Slovenia has a long tradition of growing juniper berries (brina) and turning them into alcohol (brinjevec or brinavec), and thus the rise of Slovenian gin producers over the last few years isn’t as surprising as you might think. Moreover, the relatively small scale and rapid production that gin enables, unlike, say, wine, means it’s an interest open to the hobbyist, craftsperson and entrepreneur alike – ripe for exploration and adventure.

Photo: Open Kitchen, to promote the same group's Brina Gin Festival

In addition to the growing number of Slovenian brands, many following their own paths in terms of flavour and production methods, there are also events like the Brina Gin Festival, drawing more attention to the industry, serving new cocktails and food pairings, enabling drinkers to meet producers, and vice versa.

One fruit of this raised profile is the news this week that Ljubljana’s Broken Bones Distillery has won awards in the Contemporary Gin Category (Over 42% ABV) and London Dry Gin Category at The Gin Guide Awards 2020, with the firm’s Broken Bones London Dry Gin also named the Best in Europe (including, it must be said, Britain).

Broken Bones Distillery is in a quiet building on the edge of Ljubljana. Photo: JL Flanner

Gins from more than 30 countries competed in The Gin Guide Awards 2020 in categories based on production methods, style of gin, and country of production. The winners were selected through a rigorous blind tasting process conducted by a large panel of distinguished gin experts, distillers, retailers and mixologists. Each gin’s appearance, aroma, flavour, mouthfeel, finish and overall quality and market appeal are judged to decide the highest scoring gins, based purely on the spirit itself and with no influence, the Awards stress, from branding or marketing.

The full list of winners in all categories can be found here, while you can learn more about Broken Bones Distillery, including how it got its name and how you can pay a visit, in our interview with one of the owners, Boštjan Marušič, from last year. You can also visit the Broken Bones website and order a bottle of London Dry to enjoy neat or with your favourite mixer.

STA, 28 April 2020 - Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti indicated at the government's regular coronavirus briefing on Tuesday that, the situation permitting, galleries, museums and libraries could start opening at the beginning of May.

While all culture activities and institutions have been confined to the internet since mid-March, Simoniti said Slovenia was successful in limiting the spread of coronavirus and was starting to soften lockdown restrictions in individual areas.

The beginning of May could thus potentially see galleries, museums, libraries and potentially also some other institutions opening their doors, he said.

However, this still depends on forthcoming reports and recommendations by health experts, the minister added.

Meanwhile, Simoniti feels the ministry had done a good job in mitigating the impact of the crisis on culture workers, with funding secured for institutions despite the production hiatus along with benefits for precarious workers in the sector.

"I hope we've provided at least the basics that prevent anyone from being gravely hurt and activities from dying in any field so that full operations in culture and the arts can be restored once the disease is removed and all the restrictions are lifted," he said.

All our stories on coronavirus are here

STA, 28 April 2020 - Revoz, the Renault-owned car assembly plant and by far Slovenia's largest exporter, relaunched production on Tuesday after shutting down due to the coronavirus epidemic on 17 March.

The resumption of operations will be gradual and workers will work in two shifts starting next week, the company told the STA, adding that preventive measures had been beefed up and additional protective gear had been provided for employees.

The Novo Mesto-based company relies heavily on workers from the broader region and even Croatia, and has previously indicated that the re-launch of production would hinge on the resumption of public transportation, which has been suspended nation-wide since 16 March.

It said employees would have to arrange their own transportation to work this week while efforts will be made to arrange bus transportation for those unable to do that until next week.

Revoz has a workforce of roughly 3,400 and produces the Renault Clio, Renault Twingo and Smart Forfour EQ models.

STA, 27 April 2020 - While lockdown measures remain in force, some Slovenians have started hitting the streets to protest against the government and the continuation of quarantine, with a few hundred people gathering in Ljubljana on Monday, several hundred in Maribor and smaller rallies held in several other cities.

The protests were initiated by a Facebook group called Resistance against the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which calls for the situation in the country to be normalised and for Prime Minister Janez Janša to resign.

Around 150 people gathered in the square in front of Parliament House in Ljubljana at noon, and the number of protesters roughly doubled when newcomers lifted a fence set up by the police and joined the rally.

Several media reports say that there were no incidents or conflicts, with the police only warning the protesters to keep a safe distance among themselves.

One of the protesters called for national unity and "against plundering by both left and right" and for the "robbery of taxpayer money" to end, drawing some applause from the crowd.

Some of the signs called for Janša's resignation, while some individuals decided to hold impromptu speeches to call against the misuse of public money and for the measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic to be lifted.

A speech was delivered by Ladislav Troha, a former army officer who has become a major proponent of conspiracy theories online and has been on the fringe of many protests over the past decade and more.

Some of the protesters invoked widely circulated conspiracy theories saying they were rebelling against the deployment of 5G telecommunications technology and government plans to implant chips into them, according to videos circulated on social media.

Joining the call for protests were Facebook users in Nova Gorica, Ptuj, Trbovlje and Maribor. In Slovenia's second largest city, around 1,000 people gathered for a peaceful walk through the city streets, according to local media reports. Police say the number of protestors was much lower, just 100.

In some towns, people also carried signs in support of Ivan Gale, the whistleblower from the Commodity Reserves Agency who has revealed for national television political pressures in the procurement of personal protective equipment.

A Facebook page has been created in support for Gale, so far attracting some 54,000 members. Its moderators said yesterday that they had nothing to do with today's protests and disavowed the events.

Ljubljana police said there were roughly 200 people at the rally in Ljubljana, whose organisers registered the event on Friday but did not get permission due to the lockdown restrictions.

Maribor police said they had warned protestors they were violating the restrictions on movement and gathering. Reports against 19 persons were submitted to the Health Inspectorate, which controls quarantine compliance.

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said on Twitter that police in Ljubljana and Maribor had IDd a large number of protestors, who will be fined. "They will also file criminal complaints against the organisers and participants, this constitutes the crime of hazard to health," he said.

Hojs also expects the police will ID additional participants with the help of published photographs and video. "The majority of the citizens are concerned about health and comply with the decrees," he said.

Monday's protests are the latest in a series of anti-government manifestations that started, mostly on social media, soon after the country went into lockdown.

A protest against restrictions of freedom during the epidemic was held on Friday as dozens of cyclists roamed the centre of Ljubljana, ringing bells, whistling and carrying slogans.

The protest, which was organised by a Facebook group which had previously been calling for protests from balconies and windows, also called against giving the army police powers to patrol the border and against attacks on journalists.

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This summary is provided by the STA:

Calls for cooperation, remembrance as Resistance Day is marked

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor addressed citizens on Resistance Day calling for cooperation and mutual aid in crisis. Pahor said that "we are remembering the most difficult times and the bravest of people." The head of the WWII Veterans' Association, Marijan Križman, added that the Liberation Front was the foundation of Slovenia's independence. Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič, who laid a wreath at the tomb of national heroes in the park near Parliament House, called for remembrance of all victims claimed by the National Liberation Struggle.

Pahor regrets reported political interference in PPE procurement

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor told a national television talk show on Sunday that he regretted the allegations of extensive political interference in the procurement of personal protective equipment reported in the media, as this had cast a shadow on what he has assessed as otherwise excellent work of the government and parliament in the coronavirus crisis. He said that both institutions had done a very good job and represented the good face of Slovenian politics until "suspicion has been raised that some might have made personal gains" or acted in violation of regulations.

Six new Covid-19 cases recorded, death toll up by one to 83

LJUBLJANA - A total of 634 new Covid-19 tests were performed in Slovenia on Sunday, resulting in six new cases to bring the total number of confirmed infections to 1,402. One person died of Covid-19, bringing the total death toll in the country to 83, the government said. A total of 80 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals around the country yesterday, of which 22 were in intensive care. No new cases were admitted and no patient was discharged from hospital for home care

Mediana poll shows share of opponents of government increasing

LJUBLJANA - The share of respondents who support the government of Janez Janša remained almost unchanged in April at 45.6%, shows the latest Mediana poll, while the share of those who oppose it has increased from 34.4% in March to 41.4% in April. Support for the ruling Democrats (SDS) in the poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster POP TV and published on Sunday has somewhat dropped compared to March to 19.3%. Following the SDS is the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), which has lost 2.1 percentage points to 11.1%, and the opposition Left, which has lost a point to 7.8%. The respondents were also asked about the government's measures to fight the coronavirus epidemic, with 57.7% of them saying they were appropriate.

Počivalšek optimistic about joint corona standards in tourism

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is moderately optimistic about the prospects of securing good and coordinated standards of anti-coronavirus measures in tourism. Počivalšek said this at a videoconference of the EU ministers in charge of tourism, which comes after PM Janez Janša called at the EU summit last Thursday for a joint corona-standard for tourism facilities and services to be established. The minister rejected concerns about possible discrimination based on passport, while calling for border-crossing protocol to be established relative to the epidemiological situation.

Small anti-government protests held in several cities

LJUBLJANA - While lockdown measures remain in force, Slovenians started hitting the streets to protest against the government and the continuation of quarantine, with a few hundred people gathering in Ljubljana today, several hundred in Maribor and smaller rallies held in several other cities. The protests were initiated by a Facebook group called Resistance against the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which calls for the situation in the country to be normalised and for Prime Minister Janez Janša to resign. A Facebook page has also been created in support for a whistleblower who has revealed political pressures in the procurement of personal protective equipment, but its moderators said it was not connected to the protests.

Slovenian international airports record less traffic last year

LJUBLJANA - The total volume of traffic in the three Slovenian international airports in Ljubljana, Maribor and Portorož dropped by 5% last year compared to the year before. By far the largest share of passengers travelled through Jože Pučnik Ljubljana Airport, which recorded 1.72 million passengers in the year when the flag carrier Adria Airways ended in receivership. The volume of cargo transport through the airports was down by 8%, the Statistics Office reported.

Former sciences and arts academy president France Bernik dies

LJUBLJANA - Literary historian and author France Bernik, who headed the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) in 1992-2002, has died at the age of 92, the SAZU said. Born in Ljubljana in 1927, Bernik graduated in Slavic studies at the University of Ljubljana in 1951, and became tenured professor of Slovenian literature history in 1984. He published more than 400 essays and articles in scientific journals and a total of 16 books, while he also lectured at many international universities, including in Zagreb, Belgrade, Trieste, Innsbruck and Bonn. Bernik was the recipient of many national and international awards and decorations, including the Zois Prize for lifetime achievement in literary studies (1999).

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All our stories on coronavirus are here, while those covering covid-19 and Croatia are here. We'll have an update at the end of the day, and if you want newsflashes then we'll post those on Facebook

We can’t have pictures of COVID-19 every day. So instead we’ll try and show the works of Slovenian artists. Today it’s Gordana Grlič.

Contents

Six new Covid-19 cases recorded, death toll up by one to 83

Počivalšek optimistic about joint corona standards in tourism

LINKS

Six new Covid-19 cases recorded, death toll up by one to 83

STA, 27 April 2020 - A total of 634 new Covid-19 tests were performed in Slovenia on Sunday, resulting in six new cases to bring the total number of confirmed infections to 1,402. One person died of Covid-19 yesterday, bringing the total death toll in the country to 83, the government said on Monday.

A total of 80 Covid-19 patients were in hospitals around the country yesterday, of which 22 were in intensive care. No new cases were admitted and no patient was discharged from hospital for home care.

So far a total of 221 patients have been discharged from hospital for home care, the government said.

A total of 49,607 tests have been performed in Slovenia so far, with a random testing of population also being introduced last Monday.

Out of the 3,000 invitees, 1,320 persons have responded and 1,191 samples have been taken so far. One new infection and one infection that had already been recorded earlier have been detected as part of the campaign.

The total number of confirmed infection is 1,402, of which 621 are men and 781 women.

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Počivalšek optimistic about joint corona standards in tourism

STA, 27 April 2020 - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is moderately optimistic about the prospects of securing good and coordinated standards of anti-coronavirus measures in tourism. He has rejected concerns about possible discrimination based on passport, while calling for border-crossing protocol to be established relative to the epidemiological situation.

Počivalšek said this at Monday's videoconference of the EU ministers in charge of tourism, which comes after PM Janez Janša called at the EU summit last Thursday for a joint corona-standard for tourism facilities and services to be established.

The economy minister also noted that Slovenia advocated coordinated standards for the period after the end of the pandemic was declared, and more long-term standards, for example in the hotel organisation system.

Slovenia has already come up with a system, and would like to coordinate it with the neighbouring countries and broader at the EU level, Počivalšek told Slovenian correspondents in Brussels over the phone.

He believes that coordinated standards are also important for the drafting of the third national anti-corona legislative package, which will be focused on tourism, in which 70% of the revenue is generated by foreign guests.

The minister sees Slovenia's advantage in that it is not a destination for mass tourism, which will experience most of the difficulties. He also sees a solution in encouraging Slovenians to explore their own country, which is a destination for year-round tourism.

Počivalšek has rejected concerns about possible discrimination in tourism based on passport, but he also stressed that, as the tourism sector was being opened, it would be taken into account how individual countries handled the coronavirus crisis.

He assessed the situation in Slovenia as satisfactory, as it is a good foundation to start "flirting with relaxing measures in the field of tourism a little bit more courageously."

As the largest number of guests come from Italy, Slovenia will have to be reserved a bit and seek proof that the crisis in Italy has been managed. Slovenia is also interested in opening up to Austria and Germany as soon as possible, Počivalšek said.

As for Croatia, the minister noted that 110,000 Slovenians owned real estate in Croatia. He announced that he would speak on Wednesday with Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, but not about "Slovenia saving Croatian tourism."

Počivalšek expects that the tourism sector will be restructured and prices adjusted to the situation, and he does not expect prices to increase.

He noted that, on Slovenia's initiative, sustainable tourism would be one of the topics of the next EU presiding trio of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia.

Slovenia supports the establishment of an informal platform for monitoring measures taken by EU member states in tourism, Počivalšek said, adding that today's conference heard much criticism against what is perceived as a too vague response from the European Commission.

Regarding financial support for the tourism sector, the minister hopes that financing will be available through the European Investment Bank (EIB), while also believing that coronabonds would be helpful for the entire economy, including tourism.

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STA, 26 April 2020 - Slovenia had a population of 2,095,861 on 1 January 2020, up 14,953, or 0.7%, from a year earlier. The number of Slovenian citizens dropped in 2019 as the multi-year downward trend continued, with the number of immigrants increasing again.

The number of Slovenian citizens in 2019 dropped by 3,205, or 0.2%, to 1,939,510, which is a slightly bigger drop than in 2018, Statistics Office figures show.

The number of foreign citizens residing in Slovenia meanwhile increased by 18,158, or 13.1%, a rise roughly on a par with 2018.

On the first day of this year, a total of 156,351 foreigners made up 7.5% of Slovenia's population, a rise from 6.6% a year earlier.

The number of men (1,051,066) exceeded the number of women (1,044,795) on that day.

The share of women among Slovenian citizens, which keeps decreasing, stood at 51%.

Only a third of all foreign citizens were meanwhile women.

The low share of women immigrants is attributed to the fact that the majority of foreigners coming to Slovenia in recent years are workers working in industries such as construction.

STA, 25 April 2020 - Retailer Mercator saw its sales revenue increase by 1.8% to EUR 2.14 billion in 2019 as net profit nearly tripled to EUR 4.7 million from EUR 1.6 million in 2018. Mercator also reduced its debt.

Revenue from retail sales, Mercator's core business, increased by 2.2% to EUR 1.7 billion.

Normalised gross operating profit (EBITDA) rose by more than 60% to EUR 172.5 million.

The retail group reduced its debt by almost a quarter last year, mostly as a result of its real estate monetisation. Net financial debt by comparable standards amounted to EUR 587 million and the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was reduced from 7.2 to 5.2.

Mercator, a Ljubljana-based group, is part of the insolvent Croatian holding Agrokor.

Its transfer to Fortenova, Agrokor's successor, has been suspended after the Slovenian Competition Protection Agency temporarily seized Mercator shares Agrokor as security for a fine.

STA, 27 April 2020 - Resistance Day (aka Day of Uprising Against Occupation, dan upora proti okupatorju) will be marked in Slovenia today to remember the establishment of the Liberation Front, an organisation that spearheaded the resistance movement against the occupying forces during World War II.

Given the coronavirus lockdown, there will be no national ceremony marking the public holiday and the 79th anniversary of the Liberation Front.

However, President Borut Pahor and the head of the WWII Veterans' Association, Marijan Križman, will address citizens from the Presidential Palace in the morning.

They will also lay a wreath at the Liberation Front monument in Rožna Dolina borough in Ljubljana, in front of the house in which the organisation was formed.

National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič will lay a wreath at the tomb of national heroes in the park near the Parliament House.

Since the Presidential Palace will not be open to the public, people will have the opportunity of visiting the president's chambers online.

For Slovenians, World War II started on 6 April 1941, when Germany attacked Yugoslavia.

The Anti-Imperialist Front, as the Liberation Front was initially known, was formed 20 days later, on 26 April 1941, the day when Hitler visited the city of Maribor.

The fact that its establishment is marked on 27 April is due to a minor historical error.

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA:

Eight new coronavirus cases recorded, death toll up by one to 82

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded eight new coronavirus cases on Saturday as 794 tests were carried out. One person died, bringing the total death toll to 82, according to government data. The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 was 80, three more than on Friday. Twenty-three patients were in intensive care, unchanged from Friday, and two were discharged from hospital. Until last midnight, as many as 48,973 test were carried out, of which 1,396 were positive. Saturday's number of new Covid-19 cases is roughly the same as Thursday's, when seven new infections were recorded, whereas the Friday figure more than doubled to 15 from a day earlier. Commenting on the sharp daily rise, Milan Krek, who is to take over at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) if green-lighted by the government, attributed it to people not sticking to social distancing rules during the Easter holiday. He warned against a hasty easing of social distancing and movement restrictions.

First case of Covid-19 infection discovered as part of random population testing

LJUBLJANA - As part of a random population Covid-19 testing campaign launched on 20 April, one person who did not know was infected has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Epidemiologist have already contacted the person, who is from the north-east fof the country, and advised those who have been in contact with them to self-isolate. Miroslav Petrovec, head of the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine, told the STA this was the first newly discovered Covid-19 case as part of the nation-wide testing campaign. However another person had been previously tested as part of the random testing who had known of their infection, having tested positive in March. While 3,000 people have been invited to take part in the campaign, 1,315 have responded to the invitation and 1,136 tests have already been carried out. Petrovec believes it will take at least until Thursday to complete the testing. Then, next week the blood samples will also have to be analysed.

Covid-19 positive soldiers return from Kosovo

LJUBLJANA - The three Slovenian solders who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 safely returned to Slovenia from the NATO-led mission in Kosovo (KFOR) this afternoon, the Slovenian Armed Forced (SAF) told the STA. Upon arrival at Ljubljana airport, a military medical team took the infected soldiers, who feel fine, to the Clinic for Infectious Disease in Ljubljana, which will decide what treatment need need. Another Slovenian citizen returned to Slovenia on the same plane with the soldiers, upon the request of the Foreign Ministry, while an epidemiological team was sent to KFOR's Film City base in Prishtina to disinfect the premises where the soldiers were deployed. There are some 250 Slovenian troops serving in the KFOR mission, which numbers about 3,500 troops altogether.

Slovenia's population up again due to immigration

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia had a population of 2,095,861 on 1 January 2020, up 0.7% from a year earlier. The number of Slovenian citizens dropped in 2019 as the multi-year downward trend continued, with the number of immigrants increasing again, Statistics Office figures showed. The number of Slovenian citizens in 2019 dropped by 0.2% to 1,939,510, which is a slightly bigger drop than in 2018, while the number of foreign citizens increased by 13.1%, a rise roughly on a par with 2018. On the first day of this year, a total of 156,351 foreigners made up 7.5% of Slovenia's population, a rise from 6.6% a year earlier.

Slovenia already at Earth Overshoot Day

LJUBLJANA Slovenia has used all natural resources for the year until 26 April, so it will now be living on credit from nature until the end of the year. According to a tweet by the head of the Institute for Youth Participation, Health and Sustainable Development, Tomaž Gorenc, this year Slovenia arrived at Earth Overshoot Day, previously known as Ecological Debt Day, a day earlier than last year. Earth Overshoot Day is a date calculated to show when humanity consumes natural resources beyond the Earth's capacity to regenerate them that year.

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