STA, 27 September 2019 - Slovenia's national volleyball team is travelling to Paris for the final of the European Volleyball Championship in what will be their second gold-medal match in four years. Following an improbable run powered by the Ljubljana crowd, the team will be looking to improve on its silver medal from 2015 and return home with gold.

While Slovenia's opponent in the final is yet to be determined, with Serbia and France playing the other semi-final today, Slovenia are already packing for Paris after beating the reigning world champions Poland 3:1 yesterday.

The win took place in the sold-out Stožice Arena, with more than 11,000 people tirelessly cheering for the home team from the first to last minutes, helping Slovenia beat the favoured Poles, who had been demolishing teams on their way to the semis.

It came after Slovenia finished second in Group C, behind the reigning European champions Russia, defeated Bulgaria 3:1 in the round of 16 and avenging the group stage loss to Russia in the quarter-finals by beating them 3:1.

The French capital will be another opportunity to win gold after Slovenia took silver at the 2015 championship in Bulgaria and Italy, losing to France in the finals. The teams could meet again on Sunday if the hosts of the medal round beat Serbia.

One of the heroes of the match was veteran captain Tine Urnaut, who led Slovenia with 18 points, second only to the naturalised Cuban in the ranks of Poland, Wilfredo Leon, who had game-high 22 points as he dominated with the serve and spikes.

Urnaut said that it did not matter who was on the other side of the court, "we said we would leave our hearts out there, that we would go all in. We had the unbelievable desire to win, because everything is possible in front of this great crowd."

Sunday's finals are hard to compare to that from four years ago, as then it was the first time for Slovenia. "The celebration ends when we get to the locker room, and we will try to get fully prepared to play the finals as well as possible."

Libero Jani Kovačič was happy that it was exactly the Poles to get beaten by Slovenia in the semi-finals, because "they can be rather arrogant sometimes, they have been convinced for some years that they are better than us".

Setter Dejan Vinčić, who plays professionally in Poland, said that Slovenia "did not want bronze, and we don't want silver, because we already have it, we are going to Paris for the gold medal".

Many Slovenian celebrities congratulated the players on social media, ice hockey player Anže Kopitar, retired skier Tina Maze, basketball players Luka Dončić and Goran Dragić and ski jumper Peter Prevc.

Slovenia will have strong support in Paris as well, as a few thousand Slovenians are expected there, with three charter flights taking off from Ljubljana today, and two on Saturday. Many others will travel there by coach or car.

While the tournament now shifts to the French capital, Stožice Arena is bidding farewell to volleyball after hosting 19 matches of the European Championships in two weeks, attended by a total of 76,000 people. The most foreign fans came from Finland (1,600).

The organisers received praise from the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), with its representative Maja Poljak giving them an "A". She told the STA the organisation had exceeded her expectations and that she would report this to the superiors.

"I've played everywhere, seen a lot of arenas and matches, but I don't remember such an audience. Not only that it was loud, but fans cheered in a fair and sportsmanship manner. Ljubljana has made an excellent advertisement for volleyball."

STA, 27 September 2019 - While the Financial Administration (FURS) has just highlighted the continuing positive trend in the recovery of tax debt, it is bound to have a hard time recovering what are EUR 25 million owed by one of the biggest tax debtors in the country. Zlatan Kudić reportedly disappeared as a tax fraud trial against him was about to end.

According to Thursday's report by public broadcaster TV Slovenija, the former director of the Ljubljana company Maxicon, which went into receivership in 2012, has had an arrest warrant issued against him.

Kudić was undergoing a trial, along with two co-defendants, for tax evasion, money laundering and destruction of evidence.

The court ordered that he be detained when he stopped attending trial a few weeks ago and the police issued an arrest warrant, but so far to no avail.

According to TV Slovenija, Kudić and Maxicon have been erased from the list of tax debtors with the company's termination, but FURS could theoretically still go after the debt via a pecuniary claim in a criminal procedure.

The question, however, is whether Kudić will ever again be available to Slovenian courts and whether he officially has any assets at all, the report added.

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:

Volleyball: Slovenia through to the final in Paris

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia defeated Poland 3:1 in the semifinal of the European Volleyball Championship on Thursday to qualify for the final in Paris. Playing in front of a raucous capacity crowd in the Stožice arena, Slovenia narrowly won the first set 25:23 but lost a hard-fought second set before rebounding to wrap up the game after more than two hours of play.

Šarec pessimistic about Adria prospects

NEW YORK, US - PM Marjan Šarec expressed regret about the developments at Adria Airways, sympathising with the passengers and the employees' families, but also noted that the air carrier is no longer state-owned and that the outlook for its rescue is not good. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek meanwhile told the STA the situation was being examined by several institutions so that the government will take a decision on Friday or Saturday how to rescue the company to preserve Slovenia's air links with the rest of the world. Citing unofficial sources, POP TV reported that BAMC, the bad bank, suggested the government invest between EUR 15 million and 20 million in Adria on condition the company pay out on Friday the reminder of August pay to employees and settle its International Air Transport Association membership fee.

Šarec meets Guterres, backs multilateralism and urges respecting of agreements

NEW YORK, US - PM Marjan Šarec underlined Slovenia's support for multilateralism and the need to honour human rights and agreements as he met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on Thursday. Šarec's office said the honouring of agreements was particularly important for small countries like Slovenia, which is why the PM stressed the role of the UN in this context too. Šarec, who also stressed the importance of stability in the W Balkans, confirmed for the press Slovenia was sticking to its recognition of Kosovo, but he added it would be hard to revive dialuge between Belgrade and Prishtina if Kosovo does not remove its new tariffs on Serbian goods.

MPs pass Resolution on National Security Strategy

LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the Resolution on National Security Strategy with 46 votes in favour and 29 against. The resolution was passed after two opposition parties succeeded in throwing out an expansion of powers of the intelligence service to fight home-grown terrorism. Defence Ministry State Secretary Nataša Dolenc noted that the currently valid resolution had been passed a decade ago. Meanwhile, the security situation has been changing and worsening since 2013, she said, identifying hybrid threats, cyber threats and migration as new risks.

PM: If Croatia Schengen decision political, Slovenia to act politically too

NEW YORK, US - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec commented on the reports that the European Commission would give Croatia the go-ahead to join the Schengen area on 16 October by saying that in case of such a political decision, Slovenia will act politically as well. "I've been taking part in the European Council sessions for a year, and nothing can surprise me any more," said Šarec in New York, where he is attending the general debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

Cerar talks Venezuela repatriation, Iran crisis

NEW YORK, US - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, speaking with Slovenian reporters in New York, said he expected first Slovenians from Venezuela to be repatriated within a few weeks. He also credited the EU for preventing a complete fiasco of the Iran nuclear deal. "The repatriation of the Slovenians from Venezuela will happen soon," he said noting the government's task force was working hard to hash out all the details for what was not a simple operation. "Things will get started within a few weeks."

Retailer Mercator posts higher H1 revenue, profit up almost 60%

LJUBLJANA - Mercator, Slovenia's leading retailer, saw group sales revenue increase by 0.4% to EUR 1.06 billion in the first half of the year. Group net profit rose by 58.4% to EUR 2.4 million, the company said in an earnings release. Normalised profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by almost 73% to EUR 83 million and operating profit (EBIT) by over 76% to EUR 29.9 million.

Chirac paid tribute as Slovenia's ally

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Foreign Ministry paid its tribute to late French President Jacques Chirac by describing him as an important ally of Slovenia in its accession to the EU and NATO. "Jacques Chirac will remain in our memory as an important ally of Slovenia in accession to the EU and NATO and as a politician who decisively contributed to peace in the Western Balkans and the enlargement policy of the European Union," the ministry said on its Twitter profile.

Erjavec deepening defence cooperation in Montenegro

PODGORICA, Montenegro - Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec started an official two-day visit to Montenegro to discuss with his counterpart Predrag Bošković options to further deepen cooperation. Reflecting on Slovenia's support to Montenegro's entry into NATO, which happened two years ago, the two ministers agreed today that Slovenia sending a defence adviser to Podgorica in 2011 had been among the most tangible signs of support.

MEP Fajon elected chair of Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee

BRUSSELS, Belgium - MEP Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) was elected chair of the Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee today, her office said in a press release. Another Slovenian MEP, Franc Bogovič (EPP/SLS), was elected one of the two vice chairs, while the other position went to Greek Petros Kokkalis (GUE/NGL). Slovenian Klemen Grošelj (RE/LMŠ) is the third Slovenian member of the delegation.

Fishermen's right to compensation extended until end 2021

LJUBLJANA - Parliament extended by two years the right of Slovenian fishermen to claim compensation for fishing in the Piran Bay being obstructed as neighbouring Croatia refuses to implement the 2017 border arbitration decision by an international tribunal. The right also refers to compensation claims for material damage that their fishing vessels would suffer in incidents with Croatian fishermen, both of which would have expired at the end of 2019.

New indexation of social transfers endorsed, automatic pension increase confirmed

LJUBLJANA - The parliament passed a legislative proposal dealing with the indexation of transfers to individuals and households under which such transfers worth around EUR 1.25 billion will be indexed to inflation once a year. The opposition Democrats (SDS) and the Left were the only parties to oppose the amendment. Meanwhile, the government confirmed at a correspondenace session a 1.5% increase in pensions for December, which is in line with legislative provisions that envisage such a raise for the case of GDP growth in 2018 exceeding 4%. It was 4.1%

Krško plant offline next week for EUR 100m maintenance shutdown

KRŠKO - Having completed the 30th refuelling cycle, the Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) will go offline on Tuesday for a one-month scheduled maintenance shutdown that is expected to cost around EUR 100 million. The reactor will be refuelled and standard maintenance works carried out on all systems and structures of Slovenia's sole nuclear installation, technical director Mario Gluhak told the press on Thursday.

BAMC profit down 12% in H1 y/y due to shrunken portfolio

LJUBLJANA - Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC) generated EUR 17.9 million in net profit in the first half of the year, which was 12% less than in the first half of 2018. The company said in the business report that the results were on par with last year's, considering its portfolio has gotten smaller. BAMC generated EUR 116 million in asset management revenue, accounting for 5.6% of cumulative transfer value of assets. The figure is level with the same period in 2018, despite the fact that the portfolio has shrunk by more than 20% since the start of 2018.

Development pact to help face potential new crisis

LJUBLJANA - The two-day Manager Congress got under way at Portorož with optimism despite the talk of a looming crisis with assessments that Slovenian businesses were in good shape and better prepared for a new crisis than the last time around. Representatives of the government, businesses and trade unions taking part in one of the debates agreed that Slovenia needed a new development pact to brave a potential new global crisis. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said the government should put in place a competitive, predictable and stable business environment.

Slovenia gains two spots in IMD Digital Competitiveness ranking

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has gained two spots on the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking over 2018, placing 32nd this year. The US remained at the top of the ranking comparing 63 countries, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. In comparison to other EU members who joined the bloc alongside Slovenia or later, Slovenia fared worse than Estonia in 29th place and Lithuania in 30th.

Exhibition on architect Plečnik moves from Vatican to Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - An exhibition on prominent Slovenian architect and designer Jože Plečnik (1872-1957) and his designs of sacred objects moved from the Vatican Museums, where it was hosted during summer, to the Ljubljana City Museum, displaying 33 selected liturgical vessels as well as video presentations of his work. Opening today and running until 24 November in Ljubljana, the exhibition, entitled Plečnik and the Sacred, is one of the most important projects promoting Slovenian culture this year.

Sovre Prize for translations of novels by John Williams and Jan Nemec

LJUBLJANA - Translations of John Williams's novel Augustus and Czech writer Jan Nemec's A History of Light won Breda Biščak and Tatjana Jamnik the Sovre Prize, given out by the Slovenian Literary Translators' Association. The award, which is named after Slovenia's greatest translator of Ancient Greek literature Anton Sovre (1885-1963), will be presented in Hrastnik on 24 October.

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

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

STA, 26 September 2019 - Slovenia defeated Poland 3:1 in the semifinal of the European Volleyball Championship on Thursday to qualify for the final in Paris.

Playing in front of a raucous capacity crowd in the Stožice arena, Slovenia narrowly won the first set 25:23 but lost a hard-fought second set before rebounding to wrap up the game after more than two hours of play.

The win takes them to the final in Paris, where they will attempt to improve on the biggest success Slovenian volleyball has ever recorded, silver medal in 2015.

The Slovenians will play either hosts France or Serbia, whose semifinal encounter is scheduled for Friday.

??Z M A G A v Stožicah za FINALE v Parizu ❗️❗️Odlična igra fantov v 4⃣ nizu (25:23) Hvala najboljšim navijačem❤️ Izjemni ste? ??

?? 1-3 ??#EuroVolleyM #WeAreEuroVolley #sLOVEvolley ???? pic.twitter.com/Uv5o79EvxZ

— Slovenia Volleyball (@SloVolley) September 26, 2019

STA, 26 September 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has expressed regret about the developments at Adria Airways, sympathising with the passengers and the employees' families, but also noted that the air carrier is no longer state-owned and that the outlook for its rescue is not good.

Šarec instructed the relevant ministers on Thursday to weigh all the possibilities of potential aid to the German-owned airline, which is facing the treat of losing its operational licence due to a lack of liquidity.

"However, people need to be told clearly that the options are not good. I wouldn't like to paint an unrealistic picture so that the public opinion would be more favourable," Šarec said in New York on Thursday.

He noted that Adria Airways was sold by the state to the German turnaround fund 4K Invest in 2016 because the company was not doing well and needed a strategic owner.

"The owner is bad. It turned out Adria didn't come into good hands, and this fund which owns Adria then failed to present a financial plan requested by the ministry. In short, they behave completely frivolously."

He noted that a potential salvage of the company should be within the scope of the law. "To try a new variant, but I must say that like the passengers I don't trust Adria any more. I'm sorry to say this. I won't go into reasons from the past, but you know how it is. Those who cannot handle money, you can give them two millions today and they won't have them tomorrow."

The government cannot grant a loan guarantee to Adria Airways because it does not own it, Šarec said, adding that like in the case of retailer Mercator and some other companies "everything would be different today is a better owner was found for them when they were sold.

"As it is, throwing money while we don't know where the money will go and what comes of it, it is a bit risky."

Asked whether the government would help the carrier in case of a change in ownership, Šarec said that it would be a different story with a serious owner. Then we wouldn't have come into the present situation."

BAMC examines Adria’s finances

STA, 26 September 2019 - The Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) has been looking into the financial situation in Adria Airways since Thursday morning to ascertain how long the money demanded by the air carrier's German owner would last, the business daily Finance has reported. The paper has also released the company's report for 2018,

The aim of BAMC's scrutiny, which comes under instructions from the government, is to establish how long the EUR 4 million that the company's German owner 4K Invest, demanded from the state as the condition not to file for receivership would last.

BAMC told Finance that it would not provide the money if it turned out the sum was not sufficient to rescue the company. BAMC also demanded of the Adria owner to submit proof of debt write-offs agreed with creditors.

Estimates by Finance's sources are that Adria would need about EUR 50 million merely to avoid a bankruptcy, and as much for sustainable operations.

Finance also cites estimates by experts that creating a new airline, which is another potential scenario offered by politicians, would cost some EUR 70 million.

Citing unofficial sources, the commercial broadcaster POP TV reported that BAMC suggested the government invest between EUR 15 million and 20 million in Adria on condition the company pay out on Friday the reminder of August pay to employees and settle its International Air Transport Association membership fee.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the STA today that the situation at Adria Airways was being examined by several institutions so that the government will take a decision on Friday or Saturday how to rescue the company to preserve Slovenia's air links with the rest of the world.

"We don't want to take decisions by heart, we don't want populist solutions, the figures will tell us what we need to do," he said.

It is in the government's interest to have a carrier that would link Slovenia well internationally. "If we come in a situation when we don't have such a carrier, the market will do its job, but I don't think we'll ever be linked with the world again as we are now," said the minister.

Adria Airways's audited 2018 report, released by Finance, puts its net loss for last year at EUR 18.95 million, up from EUR 5.44 million the year before, as revenue rose by 12.5% to EUR 179.08 million.

According to the report, Adria had EUR 2.63 million in capital in 2017, but last year its capital turned EUR 14.19 million negative.

The company's long-term debt amounted to EUR 21.5 million and short-term liabilities to EUR 54.6 million.

The auditor issued a qualified opinion on the report, for one thing because it established that Adria did not in fact lose control of its brand in December 2016, so the accounting treatment of the company from that year on did not lead to a fair value of events.

According to the auditor's calculations, unconsolidated receivables as of the end of 2018 should be reduced by EUR 5.6 million, and by EUR 5.4 million at the end of 2017, while the liabilities as of the end of 2018 should be reduced by EUR 0.8 million and the accumulated loss increased by EUR 4.8 million.

All our stories on Adria are here

STA, 26 September 2019 - The Slovenian tourism sector is scrambling to find alternatives after Adria Airways suspended operations, leading to hundreds of immediate cancellations and raising the prospect of significant long-term damage.

A meeting was held in Ljubljana Wednesday featuring hoteliers, shuttle operators, major convention venues, the Slovenian Tourist Board and the Economy Ministry.

"The goal was to find solutions in the given situation, with drastically reduced air access putting guest arrivals at risk and jeopardising even finalised business events," said Visit Ljubljana, the capital's tourism office.

Media reports suggest there have been dozens of cancellations daily in Ljubljana hotels since Adria grounded its flights on Tuesday.

Foreign guests account for over 95% of all hotel nights in Ljubljana, with roughly two-thirds coming to the city by air, according to Visit Ljubljana figures.

While many do come through airports in neighbouring countries, Ljubljana is the main entry point and Adria accounted for about half of all passengers there.

Ljubljana is also a major convention tourism destination and the lack of direct air links could hurt the sector. "In the first half of 2020 alone this could have a negative impact on three major international conventions with over a thousand participants each," Visit Ljubljana said.

Adria's woes could prove to be a boon for nearby airports in neighbouring countries, which expect passenger numbers to rise.

Zagreb Airport told the STA it expected the number of business guests to increase, while Trieste Airport said it had seen an uptick in the number of guests flying to Munich and Frankfurt.

Munich and Frankfurt were two of the most lucrative destinations for Adria.

Adria's grounding left roughly 3,700 passengers stranded on Tuesday and Wednesday, when 158 flights were cancelled.

Today and tomorrow almost 200 flights have been cancelled, affecting about 10,000 passengers.

All out stories in Adria are here

STA, 25 September 2019 - The wine grapes harvesting season, which is in full swing, has a bitter side taste this year as well, as winegrowers and winemakers continue to struggle with sales in the face of large amounts of cheap imports.

The problematic situation was presented to the press on Wednesday by the Vinis Association of Slovenian Winegrowers' and Winemakers' Societies.

Its president Alojz Slavko Toplišek told the STA the growers had "truly found ourselves in a situation when we don't know what to do with the produce we invested our labour and money into through the whole year".

While the exact estimates of the amounts of grapes that could remain unpicked are not available yet, Toplišek said the key problem were excessive imports of cheap wine.

"We are at a major crossroads. We can either allow the market to completely quash us, or we can preserve our countryside," he warned.

He pointed out that the developments are already affecting the demographic situation at a number of farms where even small vineyards were an important source of income in the past.

Suffering the most are winegrowers with 3000 to 5000 square metre vineyards and without their own market, Toplišek said, while also noting the issue of local winemakers who already have established market routes being prohibited by law to buy grapes from smaller growers.

He feels the government should provide some protective measures for such cases, some "basic personal income", since those persisting with wine growing are for instance also preventing the overgrowing of rural zones.

Vinis in general has good relations with the Agriculture Ministry and has acknowledged the state's efforts in this field, with Toplišek pointing out that a ministry council for wine growing had held its maiden session today and also included a representative of the association.

Slovenian growers also struggled with sales seriously last year, which saw very high yields. Production increased by 42% compared to 2017, yields had however been poor in 2016 and 2017.

Slovenian winegrowers worked 15,630 hectares of vineyards in 2018, down from 15,839 the year before. In 1991 Slovenia still had over 20,000 hectares of active vineyards.

STA, 25 September 2019 - Responding to the scandal involving millions in contentions payments at the University of Maribor, the SVIZ teachers' trade union urged Chancellor Zdravko Kačič to consider resigning for failing to immediately present all the facts to the public and notify the police of potential irregularities.

By resigning, Kačič would facilitate a process in which the payment of some EUR 50 million would have to be cleared up, the union said on Wednesday.

"It is completely unacceptable that the chancellor of the public university Zdravko Kačič did not immediately notify oversight institutions and law enforcement of the findings of the audits into fees payments and of other irregularities which point to suspicion of crime and liability for payment of damages," it said in a release.

The union believes that by failing to act on time, Kačič, chancellor since June 2018, is responsible for major damage the scandal has caused to the country's second-largest public university and its staff.

The SVIZ recalled that a few years ago, the Supreme Court had ruled the university's pay system was unsuitable, failing to remunerate staff in line with academic titles.

The university thus broke the law and saved a lot of money on the back of many of its junior staff, while its elite has been receiving indecent fees, the SVIZ said.

Responding to the appeal, Kačič said he had acted as soon as he received the report, so there was no need for his resignation. "I didn't 'misplace' the document, forget about it or conceal it ... but immediately started dealing with it," he said in a release.

He reiterated that he checked the document, which is neither an audit report nor a legal or expert opinion, on 20 June 2018, the day he took office, then talked to auditors to discuss reviewing the financial transactions, presented it to deans in January and then handed it to university members for comments.

"I kept the university board up to date on all steps and handed all the papers on 9 May to an independent institution for a comprehensive review and a final audit report, which will serve as a basis for the university to take action," the chancellor explained, adding the final report is expected next month.

The SVIZ trade union also called on Education Minister Jernej Pikalo to ask the Court of Audit to review the university's financial operations.

Also responding to the scandal, the VSS trade union of university teachers said it expected Kačič to present documents proving the payments were justified and to sanction the cases when staff had abused office for personal gain.

The VSS urged the state as the founder of the university to change legislation and improve oversight to prevent such cases and to enable science and university education to develop even if they brought no short-term profits.

The head of the VVS shop at the university, Marija Javornik Krečič, said university staff was both disappointed and shocked at the controversial fees.

While the media report about payments worth millions of euro, the trade union had to fight legal battles for proper pay of many of university staff, she said.

The alleged abuse is not just a result of vague rules, but of their disrespect coupled with wild corporate logic penetrating universities and some university teachers appropriating certain faculties and areas of research.

Yesterday, Kačič came out strongly against Friday's media report questioning around EUR 50 million euro in payments to its professors through works contracts.

He said the TV Slovenija report was based on incomplete facts from two reports rather than on audits as stated by TV Slovenija.

The chancellor said he had not been acquainted with the 2017 report by the previous leadership, while he knew about the second one from February 2018.

While stressing that neither had found any irregularities, but merely pointed to potential risks, Kačič said he would present the second report once it was reviewed by an independent institution and became final. Only then would the university take action if necessary.

As for the sum of EUR 50 million, Kačič said it referred to the works contracts for the entire period between 2010 and 2016.

STA, 25 September 2019 - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) has conferred awards for breakthrough innovations as it honoured the most innovative businesses at the 17th Innovation Day on Wednesday.

Pharma company Lek won two top awards, for a new procedure for the purification of biopharmaceuticals and a new generation of probiotics, while its rival, Krka, was honoured for an innovative generic drug.

Caravan maker Adria Mobil received the award for a new generation of campers, Domel for new high-powered electric engines and ETI Elektroelement for a new generation of plastic parts for fuses.

Mediainteractive, a sole proprietorship, received the honours for a collaborative educational environment for emergency medical personnel and two companies, while Titus Dekani and Lama Avtomatizacija received a joint award innovations in machinery construction.

GZS president Boštjan Gorjup said innovativeness required a foundation in national culture and stressed that Slovenians were highly regarded abroad for their expertise. But he also stressed that "more courage, strong will and desire for collaboration" was needed.

President Borut Pahor said in his keynote that innovation was the key to improving productivity and increasing value added. "Successful companies understand this."