3 million in 2018 and EUR 0.4 million in 2019.

Going forward, the company will face the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak. CEO Dimitrij Zadel has recently said that the company is yet to feel the impact of restrictions in China.

Zadel would not speculate about expected decline in throughput yet, but he did say that transhipment of goods from China represented 30% of the port's total transhipment.

Related - Invest in Slovenia: Meet the Companies in the Benchmark Investment Index, the SBI TOP

STA, 20 February 2020 - The government has adopted a decree establishing a public company which will be the sole provider of maritime piloting services in the port of Koper, and which will be operated by Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the state asset custodian.

Under the decree, maritime piloting in Slovenia's sole maritime port will be provided as a public utility service and the government will be able to price the service on its own.

The service is currently provided by the private company Piloti Koper, whose workers threatened the management with a strike in early 2019, demanding greater safety at work through additional hirings and pilot boats, as well as higher wages.

The government said after Thursday's correspondence session that it wanted to "provide undisturbed and permanent maritime piloting service, which is currently provided as a monopolist activity on the market, and avoid navigation safety risks, pollution and economic damage".

The decree was adopted after SSH approved at the beginning of the month the annual maritime piloting management plan, drafted based on a government decision from last summer.

The plan was prompted by "risks related to the existing manner in which the service is provided," the government said, adding that maritime piloting was the responsibility of the state.

The Ministry of Infrastructure said at the beginning of February that the maritime code had been stipulating since 2010 that the state must establish a public company which would perform such service under a concession contract.

"The ministry is thus realising the legislative provision which has not been implemented yet," it told the STA at the time.

The government decree follows warnings about two employees of Piloti Koper who have pointed to the difficult working conditions and staff shortage receiving contract termination threats.

The trade union of crane operators at Luka Koper has also warned that the management of Piloti Koper, despite the strike-averting agreement reached in April 2019, continues repressing, mobbing, harassing and mistreating employees.

The company responded by saying that the developments did not affect the quality, safety and continuity of the service, and that the trade union was only trying to create an alleged state of emergency at the port of Koper.

The first version of this story had a mistake in the date of the event in the main text - it's in September, not December

It’s February, the heart of the low season, and maybe you need some motivation to get out and moving, a goal to set and make sure you end the year in better condition than you started it. For some this goal will simply be to move a little more each day, or to eat less junk food, or do a stretch or two in the shower. But if you like to aim high, and are already starting from a position of enviable strength, then take some time consider the Ironman triathlon – with swimming, cycling and running in the beautiful surroundings of the Slovenian coast, taking in Koper, Izola, Piran and Ankaran, with a trip to Italy included in with the price of entry.

The race first arrived in Slovenia in 2018, adding to the list of extreme sporting events members of the public can try their hands and feet at, along with such Red Bull sponsored occasions as the Planica 400 (usually in September) and Goni Pony, which both see competitors go up steep slopes, by foot and mini-bicycle, respectively.

Ironman, though, is a different breed, with a far more punishing, lengthy and varied task ahead of the entrants, and far fewer possibilities for wearing a costume.

The route for Slovenia's Ironman race

IRONMAN 70.3 Slovenian Istria, to give the race its full and correctly capitalized name, will start with a 1.9 km swim in the sea by Koper, followed by a 90.1 km bike ride through the town itself, followed by Ankaran, and then crossing the border to go along the picturesque Italian coast, including the town of Muggia. The cycling stage then returns to Slovenia and will challenge competitors with various ascents and descents in Istria. The last part of the race is a 21.1 km run, with the finish line by the sea in Koper.

It all sounds easy enough, from the comfort of one’s couch in February. But if you want to enter then you can register here and start planning your training regime, with just six months to go until the big day, Sunday 6 September 2020

What’s more, if you’re a truly competitive beast – and if you weren’t, would you be considering an Ironman? –  then note that the race offers qualifying slots for the 2021 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George, Utah (USA). The official website, with all the details, can be  found here.