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This summary is provided by the STA:
Slovenia examining initiative to ban Russian tourists
LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry is still examining the proposal to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens. Slovenia will continue to "look for solutions together with EU member states", it said. PM Robert Golob said he had not been formally acquainted with the proposal. "Once we've been acquainted and there's discussion in appropriate fora, we'll ... conduct discussion on the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee and then have our position," he told reporters. EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the matter at the end of the month.
Govt to introduce food allowance if necessary, PM says
LJUBLJANA - The government might introduce a food allowance in the autumn if the soft measures of price monitoring that should start in September fail to bring results, PM Robert Golob announced after attending an unrelated event. "In October, we will see whether more rigorous measures will be needed as regards food price regulation." He said the government had first approached the energy price hikes because they were a much bigger problem, as prices had gone up by 300-500%.
Golob announces prompt renovation of country's leading theatre
LJUBLJANA - PM Robert Golob announced a prompt start of renovation works at SNG Drama Ljubljana after he visited the country's leading theatre in the company of Culture Minister Asta Vrečko after delayed renovation preparations. He expressed surprise at how the building had been allowed to decay to its current state. Golob announced the government will include the project into the national programme of developments projects to get public funding as it supplements the national budgets for 2022 and 2023 at the end of August, which should promptly kick-start the renovation.
Ukrainian community opposes Netrebko's Ljubljana concert
LJUBLJANA - The Ukrainian community in Slovenia has called on the organiser of the Ljubljana Festival to cancel the 26 August concert by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko in a petition that has been signed by more than 700 people. "Culture is the strongest weapon in the war against Russia," reads the petition, declaring "performances by artists who directly support the criminal regime of dictator Putin" unacceptable. The lead petitioner is Evgeny Goreshnik, a researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute.
Gap between young and old widening but solidarity strong
LJUBLJANA - This year's International Youth Day is dedicated to intergenerational solidarity, with Slovenia having a number of projects involving the young and old, from digital skills courses to aid for the elderly provided by students. Some 100,000 youths are involved in community works. Meanwhile, statistics show that Slovenia's society is ageing quite significantly, with the population of 15-29-year-olds dropping by 15% over the past decade, as the number of those aged 65 or more increased by 29%.
Court allows culling of 222 bears
LJUBLJANA - An environmental organisation has lost a legal battle against the Environment Ministry's decision to allow the culling of 222 brown bears in Slovenia this year, by the end of September. In a decision taken on 16 June, the Administrative Court ruled the lawsuit by Alpe Adria Green was unwarranted. The judgement is non-appealable. The decision to allow the culling by 30 September was issued by the Environment Ministry in February but was stayed by the court in March. With the culling of the 222 bears, the country's brown bear population will be reduced from an estimated 1,000.
Hop harvest likely to be much lower than last year
ŽALEC - Due to high temperatures and drought this year's hops harvest is expected to be rather poor. Preliminary estimates put the output at roughly 1,300 tonnes, 40% less than last year. Talking with the STA ahead of Hop Growers Day on Sunday, which marks the official start of the hops harvest in the Lower Savinja Valley, hops expert Irena Friškovec said much would depend on the weather in the next two weeks, as favourable conditions could positively affect the development of cones in late hop varieties.
Salus reports lower H1 profit on higher revenue
LJUBLJANA - Salus, the Ljubljana-based pharmaceutical wholesaler, generated EUR 247 million in sales revenue in the first half of the year, an increase of 14% on the same period a year ago. Net profit was down by 13% to EUR 6.4 million, which the company linked to a successfully settled lawsuit against a pharmacy in receivership. For the whole year the company projects net sales revenue to the tune of EUR 449.4 million and a net profit of EUR 12.7 million.
Covid figures slightly down in weekly comparison
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 1,387 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, down by 4% week-on-week, as the two-week epidemic decline seems to be flattening. Another two Covid-19 patients died, the latest Health Ministry data shows. Hospital figures remain stable. The 14-day case notification rate per 100,000 of the population dropped by six in a day to 958 and the 7-day case average is down by ten to 1,396, shows data by the National Institute of Public Health.
Ljubljana and Sarajevo become twin towns
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković and Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina Karić signed an agreement on the Slovenian and Bosnian capitals becoming twin towns as the pair met in Sarajevo. Both mayors stressed the twinning was an upgrade of the two cities' long and successful cooperation in a number of areas, the Ljubljana municipality said.
Solkan hydro power plant shuts down due to low water
NOVA GORICA - The Solkan hydro power station on the river Soča was stopped once again due to low water levels on Tuesday evening, the operator, Soške Elektrarne Nova Gorica, said. The plant was stopped after being up and running for less than a week following a week-long shutdown in late July also caused by drought. Rainfall has been forecast for today and tomorrow in Slovenia, but it does not seem that the Soča valley in the west will get much of it.
Brežice festival hosting six early music concerts
BREŽICE - Brežice Seviqc, an internationally renowned festival of early music, gets under way at the Devil's Tower near spa town Dolenjske Toplice with a concert by Serbian lutenist Andrej Jovanić. The festival will take place at picturesque venues in Dolenjske Toplice, Brežice, Šmartno pri Litiji, and Loška Dolina, featuring the Slovenian trio OperArija, Italian cellist Federico Toffano, Spanish violinist Jorge Jimenez and the Slovenian ensemble Messa di Voce, among others.
