STA, 22 January 2020 - The household appliances maker Gorenje, owned by the Chinese conglomerate Hisense, will streamline its production by reducing the number employees in support services in production by 176 in different ways by mid-April, the management said on Wednesday. Gorenje decided for the move "because of poor business results".

The measure will affect some 720 warehouse employees, dispatchers, technologists, planners, quality control, production management and similar positions, including those that have been moved from Velenje to Ljubljana as of this year.

The share of indirect production workers at Gorenje currently stands at 29.2% and is thus 8.6 points higher than in a comparable company within the group, Hisense Refrigerator.

The Gorenje management thinks this will help boost the efficiency of production, improve the use of resources and cut labour costs.

The company also plans to modernise its technological processes, increase automation, introduce IT solutions, and optimise the work process.

The management said it would conduct all procedures related to this in line with the law and in talks with the trade union. "The procedure is expected to last until mid-April."

Several workers have already been transferred to similarly paid jobs in direct production, while some will retire, the management said.

Meanwhile, the in-house trade union expressed concern, with its president Žan Zeba telling the STA that they expected the total number of dismissals to be rather high.

The total number of workers will go down also because work contracts will not be extended for nearly 240 people at the end of January, said Zeba, adding that the union was informed about this today.

"When you add up the numbers, it gets quite worrying. They are far from forecasts about production increase," he said, also expressing worry that Gorenje would start outsourcing some of the services that are now provided within the company.

In the next phase of optimisation, the group plans to reorganise the business processes in the newly founded Hisense Gorenje Europe in Ljubljana, which has employed 880 indirect production workers as of 1 January.

Last December, the Gorenje Group estimated its last year's loss at EUR 40 million. The goal for this year is EUR 30 million in profit.

All our stories on Gorenje are here

STA, 22 January - The Public Administration Ministry is working on changes to the system of performance-based remuneration, also to make jobs in the public sector more attractive to experts and for young people who are increasingly looking for opportunities in the private sector. It also wants to change the system of promotion.

The plan was discussed at an international conference in Ljubljana on Wednesday, with Minister Rudi Medved noting that the austerity measure freezing performance bonuses in the public sector would expire in July.

Medved said that it would be ideal if the proposed changes were implemented by then or, if not, in the autumn at the latest, after they were tested with a pilot project and a consensus was reached with public sector trade unions.

The basic solutions were presented by Peter Pogačar, who noted that the current system allowed for someone to have up to 48% higher wage than another employee who did the same job.

The differences are not a consequence of the performance, but seniority, explained the head of the ministry's public sector directorate.

According to him, the government wants to abolish annual evaluation as the basis for promotion for a total of ten wage brackets. Under the proposal, promotion would be automatic over a longer period of time, up to five wage brackets.

Variable rewarding of performance would be introduced, and considerably more funds would be earmarked for this purpose, with an individual being able to receive performance bonus equalling up to 30% of their base pay.

Minister Medved said that one of the reasons was that the public sector was already facing problems with attracting experts, for example in digitalisation.

Wages in the public sector are not high, and the sector has become unattractive for young people, who are looking for opportunities in the private sector as the economy is growing and good job opportunities are popping up, he added.

For this reason, the plan is to make the system more stimulative, Medved said, adding that the experience of countries which had a long tradition in this field had been examined, even at today's conference.

Daniel Gerson of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that performance-based remuneration models should be implemented cautiously and gradually, and unwanted consequences should be monitored.

The conference also heard that the capability of the management to evaluate how well someone performs and how high the reward should be should also be questioned, and that the criteria to be used would also need to be negotiated.

Jakob Počivavšek, one of the top public sector trade unionists, referring to Gerson said that the two main problems were the competences of the management and prudent implementation.

"I claim that we have major issues in Slovenia with this," he said, adding that there were already elements in the pay system related to performance and quality of work that could be applied in Slovenia today.

Počivavšek labelled as misguiding the claim that promotions had so far been exclusively tied to seniority and said that the new system must not be introduced at the expense of the basic pay.

But Medved reiterated for trade unions today that they could not count on an "influx of fresh funds from the budget" for performance bonuses and that the wage bill would not be increased significantly.

The ministry highlighted in a statement in the afternoon that the purpose of proposed changes was not to reduce funding for wages in the public sector, but to increase opportunities for variable rewarding.

STA, 22 January 2020 - The Slovenian men's handball team made it among the top four teams at the European championships after finishing second in the main round Group II play in Sweden's Malmö. Slovenia will play reigning European champions Spain in the semi-finals on Friday.

It is only the second time in the nation's history the handball team made it to the medal round at European handball championships, following Slovenia's silver medal at home in 2004.

Slovenia entered the main round as an undefeated team in the preliminary group F in Gothenburg, racking up three consecutive wins against Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Slovenians followed up the winning streak with a 30:27 victory over Iceland last Friday, and then suffered their first loss at the tournament on Sunday at the hands of Hungary (28:29).

On Tuesday, Slovenia defeated Portugal 29:24 to secure their first goal at the tournament - a berth in one of the three qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Today, Slovenia lost 30:33 to the still undefeated Norway, but had already made it to the semi-finals prior to the match as the main rival for the top two spots, Hungary, lost to Portugal 26:34 earlier today.

Slovenian head coach Ljubomir Vranješ told reporters that "it is a great day for us" and that "this is my best defeat ever", referring to Slovenia having already qualified for the semi-finals before the match.

He said that the tactics for Norway had not been used at all, as the players "put it in the pocket for later", adding that he was saving the energy of his players a little bit for Friday's encounter against Spain.

In the semi-finals, it will be important to be both physically and mentally ready, and "we are going there well prepared and fully focused," Vranješ concluded.

Regardless of the outcome of the medal round in Stockholm, Slovenia will play at one of the three Olympic qualifying tournaments, hosted by France, Germany and Norway between 17 and 19 April.

Only the winner of the ongoing European championships will get the direct ticket for Tokyo from Europe, in addition to the reigning world champions Denmark.

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:

Nada Drobne Popović becomes full-fledged Petrol chairman

LJUBLJANA - Nada Drobne Popović was appointed as the full-fledged chairman of Slovenia's largest energy group Petrol, after she shifted from chief supervisor to acting chairman following the resignation of the Tomaž Berločnik-led management at the end of October. She was picked as the best of three candidates who had presented their vision of Petrol's development, and given 21 days to form her management team, which will need to the supervisors' endorsement to be appointed for a five-year term. The official reason for the resignation of the former management was differences in views on Petrol's strategy with the supervisors.

Cerar discusses Libya, Iran, and Rupnik verdict annulment with MPs

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar discussed with MPs on the Foreign Policy Committee the situation in Libya and Iran and the recent annulment of the 1946 verdict against a collaborationist Slovenian general. Cerar commended the EU's determination to boost its diplomatic efforts for Libya. He noted the conflict there was affecting the entire region, so if it continued, there was a risk of terrorist groups growing stronger and illegal migration intensifying. As for Iran, he said the EU was still making efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. Opposition SDS MP Andrej Šircelj asked about a report by Iranian press agency IRNA about Slovenia allegedly supporting Iran's position that the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani was a violation of international law, which Cerar said was an example of "fake news".

Top court: Non-parliamentary parties not unequal in election campaign debates

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court has rejected a petition by the non-parliamentary Sloga party to examine legislative provisions allowing public media to host separate campaign debates for parliamentary and non-parliamentary parties. In a 6:3 vote held last December, it rejected the petition because it had already ascertained in the past that such distinction in the media in election campaigns is not unconstitutional. Judge Klemen Jaklič issued a dissenting opinion, arguing the obligation of at least one or two such debates or face-offs "would be a major value added to any democracy".

Upper chamber to challenge bail-in legislation in Constitutional Court

LJUBLJANA - Nearly a fortnight after the central bank requested a constitutional review of the legislation providing legal recourse to those who lost their investments during the banking sector bailout of 2013, the National Council decided to follow suit. It believes that the legislation should be annulled, arguing that the act is unconstitutional in that it prevents the bail-in participants from taking the central bank to court if they decide to apply for a lump sum compensation by mid-March. Moreover, councillors said that the act did not meet its purpose, that is to provide solutions for segments of the banking act that had been found unconstitutional.

Telekom looking for strategic partner to recapitalise Planet TV

LJUBLJANA - Telcoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije said it had launched the process to find a strategic partner to recapitalise broadcaster Planet TV, pointing out that its supervisory board took note of the launch of this process. No details have been released though. The newspaper Delo said it was questionable whether any investor would be willing to buy the broadcaster. The paper heard from several sources that there were considerations about the transferral of Planet TV to the bad bank.

Communist congress walkout a major independence milestone

LJUBLJANA - 30 years to the day, the Slovenian delegation walked out of the 14th and last congress of Yugoslavia's League of Communists in Belgrade, in what was one of the key moments in the dissolution of Yugoslavia, one that presaged Slovenia's independence. The delegates of Slovenia's League of Communists walked out on the third day of sessions after all of their proposals, which envisaged Yugoslavia's greater democratisation and more autonomy of party organisations in federal republics, were rejected. The Belgrade unit of the national TV labelled the move an ill-advised act of separatism.

EU not in favour of laxer management of large carnivores

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia had sought to convince the European Commission to loosen rules on the protection of large carnivores when populations of the animals are booming, but the EU officials said at Tuesday's Ljubljana meeting with the national task force for the management of brown bear, wolf and lynx the key goal of European policies was cohabitation with large carnivores. This means prioritising protective measures and paying out compensation in case of livestock loss rather than intensifying culling, the main management measure used in Slovenia recently.

Gorenje to cut number of staff

VELENJE - The household appliances maker Gorenje, owned by the Chinese conglomerate Hisense, will streamline its production by reducing the number employees in support services in production by 176 in different ways by mid-April. The management said this was "because of poor business results". Several workers have already been transferred to similarly paid jobs in direct production, while some will retire. In the next phase of optimisation, the group plans to reorganise the business processes in the newly founded Hisense Gorenje Europe in Ljubljana, which has employed 880 indirect production workers as of 1 January. The in-house trade union expressed concern, expecting the total number of dismissals to be rather high.

Slovenia in semi-finals of European Handball Championship

MALMÖ, Sweden - The Slovenian men's handball team made it among the top four teams at the European championships after finishing second in the main round Group II play. Slovenia will face reigning European champions Spain in the semi-finals, however it has already secured its first goal at the tournament - a berth in one of the three qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Conventa showcases record number of exhibitors

LJUBLJANA - Conventa, a two-day business-to-business event for conference tourism, got under way, featuring 146 exhibitors from 16 countries, including a record 30 new exhibitors. "Conventa is the only such trade show in the world where 85% of the invited guests are new," Miha Kovačič, director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau organising the event, told reporters. He said they turn away more than 60% of the registered invited guests in order to make the organisation of the event as high-quality as possible. Focusing on New Europe, the event is intended for B2B meetings, conferences and motivational travels.

Ambassador Rahten honoured with top Austrian decoration

LJUBLJANA - Former Slovenian Ambassador to Austria Andrej Rahten has been decorated with the Austrian Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash for his contribution to the strengthening of ties between the two countries. The second highest decoration for services to Austria was presented to Rahten by Austrian Ambassador to Slovenia Sigrid Berka at her residence in Ljubljana on Monday. Rahten, a 46-year-old historian, served in Vienna between 2013 and 2017.

Pahor in Jerusalem for World Holocaust Forum

JERUSALEM, Israel - President Borut Pahor arrived in Jerusalem to take part in a series of events marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. He met his counterpart Reuven Rivlin, with whom he agreed that awareness is key if the world wants to avoid the same atrocities again. The pair said that relations between the countries were built on firm foundations and a true friendship. Pahor also met Holocaust survivor and Yad Vashem associate Miriam Steiner Aviezer, whom he decorated with the Medal of Merit in 2017 for her contribution to preserving the memory of Slovenian Righteous Among the Nations.

Šarec discusses AI in public sector

DAVOS, Switzerland - Attending the World Economic Forum (WEF), Prime Minister Marjan Šarec participated in a debate on bringing artificial intelligence (AI) closer to the public sector. Artificial intelligence has the potential to serve humanity and benefit individuals and society, he highlighted, adding that all stakeholders should work on AI development and management to reap its benefits. Slovenia also plans to focus on this issue during its EU Council presidency in the second half of 2021, he said.

Bad bank starts presenting its housing plan to MPs

LJUBLJANA - The management of the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) started presenting to MPs its initiative to use the assets it has not yet sold to pursue housing plans, which would mean extending its life beyond 2022. Some political parties are reluctant about the idea, with the ruling Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) deeming it worthy of consideration.

Passports that saved many Jews on display in Maribor

MARIBOR - A documentary exhibition Passports for Life opened at the University of Maribor Library, honouring the Polish diplomats who issued fake passports of Latin American countries in Switzerland's Bern during WWII to save Jews. The keynote speaker at the exhibition opening was Uri Strauss from Switzerland, who survived the Holocaust thanks to a fake Paraguayan passport. The exhibition, produced by Poland, is part of a project bringing a series of events across Slovenia's that commemorate the victims of the Holocaust as part of events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

SFC launching comprehensive online database on Slovenian film

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) is planning the completion of eight new feature films and three documentaries this year, and launch a Slovenian version of IMDb, the first national web platform offering comprehensive information on domestic film since its beginnings. SFC director Nataša Bučar told the press the centre had been granted EUR 5.5 million from the state budget for 2020. The sum is slightly higher than in 2019, but Bučar noted a November 2018 decision by the parliamentary Culture Committee that the funding was to increase proportionately each year to EUR 11 million by 2022. Last year Slovenian films attracted an audience of 160,000, 20% more than the year before.

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

The National Institute of Chemistry reported last week that it has acquired a new European project, NAIMA (Na-ion materials as essential components to manufacture robust battery cells for non-automotive applications), in which it will participate as a partner in the development of new sodium-ion batteries.

The NAIMA project aims to demonstrate the cost efficiency and robustness of sodium-ion batteries and prove them to be one of the best alternatives to the current lithium-based systems of energy storage. The new energy storage solutions would address the current problems of lithium-ion batteries, mostly produced in Asia, and allow for the localization of the entire chain of production. The main problems with lithium-ion batteries are in the scarcity of materials and sometimes safety, when flammable electrolytes are used in high energy density appliances.

The new EU-funded NAIMA project was kickstarted in Amiens, France and awarded a Horizon2020 programme grant of almost €8 million by the European Commission. The duration of the programme will be 36 months, having started December 1, 2019.

The project will test six prototypes of Na-ion batteries in three different business scenarios. These scenarios will provide concrete evidence of the technology's competitiveness in three real-world settings – renewable production, industry and households.

New carbon materials will be developed at the Department of Materials Chemistry of the National Institute of Chemistry for use in prototype anodes of Na-ion batteries.

Related: Slovenian Researchers Developing Ocean-Cleaning Microplastic Filter Based on Jellyfish Mucus (Video)

Euronews reports that Slovenian researchers at the National Institute of Biology (Nacionalni inštitut za Biologijo), working in cooperation with a team from Israel, are developing a way to remove microplastic particles from the oceans – using jellyfish mucus. The gelatinous mucus, which the jellyfish secrete when under stress, is being used to develop a TRL 5-6 prototype microplastics filter that could, if successful, could be one approach to reduce sea pollution.

Slovenia is especially well-suited for such work, as the Adriatic often suffers from “jellyfish blooms”, destructive invasions of these simple yet fascinating creatures, caused by climate change and overfishing.

The work, which is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 initiative, is part of the broader GoJelly project, which is also examining the use of jellyfish, caught or farmed, in agricultural fertilisers – due to the high levels of phosphate, nitrogen and potassium they contain – and as a food, with jellyfish already consumed in parts of Asia (see the related papers “Mediterranean jellyfish as novel food: effects of thermal processing on antioxidant, phenolic, and protein contents” and “The attitudes of Italian consumers towards jellyfish as novel food”).

You can learn more about the various GoJelly projects here, while you can monitor jellyfish blooms in the Adriatic here.

STA, 22 January 2020 - Conventa, a two-day business-to-business event for conference tourism, got under way in Ljubljana on Wednesday, featuring 146 exhibitors from 16 countries, including a record 30 new exhibitors.

"Conventa is the only such trade show in the world where 85% of the invited guests are new," Miha Kovačič, director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau organising the event, told reporters.

He said that they turn away more than 60% of the registered invited guests in order to make the organisation of the event as high-quality as possible.

Focusing on New Europe, the event is intended for B2B meetings, conferences and motivational travels.

The exhibitors will be able to showcase their offerings to 253 international event organisers from 39 countries, 43 among them from the region and about 60 Slovenian event organisers.

The invited guests and providers agreed 4,000 meetings, which Kovačič described as an excellent result.

Coventa's development was also hailed by the Slovenian Tourist Board (STO), which aspires to best position Slovenia on the global map of convention tourism.

This type of tourism generates a high value added and multiplier effects. It is also seen as important in the efforts to spread tourism more evenly throughout the year and decentralise it.

Nevertheless, Tatjana Radovič from the Ljubljana Tourism Board, noted that convention tourism was centred on Ljubljana with results showing a high level of satisfaction among the convention guests.

On average this type of visitors spend three times the money spent by those who travel for leisure. Many conference guests extend their stay in Slovenia by combining it with their holiday, said STO official Karmen Novarlič.

Apart from the trade show, the Conventa 2020 platform also features Conventa Crossover, a festival of events and experience marketing, Conventa Trend Bar, a series of educational events, Conventa Tech & More for new ideas and Conventa Young Talents, said Gorazd Čad from Toleranca Marketing.

STA, 21 January 2020 - An event on integration of persons who have been granted international protection, hosted by the Peace Institute (Mirovni inštitut) in Ljubljana on Tuesday, heard that debate on integration in Slovenia is of secondary importance, as things get stuck already at the question of whether an asylum seeker should be accepted in the country at all.

This assessment was made by Iztok Šori, the institute's director, who said that the Slovenian police were rejecting migrants on the border with Croatia, making it impossible for them to apply for international protection.

Šori noted that the Interior Ministry had recently rejected applications from several citizens of Eritrea, the country with probably the worst dictatorship in Africa. "Getting international protection in Slovenia is actually a lottery with very unclear rules, which may change overnight."

Eritrea has been declared a safe country all of a sudden, and similarly Afghanistan, where international protection applicants are being deported, is also deemed a safe country," he said, noting that Slovenia had granted only 85 applications last year.

Related: Eritreans Stage Protest Against Asylum Rejections in Ljubljana

Maja Ladić of the institute added that there was a discrepancy between theory and practice when it came to integration, while "the migration policy is getting stricter, with ever more restrictive measures being taken".

According to her, the number of asylum seekers in Slovenia is growing, while the number of granted applications is decreasing.

Ladić said that the long-awaited migration strategy, which had been adopted last year without much input from the civil society, was not expected to bring major changes when it came to integration.

"As we've heard today, Slovenia is being mentioned as a case of good practice in the region, but I think that it would be better to look up to countries which are better in a certain field than us."

While Olivera Vukotic of the UNHCR's Central European office sees Slovenia as a case of good practice in integration of refugees in Central Europe, Ladić said that North and West European countries were better examples.

STA, 21 January 2020 - Slovenia is one of the most effective EU countries in fighting cervical cancer, mostly due to its successful ZORA screening programme. Moreover, prevention efficiency has been boosted by a steady increase in the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination rate among girls.

The vaccination rate for eleven-year-old girls has increased by 10 percentage points to nearly 60% last year, health officials said on the occasion of the European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.

The lowest rate was recorded in the Ljubljana region, bellow 50%, and the highest in the Koroška region, at 87%.

Experts are pushing for the vaccination to be free of charge also for boys. The proposal has been drawn up by the National Public Health Institute, pending approval by health and public health fund authorities.

Some municipalities, especially in Koroška, are funding vaccination for boys themselves.

According to Leon Meglič of the gynaecology unit of the UKC Ljubljana hospital, at least 90% vaccination rate is required to eradicate the disease not only among girls but in the entire population.

HPV infection, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, causes more than 99% of cervical cancers but also the cancers of the throat, anus, and penis.

Ideally, girls should get the vaccine before becoming sexually active, but as of last year, girls born after 1998 who were not vaccinated when they were 12, can still get the vaccine free of charge in Slovenia.

Last year, 420 girls and 38 boys were vaccinated in a four-day campaign, said Mojca Miholič from the Ljubljana Student Health Centre. Some 60% of the girls received the shots free of charge.

Meanwhile, women, including those over 50, are urged to get screened regularly, as cervical cancer discovered in its early stages is often easily curable. Cervical cancer incidence has halved since the launch of the ZORA prevention programme in 2003.

Some 120 women in Slovenia are diagnosed with the disease every year, one of the lowest rates in Europe, which is quite an achievement given the country used to have one of the worst statistics in Europe on cervical cancer incidence, according to Urška Ivanuš from the Ljubljana Oncology Institute, who heads ZORA.

According to Meglič, no other country has made such progress in such a short time.

STA, 21 January 2020 - Bank NLB has asked the Constitutional Court to review tighter restrictions on lending imposed by the central bank in November. After filing the request on Tuesday, the bank expressed belief that its request would be a matter of priority for the court because of the "radical effect" the measures had on the quality of Slovenians' lives.

The bank believes that the measures were introduced too hastily and were too radical, and that they have to be abolished. Any anomalies detected in "individual market players" should instead be addressed with targeted and not systemic measures.

NLB says Banka Slovenije imposed the measures virtually overnight and triggered "an excessive drop in volume of loans and accessibility of loans by Slovenians within the strictly regulated and controlled system of commercial and savings banks, whereas there are no restrictions imposed on more expensive and more risky third loan providers".

The bank argues that the measures have already produced a radical effect with virtually total stop in growth in loan volume. What is more, the number of loans given out in the recent months has dropped dramatically.

The restrictions were introduced to protect the taxpayer, says the bank, adding, however, that Slovenian population is already among the least indebted in relevant global comparisons, while banks are highly liquid, which means that they are capable of absorbing any potential major shocks.

Moreover, Slovenia has the fresh experience of an extremely tough crisis, but in the 2009-2015 period there was no excessive increase in default among the population, the bank said.

Saying the measures were introduced overnight, the bank says the "legal unpredictability" makes it extremely hard to make business plans and evaluate companies.

The move by NLB comes a day after the Bank Association released data showing that the number of consumer loans had dropped by 60% compared to October and housing loans by 40%.