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This summary is provided by the STA:
Janša calls for bold family policy at Demographic Summit
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Prime Minister Janez Janša attended the Demographic Summit in Budapest, which he labelled as one of the most important events in the debate on the future of Europe, as demographics is one of the most important issues in the EU. He emphasised the importance of the family and said that the EU needed a bolder family policy, the prime minister's office said. "Due to the negative trends, demography is one of the important issues faced by the entire Europe. There is currently no country in the world that does not depend on demographic issues," the Slovenian prime minister said at a panel.
Slovenia elected member of IAEA board of governors
VIENNA, Austria/NEW YORK, US - Slovenia was elected a member of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 2021-2023. This is the fourth time it has become a member of the board of governors, which the Foreign Ministry considers an important leverage to promote its interests in the IAEA. Foreign Minister Anže Logar told reporters in New York that membership of the board of governors was proof that "we convinced enough member states that we will actively work in the IAEA, which is particularly important in the light of the return to the Iranian nuclear agreement."
Differences remain over alternative fuels infrastructure in EU
BRDO PRI KRANJU - EU transport ministers discussed infrastructure for alternative fuels with Slovenia's Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec noting there were quite a few differences between the countries on the issue, but the "essential thing is not to lose the primary momentum and to keep the required level of ambition". "Differences related to national specifics will have to be taken into consideration as well as different starting points of member states," said Vrtovec, highlighting financing as the key issue.
Fiscal Council cautions against politically-motivated spending
LJUBLJANA - As the government prepares to send budget documents for the next two years to parliament, the Fiscal Council warned that the continued existence of exceptional circumstances "should not be used to adopt measures that reflect the final stage of the political cycle". "The existence of extraordinary circumstances in 2022 merely allows a flexibility of fiscal policy to directly address the challenges related to the epidemic, while additional stimulus measures ... are not justified," the council said. This comes as Slovenia is due to hold a regular election next year.
Residential property prices in biggest boom in decade
LJUBLJANA - Residential property prices rose by 4.5% in the second quarter of the year on the quarter before in the most substantial hike in ten years, the Statistics Office said. Data released by for second quarter shows prices of existing homes (apartments and family houses) in the country rising by an average 4.7% on the quarter before; apartment prices were up by 5% as family houses came 4.2% costlier. The value of transactions was the highest on record.
Number of new Covid cases slightly down
LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,011 new coronavirus infections were confirmed on Wednesday, down 75 from the day before, as the test positivity rate dropped by two points to 18%, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents was down by one to 648. There were four Covid-19 deaths yesterday. The number of hospitalised Covid patients stands at 391, seven more than yesterday, of whom 102 are in intensive care, three more than yesterday. Infectologist Matjaž Jereb said that an estimated 350-400 Covid-19 patients would require standard hospital care and up to 140 intensive care by end September.
Slovenia only dark red country on latest ECDC map
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The whole of Slovenia is dark red on the latest Covid-19 colour-coded map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Slovenia is the only country or region on the map with such an epidemiological situation. On the map, areas change to dark red when the 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents exceeds 500. According to the National Institute of Public Health, the 14-day incidence for the entire Slovenia on Wednesday stood at 648.
Logar meets several colleagues on margins of UN General Assembly
NEW YORK, US - Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar met on Wednesday his counterparts from Armenia, Moldova and Pakistan and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on the sidelines of the general debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Logar also attended a round table debate on the situation in Afghanistan hosted by the International Peace Institute in cooperation with Denmark. Logar said it had been decided to conduct talks with countries where EU's problems stem from and could "affect our political arena," mainly migrations.
Govt adopts legal basis to tap into EU recovery funds
LJUBLJANA - The government endorsed on Wednesday a bill amending the budget implementation act for 2021 and 2022 to create a legal basis for effective use of EU funds for projects included in the recovery and resilience plan. The government adopted the national recovery and resilience plan as a basis to draw EU recovery funds in April. Under the plan, which was endorsed by the European Commission at the beginning of July and by EU member states at the end of July, Slovenia is to get EUR 1.8 billion in grants and EUR 705 million in loans.
Purchase of "flawed" military vehicles to be debated in parliament
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Left requested a session of the parliamentary Defence Committee to discuss the purchase of Oshkosh four-wheeled vehicles, which it says are "flawed goods and should be returned to the US". The army took over 38 Oshkosh light tactical vehicles purchased from the US under a government-to-government EUR 26.7 million deal in June, and news portal Necenzurirano reported some vehicles did not pass a road worthiness test and that all the vehicles were shipped without weapons. Defence Minister Matej Tonin said US defence contractor Oshkosh Defence will be asked to remedy all the shortcomings at its expense.
DeSUS executive committee decides against calling party MPs to resign
LJUBLJANA - The executive committee of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) has not endorsed a proposal to call DeSUS MPs to resign. The proposal had been made at a meeting three weeks that discussed the relationship with the party's MPs, who often support the minority government even though the party quit the coalition led in December last year.
Industry wants govt to act on energy prices
LJUBLJANA - Concerned about rising energy prices, Slovenian industry has called on the government to take action. "The state will have to get involved," the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) said. Electricity prices have nearly doubled this year whereas gas prices have tripled, which has severely affected energy-intensive industries such as food and chemicals, the GZS said, warning that the price hikes will sooner or later result in higher bills for households.
Mercator returns to profit in H1
LJUBLJANA - Retail group Mercator posted a net profit of EUR 10.6 million in the first half of the year after reporting a loss of EUR 69 million in the same period a year ago due to property revaluation and writedowns. Sales revenue was down 0.4% to EUR 1.1 billion. Releasing the semi-annual results, Mercator said despite the slight decline in sales revenue, the figure is up 3.9% from the comparable pre-Covid period two years ago. Retail sales revenue was down 1.3% compared to the first half of 2020 to EUR 849.8 million, which is still 7.3% higher compared to the first half of 2019.
Textile company Beti up for sale
LJUBLJANA - Beti, a leading European manufacturer of dyed polyamide yarns, is being put up for sale by the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), Slovenia's band bank, along with its debts. In a public invitation for expression of interest published in the newspaper Finance, BAMC says it will sell at least 86.7% of the company and claims against it in a bundle. The owner of the 100% stake in the Metlika-based company is Viktor Kozjan, and the majority creditor is Prodajalec.
Slovenia keeps all Michelin stars as new restaurant joins the pick
LJUBLJANA - Chef Ana Roš of Hiša Franko has kept her two stars in the new edition of the Michelin Guide Slovenia and all five one-starred restaurants kept theirs as Gostišče Grič in Horjul, led by chef Luka Košir, won its first, as the coveted stars, which denote the best dining establishments discovered by Michelin inspectors, were awarded to Slovenian restaurants for the second time. The other one-stared restaurants are Vila Podvin (Uroš Štefelin, Mošnje), Hiša Denk (Gregor Vračko, Zgornja Kungota), Atelje (Jorg Zupan, Ljubljana), Pri Lojzetu (Tomaž Kavčič, Vipava) and Dam (Uroš Fakuč, Nova Gorica).
Civil protection to get EUR 45m in EU funds
GORNJA RADGONA - The Slovenian system of civil protection and disaster relief will receive EUR 25 million for modernisation from the EU recovery and resilience mechanism and another EUR 20 million for the purchase of special equipments to deal with climate change. The funding is expected in the 2021-2027 period. The EUR 20 million will come from cohesion funds that were originally earmarked for other purposes in the 2014-2020 period but have not been spent. Now, they need to be spent by 2023, a panel at the SOBRA defence and security fair was told.
Slovenia donates over 100,000 vaccine doses to Bosnia
LJUBLJANA - The government approved on Wednesday a donation of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The donation was approved at a correspondence session with the Health Ministry announcing the donation is meant as Slovenia's humanitarian aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina in coping with the pandemic.
EU sports officials support European sport model
BLED - EU directors-general near-unanimously endorsed the European model of sport at a two-day session that wrapped up in Bled. Luxembourg was the only country to argue that the American model could be replicated in Europe in some respects, like closed competition systems which do not enable promotion from lower to higher leagues. Overall, the possibility of promotion was highlighted as one of the great strengths of competitions in Europe.
EU healthy lifestyle campaign launched
BLED - The European Commission launched the two-year campaign HealthyLifestyle4All coinciding with Slovenian Sports Day. The initiative, also marking the start of the European Week of Sport, is designed to link sport and active lifestyles with health, food and other policies. Marija Gabriel, European commissioner in charge of sport, and Slovenian Minister for Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec signed a committent on encouraging life-long physical activity, which is one of Slovenia's priorities during its EU presidency.
