STA, 19 September 2019 - President Borut Pahor met his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer in Bern on Thursday with the pair calling for a deepening of what was said to be already good cooperation between the two countries. "The Swiss and Slovenians are similar and we want to cooperate," Pahor said as he and Maurer addressed the press.

Maurer, who serves as the president of the Swiss confederation and head of the Federal Department of Finance, hailed good bilateral cooperation, offering digitalisation and new technologies as two areas where they would like to enhance it.

"The two countries share ideas and views. This is a good basis to build our cooperation on," the Swiss president said, describing Slovenia as a reliable and important partner.

"Switzerland has always been an inspiration to Slovenians, and it still is in a sense," Pahor said, in a reference to a popular aspiration during independence efforts that Slovenia would be a second Switzerland.

"Tradition, identity, pride, a small country, that's what we share and I believe we've taken a big step toward further development of the relationship, which is strong economically even now," said Pahor.

Predsednik Republike Slovenije Borut Pahor se je ob robu uradnega obiska danes popoldne v Zürichu udeležil otvoritve slovensko-švicarske poslovne konference z naslovom "Slovenija - dežela nišnih poslovnih prvakov". pic.twitter.com/BnrnsnTud3

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) September 19, 2019

According to a press release from Pahor's office, the presidents noted the excellent and problem-free political relationship between their countries and Pahor hailed regular bilateral political dialogue.

Economic cooperation ranked prominently and Pahor was happy to note that bilateral trade in goods increased by almost 50% to EUR 1.49 billion in 2018. He also noted scientific cooperation.

Pahor also hailed Slovenia's good experience with Swiss investors. Maurer agreed on the importance of people-to-people relations for business, saying akin views was what made the cooperation between two business communities even better.

The two presidents agreed that Switzerland was a close and important partner for the EU, and noted the significance of the institutional framework agreement.

They agreed that the EU should be made stronger to be able to provide external, internal, economic and social security. They found that a no-deal Brexit would be the worst-case scenario for everyone.

At the outset of his official two-day visit on Wednesday, Pahor met Marina Carobbio Guscetti, president of the Swiss National Council, and took part in the council's session.

They talked about Brexit, the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, and illegal migration.

Švicarski predsednik Maurer: Slovenija je za Švico zanesljiva in pomembna partnerica. https://t.co/m9P64W1t2v pic.twitter.com/sQOHErx5oY

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) September 19, 2019

Guscetti agreed with Pahor that the two countries maintained good cooperation, including at the parliamentary level.

Pahor also addressed a Slovenian-Swiss business conference in Zurich entitled Slovenia, the Country of Niche Business Champions.

In his address Pahor spoke about the opportunities afforded by Slovenia to foreign investors, noting that it has been one of the fastest growing economies in recent years.

Despite signs of a slowdown in the EU, Slovenia is well prepared for a potential recession, much better than it had been before the last economic and financial turmoil, he said.

"We are aspiring to sustainable development and I believe we are similar to each other there," the president was quoted as saying by his office.

The conference was attended by more than 30 representatives of 19 Slovenian companies and representatives of the Switzerland Global Enterprise, an investment promotion organisation.

There is still a lot of potential for growth because Slovenia and Switzerland are not as linked as they could be, said Goran Novković, executive director of the Slovenian Business Club (SBC).

"Almost 40 out of the 202 SBC members already do business or have capital links with Swiss partners," said Novković in his address to the conference.

Pahor is being accompanied by Education Minister Jernej Pikalo, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Dobran Božič and Economy Ministry State Secretary Eva Štravs Podlogar.

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:

Lenarčič hearing at EU parliament scheduled for 2 October

STRASBOURG, France - Slovenia's Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner-designate for crisis management, will have his hearing before the European Parliament's Development Committee on 2 October, according to a decision taken by the Parliament president and faction leaders. The hearing will be joined by the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, with members of both committees having the right to vote on his bid. The Parliament is then expected to vote on Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission as a whole on 23 October.

Govt confirms slightly reduced budget for next year

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the draft budgets for 2020 and 2021 after ministries reduced the planned expenditure for next year by a combined EUR 100 million following a downgrade of Slovenia's GDP growth forecast to 2.8% for 2019 and 3% for 2020. Budget users will still have a record EUR 10.35 billion at their disposal in 2020, and almost all of them will get more money than this year. The government said that despite its raising expenditure, the budgets were still in line with the golden fiscal rule.

Report: NLB with highest non-binding bid for Serbian No. 2 bank

BELGRADE, Serbia - NLB, Slovenia's leading bank, has submitted a non-binding bid for a 83.2% stake in Komercijalna Banka, the second largest bank in Serbia, offering EUR 450 million, which is according to unofficial information obtained by Serbian newspaper Danas the highest bid among the three competitors. The other bidders are Serbia's AIK Banka (EUR 430 million) and Austria's Raiffeisen Bank (EUR 390 million). The sale is to enter the next stage in November and conclude in 2020.

President Pahor enhancing ties with Switzerland

BERN, Switzerland - President Borut Pahor met his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer in Bern with the pair calling for deepening what was said to be already good cooperation between the two countries. "The Swiss and Slovenians are similar and we want to cooperate," Pahor said as he and Maurer addressed the press. Maurer offered digitalisation and new technologies as two areas where cooperation could be enhanced. Pahor meanwhile hailed Slovenia's good experience with Swiss investors, as he completed his official two-day visit to Switzerland. On Wednesday, he met parliamentary Speaker Marina Carobbio Guscetti to discuss Brexit, the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, and illegal migration.

Govt berated for poor strategic planning of nuclear energy

LJUBLJANA - The Court of Audit issued a rebuke of consecutive Slovenian governments after determining that strategic planning regarding the exploitation of nuclear energy at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) had left the NEK owner in limbo about whether a second reactor at NEK would be built or not. The auditors had examined government strategic planning from 2006 to 2016, determining that strategic documents had been ignored on several occasions and new ones drawn up in disregard of previous commitments or deadlines. Despite the shortcomings, the court only issued a set of recommendations to several stakeholders.

Kangler inquiry on hold pending court decision

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Privileges and Credentials Commission decided that a parliamentary inquiry into prosecutions of former Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler will not be initiated until after the Constitutional Court weighed in on the matter. The move comes after the opposition's motion to examine several former and ongoing criminal procedures against Kangler encountered strong pushback from the judicial authorities. Most notably, the Supreme State Prosecution had asked the top court to examine whether the inquiry may be in breach of the constitutional provision of division of power.

Slovenia's yellow vests taking to streets in October

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian right-wing parties and a number of civil initiatives will stage a protest in Ljubljana on 10 October under the slogan Let's Save Slovenia. The demonstration, at which protesters will wear yellow vests will be held at the initiative of former Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler in cooperation with the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS). Social media comments suggest the protest will also be joined by the opposition Democrats (SDS) and the non-parliamentary party Greens.

Ljubljana mosque gets operating permit

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana mosque got an operating permit, the Islamic Community's secretary general Nevzet Porić told the news web portal 24ur.com. It is expected to open for prayers after the New Year. According to Porić, all work on the interior should be completed by the end of the year and all furnishings should be purchased by the end of February. The official inauguration ceremony is planned at the end of May 2020, after the end of the fasting month, said Mufti Nedžad Grabus.

Slovenian basketball team invited to Olympic qualifiers

MUNICH, Germany - The Slovenian men's national basketball team received a special invitation to play in one of the four qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which will be played next June. The invitation is a consolation of sorts for the reigning European champions missing the recent FIFA World Cup in China, at which they would have had a chance to qualify for Tokyo as one of the top two European teams. The other team from Europe receiving the wild card invitation is Croatia.

Owners pulling from Pastika Skaza management

LJUBLJANA - After more than four decades in business, Plastika Skaza, a fast-growing family company specialising in plastic products, is undergoing a change in leadership; owners Tanja and Igor Skaza are withdrawing and executive directors Robert Agnič and Bart Stegeman taking over. Spouses Tanja and Igor will act as supervisors, as they hold 98% of the company, while Stegeman and Agnič hold 1% each.

Survey: Almost 90% of school children encounter violence

ZREČE - A survey carried out among 4,500 primary school students aged roughly 12 to 15 from 70 Slovenian schools shows that 89% of school children encounter verbal, physical or relational violence. As psychologist Mateja Štirn said at a congress of Slovenian psychologists, the results pointed to the need for more preventive programmes that should start as early in the educational process as possible. The survey is part of a programme aimed at preventing peer violence and sexual violence.

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, 19 September 2019 - The Slovenian men's national basketball team has received a special invitation to play in one of the four qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which will be played next June.

The invitation is a consolation of sorts for the reigning European champions missing the recent FIFA World Cup in China, at which they could have a chance to qualify for Tokyo as one of the top two European teams.

This honour went to Spain and France as the top two finishing European teams at the World Cup, while another six slots for the Olympics are also already occupied.

The remaining four slots will be given to the winners of the four qualifying tournaments of six teams each or 24 teams in total. FIBA Europe has been allocated eleven berths for the tournament, one of them going to Slovenia.

Participating in the tournament will be 16 teams based on their result at the World Cup, and eight wild card teams invited on the basis of their FIBA rankings. From Europe, these wild card teams are Slovenia and Croatia.

A draw will divide the 24 teams among the four qualifying tournaments, whose hosts are yet to be announced.

Rašo Nesterović, the secretary general of the Slovenian Basketball Association, welcomed the invitation, adding that the national association was not thinking about hosting one of the tournaments.

"What the Slovenian Basketball Association will surely do is provide the optimal training conditions to the players and coaching staff, and we hope that the team will gather up in its strongest line-up," he added.

Slovenia are the reigning European champions, winning the EuroBasket tournament in 2017, but failed to qualify for this year's World Cup due to the changed qualification schedule which left the team without its biggest stars.

STA, 19 September 2019 - President Borut Pahor met his Swiss counterpart Ueli Maurer in Bern on Thursday with the pair calling for a deepening of what was said to be already good cooperation between the two countries. "The Swiss and Slovenians are similar and we want to cooperate," Pahor said as he and Maurer addressed the press.

Maurer, who serves as the president of the Swiss confederation and head of the Federal Department of Finance, hailed good bilateral cooperation, offering digitalisation and new technologies as two areas where they would like to enhance it.

????Today, #Swisspresident #BRUeliMaurer receives @BorutPahor, the Head of State of the Republic of Slovenia, for an official visit in Bern. #Slovenia and #Switzerland enjoy excellent relations.#SwissEUrelations pic.twitter.com/wU2f1EmUii

— Swiss Mission to EU (@SwissmissionEU) September 19, 2019

"The two countries share ideas and views. This is a good basis to build our cooperation on," the Swiss president said, describing Slovenia as a reliable and important partner.

"Switzerland has always been an inspiration to Slovenians, and it still is in a sense," Pahor said, in a reference to a popular aspiration during independence efforts that Slovenia would be a second Switzerland.

"Tradition, identity, pride, a small country, that's what we share and I believe we've taken a big step toward further development of the relationship, which is strong economically even now," said Pahor.

According to a press release from Pahor's office, the presidents noted the excellent and problem-free political relationship between their countries and Pahor hailed regular bilateral political dialogue.

Economic cooperation ranked prominently and Pahor was happy to note that bilateral trade in goods increased by almost 50% to EUR 1.49 billion in 2018. He also noted scientific cooperation.

PRS Pahor se na povabilo Uelija Maurerja, predsednika in fin. ministra Švicarske konfederacije mudi na uradnem obisku v Švici. Obisk pomeni nadaljevanje pol. dialoga na najvišji ravni in potrjuje obojestranski interes za poglobitev sodelovanja in zelo dobrih odnosov med državama. pic.twitter.com/YQnNsQ5Oeh

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) September 19, 2019

Pahor also hailed Slovenia's good experience with Swiss investors. Maurer agreed on the importance of people-to-people relations for business, saying akin views was what made the cooperation between two business communities even better.

The two presidents agreed that Switzerland was a close and important partner for the EU, and noted the significance of the institutional framework agreement.

They agreed that the EU should be made stronger to be able to provide external, internal, economic and social security. They found that a no-deal Brexit would be the worst-case scenario for everyone.

At the outset of his official two-day visit on Wednesday, Pahor met Marina Carobbio Guscetti, president of the Swiss National Council, and took part in the council's session.

They talked about Brexit, the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans, and illegal migration.

Predsednik Republike Slovenije Borut Pahor je danes pozno popoldan začel dvodnevni uradni obisk v Švici in se v Bernu sestal s predsednico Nacionalnega sveta Švicarske konfederacije Marino Carobbio Guscetti. pic.twitter.com/hFb3UHOI1X

— Borut Pahor (@BorutPahor) September 18, 2019

Guscetti agreed with Pahor that the two countries maintained good cooperation, including at the parliamentary level.

Today Pahor was also due to address a Slovenian-Swiss business conference in Zurich entitled Slovenia, the Country of Niche Business Champions.

Pahor is being accompanied by Education Minister Jernej Pikalo, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Dobran Božič and Economy Ministry State Secretary Eva Štravs Podlogar.

STA, 19 September 2019 - Finance delves into Slovenian wages in a commentary on Thursday. It looks for reasons why wages are low compared to the west, before concluding that Slovenians in fact do not really want higher pay and everything it entails.

"For me one of Slovenia's big failures is in how low wages are compared to 'western' Europe. Wages reflect know-how, innovativeness, competitiveness, the value of products and services on the global market," the paper says.

In Slovenia political decisions "have always been geared towards low wages. Geared against profit, getting rich and money. Towards equality at low levels" the commentary argues as it berates past bailouts of old industrial companies and progressive taxes.

finance.si

The second failure is that Slovenians do not even want higher pay. "They are smug in this comfortable space ... They do not need broader horizons, possibilities, challenges changes."

"This is why money is not an animating force for Slovenians ... This is why I roll my eyes whenever I hear that with higher wages, Slovenians - teachers, doctors, managers - would work better. In Slovenia it is exactly the opposite."

Slovenians are "happy at low revs," which is why money is "something for the weirdos, not a general incentive," the paper says in Why I'm Not Giving You Higher Pay (Zakaj vam ne dam višje plače?).

All our stories on pay in Slovenia can be found here

STA, 18 September 2019 - The Amber Rail Freight Corridor, which connects industrial centres and inter-modal terminals in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, was formally launched in a ceremony in Koper on Wednesday. It has been operational since January as the first rail freight corridor established on the initiative of member states.

The corridor connects the Adriatic Sea - with Koper being the only maritime port within the corridor - with the Poland-Belarus border, and its position represents an alternative to the transport routes between the north and south of Europe.

The name Amber Rail Freight Corridor refers to the name of an important ancient trade route, which broadly followed the same alignment.

Gerhard Troche, the managing director of the project, said at the ceremony that the corridor was a platform which enabled all stakeholders to address joint issues and challenges.

These include differences in work processes, technical differences or different transport rules in countries, which cause delays and problems in international rail freight transport, he added.

Its purpose is to improve cross-border rail freight transport, Troche said, adding that "we operate on several levels", including relevant ministries in individual countries, operators of rail networks and advisory groups for railway infrastructure users.

He believes that the Amber Rail Freight Corridor is a great advantage compared to practice in the past, when a certain rail operators needed to communicate separately with stakeholders in each individual country.

"Communication has thus become much easier," Troche said, adding that the project also offered a one-stop-shop service for regulating issues related to transport capacities and providing information to clients.

Andrea Mosoczi, the chair of the management board, added that a study would be carried out which would help recognise open administrative, infrastructural and operational issues and priorities.

You can learn more about the project here

STA, 18 September 2019 - Police are looking into three cases of simplified debt restructuring that would allow companies owned by Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković's sons to write off about EUR 29 million in debt. The General Police Administration confirmed the news for the STA on Wednesday.

"Police are checking certain circumstances in these cases and if we find grounds to suspect that a criminal act was committed ... we will act accordingly," the Police Administration said after the newspaper Finance reported on the matter.

The news of the write-off of the debt by the companies Electa Inženiring, Electa Naložbe and Electa Holding, owned by the mayor's sons Damijan and Jure Janković, has provoked public outcry and led to calls to change bankruptcy law.

Simplified debt restructuring was originally designed to speed up bankruptcy procedures for small firms and sole proprietors, but the rules are so lax that even companies with millions in assets, including financial holdings such as Electa Holding, can take advantage of the procedure.

The decisions on simplified debt restructuring for Electa Inženiring and Electa Naložbe have become final, while in the case of Electa Holding, the Ljubljana District Court is challenging the decision in its capacity as a claimant over unpaid court tax. The appeal will now be deliberated on by the Ljubljana Higher Court.

According to Finance, in all three cases, the decisions on simplified debt restructuring had been made thanks to debtor-friendly companies owned by Jan Bec, who has purchased the claims that one of the creditors, Heta Asset Resolution, had to the three companies. Thus he had the main say on the future procedures.

Web portal Siol.net also reported today that the Notary Chamber is checking the work of notary Miro Košak in the three cases. Košak made all the notary work related to the debt restructuring procedures.

The question is whether Košak acted with due care and made sufficient effort to stop the manoeuvres with which Damijan Janković planned to achieve the debt write-offs, Siol says.

Notaries are also obligated to report any suspicion of a crime.

The portal also suggests that Košak must have known that some of the biggest creditors of Electa Inženiring, Electa Naložbe and Electa Holding were in fact controlled by Damijan Janković, which means that the simplified debt restructuring should not be valid.

STA, 18 September 2019 - UKC Ljubljana, the country's leading hospital, incurs an annual loss of seven to eight million euro because their services and programmes are underrated, consequently receiving less funds then necessary, its director general Janez Poklukar told the press on Wednesday.

To improve the situation, UKC Ljubljana has asked the ZZZS public health fund to expand some of its programmes and raise prices, but is still waiting for reply.

The hospital makes a loss of up to EUR 5,000 per procedure for which it has no adequate funding, or even up to EUR 50,000 per patient for external mechanical circulatory assistance and mechanical ventilation assistance, the director explained.

One of such treatments is a newer procedure to replace the aortal valve without incision in the chest.

Another is the DaTscan brain imaging test to help diagnose Parkinson's disease or radiofrequency ablation in patients with arrhythmia, to name but a few.

Having enough staff and equipment, UKC Ljubljana could perform more aortic valve procedures than approved by the ZZZS, said Poklukar.

However, it met the approved quota for this year before August, so any new procedure the hospital would perform without ZZZS funding approved generates loss.

Poklukar would also expect more understanding from the state in radiofrequency ablation, a procedure performed largely on active population, which in the long run reduces healthcare costs.

The waiting time for this procedure at UKC Ljubljana, one of only three Slovenian hospitals performing it, is the longest in Slovenia, up to three years, he said.

"Regardless of all organisational measures and streamlining, it's impossible to break even with the treatment of patients with severest conditions, so we make a EUR 5,000 loss per procedure on average," he said.

Poklukar explained that the majority of underrated services are carried out only by both university clinics - UKC Ljubljana and UKC Maribor and by one other hospital.

"And this is why they are underfunded. The services are often hidden in a package of payments of tertiary services so that nobody at the ZZZS actually deals with them, which consequently makes us inefficient," he complained.

He said UKC tried to change the situation as part of talks on changes to the healthcare system over the past year, but had not been successful.

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:

Almost 200 organisations join appeal for climate action

LJUBLJANA - A great number of organisations, including environmental NGOs to associations representing pensioners and healthcare workers, as well as trade union, made an urgent appeal to the government to recognise climate change as a national crisis and start dealing with it in a comprehensive fashion now. The joint appeal has so far been signed by 179 organisations and more than 8,000 individuals, including the Slovenian Beekepers' Association, Pensioners' Association (ZDUS), Friends of the Youth Association (ZPMS), Municipalities' Association and Youth for Climate Justice.

FM: 55 persons asked for repatriation from Venezuela; worried about Middle East escalation

LJUBLJANA - Answering questions from MPs during a session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said the government will do all in its power to bring from Venezuela the 55 persons of Slovenian descent who have asked for repatriation as soon as possible. Moreover, he expressed concern about the escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the aftermath of drone attacks on two major Saudi oil facilities. Given that the situation is complex and dangerous, it should be resolved in dialogue to avoid unilateral moves, Cerar summarized Slovenia's stance.

New exec appointed at Slovenian Sovereign Holding

LJUBLJANA - The supervisory board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) has appointed Boris Medica, a former pharma and insurance exec, to the management board position that will be vacated by Andrej Božič in December. Medica, who holds an MBA, worked as manager at Johnson&Johnson for 19 years, most recently as director for Central and Eastern Europe, before joining the insurance group Sava Re in 2015.

European Defence Agency head praises Slovenia's contribution

LJUBLJANA - Jorge Domecq, chief executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), praised Slovenia's cooperation with the EDA as he paid a visit. However, he called for increased participation of Slovenian industry in EDA programmes. Domecq and Defence Minister Karl Erjavec discussed key European initiatives in defence and security today, according to the Foreign Ministry. Defence Ministry top officials presented Slovenia's views on all segments of defence cooperation within the EU.

Coalition SAB proposes referendum on primary education funding

LJUBLJANA - In a bid to end a conundrum about the financing of private primary schools, the coalition Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) announced it would start collecting signatures to call a referendum as the issue remains unresolved almost five years after the top court decided the state must fund them 100%, not just 85% as is the case now. The party would like to ask voters whether they agree that it should be written down in the Constitution that the state is obliged to finance only public schools. The SAB will start collecting the signatures for the referendum, which has to be called by parliament, at the end of the month, despite the fact that most of the coalition and opposition parties were rather critical of the move today.

Court of Audit asked to examine all tenders in mega rail project

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary commission in charge of keeping an eye on public finances asked the Court of Audit to examine all public tenders issued by 2TDK, the state-owned company managing the construction of the EUR 1bn-plus rail link between Divača and Koper. The resolution was put to the Commission for the Oversight of Public Finances by the opposition Democrats (SDS), who argued that the government has failed to do anything to prevent contractors from hiking up their prices. MPs also asked the auditors to review a zoning decree for a section of road on the upcoming third development axis, a project that is supposed to be launched soon and which will cost significantly more than the Divača-Koper rail track.

Police looking into Janković-linked debt write-off

LJUBLJANA - Police are looking into three cases of simplified debt restructuring that would allow companies owned by Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković's sons to write off about EUR 29 million in debt, the General Police Administration confirmed for the STA. Web portal Siol.net meanwhile reported that the Notary Chamber is checking the work of notary Miro Košak in the cases of debt restructuring of Electa Inženiring, Electa Naložbe and Electa Holding.

Low prices, limited programmes pushing UKC Ljubljana into the red

LJUBLJANA - UKC Ljubljana, the country's leading hospital, incurs an annual loss of seven to eight million euro because their services and programmes are underrated, consequently receiving less funds then necessary, its director general Janez Poklukar told the press. To improve the situation, UKC Ljubljana has asked the ZZZS public health fund to expand some of its programmes and raise prices, but is still waiting for reply. The hospital makes a loss of up to EUR 5,000 per procedure for which it has no adequate funding, or even up to EUR 50,000 per patient for external mechanical circulatory assistance and mechanical ventilation assistance, the director explained.

Anti-graft body looking into Črnčec's link with Westinghouse

LJUBLJANA - The indirect connection between Damir Črnčec, a state secretary in the prime minister's office, and Westinghouse as the largest supplier to the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK), is being looked at by the anti-corruption watchdog due to potential conflict of interest, the commercial broadcaster POP TV reported on Tuesday. The report comes after the news portal Požareport noted recently that Črnčec, the prime minister's advisor for national security, had employed the head of the Slovenian office of Westinghouse as director of his private institute.

Amber Rail Freight Corridor officially launched in Koper

KOPER - The Amber Rail Freight Corridor, which connects industrial centres and inter-modal terminals in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, was formally launched in a ceremony. It has been operational since January as the first rail freight corridor established on the initiative of member states. The corridor connects the Adriatic Sea - with Koper being the only maritime port within the corridor - with the Poland-Belarus border, and its position represents an alternative to the transport routes between the north and south of Europe.

New slasher by Slovenian horror king in cinemas

LJUBLJANA - Tomaž Gorkič, the director of Slovenia's first feature-length horror film, the 2015 slasher Idyll, has returned to the genre that brought him acclaim. His latest film, which he describes as a "politically incorrect mix of horror and black comedy" will be on show at Kino Šiška tonight before it premieres in cinemas on Thursday. Prekletstvo Valburge (Curse of the Valburga) has the brothers Bojan and Marjan hoping to make some easy money from hordes of tourists in their home town by organising a tour of an abandoned local castle that is closed to the public.

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, 18 September 2019 - Tomaž Gorkič, the director of Slovenia's first feature-length horror film, the 2015 slasher Idyll, has returned to the genre that brought him acclaim. His latest film, which he describes as a "politically incorrect mix of horror and black comedy" will be on show at Kino Šiška tonight before it premieres in cinemas on Thursday.

Prekletstvo Valburge (Curse of the Valburga) has the brothers Bojan and Marjan hoping to make some easy money from hordes of tourists in their hometown by organising a tour of an abandoned local castle that is closed to the public.

They spice up the adventure with a local legend, oblivious to the existence of a powerful and much darker legend lurking in the abandoned building.

While Gorkič's latest venture is firmly rooted in the genre, it "does not neglect the present," the producers say.

"It boldly enters Slovenia's past and present where demons, Nazis, vampires, partisans, criminals, parvenus, sexists, snobs, cannibals, hicks, alcoholics, grubbers, junkies, obsessives and other members of society lurk."

It’s a trailer for a slasher movie, so NSFW

The all-star cast includes acclaimed theatre actors Jurij Drevenšek and Marko Mandič, game show host and actor Jonas Žnidaršič, as well as the mother-and-daughter pairing of Tanja Ribič and Zala Djurić Ribić, Swedish black metal musician Niklas Kvarforth and frontman of Slovenian rock band Big Foot Mama, Grega Skočir.

Like Idyll, Curse of the Valburga is an independent production spearheaded by Gorkič, a self-taught film maker, but unlike Idyll, which won the main prize in 2019, it will not be screened at the ongoing Festival of Slovenian Film.

Gorkič withdrew the film from the festival after the programme commission decided - without explanation - not to enter it in the competition programme.