STA, 30 September 2019 - A piece of land east of Ljubljana's central station, which has been lying abandoned for years, is set to get a mixed residential and commercial building within two years, shows a recent release by the Environment Agency. The Masarykova project, planned by developer K. Tivoli, is expected to include 81 flats, a ground floor store and a car park.

The agency announced last week that K. Tivoli, which also built the Belle vie Tivoli housing complex near Ljubljana's Tivoli park a while ago, does not need to conduct an environmental impact assessment and obtain an environmental permit for the project.

Aside from providing housing for up to 300 people, the project involves an underground garage with 90 parking spaces and an extended ground floor, which is expected to be used by German retailer Lidl and three smaller bars. The total surface area is estimated at 16,910 square metres, 12,327 of which above ground.

The property on Masarykova street was owned by the municipal housing fund until last year. The newspaper Dnevnik reported it was sold for EUR 2.5 million to Iskra Impuls. Together with household appliance maker Gorenje, the Kranj-based engineering company owns Gorenje Project, one of two partners in K. Tivoli, the other being builder Kolektor Koling.

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

This summary is provided by the STA:

New players restoring Adria Airways links

LJUBLJANA - A day after Slovenian carrier Adria Airways filed for receivership, Ljubljana airport operator Fraport Slovenija announced that a network of flights comparable to Adria's could be set up within a year and a half. The company is in intensive talks with other air carriers to replace the key connections soon. The Belgian air carrier Brussels Airlines, part of Lufthansa Group, announced it would restore its Brussels-Ljubljana link on 4 November with six flights a week. Travel agency Nomago has also organised several charter flights to mitigate the effects of Adria collapse on conference tourism. The coalition held a first meeting on possible future steps, but PM Marjan Šarec said there was nothing concrete to report yet.

Slovenia, Luxembourg call for multilateralism and rule of law

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and his Luxembourgian counterpart Jean Asselborn noted the importance of multilateralism and respect for international law, as they addressed reporters during Asselborn's official visit to Slovenia. European values and responsibility and solving problems through solidarity are "the ABC of the European Union", said Asselborn. He and Cerar announced a new Slovenia-Benelux summit for later this year or early 2020. Asselborn also met Slovenia's other top officials.

Krka doubles R&D capacities with EUR 56m investment

NOVO MESTO - Pharmaceutical company Krka inaugurated a EUR 55.6 million research and development centre at its location in Novo Mesto that nearly doubles its R&D, and control and analysis capacities. The Research and Control Centre 4 (RKC 4) has state-of-the-art equipment for laboratories, analysis and technology. The eight-storey building spanning 18,000 square metres is connected with a bridge to RKC 3 and then on to RKC 1. It is especially important for pilot development of solid pharmaceuticals.

Lek moving antibiotics production to Austria

PREVALJE - Lek, the Slovenian subsidiary of Swiss multinational Novartis, announced it would phase out antibiotics production in Slovenia's Prevalje in two years, moving it to Austria, while Prevalje will become part of Novartis's emerging global operative centre. The news comes a month after Lek abandoned its plans to expand production at Prevalje despite having built a new facility there. The facility is to be bought by TAB Mežica, the local battery maker, for production of lithium-ion batteries.

Property valuation act facing constitutional review

LJUBLJANA - A group of 32 MPs has requested that the Constitutional Court review the property mass valuation act. The request, distributed to the press on Tuesday by the opposition New Slovenia (NSi), says that the valuation models used for the estimates, set to serve as basis for a property tax, should have been closely defined by the act. The issues found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in 2013 still remain after the act was changed in May 2019, the request says.

Šarec stepping in to restore social dialogue

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec announced he would attend a session of the Economic and Social Council (ESS) in person next Tuesday in an attempt to restore social dialogue. This is after employer representatives announced withdrawal from the industrial relations forum over bills being filed in parliament past the ESS, and the head of the ZSSS trade union confederation resigned as the ESS chair. Šarec said the partners caused "a huge storm in a teacup for no reason".

Demands raised on Int Day of Older Persons

LJUBLJANA - Calls to improve the economic and housing situation of the elderly marked the start of the three-day Festival for the Third Age on International Day of Older Persons. In his address parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan called on the government to set up a solidarity-based system of long term care before the end of its term. On the occasion, the Pensioners' Association issued a list of demands to the government, including for an annual allowance and an immediate indexation of pensions.

New academic year starts

LJUBLJANA - A new academic year started for close to 76,000 Slovenian students. A total of 11,051 freshmen out of some 14,590 applicants have been admitted to the four Slovenian universities and public and publicly-licensed higher education institutions so far. The remaining 18,632 places may be filled by the end of October. In total, more than 48,300 new places are available this year at nearly 820 graduate, MA and doctoral programmes.

Preliminary results of mass real estate appraisal released

LJUBLJANA - The Surveying and Mapping Authority released the results of a preliminary mass real estate appraisal. With a public consultation on the appraisal model under way property owners can submit their remarks by 15 November. The total value of all real estate in Slovenia has increased from EUR 123 billion in 2017 to EUR 160 billion, which means that the estimated value of some properties will be 20-40% higher compared to the previous appraisal model. Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told MPs today that the government in its current form was not in a position to push through a real estate tax.

Slovenia preparing to introduce biometric ID card

LJUBLJANA - The Interior Ministry is working on legislation that will allow Slovenia to introduce biometric identity cards by 2 August 2021 in line with EU rules. The new card will feature a chip with the holder's face and two fingerprints saved as biometric data. The card would also feature data for electronic identification and electronic signature, to allow the holder to use e-commerce services. Now 1.83 million Slovenian citizens have an ID card, with which they can travel to 37 countries.

US-wanted Slovenian hacker arrested in Germany

LJUBLJANA - The father of Matjaž Škorjanc, a Slovenian coder wanted by the US on charges of cyber crime, confirmed he was arrested by German federal police on a US arrest warrant last week. Škorjanc is charged with involvement in a criminal racket that hacked into computers to steal credit card numbers and other data between 2008 and 2013, causing US$4.5 million in damage to the victims. His father Martin Škorjanc noted that Škorjanc had already served the sentence for the crimes in Slovenia.

Feminist contemporary art festival opens in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - The 25th City of Women, an international festival of contemporary arts, opened with a production by acclaimed German theatre collective She She Pop at the Ljubljana Mladinsko Theatre (SMG). The legendary duo, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary as well, will put on Drawers, a production about the German reunification process retold through the eyes of women from West and East Berlin and taking a form of couples counselling. The festival is running until 13 October.

Parliamentary committee backs sports day initiative

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Education Committee endorsed an initiative to honour Slovenian sports achievements by proposing the government designate 1 October as National Sports Day. The initiative for a public holiday celebrating sports accomplishments and the role they play in boosting national identity had been launched by the Slovenian Olympic Committee in the wake of the recent achievements of the national men's volleyball team and cycling star Primož Roglič.

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

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Three days turned into 12 and now I sit in the UK dreaming of being back, sipping an iced cold beer along the riverfront in what can only be described, as one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. BUT I wasn’t here for leisure. I am fortunate enough to work in the best industry in the world – CRAFT BEER. I work for Collective Arts Brewing, a grassroots beer company that fuses the craft of brewing with the inspired talents of emerging artist and musicians. The brewery, based in Hamilton, Canada, is dedicated to promoting artists and raising creative consciousness through the sociability of craft beer.

So why am I in Ljubljana? Collective Arts is now exporting to Europe and beyond and I get to go around presenting the beer and what Collective Arts is all about to you!  It started off with a Tap Takeover and Paint-a-Pint (a concept you guys fell in love with) at the cool and stylish, Pivnica Lajbah, this gem is only 5 minutes out of the way of the busy streets of the river but boasts peace and quiet with a large outside area (perfect for a sunny day), children’s corner, food to die for and 23 fresh taps!

I then ventured to Ghetto Something, which again is a dreamy bar hidden away in the seaside town of Koper for another Tap Takeover, it had a great turn out of locals and the beer went down a treat! It was then meant to be home time but the guys from Lajbah had already started on me from the second I landed to convince me to stay for the following weekend too, especially as it was the famous Beer and Burger festival. At first I was hesitant, but then 2 hours before my flight I hit the button and extended my stay an extra week and this was the best decision I ever made.

We continued to spread the Collective Arts love throughout the week with a Fridge Takeover and art in the street at Že v Redu Primož Beer Shop, which is a an awesome craft beer shop and tasting room tucked away down the backstreets of Ljubljana (on Trubarjeva cesta), and then also made an appearance at both Open Kitchen and Beer and Burger Festival over the final weekend, bringing not just beer but helping visitors to the festivals channel their inner child and paint more pints and kegs. Some real artist shone through and we hope to collaborate with them in the future!

Admittedly, the craft beer scene is still somewhat behind in Slovenia, but there is a definite breakthrough happening, with a good amount of imports from different countries and a huge number of microbreweries popping up with good quality and variety of beers appearing on the market.  The food festivals are also starting to push the concept of beer and food pairing and it’s so good to see the support between all the breweries and local restaurants and bars. Slovenia is definitely one to look out for, and I will be back soon.

All our stories on craft beer in Slovenia are here

Slovene sport climbing fans had an intense weekend, with the arrival of the IFSC Lead Climbing World Cup to Kranj. The competition landed in Slovenia with a wide range of possibilities ahead. Before this weekend, on women’s competition Chaehyun Seo from Korea was leading the way with two victories, while local hero Janja Ganrbret closely followed in the second place in the overall ranking.

Kranj’s World Cup started on Saturday with the qualification round. After a strong performance on this stage, Garnbret safely moved to the semi-finals after she topped one route and made it to hold 39+ on the second one. However, she fell really low down on the wall at the semi-finals, missing her second final in this year’s lead competition. This means that after this weekend, although she is still in second place in the overall ranking with 243 points, it is less likely that she will be able to win the lead title.

On the other hand, Mia Krampl and Lučka Rakoveč safely made it to the finals, which took place on Sunday evening in front of a massive, delighted crowd. Mia Krampl went first, and although she looked really strong in the first half of the route, she almost slipped on hold 20, and after she tried to go for hold 21 she sadly fell down. Certainly not the final Mia was expecting, but surely she will go for the win on upcoming competitions. As a matter of fact, holds 20 and 21 became a problem for some of the athletes, as four of them went down at this point.

However, when Lučka Rakoveč, the other female Slovene athlete, jumped on the mats, the audience went crazy once again. Her climbing style was powerful and secure, and she safely made it through holds 20 and 21 without further ado. Lučka started to look slightly pumped after her rest on the overhanging part of the wall, and fell down after hold 34+. After the last climber out, Ai Mori, also went down on hold 20+ – the same as Mia Krampl – Lučka secured a bronze medal in Kranj’s World Cup, successfully achieving her first podium in a Lead World Cup. As she did on the past World Cups, Chaehyun Seo secured her third win of the season reaching to hold 34.5+, while Jessica Pilz from Austria claimed the silver medal with a 34.5.

As for the rest of female Slovene athletes, Tjaša Kalan, Lana Skušek and Mina Markovič made it to  the semi-finals and ended up in 10th, 11th and 15th places. Lucija Tarkuš finished her competition in 41st place in the qualification round.

On the men’s side, Alexander Megos (Germany) and Sasha Lehmann (Switzerland) and William Bosi (United Kingdom) were battling over the first positions on the overall ranking. However, several surprises waited ahead over the weekend as all of them missed this competition. All eyes were therefore on Adam Ondra after he missed his first chance to qualify for the 2020 Olympics and Jakob Schubert (two times Overall Lead World Cup Winner).

Adam Ondra on the wall. YouTube

The first did not disappoint and absolutely dominated all competition rounds. He topped both routes in qualification, finished on hold 39+ – almost the top – at the semi-finals and once again topped the final route, being the only man who actually made it past hold 32. Impressive performance by the Czech climber, who was a crowd-pleaser and delivered a great show for local audience.

No such luck for Jakob Schubert, who was the penultimate athlete to jump into the mats and had to deal with hold 12+ losing its friction as the competition went on. After he didn’t find a good position to face this problem, he fell down before even reaching the middle of the route.

Surprises were not over as Kai Harada, a climber who usually performs better on boulder categories, finished his competition in 2nd place, and young rising star Alberto Ginés Lopez, a 16-year-old from Spain, made it to his first Lead World Cup Podium in 3rd position.

As for the Slovene male athletes, none of them could make it into the final. Luka Potočar, Martin Bergant and Anze Peharc performed really well on semi-final round but could only make it to13th, 15th and 16th positions. In the qualification round, Jernej Kruder, Žiga Zajc, Milan Preskar and Andrej Polak finished in 42nf, 45th, 52th and 56th places.

With only two Lead World Cups remaining, Janja Garnbret, Mia Krampl and Lučka Rakovec will  be able to perform her last battles of the season to secure positions in the overall lead podium. Next stop will be Xiamen (China), from the 18th till the 20th of October.

In 1869 the Vienna Postal Administration, which was at the time in charge of the mail in Slovenia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, introduced postcards to carry shorter messages that were cheaper than letters and did not need an envelope.

In the second half of the 19th century, lower paper costs allowed for a novelty to be introduced into the postal service – envelopes.  Letters were now inserted into unscripted paper wrappings, which were industrially produced and stamped in Austria first.

On today's date in 1869 the Vienna Postal Services introduced the first official postcard in the world, which was called “Correspondenz-Karte”. In Slovenian it was first called “listnica” and was later renamed to “dopisnica”.

Updated: 18:45 1 Oct. 2019

STA, 1 October 2019 - The Belgian air carrier Brussels Airlines, part of Lufthansa Group, announced it would restore its Brussels-Ljubljana route a day after Slovenian carrier Adria Airways filed for receivership. Travel agency Nomago also decided to organise several charter flights to mitigate the effects of Adria collapse on conference tourism.

Brussels Airlines, which had flown to Ljubljana a decade ago, announced six flights a week on its website today. Tickets should be available for sale as of Wednesday, while the first flights are scheduled for 4 November.

Brussels Airlines is to connect the Slovenian capital with Brussels every day a week except Saturday. Flights from Brussels are scheduled for 3:30pm and return flights for 5:55pm.

The Belgian air carrier is the first to introduce new flights to Ljubljana airport after Adria's collapse.

Adria's routes will also be partly covered by the Hungarian low-budget carrier WizzAir, which cancelled its Ljubljana-Brussels link for the 2019/2020 winter season but will restore it as of 31 March 2020.

Meanwhile, Nomago said today it was in contact with Ljubljana hotels, and all major tourism organisations and institutions hosting international events. It assured them it can expand its operations to provide for the transport of passengers through its InterCity bus service but also with additional charter flights.

According to Nomago executive director for tourism and mobility services Marjan Beltram, the network of the Nomago IntercIty services may be expanded within a month or two if necessary.

Nomago, which has the largest market share in plane ticket sales in Slovenia, has already arranged alternative connections from near-by airports for its passengers.

The receivership of Adria, which used to transport about half of all Ljubljana airport passengers, opens opportunities for other air carriers as well.

The most attractive appear to be the routes to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna. Two other Lufthansa subsidiaries, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines, are said to be interested in them as well.

Ljubljana airport operator Fraport Slovenija is in intensive talks with other air carriers as well and is hoping to replace the key connections soon. A comparable network of flights is to be set up in a year and a half, Fraport Slovenija said today.

Out of the 27 regular flights, 11 have been lost with the grounding of Adria's planes, of which five are crucial for Slovenia's connectivity with the world, said Janez Krašnja, the head of airline services.

According to Fraport Slovenija COO Zmago Skobir, these are connections with Brussels, Frankfurt, Vienna, Munich and Zurich. He expects them to be restored by the end of the year.

Asked whether founding a new national carrier would make sense in the current situation, Skobir said he could not comment. "I can only say that there is demand for the destinations that have been cancelled and that we have first signals that they will be replaced," he said.

Several companies already flying to Ljubljana are also increasing the number of flights to the Slovenian capital to make out for the fallout from Adria cancellations. Air France increased them from six to 13 a week, and will be using a larger aircraft to adjust to the number of passengers.

LOT Polish Airlines has raised the number of its flights from seven to eight a week and has recently been flying to Ljubljana with a larger plane, Boeing B737.

Air Serbia added Niš to the list of its routes in the summer, and adjusted to the number of passengers on the Ljubljana-Belgrade route with larger planes.

Montenegro Airlines will increase the number of its flights from four to five a week, while Russia's
Aeroflot has been using larger planes.

Turkish Airlines has made no changes yet but said it would secure larger aircraft if necessary.

A solution has however not been found yet for lights to Balkan cities. Fraport Slovenije is particularly working on setting up a connection with Skopje, which is an important business destination.

Fraport expects the airport to see 100,000-200,000 fewer passengers this year because of Adria's collapse, expecting the annual figure to stand between 1.5 and 1.7 million. But the airport still expects to end the year in the black.

Fraport Slovenija has more than EUR 4 million in claims to Adria, a part of which has been secured.

The Slovenian national postal operator Pošta Slovenije said today it had switched from Adria to other air lines and partly to Zagreb airport, while the mail for neighbouring countries and Germany was being transported by road.

Adria's collapse will be discussed by the coalition later this afternoon. Officials are expected to talk about potential steps the state can take in the aftermath of Adria's receivership.

One option is for the state to subsidise new routes and the other is to set up a new air carrier. Parties are divided as to what the best solution would be.

All our stories on Adria are here

STA, 1 October 2019 - Lek, the Slovenian subsidiary of Swiss multinational Novartis, has announced phasing out the production of antibiotics in Slovenia's Prevalje in two years' time and moving it to neighbouring Austria. In the meantime, Prevalje will become one of the two locations of Novartis's emerging global centre for technical operations. 

The news comes a month after the company said it would not expand production in the northern town of Prevalje despite having just built a new facility there.

Along with Hyderabad in India, Prevalje will become one of the two locations of Novartis's new global centre which will support the multinational's entire production network, Lek's new director general Robert Ljoljo said on Tuesday.

"The centre will be a hub for logistics, the supply chain, purchases, quality control, production science and technology, and engineering," he told the press after today's meeting with employees.

The new centre in Slovenia will employ "several hundred people", mostly experts in logistics, quality control and production science and technology, he explained.

He said that by assuming an additional role within Novartis, Lek was consolidating its presence in Slovenia and "pledges to remain in Koroška".

All Prevalje workers will be given a chance to retrain for new jobs, explained Roman Burja, director of Antiinfektivi Prevalje, the name of Lek's Prevalje company.

As production is being phased out in the coming two years, new jobs will be created gradually and the production will be gradually moved to Austria's Kundl, he added.

Lek has 250 employees and another 70 agency workers at Antiinfektivi Prevalje.

Production has already been suspended and the employees are on a paid leave, coming to meetings with their bosses to discuss the company's future plans for Prevalje.

Lek managers also met the local authorities, with Prevalje Mayor Matic Tasič hoping "they realise in Ljubljana that Prevalje could well be the seat of the new centre".

Ljolja meanwhile also said that TAB Mežica, a local maker of starter batteries for cars and industrial batteries, was interested in buying the recently-built Lek production facility.

A letter of intent has already been signed, he said, but would not disclose any other details.

Lek also expects some of its Antiinfektivi Prevalje employees to get jobs at TAB, which is planning to branch out into production of lithium-ion batteries.

STA, 1 October 2019 - After almost 60 years since its establishment, Adria Airways, Slovenia's flag carrier privatised in 2016, is grounded. By selling it to German fund 4K Invest, the state claimed it wanted to give the troubled company a fresh impetus, but with the management filing for receivership, the opposite scenario has happened.

March 1961 - Charter airline Adria Aviopromet is set up, operating DC 6 planes. In December of the same year, it operates the first flight with a home crew.

1964 - Adria Aviopromet gets its own airport in Brnik, after landing and taking off at Croatia's Zagreb airport.

1968 - Adria Aviopromet introduces the first regular route, between Ljubljana and Yugoslavia's capital Belgrade, and is renamed Inex Adria Aviopromet.

December 1981 - An Inex Adria Aviopromet plane crashes into Mt San Pietro in Corsica. All 180 people on board die.

1986 - The company is renamed Adria Airways. In the years to come, the number of routes grows, and so does the number of passengers.

25 June 1991 - Slovenia declares independence, and Yugoslavia's civil aviation administration soon bans Adria Airways from flying for three months.

1992 - Adria Airways relaunches its business and focusses on regular routes rather than charter flights.

1995 - The company enters a code share agreement with Germany's Lufthansa.

2004 - Adria Airways becomes a member of Star Alliance, the world's largest global airline alliance.

2010 - The airline establishes Adria Airways Tehnika, a subsidiary for the maintenance of its fleet.

2011 - Due to financial trouble, Adria Airways sells its 100% stake in Adria Airways Tehnika to two state-owned companies and is recapitalised by the state with EUR 50 million.

2012 - An international call to sell a 74.87% stake in Adria Airways is published, but falls through. The European Commission launches a probe into state aid.

2014 - The European Commission establishes that four state capital injections Adria Airways received in 2007-2011 were not in breach of EU rules.

July 2015 - A call to sell a 91.58% stake in Adria Airways is published, with an almost 70% stake held directly by the state and the rest indirectly through state assets managers.

January 2016 - A contract to sell the 91.58% stake to the German turnaround fund 4K Invest is signed. Before selling it, the state recapitalises the company with EUR 3.1 million and receives purchase money to the tune of EUR 100,000.

March 2016 - The privatisation is completed. CEO Mark Anžur hands over to Arno Schuster as the last Slovenian manager at its helm.

July 2017 - Through a subsidiary, Adria Airways takes over Swiss regional airline Darwin Airline, which in November files for bankruptcy. Swiss prosecutors then open a probe into financial irregularities.

February 2018 - Schuster resigns as CEO, and is replaced by Holger Kowarsch.

summer 2018 - Due to a shortage of staff, Adria Airways starts merging flights. Its fleet grows to 21 planes, the highest number ever.

December 2018 - Despite a capital injection of EUR 4 million from Adria Airways owners, the Civil Aviation Agency threatens to revoke its operating licence.

January 2019 - The Civil Aviation Agency finds the airline is solvent in the long-run.

February 2019 - STBE, a company said to be the owner of Adria Airways brand, is folded into Adria Airways to increase its capital.

June 2019 - Adria Airways is cancelling ever more flights.

September 2019 - Pilots threaten to go on a strike, but the two sides manage to sign a new collective bargaining agreement.

10 September - Adria Airways delivers to the Civil Aviation Agency an audited financial report for 2018. Nine days later, the agency bans it from flying with two CRJ900 Bombardier planes.

24 September - Adria Airways stops flying to all destinations expect once a day to Frankfurt and back to Ljubljana.

25 September - Adria Airways is given until 2 October to provide a financial restructuring plan, or else it would lose its operating licence.

30 September - As the government discusses Adria Airways' financial situation, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek says receivership seems to be the most viable option. The management files for receivership as it cancels the remaining flights, and the airline loses its operating licence. Počivalšek indicates the state could set up a new air carrier.

All our stories on Adria are here

STA, 30 September 2019 - The Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije  - GZS) and the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate cooperation, as a business forum was held at the GZS in Ljubljana on Monday.

Saudi Arabia is Slovenia's 33rd export market and 36th in terms of imports.

GZS director general Sonja Šmuc highlighted the constant growth in trade between the two countries.

She also drew attention to the threat of trade wars which could significantly affect future trade growth at the global level.

Šmuc labelled today's signing of the memorandum of understanding as an opportunity for strengthening bilateral cooperation.

With the memorandum, the Council of Saudi Chambers has gained access to the GZS partnership network with more than 160 chambers of commerce.

The council's vice chairman Munir bin Saad said the Ljubljana meeting was an excellent opportunity to strengthen economic cooperation, in particular in tourism, the agri-food industry and commercial business.

The forum, which was attended by more than 40 Slovenian and Saudi business executives, also featured a number of bilateral meetings.

The Saudi delegation also met Foreign Ministry State Secretary Dobran Božič, with the ministry saying in a press release that this was the first large delegation of Saudi government and business representatives in 19 years.

The ministry also said that the visit was taking place in the context of Slovenia's efforts to diversify its foreign trade and enter new markets.

Saudi Arabia is Slovenia's biggest trade partner in the Persian Gulf, with trade growing steadily, accompanied by efforts to boost cooperation in the service industries and investments, the ministry said.

In the coming days, the delegation will also visit the ministries in charge of technology and infrastructure, as well as the SPRIT agency, the Koper port and the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, as well as various investment funds and high-tech companies, the ministry announced.

STA, 30 September 2019 - The coalition has agreed on a proposal from the health and finance ministries that the abolition of top-up health insurance be made in two steps, with the first being to transfer the collection of all contributions to the jurisdiction of the public health insurance fund ZZZS.

The second step would be making a so-called solidarity scale for the collection of health insurance contributions, Health Minister Aleš Šabeder told the press on Monday on the sidelines of the government session.

He explained that this was an alternative idea prepared by the two ministries after the opposition Left had filed into parliamentary procedure a proposal of its own last week, which the coalition has rejected.

In the first phase, the collection of what are currently contributions for top-up health insurance, paid to insurance companies, would be transferred to the jurisdiction of the ZZZS, making them mandatory contributions.

For starts, the contribution would be the same for all, while in the second step a progressive scale, which the minister called a "solidarity scale", for the collection of the contribution would be created.

According to Šabeder, the transfer of the payment of the contribution to the public health insurer would not change the current total amount of contributions paid.

The health purse would actually have more funds available, as a part of the collected contributions for top-up health insurance is currently being spent for costs of the insurance companies collecting them, he added.

The minister said that the proposal had not been discussed yet with the Left, the minority coalition's partner in the opposition, with a meeting expected to take place in the coming days.

The proposal comes after the Left last week tabled a motion that would in effect abolish top-up health insurance and replace it with a progressive levy, having failed to find common ground with the coalition despite weeks of talks.

Šabeder said that after the coalition had agreed to the proposal today, all details would now be sorted out, adding that the motion would be filed only after the parliamentary procedure for the Left's proposal started.

It would go through the usual procedure, with the government formally proposing it before it goes into public debate and debate at the Economic and Social Council. He expects heated debate and a negative campaign from the insurance companies.

Left head Luka Mesec said that the party had not seen the proposal yet, and invited the minister to present it to the Left.

"We are, of course, ready to talk about additional solutions and we kindly invite them to have a talk and try to include that in the proposal which has been 90% complete and which can be passed in the next two months, i.e. the proposal from the Left."

What is important for the party is that the final outcome is not an "MP and a pensioner with a monthly pension of EUR 400 still paying the same amount for insurance", as one can conclude from the minister's proposal, Mesec added.