29 Nov 2019, 09:44 AM

Iskaemeco, Systemair & Swarco Lea Named Top Foreign Investors in Slovenia

STA, 26 November 2019 - The SPIRIT investment promotion agency honoured top foreign investors in the country Tuesday evening, presenting awards to electricity meter maker Iskraemeco, ventilation company Systemair and maker of LED traffic displays Swarco Lea.

FDI Award Slovenia was given out in three categories. Iskraemeco was named the best among big companies, Sytemair won the award in the long-term presence category, and Swarco Lea got the smart products and services development award.

Established in 1954, Iskraemeco was taken over by Egyptian group Elsewedy Electric in 2007. The company was in the red at the time of the takeover, while last year it generated EUR 126 million net sales and EUR 8.8 million in net profit.

The Kranj-based firm employs more than 700 people, generating value added of EUR 48,000 per employee, SPIRIT said in its reasoning.

Sytemair, based in Maribor, is a subsidiary of Swedish Systemair AB group, a global leader in ventilation with 50 subsidiaries around the world.

The company in Slovenia employs more than 100 people, making smoke extract fans and explosion proof fans, as well as AC modules. Its net profit reached nearly EUR 1.4 million, while its value added per employee is at EUR 54,000.

The Lesce-based Swarco Lea, is one of the fastest growing subsidiaries of Austrian group Swarco. It specialises in LED traffic panels and generated EUR 7.7 million in revenue last year and EUR 1.1 million in net profit.

It employs 31 people, reaching a value added of EUR 75,000 per employee.

29 Nov 2019, 04:40 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Friday, 29 November 2019

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:

Budgets for 2020, 2021 vetoed over funds for municipalities

LJUBLJANA - The upper chamber of parliament unanimously vetoed a bill on the implementation of the 2020-2021 state budgets over what national councillors consider is insufficient funding of municipalities. The implementation bill sets the main source of funds for municipalities - the per-capita sum - at EUR 589 for 2020 and EUR 588 for 2021, whereas the councillors believe the sums should by some EUR 70 higher, at EUR 659 and EUR 668. The members of the National Council also unanimously vetoed a budget bill that limits wage costs in the public sector and envisages a 6.5-euro across-the-board increase in pensions in December 2020 in case GDP growth exceeds 2.5%.

PM declines president's request to convene Natl Security Council

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec turned down a request by President Borut Pahor to convene a session of the National Security Council due to ongoing disputes between SOVA and the parliamentary body which conducts oversight of the intelligence and security agency. Šarec said he did not want to politicise the situation. "A session by the expanded National Security Council would not make sense at this point, with many manipulations and accusations of all kinds making the rounds, for it could politicise this government consultative body," he said in a public letter to Pahor. The latter asked Šarec to convene the expanded National Security Council due to "very worrisome escalation in the relation between SOVA and the Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services".

Top PM aide quits for health reasons

LJUBLJANA - Vojmir Urlep, state secretary at the prime minister's office, is to resign from his post due to health issues, TV Slovenija reported on Thursday. Urlep, former CEO of pharma company Lek and Prime Minister Marjan Šarec's point man for relations with the corporate sector, told the broadcaster his health was "just the basis of this decision, the rest is part of politics". TV Slovenija speculates that his decision was motivated by staffing at state-owned companies, in particular energy group Petrol and the telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije, which occurred without his knowledge.

Govt makes staff replacements at Foreign Ministry

LJUBLJANA - Simona Leskovar was relieved of her duties as a Foreign Ministry state secretary, unofficially in order to become Slovenia's ambassador in London. She is being replaced by Matej Marn, the ministry's director general for the common foreign and security policy. According to the Foreign Ministry, Marn will assume the new post on Monday. His successor at the post of director general is to be appointed following a call for applications. The government also dismissed Damjan Bergant as Foreign Ministry secretary general, appointing Mitja Močnik as acting secretary general in his place. According to unofficial information, Bergant is leaving to become ambassador to Serbia.

Slovenia to downsize Lebanon troop deployment

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is preparing to scale down its troop deployment to Lebanon from 15 to six with the government briefed on the planned signing of amendments to the respective agreement with the UN. The ministries of defence, foreign affairs and interior affairs tasked the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) in the summer to gradually reduce Slovenia's deployment in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The government was acquainted with the planned signing of an amended memorandum of understanding with the UN on participation in the mission, and only after it has been formally notified of the signed amended memorandum, will the SAF scale down the deployment.

Kozlovič gets full term as Environment Agency head

LJUBLJANA - Lilijana Kozlovič was appointed by the government for a full five-year term as director-general of the Environment Agency, having served as acting director since May. Kozlovič, who has a master's degree in law, served as secretary general of the Miro Cerar government (2014-18). Announcing her appointment, which is effective as of Tuesday, the Government Communication Office said that Kozlovič had a wealth of public administration leadership experience. Kozlovič worked as the head of the Koper administrative unit prior to being elected MP for the Modern Centre Party (SMC) in 2014.

Govt approves quake relief aid for Albania

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will send disaster relief aid to Albania in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Under the decision taken by the government today, the aid is valued at EUR 126,000, including transport. Responding to Albania's request for help, Slovenia will send material aid, including tents, beds, blankets, sleeping bags and generators. The Slovenian Red Cross has meanwhile transferred EUR 6,000 from its solidarity fund to the Albanian peer organisation, while appealing on people to make donations to help those affected by the quake.

Govt allocates aid for migrants in Balkans, for Sahel

LJUBLJANA - The government allocated EUR 40,000 for emergency humanitarian aid for migrants on the Western Balkan route, and EUR 50,000 for the Sahel region in Sub-Saharan Africa. Announcing the decision, the Foreign Ministry said that the number of migrants on the East-Mediterranean route travelling to Europe via the Western Balkans doubled since 2017 and kept rising. As for Sahel, it said it was one of the most vulnerable regions globally which is plagued by extreme poverty, frequent food crises, shortage of potable water, conflicts and irregular migration.

Two illegal Syrian migrants die in car crash

VRHNIKA - Two illegal Syrian migrants died last night as a car carrying eight Syrians crashed into the motorway railing on the Ljubljana-Koper motorway near the town of Vrhnika. The accident happened as the car started to skid while overtaking a lorry and returning onto the main lane. Three Syrian citizens fell out of the boot, of whom two died and the third is still being reanimated, Primož Kadunc of the Ljubljana Police Department said. He added that a fourth person had sustained light injuries, while all the other migrants had asked for international protection. The 42-year-old Bosnian driver was apprehended and faces charges for enabling the Syrians to illegally enter Slovenia and causing a car accident.

Iraqi man faces six years for stabbing taxi driver, attacking police

NOVA GORICA - An Iraqi man who injured a taxi driver and attacked a police officer in the Nova Gorica area in July pleaded guilty at today's pre-trial hearing, with prosecution seeking six years in prison and deportation. Al Hamdani Yassin Amar, 26, told the Nova Gorica district court today that he wanted to kill the taxi driver but that that was god's will. Since he told the court he was not interested in a trial and declined an interpreter and lawyer, Judge Igor Majnik decided that given the confession the main hearing was not necessary. He will declare the ruling on Monday.

NGO urges more ambitious energy and climate goals

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia should set more ambitious goals regarding renewables, as well as regarding phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and coal, the environmental NGO Focus said in its latest appeal to the government just days before EU energy ministers discuss the EU members' draft energy and climate plans and the UN holds a climate change conference in Spain. The least Slovenia could do is to "increase the share of renewable sources of energy, set a more ambitions timeline of phasing out coal and produce a more detailed plan of phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels", Focus said.

High performance material producer Filc gets German owner

ŠKOFJA LOKA - Germany's multinational Freudenberg signed a contract to take over Filc, a Škofja Loka-based manufacturer of needlepunch nonwoven textiles and laminated materials for the car and construction industries, the Slovenian firm said, but did not disclose the value of the deal. Filc boss Anže Manfreda believes Freudenberg is an ideal partner for Filc, as it should enable it to expand in the region and the world, which should encourage its growth and development. Filc, set up in 1937, has around 360 employees at three locations in Slovenia, and entered the needlepunch nonwoven textiles business in 1963.

Carinthian Slovenian reportedly appointed bishop of Gurk-Klagenfurt

KLAGENFURT, Austria - Carinthian Slovenian Jože Marketz has been appointed the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt, the newspaper Kleine Zeitung reported. The news is not official yet, but Marketz has been mentioned as a probable candidate. According to the Slovenian Catholic newspaper Družina, this will be the first time that a Slovenian assumes this position. The 64-year-old Jože or Josef Marketz, as he is known in the Austrian media, has been at the helm of the charity Caritas in Carinthia since 2014. He is to be consecrated bishop on 2 February next year, according to Kleine Zeitung, to succeed Alois Schwarz, who was appointed bishop of the diocese of Sankt Pölten in July 2018 after serving in the Gurk-Klagenfurt diocese for 17 years.

December spending rise ever stronger in Slovenia but still lowest in EU

LJUBLJANA - Slovenians continued the trend of ever higher December spending in 2018, but the rise compared to 2017 was more moderate than in previous years. Although retail sales in Slovenia exceeded the annual average by 15.3% in December, the discrepancy for non-food goods was the lowest among all EU members. December consumption increased by 1.4% year on year after it had risen 3.8% the year before, data released by the Statistics Offices show. Increasing the most markedly in the Christmas season compared to the average of the year, by 37.4%, were sales in electronic and household appliance stores. Food sales increased by 19% and cosmetics sales by 16.3%.

Doctors still afraid of contracting HIV from patients, survey shows

LJUBLJANA - Around 90% of Slovenian doctors consider it normal to treat HIV-infected patients in the same manner as other patients, yet almost 20% are still afraid of contracting HIV in contact with the skin of an infected person, a survey carried out by the National Institute of Public Health and a gay rights NGO shows. Two-thirds of a total of 352 doctors surveyed between 14 October and 12 November have never rejected examining an HIV-infected person in order to protect themselves. Fewer than 10% believe they can reject an HIV-infected patient to protect themselves, and more than 60% would do so if they had no adequate protection available.

Damir Skomina named best referee in the world

DORTMUND, Germany - Slovenian Damir Skomina has been declared the world's best football referee in 2019 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), being picked by football experts from 90 countries in the world. Skomina, who was the first Slovenian referee to officiate a UEFA Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Madrid on 1 June, thus became the 19th holder of the title that is being conferred since 1987. The IFFHS also picked the best goalkeeper of 2019, with Slovenia's Jan Oblak of Atletico madrid placing third, behind Brazilian Alisson in first and German Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona in 2nd.

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

28 Nov 2019, 17:35 PM

Football: Damir Skomina Named World’s Best Referee

STA, 28 November 2019 - Slovenian Damir Skomina has been declared the world's best football referee in 2019 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). He was selected by football experts from 90 countries in the world.

Skomina, who was also the first Slovenian referee to officiate a UEFA Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Madrid on 1 June, thus became the 19th holder of the title that is being conferred since 1987.

The 43-year-old scored 136 points in the vote, with the second-placed, German Felix Brych, who held the title in 2017, scoring 129 points. Skomina took the title for the first time.

According to the IFFHS, Skomina has put on a consistent showing throughout the season. He has so far officiated more than 530 matches, including 301 Slovenian national league matches, 50 Champions League matches, 17 European League matches, 60 international UEFA matches, a world championship match and an Olympic tournament.

The IFFHS also picked the best goalkeeper of 2019, with Slovenia's Jan Oblak placing third, behind Brazilian Alisson in first and German Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona in second place.

Oblak from Madrid's Atletico has been in the top three best goalkeepers in the last three seasons.

28 Nov 2019, 15:29 PM

First Steps to Slovenia's Fastest Supercomputer Made in Maribor

STA, 27 November 2019 - The first stage of Slovenia's fastest public supercomputer was officially launched as part of the EuroHPC network of supercomputers at the University of Maribor on Wednesday.

The HPC RIVR is a prototype that will be used to develop and test solutions for the primary supercomputer system at the Institute of Information Sciences (IZUM), which is expected to be launched at the end of 2020.

The supercomputer in Maribor is one of EU's eight high-performance computing (HPC) centres, the others being located in Bulgaria's Sofia, Czech Republic's Ostrava, Finland's Kajaani, Italy's Bologna, Luxembourg's Bissen, Portugal's Minho and Spain's Barcelona.

The centres will provide support to the research community and industry in developing know-how and knowledge applications in medicine, advanced materials and climate change combat.

The prototype stage launched today, called Maister after the WWI general Rudolf Maister, has 4,256 processor cores and a capacity of 244 TeraFLOPS.

The final supercomputer, called Vega after the 18th century mathematician Jurij Vega, will have a capacity of 10 PetaFLOPS and over 100,000 processor cores with an added field of 600,000 GPU cores once it is built at the Institute of Information Science (IZUM).

If it was launched today, Vega would rank 20th among the world's most powerful supercomputers, but by the end of next year it is expected to place around 40th place, according to Miralem Hadžiselimović, vice-chancellor of the University of Maribor.

The project is coordinated by the University of Maribor, but all public institutions from the Slovenian national supercomputing network (SLING) are involved.

The entire project, valued at EUR 20 million, is mostly funded by the EU (80%), while the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport will chip in the rest.

University of Maribor chancellor Zdravko Kavčič said the project was very important for the entire country. "It puts not just universities and research institutions but the entire corporate sector in a new role where it is capable of competing in Europe and globally with own know-how," he said.

28 Nov 2019, 12:30 PM

Association of Slovenian Brewers Joins Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GZS)

STA, 27 November 2019 - The Association of Slovenian Brewers (Združenje slovenskih pivovarn), featuring the country's largest brewer Pivovarna Laško Union, 20 microbrewers and the Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing, has joined the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije, GZS).

The association, active since 1997, will be part of the Chamber of Agricultural and Food Enterprises at the GZS.

Its members confirmed the membership in the GZS in August and met on Wednesday for the first formal session as members of the national chamber of commerce, electing Jernej Smolnikar of Pivovarna Laško Union as its chair.

Smolnikar said that the association would continue to support initiatives which strengthen the role of brewers in the field of food safety, awareness-raising about responsible drinking of beer, and self-regulation.

Since he believes that the future in beer brewing is in pursuing sustainable development guidelines, the association will promote the development of good practices in this field.

Andrej Sluga of Reservoir Dogs, who was also elected in the governing board along with Albin Hozjan of Over Mura, said that the move provided small brewers with a new dimension in terms of cooperation.

The association added in a press release that it would be looking for the best partners for cooperation in development and healthy attitude towards society and the environment.

All our stories on craft beer are here

28 Nov 2019, 12:00 PM

Parliamentary Committee Endorses Ending Supplementary Health Insurance for Full Single-Payer System

STA, 27 November 2019 - The parliamentary Health Committee has surprisingly endorsed legislation that would effectively end the current system of compulsory and supplementary health insurance as of 2021 in favour of a fully-fledged single-payer system.

The committee was discussing Wednesday amendments to the health insurance act tabled by the opposition Left that would fold the supplementary insurance contribution, which is paid as a lump sum regardless of income, into higher employer and employee payments.

It was widely expected the amendments would simply be voted down since the government said the bill was not appropriate. Its reluctance to back it was also the main reason why the Left terminated its cooperation agreement with the minority government.

Instead, the original proposal was transformed with coalition amendments into a bill that folds the lump sum, roughly EUR 29 per month, into the existing compulsory payments.

This means that supplementary health insurance contributions of individuals would increase by the same amount regardless of income, in what the government says is "the first step" of a more comprehensive solution.

Even the Left in the end backed the government solution, with party leader Luka Mesec arguing that this would "keep the bill open" and provide an avenue to find better solutions in the coming days and months.

Despite the surprise endorsement today, the legislation faces obstacles down the line.

For one, the parliament's own legal department voiced apprehension about the bill being changed so thoroughly with amendments. It also has qualms about how clear the provisions are.

Marjan Sušelj, the head of public health insurer ZZZS, which would manage all health insurance payments under the new system, said the solutions were not defined clearly enough.

He also noted that the government had recently agreed with social partners to steer all legislation through the Economic and Social Council prior to adoption.

And even if these issues are resolved, the three companies that provide supplementary health insurance, two private firms and a mutual insurer, have indicated they will put up a fight against legislation that would effectively kill their business.

These insurers currently collect roughly half a billion euro in health insurance premiums, money that would be handled by the ZZZS if the legislation is passed.

28 Nov 2019, 10:14 AM

Adria Collapse: Time Running Out for Govt to Decide on New National Carrier

STA, 27 November 2019 - While the government has not decided yet whether to establish an airline in full or partial state ownership two months into the receivership of the former flag carrier Adria Airways, civil aviation analyst Alen Šćuric has assessed that it would be a strategic move by the state and that the time is running out.

While many in Slovenia are opposed to the idea, the Croatian analyst told the STA on Wednesday it was in strategic interest of the state.

It was the government who mentioned the possibility to establish a new airline, either in full state ownership or in cooperation with a strategic partner, as a way to secure connectivity between Slovenia and the rest of the world.

After the German-owned Adria Airways went bust in early October, the finance and economy ministries are still waiting for the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) to present calculations on the feasibility of establishing such a company.

According to unofficial information, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is practically the only one to promote the idea to establish such an airline, as the aviation circles have expressed doubt about the possibility to implement such a plan.

Asked to comment on what is going on with the plans, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said that a decision was yet to be made, as experts were still "examining the matters". "If a company is to established in any form, it would not be possible without an external partner," he added.

Šarec also noted that the potential new airline would initially operate with a loss by default. "When final numbers are known, we will have to take a look and see whether we are prepared for going into it or not," he said, adding that airline business was very risky.

What is being questioned by experts is the ability of a Slovenian air carrier to compete with the established airlines which fly to Ljubljana's airport, with Adria's flights and connections being already almost fully replaced.

As the number is expected only to increase with the summer schedule, Šćuric is inclined to the idea to establish a national carrier, noting this is in Slovenia's strategic interest.

The needed financial investment is huge, but he believes that the matter should not be looked at from a short-term perspective, as airline transport services all the other sectors of the economy and brings benefits not only to tourism and the hospitality sector.

As an example, Šćuric pointed to business guests who could be distracted from coming to Slovenia by the expected longer times of travel and higher costs related to the use of other airports.

He is surprised that the Slovenian government had "no action plan", although it had been clear that Adria would end up in receivership, and he believes that the government should have established a "new company the day after the receivership".

All our stories on Adria are here

28 Nov 2019, 03:59 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Thursday, 28 November 2019

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:

EU Commission confirmed, Lenarčič will not forget he's Slovenian

STRASBOURG, France - Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner for crisis management, said he was a European commissioner but he would not forget he was from Slovenia, as he spoke to the press after Ursula von der Leyen's Commission was endorsed by the European Parliament. He believes 461 MEPs voting in favour, 157 against and 89 abstaining means a strong endorsement, by far stronger the vote for Jean-Claude Juncker's team five years ago, but the future path would not be easy. Slovenia's eight MEPs, all of whom voted for the new Commission, said it was time the new team got down to work after weeks of delay.

Parliaments want to deepen Slovenia-Friuli ties

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's National Assembly and the regional parliament of Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia plan to expand ties, in particular to benefit the ethnic minorities on both sides of the border, top parliamentary officials said after their Ljubljana meeting. Speaker Dejan Židan thanked Piero Mauro Zanin, president of the regional parliament of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, for his political support for legislation that would ensure the Slovenian minority was represented in the regional parliament. Židan announced the Slovenian minority would get back Narodni Dom, a Trieste cultural centre of huge historical importance, in July 2020, 100 years after the building was burnt down by Fascists.

Three candidates endorsed to run for DeSUS top job

LJUBLJANA - The most senior bodies of the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) cleared two contenders to challenge Karl Erjavec for the presidency of the party at the January congress, Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec and jurist Borut Stražišar. The three candidates presented their candidacies after a vetting commission aired "substantive misgivings" about Pivec and Stražišar, while founding they meet formal requirements for the post. Pivec faced allegations of wrongdoing related to her contribution to an EU-funded project when she served as state secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad.

Committee clears proposal to abolish supplementary insurance

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Health Committee surprisingly endorsed legislation that would effectively end the current system of compulsory and supplementary health insurance as of 2021 in favour of a fully-fledged single-payer system. It was widely expected the amendments, originally tabled by the Left, would simply be voted down since the government said the bill was not appropriate. Instead, the original proposal was transformed with coalition amendments into a bill that folds the current lump sum, roughly EUR 29 per month, into the existing compulsory payments.

Central bank urged to reconsider lending restrictions

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Finance Committee urged the central bank to reconsider the recently imposed curbs on consumer lending, an appeal that came at a session called by all five coalition parties after the central bank curtailed lending to consumers with the argument that consumer loans would pose a risk to the banking system if left unchecked. The committee said the restrictions would have a negative impact on spending and reduce the financial strength of those with the lowest incomes, but central bank governor Boštjan Vasle said action had been warranted to protect financial stability.

New tax boss announces fight against tax evaders

LJUBLJANA - Peter Jenko took over as the new director general of the Financial Administration (FURS) for a five-year term. He announced one of his goals would be to change the tax procedure act so that the names of major tax evaders could be made public. In an interview for the newspaper Delo, he said quite a few known taxpayers had formally moved to Dubai, including the one paying the second largest income tax in the country. So FURS will try to establish whether these taxpayers have indeed become United Arab Emirates residents or has the transfer of their residence been merely fictitious.

Retail group Mercator's net profit down 30% to EUR 6m

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian retail group Mercator posted EUR 6.21 million in net profit in the first nine months of the year, down 30.3% year on year. Mercator explained in a release the group results for this and last year were not fully comparable because of a change in accounting standards and last year's sale of a shopping centre and land in Serbia. The one-off effects excluded, the group's net profit would be almost EUR 10 million higher. The group increased its sales revenue by 1.6% to EUR 1.64 billion. Net financial debt was down by almost a fifth compared to the end of the third quarter last year, to EUR 629.2 million.

Abanka's net profit down 20% to EUR 42.5m in Jan-Sept

LJUBLJANA - Abanka, Slovenia's third largest bank which was privatised in June, generated a net profit of EUR 42.5 million in the first nine months of 2019, a 20% year-on-year drop. In the low interest rate environment, net interest income totalled EUR 45 million, which is on a par with last year's nine-month result, show the business results released today. At the end of September, Abanka's total assets stood at EUR 3,769.8 million, putting its market share at 9.3%. "The bank has high liquidity and a strong capital base," the report says.

Analyst warns time running out to establish new Adria Airways

LJUBLJANA - While the government has not decided yet whether to establish an airline in full or partial state ownership two months into the receivership of the former flag carrier Adria Airways, Croatian civil aviation analyst Alen Šćuric believes that it would be a strategic move by the state and that the time is running out. While many in Slovenia are opposed to the idea, he told the STA a new airline was in strategic interest of the state. He believes the deadline until it would make sense to establish a new company is the summer of 2020.

Cinkarna Celje exports 30 tonnes of radwaste to US

CELJE - Cinkarna Celje, the Celje-based chemical company, has tackled an environmental issue weighing down on it for 24 years by exporting 30 tonnes of radioactive waste to the US. The radioactive waste had been produced in the technological process to obtain titanium dioxide pigment, the company's key product. Cinkarna said in a release the waste had been exported to the US state of Idaho, but did not disclose the value of the deal.

Slovenia's fastest supercomputer coming soon

MARIBOR - The first stage of Slovenia's fastest public supercomputer was launched as part of the EuroHPC network of supercomputers today. The HPC RIVR is a prototype that will be used to develop and test solutions for the primary supercomputer system at the Institute of Information Sciences (IZUM), which is expected to be launched at the end of 2020. The supercomputer in Maribor is one of EU's eight high-performance computing (HPC) centres which provide support to the researchers and industry. The EUR 20-million project is coordinated by the University of Maribor.

Slovenia to cooperate with European Space Agency in Planica

SEVILLE, Spain - Slovenia will join two more programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA) for a total of five, with one of the new projects involving the Planica Nordic Centre, Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti announced in Seville, where he is attending an ESA meeting. The project, carried within the E3P2 programme for human and robotic exploration, will focus on studying the effects of hypoxia and simulated reduced gravity on the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and thermoregulation system, as well as decompression sickness and the impact on immunology and vision. Slovenia has been an associate ESA member since 2016.

Lux Prize for film involving Slovenian co-producer

STRASBOURG, France - God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, a film by Macedonia's Teona Strugar Mitevska that involves Slovenian co-producer Vertigo, won the 2019 LUX Film Prize, given out by the European Parliament. The film tells a story of a young woman who wins the race for the holy cross during the Orthodox ceremony of Epiphany, thus crossing into a traditionally male field. The film is seen as a significant contribution to the feminist struggle against conservative societies. Slovenian co-producer Danijel Hočevar told the STA that apart from the prestige it involved, the prize would make it easier to distribute the film within the EU.

Handball Association sacks national team coach Vujović

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Handball Association decided to part ways with the head coach of the men's national handball team, Veselin Vujović, who was appointed in 2015 and led Slovenia to bronze at the 2017 World Championship. However, the recent period was marked by unconvincing performances and tensions within the team. The 58-year-old Montenegrin, who also coaches Croatia's Zagreb, has recently made headlines because of losing his temper at a game of the Croatian champions. The incident was condemned by the Slovenian association's president Franjo Bobinac, who said Vujović's successor would be appointed by mid-December.

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

27 Nov 2019, 19:01 PM

Cook Eat Slovenia - Your Guidebook to Slovenian Cooking

Some time ago we reported that Špela Vodovc, the woman behind Culinary Slovenia and its food, drink and hiking tours of the country, was starting a Kickstarter to raise funds for a new cookbook that would explain, in clear English and beautiful photos, how to recreate classics from the Slovenian kitchen. That project met its funding goal within a few days, but it’s only recently that I got my hands on a copy of the book itself – by coincidence just in time to recommend it as Christmas or New Year gift to anyone you know who wants to learn the mysteries of potica, štruklji, gibanica, žlikrofi, kremšnita, mlinci and more.

Culinary Slovenia: Working to Expand Tourist Stays from Four Days to Seven

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Indeed, the book takes you on a tour of all four seasons and Slovenia’s 24 culinary regions, and with more than 100 dishes over 200+ pages you’re certain to find plenty of old favourites along with some you’ve never heard of. Each recipe is presented alongside a picture of the dish itself – providing inspiration as well as some serving suggestions – and thus the book also works a practical guide to Slovenian cuisine, one that outside the kitchen you can use to spot dishes in the wild and expand the range of items you order from the menu or the market, providing a checklist of things to seek out.

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And the recipes are so easy-to-follow, no doubt due to the years of experience the author has explaining these dishes in classes, that anyone who knows a frying pan from a sieve will be able to put together a shopping list, come home and produce the desired results. This is, after all, traditional, hone-style food, made using standard techniques, and the words foam, emulsion and sous vide seem to appear nowhere in the text.

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The book itself is a well-made paperback, strongly bound and suitable for the frequent use it’ll enjoy. Although written by Spela Vodovc the book was designed by Gregor Žakelj (of VBG design studio) and the photos taken by Mateja Jordović Potočnik, while the food was styled by Špela and her mother, Branka Vodovc (with the pictures taken in the latter’s home)

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As Slovenian cuisine gets more of a global reputation, due to the sterling work of its producers, chefs and promotors, we can expect more books that attempt to explain the canon to interested readers. With Cook Eat Slovenia, Špela Vodovc has set a high standard indeed, and one that’s available for just €24.99. While further distribution is being arranged the easiest place to find a copy is in Felipe Dvore, the fancy kitchenware store just opposite the Tourist Information Centre and next to Lolita Café by Triple Bridge in Ljubljana, or online here – with shipping worldwide in around 10 days for the furthest locations.

27 Nov 2019, 17:02 PM

Q1-3 Net Profit Falls 30% at Mercator

STA, 27 November 2019 - The Slovenian retail group Mercator posted EUR 6.21 million in net profit in the first nine months of the year, down 30.3% year on year. The parent company's net profit was meanwhile up 7.6% to over EUR 15 million, the company announced on Wednesday.

Mercator explained in a press release that the group results for this and last year were not fully comparable because of a change in accounting standards and last year's sale of a hopping centre and land in Serbia.

The effect of the extraordinary effects excluded, the group's net profit would be higher by EUR 9.56 million.

The Mercator group increased its sales revenue by 1.6% to EUR 1.64 billion, and the parent company by 5.6% to EUR 929 million.

The group's net financial debt was down compared to the end of the third quarter last year by 18.1% or EUR 139.4 million to EUR 629.2 million.

Most of the decrease is accounted for by Mercator selling in February the premises of ten of its shopping centres to Supernova, which it now leases from the Austrian shopping centre operator.

The EUR 116.6 million from the sale was intended for settling financial obligations, the company said, adding that it would continue to sell non-core investments on all of its markets.

In addition to deleveraging, the group employing 19,800 people continues with its largest investment in history, a new logistics and distribution centre in Ljubljana.

"A clear strategy, new commercial platforms and new, innovative concepts increase Mercator's competitiveness and apparently produce good operating results," chairman Tomislav Čizmić said in the release.

The group's most important markets are Slovenia and Serbia, where it generated 57.3% and 31.1% of its sales, respectively. Sales in Montenegro accounted for 5.6% of total sales, and in Bosnia-Herzegovina for 5.1%.

Sales revenue in the retail segment was up by 1.4% to EUR 1.24 billion. In Slovenia alone, sales in this segment were up by 4.7% to EUR 691.4 million.

With a 69.57% stake, the Croatian conglomerate Agrokor is Mercator's largest owner, followed by Russia's Sberbank (18.54%), Hungary's OTP Bank (6.74%) and Austria's Addiko Bank (2.84%).

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