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This summary is provided by the STA:
Lenarčič says it is not him who harms Slovenia
BRDO PRI KRANJU - European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič rejected the accusation by Prime Minister Janez Janša that he was acting against Slovenia's interests, as he arrived for an EU ministerial at Brdo estate, saying "Slovenia is being harmed by those who undermine the rule of law and media freedom, rather than those of us who warn of such conduct being problematic". He denied the allegation by Janša in the wake of his comments on the European Commission's Rule of Law report that he sought for strings to be attached to Slovenia's EU recovery funds.
European affairs ministers urge coherent action in time of crises
BRDO PRI KRANJU - After an informal meeting of the EU ministers for European affairs, Slovenian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Gašper Dovžan and European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič noted that it had been agreed that the EU must be integrated and coordinated in the time of crises. Lenarčič announced drafting of scenarios for future crises, on the basis of which European resilience objectives will be prepared. The pair stressed the importance of cooperation with the Western Balkan countries, representatives of which attended a part of today's meeting.
Matoz named BAMC chairman
LJUBLJANA - Franci Matoz, a prominent lawyer, was named chairman of the board of directors of the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), Slovenia's bad bank. The news comes just a day after the government appointed Matoz, best known as a long-time legal representative of Prime Minister Janez Janša and his Democratic Party (SDS), a non-executive director to replace a director who stepped down last week. Gregor Planteu was named a non-executive alongside Matoz. Non-executives then elected Matoz chairman.
Certificate checking mandatory from today
LJUBLJANA - Organisers of public events and gatherings must check visitors' Covid certificates from today under a regulation that the government put in place yesterday. A mobile app has been released, for now only for devices running Google's Android operating system. A version for Apple devices is expected within two weeks. The checking of compliance is coupled with shorted validity of both rapid tests and the more reliable PCR tests, now valid for 48 and 72 hours, respectively, rather than a week. Health Minister Janez Poklukar said the app would not share any personal data with the organisers. The Information Commissioner launched a supervision of the app, warning of a potential lack of a relevant legal basis.
Report of Janša's vacations with lobbyists in Mauritius raising dust
LJUBLJANA - The web portal Necenzurirano reported that PM Janez Janša had been holidaying in Mauritius for almost 20 years, playing golf and socialising with lobbyist Božo Dimnik and entrepreneur Andrej Marčič, representatives of the largest healthcare suppliers in Slovenia. Part of the opposition demanded a debate in parliament. On the other hand, the prime minister's office noted that Janša had never been on the island during the time when he served as prime minister.
58 new Covid cases reported for Thursday
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's daily coronavirus count dropped for the second straight day week-on-week as the country logged 58 new cases for Thursday. According to data released by the National Institute of Public Health, 1,641 PCR tests were performed yesterday, for a positivity rate of 3.5%. The estimated number of active cases has dropped to 818, as the 7-day average case count fell by one to 59 and the cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents was down two to 38.
EUR 65 million available for reducing wait times
LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry has made EUR 65 million available for the reduction in waiting times for health services. More than 20,000 patients are expected to benefit, according to Health Minister Janez Poklukar. Slovenia's health system has been plagued by long waiting times for years, a situation exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Poklukar said more than 70,000 people were currently waiting for their first specialist exam and over 100,000 are in line for specialist services.
Tourism picking up as June figures substantially up
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's tourism is beginning to pick up with fresh statistics showing visitor numbers and nights spent at tourism accommodation facilities rose substantially year-on-year in June. Arrivals were up by 54.7% to over 375,000 and nights spent rose by 66.7% to over a million, data from the Statistics Office show. Slovenian tourists accounted for 69% of the nights spent. Their numbers were up by 62% and foreigners' by 42%. Both spent most of their nights in the coastal municipality of Piran.
Revoz struggling with chip shortage
NOVO MESTO - Revoz, Renault's Novo Mesto-based assembly plant, will have two sets of collective leave this summer due to a shortage of chips that has plagued the automotive industry worldwide. The company says it will be difficult to meet production targets. Workers were sent on three-week leave or furlough in early July. Production resumed for a week until next Thursday, when all 2,400 workers will be sent on three-week leave again, head of corporate communications Nevenka Bašek Zildžović told the STA.
Business confidence down in July
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's business confidence indicator declined in July, ending seven months of growth. It was down 2.2 percentage points on the month before but was still 22.6 points up on the annual level, the latest Statistics Office data show. All sub-indicators declined at the monthly level, led by a 1.2-point drop in the services sector. Manufacturing was down 0.3 points and retail by 0.5 points. Consumer confidence was 0.2 points lower and the construction sector reported a 0.1-point drop.
High youth turnout in waters act referendum
LJUBLJANA - Youth turned out in great numbers in the referendum on the government-sponsored waters act on 11 July with data from the National Electoral Commission showing 46.66% of the eligible voters aged 18 to 30 cast their ballots. Their vote represented 15.3% of the overall vote. Overall, the turnout stood at 46.39%. By comparison, the turnout in the youngest group of voters in the 2018 general election stood at 40.54%. They contributed 12.57% of all ballots.
Slovenia with multiple medal favourites in Tokyo
TOKYO, Japan - Slovenia is fielding 54 athletes at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo starting today, including numerous candidates for medals. Kayaker Eva Terčelj and table tennis player Bojan Tokić will bear the Slovenian flag at the opening ceremony. Apart from the men's basketball team, headlined by the young NBA superstar Luka Dončić, Slovenia's favourites include sports climber Janja Garnbret, riders Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič, judoka Tina Trstenjak and kayakers Terčelj and Peter Kauzer.
Slovenian athletes not to carry EU flag at Olympic opening ceremony
TOKYO, Japan - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected a call by European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša to feature a European flag at the opening ceremony carried by the Slovenian team. An IOC spokesperson told the Brussels-based news portal Politico that "an Olympic team can only use one flag, one emblem and one anthem adopted by its National Olympic Committee and approved by the IOC Executive Board."
Slovenian research sheds new light on microbiome
LJUBLJANA - A group of Slovenian researchers has created software that helps scientists analyse the content of microbiomes, the communities of microorganisms living in the human gut, in order to detect specific pathways that may indicate the presence of a disease. The discovery creates opportunities for the development of new personalised-medicine therapies. The paper has been published in the journal Metabolites (https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/11/6/336) and is featured on its front page.
