In the finals of the first Individual Competition of the Raw Air Tournament in Lillehammer, Peter Prevc managed to jump to the top and won first Slovenian ski jumping victory of the season and 23rd World Cup victory of his career.

"It's a tough race, the conditions were changing, I'm really happy about the win, I never imagined that I would succeed. I made two really good jumps, the best I can do right now. Three times this year the Slovenians have been on the podium, today we finally got a victory," stated Prevc for the national broadcaster.

Second place went to Markus Eisenbich (GER), and third was Stephan Leyhe (GER).

Last Wednesday, March 4, two citizens of Georgia were brought to the investigative judge in Kranj on suspicion of several burglaries in the area of Škofja Loka. The suspects were recognised and apprehended earlier on Monday by the officers of the Police Directorate Maribor, who handed them over to their colleagues in Kranj. The police also confiscated a significant number of stolen items (see in the pictures below). 

The burglars used threads to learn whether people were at home or not. About 250 apartments in five buildings were found out to be equipped with such threads. A very clear video of the perpetrators at work was posted on Police Directorate Kranj’s Facebook site, but it has already been taken down following the arrests.

The police investigation will now look into links with similar burglaries across Slovenia and other EU member states.

"The arrested Georgian citizens are most likely members of a bigger organised criminal group, engaged in property crimes throughout the European Union. We can say that this is most likely a minor tentacle in the overall structure of the group," explained Benjamin Franca of the Criminal Police Directorate. This is the second group of Georgian burglars that have been arrested by Slovenian police this month.

On February 25, police apprehended a citizen of Georgia and confiscated his burglary tools. He was detained, and after further information was collected the police found out that he had just committed a burglary at an apartment in Celje. Later in the same day, two other Georgian citizens were arrested in connection with the suspected burglary. All three were taken to an investigating judge who ordered one of the three to be placed in custody. This group was already active in the area monitored by the Celje Police Directorate in August 2019, when two burglaries were carried out.

Benjamin Franca from the Criminal Police Administration stated that "the police are constantly detecting the presence of the so-called mobile crime groups committing property crimes,". Some of the burglaries are attributed specifically to groups from abroad that are very well organised. In Slovenia members of criminal groups, who come mainly from Eastern European countries and the Central Balkans, are committing property crimes such as theft, burglary, highway burglary, and ATM attacks.

The main target countries of these groups’ operations are Western and Northern European countries, where the standard of living is higher, and thus there is more to steal. Criminal groups in a certain area commit as many crimes as possible and leave the country as soon as possible. They continue to carry out their actions in another country and so on.

For more pictures of confiscated stolen goods visit policija.si. Possible owners should call police station at Škofja Loka (04) 502 37 00 and make an appointment. Proofs of ownership should be brought with you.

STA, 9 March 2020 - The benchmark index on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange suffered the sharpest decline since the early stages of the financial crisis on Monday, moving in lockstep with global markets spooked by the potential impact of the global spread of coronavirus on economies around the world.

The SBI Top lost 7.28% to 817.92 points, the third sharpest decline since its introduction in 2006 and the biggest daily loss since October 2008, as the sell-off affected all blue chips regardless of industry.

Drug maker Krka and insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav were the hardest hit, the former losing 9.2% to EUR 63 and the latter down 9.4% to EUR 29. Another insurer, Sava, was down 7.3% to EUR 17.80.

Telekom Slovenije and port operator Luka Koper also lost in excess of 7%.

The only major issue to lose less than 5% was energy group Petrol, which was down 3.7% to EUR 340.

Turnover approached EUR 6 million, several times the normal daily volume.

With the market now being cheaper, perhaps you’d like to learn more about the SBI Top and the companies it includes – you can do that here

STA, 9 March 2020 - The government is preparing a stimulus package worth a billion euro to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. Short- and long-term measures such as tax deferrals, state guarantees and credit lines are planned, mostly from existing financial facilities, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said Monday.

The measures are designed to provide liquidity to businesses, preserve jobs, reduce losses and make sure companies' market position does not deteriorate, Počivalšek said after a session of the council for competitive and stable business environment, an advisory body.

Of the total amount, roughly EUR 600 million will come from existing financial mechanisms available at SID Banka, the state-owned export and development bank, which will also provide EUR 200 million for new measures.

The Slovenian Enterprise Fund will have EUR 115 million available for small and medium-sized companies, while the Slovenian Regional Development Fund will offer a scheme under which companies will be able to roll over debt.

An emergency law will be adopted to co-finance temporary lay-offs. Over EUR 51m will be set aside for companies that have to temporarily lay off more than half of their staff. The state would provide 40% of wage compensation in such cases, according to Počivalšek.

The Economy Ministry has EUR 6 million at its disposal to help companies in trouble and may activate EUR 20 million for guarantees.

The currently stringent rules on telecommuting may be relaxed in the event of emergency, but they will be additionally liberalised with a special emergency law. "We want to facilitate flexibility," said Tilen Božič, state secretary at the Labour Ministry.

There are already rules in place allowing companies to defer tax liabilities, but the currently stringent conditions will be relaxed.

The financing of tourism promotion will be stepped up to help an industry that is already among the worst hit by the global spread of coronavirus.

Počivalšek said it was necessary to be prudent without causing panic. "I'm an optimist and I am confident we'll be able to shield our economy to the maximum extent from major impacts of the coronavirus crisis."

Slovenia had 23 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Monday afternoon and the spread of the disease has already prompted some companies to advise workers to stay home if they suspect they or their family members may be sick.

Health insurance rules stipulate that workers ordered by the authorities to self-isolate because they are considered as high-risk persons are entitled to full compensation of pay that their employers must provide.

The same goes for persons who had recently visited areas strongly affected by coronavirus but are healthy. They may be asked by their employers to stay home, but they are entitled to full pay.

For persons confirmed to have COVID-19, the Health Insurance Institute (ZZZS) covers 90% of pay from the first day of absence from work, meaning that employers do not have to pay them wages.

Normally, employers cover the first 31 working days of sick leave, whereupon the ZZZS covers their sick pay.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia can be found here

STA, 9 March 2020 - A growing number of higher education institutions across Slovenia are cancelling in-class lectures and switching to online lectures and e-classes to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The first to announce a suspension of the "teaching process" for a fortnight was the Koper-based University of Primorska, citing the outbreak in neighbouring Italy as part of the reason.

Lectures have also been cancelled at the University of Novo Mesto and at least seven colleges of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest.

The latter advised its members to call off lectures at auditoriums seating 100 or more students for at least two weeks. It also cancelled large events such as conferences itself.

While the university does not have a list of the colleges that suspended or adapted the teaching process, data from its members' web sites show at least seven have done so.

The Faculty of Architecture cancelled all lectures and tutorials, as have the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, and the Faculty of Arts until Friday, replacing them with remote teaching activities.

The Faculty of Medicine suspended certain activities outside its premises until 20 March and the Faculty of Law cancelled all lectures and tutorials, replacing them with individualised study.

Slovenia has so far confirmed nineteen COVID-19 cases. On Saturday, the authorities banned all indoor public gatherings of more than 500 people.

All our stories on coronavirus and Slovenia can be found here

Spring is at the door and Open Kitchen is getting ready to enter the new season on Friday, March 20, at Pogačar Square in Ljubljana. And, being an open-air event, is not covered by the official ban on indoor events with more than 500 people.

The new season of Open Kitchen aims to be plastic free, introducing instead biodegradable and recyclable food and drink containers. Visitors will also be encouraged to bring their own reusable equipment with them. “We have already introduced many measures that contribute to the sustainability of the event in previous years, but now we are going to the end. As the biggest culinary event and one of the most visited tourist attractions, we want to act as initiators of sustainable public events,” announced, Open Kitchen co-founders Alma and Lior Kochavy in a press release before the start of the new season.

The Open Kitchen events in Slovenia are visited by hundreds of thousands of people each season, who together enjoy to a million servings of food. Plates, bowls, knives, forks and spoons have been made of biodegradable materials for several years now, thus saving us an environmental burden of millions of pieces of plastic. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the Open Kitchen even more, a great deal of attention has been paid to the proper segregation of waste. In Ljubljana, Open Kitchen cooperates with the consultants from Voka Snaga, while Slovenian Philanthropy takes over unused ingredients and dishes after every event in the capital, and distributes them to those in need. In Celje food surpluses are taken care of by Socio Institute.

In addition to the complete elimination of plastics, another innovation is being prepared for this year, a green stall where visitors will be able to buy containers, accessories and other reusable food and storage related items. “When we started the Open Kitchen eight years ago, we begun with an idea that visitors of the event could get home-cooked food, thus relieving themselves from cooking for the weekend. The new offer of reusable packaging will make it even easier,” said Alma Kochavy.

Waste from the Open Kitchen, which mostly consists of biodegradables, will be handled by the Ljubljana Regional Waste Management Center (RCERO Ljubljana). Utilizing state-of-the-art and sustainable waste management technology on a European scale, waste will be reclaimed there for compost, electricity and heat. In other cities where Open Kitchen is hosted, further waste treatment is carried out in collaboration with local utilities and collection centers.

STA, 7 March 2020 - Below are short biographical notes on candidates for ministers in the Janez Janša government. Most have previous experience in government or have served in senior parliamentary roles, just a handful are new to national politics.

Anže Logar - candidate for foreign minister

Born in 1976, Logar earned a PhD degree at the School of Advanced Social Studies in 2016. He worked in the European Parliament as an adviser to the European People's Party (EPP) and headed the Government Communication Office (UKOM) in both governments of Janez Janša. During Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008, he was the official spokesperson of the presidency. First elected an MP in 2014, in his second term he currently chairs the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission. He unsuccessfully ran for the mayor of Ljubljana in 2018.

Matej Tonin - candidate for minister of defence

Tonin, a 36-year-old with a degree in political sciences from the University of Ljubljana, has been in politics since joining New Slovenia (NSi) in 2001. Between 2007 and 2008, he was employed in the National Assembly as a public relations advisor, after which he established his own company. At the end of 2010, he was elected a vice-president of the NSi, and in 2011 as an MP on the party's slate. He was elected for his second MP term in 2014, heading the NSi deputy group during both terms. In 2018, he succeeded Ljudmila Novak as the NSi president following Novak's resignation. In the same year, he was re-elected MP and served as the parliamentary speaker for two months, until the appointment of the minority government of Marjan Šarec. He is the chair of the parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services.

Aleš Hojs - candidate for interior minister

The 58-year-old construction engineer started his political career in the Slovenian Christian Democrats (SKD), and after the party merged with the People's Party (SLS) he joined New Slovenia (NSi). In the 2011 parliamentary elections, he was an MP candidate for the party, and in 2012 he took over the defence department in the second government of Janez Janša. He was expelled from the NSi in 2016, and then unsuccessfully ran in the 2018 parliamentary elections on the list of the Democrats (SDS). He chairs the defence committee of the SDS expert council, presides the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence and is the director of Nova24TV, a broadcaster co-owned by the SDS.

Andrej Šircelj - candidate for finance minister

Šircelj is a seasoned MP for the Democrats (SDS) who started out as a teacher at the Ljubljana Secondary School of Economics to later also work as a tax and business consultant. He is already familiar with the Finance Ministry, having worked there as a state secretary in the second half of the 2004-2008 Janez Janša government. The 61-year-old has been elected to parliament three times - in 2011, 2014 and for the current term in 2018 - and has mostly been known for his work on the parliamentary public finance oversight and finance committees. In this term has also served as the deputy chair of the Foreign Policy Committee.

Zdravko Počivalšek - candidate for economic development and technology minister

If appointed, Počivalšek would be heading the same department in three consecutive governments. After having spent three decades in senior management, half of which as the boss of the spa operator Terme Olimia, the 62-year-old agronomy engineer entered politics in 2014, when he joined the government of Miro Cerar. He kept the post in the government of Marjan Šarec, and last autumn he also took over the presidency of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) from Cerar. As minister, Počivalšek he has focused on the development and consolidation of the tourism sector, support for domestic and foreign direct investments, and the fate of the retailer Mercator after the demise of its Croatian owner Agrokor.

Tomaž Gantar - candidate for health minister

The 60-year-old urologist is slated to become health minister for a second time. He already held the post in the second Janez Janša government and in the Alenka Bratušek government between February 2012 and November 2014 as a member of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS). He resigned as the coalition at the time was not able to push through a healthcare reform. In the next term as an MP, he chaired the parliamentary Health Committee. He was also active locally, as the mayor of the coastal municipality of Piran between 2006 and 2010, while he surprisingly lost the local election in 2018. He was the director of the Izola hospital between 2000 and 2004.

Andrej Vizjak - candidate for environment and spatial planning minister

Vizjak is a long-standing member of the Democrats (SDS) who served as minister under both Janez Janša governments. He was the economy minister from 2004 to 2008, and labour, family and social affairs minister in the 2012-2013 cabinet. The 55-year-old holds a masters in electrical engineering and worked at heavy machinery manufacturer Litostroj and as a young researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute. In 1994 he started working at the Krško Labour Inspectorate before being appointed a state secretary at the Labour, Family and Social Affairs Ministry in 2000. While also being the mayor of Brežice from 2002 to 2004, he served two terms as MP, including as the head of the SDS deputy group. After failing to get elected to parliament in 2014, he was put in charge of development and investment at hydroelectric power plant operator HESS, part of state-owned Gen Energija.

Jernej Vrtovec - candidate for infrastructure minister

Vrtovec, born in 1985, is a young but experienced politician who established a municipal committee of New Slovenia (NSi) while still in secondary school. Vrtovec, who graduated at the Ljubljana Faculty of Theology, became the president of the NSi's youth wing in 2009 and also served as the party's public relations officer. He was first elected to parliament in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. Since the beginning of 2019 he has been chairing a parliamentary inquiry into suspected abuse of office at the bad bank.

Janez Cigler Kralj - candidate for minister of labour, the family, social affairs and equal opportunities

Cigler Kralj, 41, has a degree in political sciences and served as the New Slovenia (NSi) deputy group's public relations officer between 2006 and 2008, when he left to work for Infonet Media, a network of radio stations, for two years, followed by a two-year stint at the Public Fund for Human Resources Development and Scholarships. In 2012 he returned to the National Assembly as a staffer for the deputy group.

Lilijana Kozlović - candidate for justice minister

Kozlović, born in 1962 holds an MA in law and headed the Koper Administrative Unit for nine years before entering politics in 2014, when she was elected MP for the Modern Centre Party (SMC), of which she was also a deputy president. In 2016 she became secretary general of the Miro Cerar government and was deeply involved in the border arbitration procedure with Croatia. Just before the end of the government's term she was named director of the Slovenian Environment Agency against the backdrop of severe criticism from the right, a post she still holds.

Simona Kustec - candidate for minister of education, science and sporty

Kustec, born in 1976, holds a PhD in political sciences and is a tenured professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. She joined the Modern Centre Party (SMC) in 2014 and became its vice-president. After she was elected MP, she went on to become the deputy group leader. After the end of the term she left politics and returned to academia.

Aleksandra Pivec - candidate for minister of agriculture, forestry and food

Pivec, a 47-year-old who holds a PhD in chemical engineering, led the department during the Marjan Šarec government, after serving as a state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad. She previously worked as early stage researcher at the Ljubljana Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology and on the research team at the Bistra Ptuj Science and Research Centre. When taking over in September 2018, Pivec set access to safe food, measures to adapt to climate change and preparations for the EU's next financial perspective as her main priorities. Her work in the previous government was overshadowed by suspicions of wrongdoing in an EU-funded tourism project, which did not hurt her, however, as she defeated the long-serving Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) president Karl Erjavec at the January congress to become the new DeSUS leader.

Boštjan Koritnik - candidate for minister of public administration

Koritnik, 40, is an a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, secretary general of the Association of Slovenian Jurists and editor of the law journals Pravna Praksa and Javna Uprava. He started out as a journalist for GV Založba, a publisher specialising in law and business, where he went on to become editor and legal counsel before he was appointed director and editor-in-chief in 2010. After the company was merged with legal information provider IUS Software, he was co-director until 2015.

Vasko Simoniti - candidate for culture minister

Vasko Simoniti, 69, spent most of his career at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, where he earned his PhD in history and where he was professor of modern history until his retirement. He entered politics in 2000 along with several prominent conservative writers and was among the founders of the Assembly for the Republic, a conservative think-tank. He served as culture minister in the first Janez Janša government in 2004-2008 and remains the head of the Democrats' (SDS) culture committee.

Zvonko Černač - candidate for development and European cohesion policy minister

Černač is coming to the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy from the National Assembly, having served as an MP of the Democrats (SDS), with some interruptions, since 2004. In the meantime, he served in 2012 as minister of infrastructure and spatial planning in the second government (2012-2013) of Janez Janša. After the Civic List (DL) left the then coalition, he was also in charge of the justice and public administration department for a while. The 57-year-old graduate of the Ljubljana Faculty of Law previously worked in the ZSSS trade union confederation, the municipality of Postojna, the operator of the Postojna Cave, the Kobilarna Lipica stud farm, and the Postojna municipal housing fund.

Helena Jaklitsch - candidate for minister for Slovenians abroad

A historian and author born in 1977, Jaklitsch has a PhD in history from the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts. She worked at the Justice Ministry between 2005 and 2014 and was in charge of logistics preparations for Slovenia's EU presidency in 2008. Since 2014 she has worked at the Culture Ministry, first at the department for Slovenian language and most recently at the directorate for creativity.

All our stories on Slovenia’s new government can be found here

STA, 9 March 2020 - The Koper-based University of Primorska has suspended "teaching process" for a fortnight due to the coronavirus outbreak in neighbouring Italy.

Announcing the measure on the university's official Facebook profile, chancellor Klavdija Kutnar said the decision had been prompted by advice and information from the National Public Health Institute (NIJZ) and its Italian counterpart Istituto Superiore di Sanita dell'Italia.

Having studied that information and considering that Italy is the largest coronavirus hotspot in Europe, "we have decided for the measure for preventive reasons. We are a university that interacts daily with neighbouring Italy," the chancellor said in the post.

The measure is valid until 20 March. Students will be given further instructions about the possibility of a distance teaching process, such as online lectures and e-classrooms. They will be kept up to date on potential further changes.

Until Sunday afternoon, Slovenia recorded 16 COVID-19 cases out of close to 1,000 people tested. Meanwhile, the virus claimed 366 lives in Italy where the number of infections rose to 7,375 yesterday.

Keep up to date on coronavirus and Slovenia here

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.

A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

This summary is provided by the STA:

No coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia, but protective measures necessary, officials say

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is far from having a coronavirus epidemic, Nina Pirnat, director of the National Public Health Institute, said, expressing hope that the protective measures will prevent it. Health Minister Aleš Šabeder noted that several violations of the ban on large indoor public events, which was issued yesterday, had been reported, urging citizens and institutions to act responsibility and respect the ban aimed at preventing further spreading of the virus. The number of the coronavirus infections in the country has meanwhile risen to 16.

Meteorite chunk found near Novo Mesto

LJUBLJANA/NOVO MESTO - After a meteor exploded over Slovenia at the end of last month, a search has been under way for the meteorite fragments. The first was found this week in the village of Prečna near Novo Mesto, with its authenticity confirmed on Saturday evening. This confirms existing calculations about the target location and narrows down the search area. Experts said this was a holiday for Slovenian natural science, especially astronomy and geology.

Two fmr ministers find ministerial candidates promising

LJUBLJANA - Two former ministers, Žiga Turk and Igor Lukšič, commented for the STA on the 16 nominees for ministers that Janez Janša, the incoming prime minister, formally put forward on Friday. They said he had gathered a group of experienced politicians, who know the country well and could "actually do something in these two years" if they manage to form their own good teams.

Fishermen in Piran Bay continue getting fined by Croatia

LJUBLJANA - The Croatian authorities have initiated a total of 913 proceedings against Slovenian fishermen for fishing in what Croatia claims is its part of the Piran Bay, while Slovenia has paid EUR 190,954 for legal assistance to the fishermen so far, shows a report discussed by the government at Friday's correspondence session.

Ombudsman urges end of gender inequality on Intl Women's Day

LJUBLJANA - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina called for elimination of all types of gender discrimination and inequality in his message for International Women's Day, observed around the globe today. Equality is not just a women's issue, he said, but a fundamental social and economic issue vital to social and economic development.

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

STA, 8 March 2020 - Slovenia is far from having a coronavirus epidemic, Nina Pirnat, director of the National Public Health Institute, said on Sunday, expressing hope that the protective measures will prevent it. The number of the coronavirus infections in the country has meanwhile risen to 16.

 Asked about closing down schools, Pirnat said this would be a disproportionate measure at the moment and that the main measure in Slovenia and most neighbouring countries was still hygiene.

Health Minister Aleš Šabeder noted that several violations of the ban on large indoor public events which was issued yesterday had been reported. The ban aimed at preventing further spreading of the virus entered into force at 7pm last night.

"We were notified today that several facilities were opened last night despite the ban. We will check if sanctions are envisaged for this. If there are not, we will make amendments," he said.

He said the organisers of indoor events were acting irresponsibly, and called on all citizens and institutions to strictly honour the ban. "This will create economic damage but the priority is protecting the people," he said.

The authorities are also checking reports that some Italian-based companies which have closed their production are sending their workers to their Slovenian subsidiaries.

Šabeder said he had talked about this with Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, and that the pair had agreed certain measures would need to be taken.

Šabeder will also talk on the phone with his Austrian counterpart later this evening to discuss Austria's measure to prevent the spreading of the disease, and possible joint measures.

The outgoing prime minister, Marjan Šarec, has called a session of the National Security Council for Monday. "We will get acquainted with the events so far," she said, rejecting criticism that such a meeting should have been called earlier. "We called the meeting when we assessed the time is right."

Šarec said the Ministry of Health could declare an epidemic if necessary without the National Security Council. "None of the neighbouring countries has closed schools yet. It is important that we take corresponding measures. Only Italy has taken such measures so far," he said.

The outgoing PM called on all citizens, especially medical staff, not to go on non-urgent trips abroad, especially not to Italy.

The Foreign Ministry advised Slovenians on Friday to postpone any non-urgent trips, while the Metlika area in the east of the country, where an infected doctor had contact with a large number of people, citizens have been advised to avoid any kind of gatherings, including private ones.

Officials said today the measures for Metlika remained in place and that no stricter measures were required for the time being.

Šarec said that after preliminary information from Metlika it was feared that an epidemic would be declared for the area but the National Public Health Institute assessed this was not the case.

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections has meanwhile risen by four to 16 since Saturday evening. By 2pm today, 981 tests were conducted.

According to media reports, the newly infected persons are a rescuer and two nurses from the Metlika area, who had been in contact with the infected doctor there, and a 31-year-old woman from the coast, who got ill while in Switzerland.

Keep up with the news on coronavirus and Slovenia here