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STA - Below is a roundup of major events on Saturday, 30 March 2019:
Militia leader Šiško sentenced to eight months in prison
LJUBLJANA - Andrej Šiško, the leader of an armed militia called the Štajerska Guard, received an eight-month prison sentence for inciting to violently subvert the constitutional order. The Maribor District Court handed down its verdict after a trial that lasted only five weeks and Šiško was immediately released from custody. The six months he has spent in detention will count towards his sentence. Reacting in his signature fashion, Šiško said the ruling confirmed that Štajerska had been established as an independent land. Foreign Minister Miro Cerar labelled the ruling a win for the rule of law.
Austrian MEP Mlinar SAB's frontrunner in EU elections
LJUBLJANA - Angelika Mlinar, a member of the Slovenian minority in Austria and an Austrian MEP, will top the ticket of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) in the May EU elections, the party's executive council decided. Mlinar told Austrian media today that she knew Slovenia well, having lived here for 13 years. Mlinar and the SAB have been political allies for years. She attended the founding congress of the party five years ago and also took part in its latest congress in February.
Cerar, Kaiser confirm positive trends for Slovenian minority
BRDO PRI KRANJU - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser noted positive trends in relations between the Slovenian community and the Austrian region of Carinthia, and strengthening of cooperation in various areas, as they chaired a session of the Slovenia-Carinthia Committee. Representatives of both sides reported on different areas of cooperation and joint projects in business, culture, agriculture and other fields, establishing cooperation is very good, Cerar told the press.
Pahor and Guterres honour efforts of ITF demining fund
NEW YORK, US - President Borut Pahor and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened on Thursday a photo exhibition marking 20 years of Slovenian-run demining fund ITF - Enhancing Human Security. The pair discussed topical issues including climate change, agreeing that stronger political will and mobilisation were needed. The Western Balkans was also broached and Pahor, a co-initiator of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, acquainted Guterres with the preparations for the May summit of the regional initiative.
Erjavec attends ministerial on UN peacekeepers
NEW YORK, US - Defence Minister Karl Erjavec took part in a ministerial on UN peacekeeping operations at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, where he also met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday. He supported Guterres's initiative Action for Peacekeeping and efforts for peace operations to become an even more credible and effective tool of securing peace. Erjavec also announced the Slovenian defence, foreign and interior ministries planned to set up a training centre for soldiers, police officers and civilians that will take part in peacekeeping operations.
Slovenia's general government surplus at 0.7% of GDP in 2018
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded a general government surplus of EUR 303m last year, or 0.7% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Revenue grew by 1.178bn, or 6.3%, year-on-year while expenditure rose at a slower pace, going up by 4.7%, or EUR 881m. Consolidated general government debt in 2018 amounted to EUR 32.23bn, or 70.1% of GDP, which is 3.9 percentage points down compared to 2017.
Slovenia's annual inflation rate ticks up to 1.6% in March
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's annual inflation rate in March was at 1.6% due to costlier services, while a 0.7% inflation was recorded on the monthly level due to higher prices of clothing, footwear and fuel. The prices of services went up by 3.2% on average in a year while goods were 0.9% costlier. The prices of non-durable and semi-durable goods increased by 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively, while durable goods prices went down by 1.4%.
Unior group more than doubles net profit
ZREČE - The group around the tool maker Unior generated EUR 246.5m in net sales revenues last year, up 3.1% compared to 2017, while more than doubling net profit to EUR 12.2m, showed the company's annual report. EBITDA dropped by 7.5% to EUR 30.2m. Unior said that net profit for 2017 was lower due to revaluation of the assets of the ski resort operator RTC Krvavec at the end of that year due to a planned sale and their transfer to short-term assets for sale.
Jožef Stefan Institute getting lab for chemistry in extreme conditions
LJUBLJANA - The Jožef Stefan Institute selected the idea for a chemistry lab allowing experiments in extreme conditions as the winner of the institute's annual competition for young scientists. This means researchers Matic Lozinšek, Blaž Alič, Mirela Dragomir and Kristian Radan will receive EUR 330,000 for the equipment needed in the new lab that will use experimental techniques to enable a synthesis and characterisation of materials at very low temperatures or at very high pressure. The idea is to merge two extreme fields of research - chemistry involving the most reactive chemical element, fluorine, and high pressure research.
SBI TOP index down 0.51%
LJUBLJANA - The SBI TOP index of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange shed 0.51% to 867.66 points. Trading was mixed, but the only two major items with noteworthy trade volumes, pharma company Krka and insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav, finished in the red. The pair accounted for the bulk of the day's EUR 1m in total turnover.
