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Schools closing again on Monday in two regions after spike in infections

LJUBLJANA - The government decreed that schools and kindergartens in Zasavje and Obalno-Kraška will have to close again on Monday after their average 7-day coronavirus case count pushed them back among black-tiered regions. This was only two days after schools reopened for first three grades in nine of Slovenia's 12 administrative regions following more than three months of distance schooling. In response to the decision, the opposition Left said it would bring a motion to dismiss Education Minister Simona Kustec.

1,516 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, 23 deaths

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia saw 1,516 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday from 13,597 tests, a slight increase in weekly comparison in what is a continuation of a once again rising trend, fresh government data show. An additional 23 Covid-19 patients died to push the death toll to 3,448. Some 23% of the PCR tests performed yesterday came back positive. Covid-19 hospitalisations dropped by 38 to 1,106 on the day before and the total of those requiring intensive care decreased by one to 171.

Slovenia ratifies legal basis to draw EU recovery funds

LJUBLJANA - The government ratified the EU's "own resources decision", the legal basis to allow drawing post-Covid recovery funds. In 2021-2027, Slovenia should be able to tap on EUR 1.6 billion in grants and up to EUR 3.6 billion in loans. The draft national recovery and resilience plan is to be debated by the parliamentary EU Affairs Committee behind closed doors tomorrow. The government is expected to adopt it after the legal basis is adopted at EU level, which should happen in February.

Janša invites managers to help improving business environment

LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša expressed his belief in an address to the virtual annual meeting of the Manager Association that the first half of 2021 would be similar to 2020 in terms of the epidemic and economic recovery, while the second half should be much better. Accepting the association's offer of cooperation to improve productivity, Janša said business executives's support was vital in the government's bid to tackle red tape, which he sees as the main obstacle to improving productivity.

Hojs allows possibility of mandatory migrant redistribution in crises

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs allowed for the possibility to reach an agreement at the EU level on mandatory redistribution of migrants in crisis situations, but only if a threshold for the number of migrants to be accepted by an individual member state is determined in advance. Talking to reporters after a virtual meeting of EU home ministers, he expressed pessimism about progress in the debate on redistribution of migrants as part of the new migration pact.

State Secretary Anton Olaj appointed police commissioner

LJUBLJANA - The government relieved Anton Olaj of his duties as a state secretary at the Interior Ministry and appointed him new police commissioner for a five year term starting on Friday. Olaj served in the police force between 1981 and 2012. He is the third police commissioner since the Janez Janša government was sworn in March 2020 when it dismissed Tatjana Bobnar. She was replaced by Anton Travner, who resigned in June. Andrej Jurič has been serving as acting police commissioner since.

Slovenia makes no headway in Corruption Perception Index

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has made no headway in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index compiled annually by Transparency International (TI). Like in 2019, it ranked 39th among 180 countries surveyed. With a score of 60 points, it once again fell short of the EU average of 64 points and the OECD average of 67 points. TI Slovenia said the lack of headway reflected slow progress in anti-corruption reforms and the absence of measures to enforce existing rules. The anti-graft watchdog said improvement could not have been expected considering the pandemic, but was not the only reason for stagnation.

Logar calls for Europe's green and digital recovery

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar addressed the fifth annual forum of the macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian region held online, stressing that a green and digital recovery of Europe after the Covid-19 pandemic would be possible only in cooperation. Slovenia has initiated new forms of cooperation within the macro-region, especially in light of the EU's enlargement process. New countries expressing interest in joining the EUSAIR proves the strategy has become an extremely important instrument of cooperation in the region, Logar said.

Govt moves to set public sector pay reform in motion

LJUBLJANA - The government tasked the Public Administration Ministry to draw up by 5 February a draft blueprint to reform the public sector pay system. The government also adopted positions to start talks with one of the two police trade unions that is on strike and on negotiations with public sector trade unions on the elimination of the remaining austerity measures affecting pay. It is also proposing the pay day be moved from the 5th in the month to 15th in the month at the latest.

Slovenia donates EUR 40,000 in aid for migrants in Bosnia

LJUBLJANA - The government donated EUR 40,000 in aid to Caritas for migrants in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the charity said in a press release. The Slovenian Caritas is collecting donations for the migrants who are spending the winter in Bosnia after they had to leave their homes due to war, prosecution, climate change and extreme poverty.

Krka ups sales 3%, net profit 17% to EUR 286.6m last year

NOVO MESTO - The pharmaceutical group Krka generated EUR 1.53 billion in revenue last year, up 3% compared to 2019, with net profit estimated at a record EUR 286.6 million, up 17% year-on-year, show the unaudited preliminary results. CEO Jože Colarič noted that even though the pandemic had hindered marketing-and-sales activities, the Krka group recorded "best sales results ever". Product and service sales were up in all regions except Slovenia (-8%) and the overseas markets (-6%).

Manager Association honours NEK head

LJUBLJANA - Director of the Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) Stane Rožman is this year's recipient of the Manager Association award for lifetime achievements in management for leaving "a permanent mark in Slovenian business with his work, professional career and personality". Under his watch, NEK became one of the top ten best rated power stations in Europe, the association said in explaining its decision. He will receive the award at a virtual annual meeting of the association tonight.

Courts to return to business as usual on Monday

LJUBLJANA - Starting on Monday, all Slovenian courts will again operate as usual, albeit under anti-epidemic recommendations from health authorities. The suspension of procedural deadlines and deadlines related to the exercise of rights of parties in court proceedings will also be lifted. From next week, all courts in the country will again be able to conduct hearings, declare rulings and hand out court decisions in all matters.

Prosecution dismisses criminal charges against former culture minister

LJUBLJANA - The state prosecution has dismissed criminal charges of abuse of office and mobbing against Dejan Prešiček, a member of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), during his term as culture minister in the Marjan Šarec government, the SD said a day after Prešiček reported this on social media. He said the decision of the prosecution to throw out his case confirmed his conviction that he had done nothing illegal while serving as minister.

Dachau-themed works by Borčić go on digital display

MARIBOR - A virtual exhibition of prints and drawings about the Dachau concentration camp by acclaimed artist Bogdan Borčić (1926-2014) opened at the Maribor Synagogue today as part of a project supported by the Maribor municipality and the Israeli Embassy to Slovenia. The In principio erat Dachau exhibition presents a series of eight graphics and seven prints, made in 2014 by one of the most important Slovenian painters at the commission of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site.

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An uptick in coronavirus as 1,850 cases confirmed Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,850 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Tuesday, an increase of 8% from seven days ago that marks an end to a downward week-on-week trend seen for over a fortnight. Data from the government show a total of 15,946 tests were performed yesterday. Of the 5,418 PCR tests, 1,430 or 26.4% were positive. A further 420 cases were confirmed in 10,528 rapid antigen tests for a positivity rate of 4%. The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 dropped by 13 to 1,144, while the number of intensive care patients fell by twenty to 172. A further 19 patients with Covid-19 died, bringing the total death toll to 3,425, according to tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Out of 877 samples screened for UK strain, 16 positive

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian labs have retested 877 samples of positive PCR tests for Sars-CoV-2 from the last two weeks to find 16 of them showing two genetic changes matching the highly virulent UK strain of the virus. "For the time being the English variant of the novel coronavirus has not spread extensively through Slovenia," Tjaša Žohar Čretnik of the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food said. The first positive sample was taken from a person in Murska Sobota and received for testing by the lab in Maribor on 11 January. Žohar Čretnik said it was impossible to infer based on the results weather the positive samples are linked, but considering the spreading there would have been more imported cases.

Govt decides to reintroduce some restrictions in two regions

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The government decided to close shops and cultural institutions that reopened a few days ago in the Obalno-Kraška and Zasavska regions, after the two regions no longer meet the criteria for the red tier under the government's exit strategy. The other seven out of 12 regions where some restrictions were lifted are fine. A decision on schools and kindergartens in Obalno-Kraška and Zasavska regions is expected to be made tomorrow. The government also decided that stores selling food around the country will be able to sell socks and underwear again.

Slovenia issues 60-year bond worth EUR 500m

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia issued a 60-year bond worth EUR 500 million on Wednesday, the second highest bond issue this year and one with longest maturity the country has ever issued. "The 60-year euro-denominated bonds were issued with 0.70% yield to maturity and a coupon rate of 0.6875% to the tune of EUR 0.5 billion. This is comparable to the states such as France and Belgium," the Finance Ministry said in a press release.

Maja Brkan endorsed as nominee for EU General Court judge

LJUBLJANA - Maja Brkan was endorsed as nominee for a Slovenian judge on the General Court of the European Union in a near unanimous vote at the National Assembly. She will now need to pass an assessment by the court's vetting body to get the post. Brkan, an associate professor of EU law at the Maastricht University's Faculty of Law, was backed by 78 deputies in the 90-strong Assembly. Six voted against her and three ballots were invalid. She needed at least 46 votes to be confirmed.

Report: Matej Tonin to temporarily take over at Health Ministry

LJUBLJANA - Defence Minister Matej Tonin is to temporarily take over the role of health minister from Prime Minister Janez Janša on Monday, the news portal 24ur.com reported, quoting unofficial information. Tonin reportedly already informed his closest team in the New Slovenia (NSi) party of this. Tonin is to continue to serve as defence minister as well.

MPs fail to overturn veto on tonnage tax act changes

LJUBLJANA - The lower chamber of parliament failed to overturn in re-vote the veto the upper chamber imposed on changes to the tonnage tax act, with only 17 MPs voting in favour, and 41 against the changes. The legislative motion was aimed at extending by another ten years a special regulation under which shipping companies pay an alternative, lower form of corporate income tax. Several deputies, including those from the coalition, argued that the new legislation, which would apply only to the Portorož-based shipping company Splošna Plovba, owned by German shipping magnate Peter Doehle, would give it tens of millions of euros in state aid without demanding it preserve the business.

Bills toughening conditions for asylum status, residence permit pass first reading

Ljubljana - The National Assembly decided in a 51:13 vote that changes to the foreigners act tightening up conditions for residence for foreign nationals in Slovenia as well as amendments to the international protection act aiming to prevent asylum law abuses are fit for further debate. Both bills were met with mixed reactions.

Jerneja Jug Jerše to head European Commission Slovenia office

LJUBLJANA - The European Commission appointed Jerneja Jug Jerše as the new head of its Representation in Slovenia, and she will assume her duties in Ljubljana on 16 April. Jug Jerše succeeds Zoran Stančič, who completed his five-year term as head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia at the end of last year. In the interim period the office is being run by Nataša Goršek Mencin as acting head. The Commission said Jug Jerše, who has worked in the directorates-general for internal market and for economic and financial affairs, "will be able to draw on her strong policy background and expertise, in particular in economics, in her new function".

United Media planning to expand to Slovenia with news portal

LJUBLJANA - United Media, the media division of United Group, plans to expand to the Slovenian market this year by setting up a news portal under the N1 brand, which is already active in the region. The Luxembourg-based United Media has already opened the Adria News subsidiary in Ljubljana under which the N1 Slovenija web portal will operate. According to unofficial information obtained by the newspaper Finance, the portal will kick off in spring. Katja Šeruga, who previously worked as a journalist at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and commercial broadcaster POP TV, has been appointed Adria News director as well as the portal's editor-in-chief. The portal will seek to boost and elevate journalism in Slovenia, Šeruga said.

Retail revenue in 2020 down almost 10% year-on-year

LJUBLJANA - Revenue in retail in real terms in Slovenia was down last year by 9.7% compared to 2019, the Statistics Office reported. The largest drop, by 23.6%, was recorded by shops specialised in sale of motor fuels. The office noted that, after four months of decline on the monthly level, revenue in retail in real terms last December was up by 0.1% compared to the month before. In December alone, revenue in retail was up by 0.8% compared to November, excluding motor fuel sales.

Šoštanj city council says no to waste coincineration at TEŠ

ŠOŠTANJ - The city council of Šoštanj voted against coincineration of waste at the TEŠ thermal power plant. TEŠ parent company boss said before the vote that the project would not go forward if the local community opposed it. Meanwhile, the Environmental Agency is yet to decide whether it will issue an environmental approval. The council believes emissions produced by coincineration would be the most problematic aspect of the project estimated at EUR 6-10 million.

Slovenia marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day

LJUBLJANA/LENDAVA - Slovenia is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a series of events, including the laying of wreaths, exhibitions and reading of the names of Slovenian Holocaust victims. Top Slovenian officials labelled the Holocaust one of the bleakest moments in history, warned against its denial and urged tolerance. Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič said that WWII was also being remembered because of the Holocaust, one of the darkest crimes in the history of modern civilisation. President Borut Pahor laid a wreath at the Jewish cemetery in Dolga Vas (NE), warning about hate speech, intolerance and incitement to violence having become an all too normal part of our life in recent years.

Another religious object vandalised, bishops urge inquiry

LJUBLJANA - A can containing unidentified flammable substance was blasted in the vicinity of a Catholic pastoral centre in the Ljubljana-Rudnik parish on Saturday, the Slovenian Bishops' Conference said on its website, condemning all forms of violence and intolerance and urging the authorities to investigate the incident. This comes after unknown perpetrators threw a balloon filed with paint at one of the frescoes on the exterior of St Nicholas's Cathedral in Ljubljana, causing several thousand euro in damage.

Rog clear-out finds large quantities of possible stolen goods

LJUBLJANA - In just over a week after the Ljubljana City authorities started clearing out the disused bicycle factory Rog following contested squatter evictions, large quantities of what could be stolen goods and drugs have been found at the old factory complex, according to the Ljubljana municipality. Police had already been notified of these finds.

Trbovlje chimney turned into longest climbing route

TRBOVLJE - The Trbovlje power station's 360-metre chimney, the tallest in Europe but no longer in use, has been turned into the world's longest artificial multi-pitch climbing route. Slovenian world-class climbers, Janja Garnbret and Domen Škofic, have already successfully ascended it. The longest climbing route was designed by licenced Slovenian route setters Katja Vidmar and Simon Margon.

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Nearly 130,000 children back to school, kindergarten

LJUBLJANA - After almost three months of remote learning, kindergartens and primary schools up to year three reopened in nine of Slovenia's twelve regions. No major disruption was reported. Education Minister Simona Kustec announced that 53,306 children returned to school and 74,630 to kindergartens, hopeful this is "the first sign of going back to normal". A total of 12,822 school staff and 12,844 kindergarten employees returned to the workplace after only a fraction tested positive yesterday.

1,652 infections in most massive coronavirus testing yet

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 1,652 new coronavirus infections on Monday as more than 35,000 tests were conducted amid mass rapid testing of teachers before schools in nine regions reopened today. Covid-19 hospitalisations fell by 16 from the day before to 1,157 with 192 remaining in intensive care. Government data also show that another 27 patients with Covid-19 died, for what Covid-19 tracker site data show is a death toll of 3,406. The 7-day average of new infections fell to 1,227.

Back testing shows two UK strain cases at Jesenice hospital

JESENICE - At least two patients at the Jesenice general hospital had been infected with a highly contagious new variant of coronavirus, first detected in the UK, as far back as two weeks ago, an examination of six random samples has shown. The cases are not linked to the first officially confirmed case of the new variant in a Kosovo national temporary residing in Slovenia who arrived in the country from Belgium on Saturday. The latter case is being looked into by police.

President urges joining forces against epidemic

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor expressed hope in an interview with the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija on Monday that Slovenians would be able to celebrate the 30th anniversary of independence in June by also celebrating the end of the epidemic. "I do call (on everyone) in these final months, when the vaccination is actually giving us the chance to end this crisis, to join forces now and cross the finish line together, which awaits us somewhere in May, June of this year," Pahor said.

DeSUS MPs decide to stay together

LJUBLJANA - The five deputies of the Pensioners Party (DeSUS) decided at Tuesday's meeting they will continue to work as a single parliamentary faction, but they have not yet decided whether to be a part of the opposition or cooperate with the coalition. Deputy group leader Franc Jurša said there were a lot of open issues to be discussed with the party leadership and MP MP Branko Simonovič acknowledged there were three factions in the party.

New political movement emerges

LJUBLJANA - A new political movement called Povežimo Slovenijo (Unite Slovenia) has emerged. The initiative wants to bring together smaller parties, local initiatives and individuals to form a joint slate for the next general elections. The initiator, vice president of the Greens Nada Pavšer, believes the list could get at least 20% in the next election. The most visible members of the group include the People's Party (SLS) and local lists by the mayors of Celje and Koper.

Slovenia takes over its pavilion at Dubai Expo

DUBAI, UAE - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek symbolically took over on behalf of Slovenia the management of the country's pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai as part of his official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The minister said "Slovenia will show know-how, innovation and energy at the Expo". The largest such exposition yet will take place between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022. The minister expect it to boost business links and create investment opportunities.

Constitutional court stays extension of college accreditations

LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court stayed in an unanimous decision the implementation of a provision from one of the coronavirus stimulus packages that extends accreditations to higher education institutions until it comes up with its final ruling on the matter. The petitioner from Maribor argued the change had been made without proper justification and for reasons not connected with the mitigation of the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Ethnic Slovenian to run for Croatian county head

ZAGREB, Croatia - Barbara Antolić Vupora, the first ethnic Slovenian to be elected to the Croatian parliament, will run for the head of the Varaždin county in the local election in May. She will run on the list of the biggest opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDP). Born in Celje, Slovenia, Antolić Vupora has Croatian citizenship and lives in Varaždin in northern Croatia where she has been active both as a minority member and the head of the party's local committee.

Slovenia preparing to issue 60-year bond

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia plans to issue a 60-year bond subject to market conditions and has commissioned BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and HSBC to manage the issue, the Finance Ministry said. This would be the longest maturity for a bond Slovenia has ever issued. The treasury currently has a 30-year bond outstanding due in 2050, and a 24-year bond which is due in 2040.

Novartis invested EUR 204m in Slovenia in 2020

LJUBLJANA - The Swiss pharma giant Novartis continued to invest in its R&D and production capacities in Slovenia through its subsidiaries Lek, Sandoz and Novartis Pharma Services last year. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said it had invested EUR 204 million in the country as part of its efforts to expand its R&D and production facilities in line with its plan to transform from a generics to an innovative pharmaceutical company.

Workers reach deal on strike demands at A&E Europe

MARIBOR - Employees at A&E Europe, the American-owned Maribor sewing threads manufacturer, reached agreement on their demands, including better pay, following a one-day strike in January. The workers had been threatening to start an open-ended strike but since an agreement was reached the strike was cancelled. The KSS association of trade unions said an agreement had been reached on all demands after tough talks.

Public health insurance fund ends 2020 with EUR 87m deficit

LJUBLJANA - The Health Insurance Institute (ZZZS) finished last year with a EUR 87 million deficit. Director general Marjan Sušelj said revenue totalled EUR 3.25 billion or 4.9% more than in 2019. Expenditure amounted to EUR 3.34 billion, up 9.5%. Wage subsidies for sick leave grew at the fastest pace (16.4%), followed by spending on vaccination (16.3%) and medicines (15.3%).

Stories of Slovenians from Auschwitz presented at Museum of Contemporary History

LJUBLJANA - The National Museum of Contemporary History will launched an online documentary exhibition by the Maribor Synagogue on Slovenian victims of the Auschwitz death camp. Visitors to the museum's website will be able to take an online tour of the exhibition led by its author Boris Hajdinjak from the Maribor Synagogue. Of the 2,300 people from Slovenia who were taken to Auschwitz, only about a thousand returned home, while the rest died in Auschwitz.

Ljubljana cathedral fresco vandalised

LJUBLJANA - As yet unknown perpetrators have thrown a balloon filed with paint in one of the frescoes on the exterior of St Nicholas's Cathedral in Ljubljana, causing several thousand euro in damage on what is a listed cultural monument. The police are looking into the incident. The Slovenian Bishops' Conference labelled the attack as an expression of Christianophobia and vandalism, and resolutely rejected all forms of intolerance and defilement of churches.

Two Italian migrant smugglers get prison sentences

LJUBLJANA - The papers reported that two Italians who crashed their car packed with illegal migrants into a police vehicle in September last year had been sentenced to more than two years in prison, after which they will be expelled from the country for four years. Francesco Mandielo, 29, and Salvatore Mascolo, 23, both from Naples, were sentenced to two years and nine months and two years and one month, respectively, by the Ljubljana District Court in what is the mildest sentence for the crime.

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Info commissioner finds no unauthorised access to politicians' personal data

LJUBLJANA - The Information Commissioner has not established any irregularities in the police's access to the personal data of 44 politicians, including party and deputy group leaders, the newspaper Dnevnik reported. It said the Commissioner completed on Thursday a procedure to check whether police officers had looked into the politicians' personal data unlawfully. The procedure was launched last February after several politicians expressed concern their personal data might have been subject to unauthorised access by police.

Over 1,500 new Covid-19 infections, 20 deaths on Friday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,506 new coronavirus infections were confirmed in Slovenia on Friday from a total of 11,950 PCR and rapid tests, the government said on Twitter. 1,129 Covid-19 patients were in hospital and 20 died. The number of active cases is estimated at almost 18,670. The number of hospitalisations was down by 11 to 1,129, of whom 192 were in intensive care, three fewer than the day before. 90 persons were discharged from hospital.

Cigler Kralj dismisses allegations from dismissal motion

LJUBLJANA - "The interpellation motion will be a good opportunity to point out that Slovenia must preserve the freedoms of speech, thought and religion as the greatest values," Minister Janez Cigler Kralj, who is in charge of labour, the family, social affairs and equal opportunities, said in response to a motion the opposition filed yesterday to dismiss him. Speaking for the private Nova24TV broadcaster on Friday evening, he said the allegations from the motion were not based on facts.

Creditreform Rating affirms Slovenia's AA- rating

LJUBLJANA - Creditreform Rating, an European credit rating agency, has affirmed Slovenia's AA- credit rating with a stable outlook. It says that Slovenia has a strong economic environment, a flexible labour market while its private sector's indebtedness is low, which should contribute to the country's post-Covid recovery. The Finance Ministry said the latest rating was yet another confirmation that Slovenia was one of the "stable and trustworthy countries".

Bad weather keeps skiers away from ski slopes

LJUBLJANA - Ski centres in nine of Slovenia's twelve statistical regions reopened, but only a handful of skiers could be seen on the ski slopes, possibly because of the bad weather and the fact that they have to produce a negative coronavirus test no older than 24 hours and carried out in Slovenia. Some ski centres organised testing at the entry point to their ski slopes. Apart from the ski centres, some more shops as well as museums, galleries and libraries reopned as well.

First World Cup team event win for Slovenia women's ski jumpers

LJUBNO OB SAVINJI - Slovenian women's ski jumpers Ema Klinec, Špela Rogelj, Urša Bogataj in Nika Križnar won a World Cup team event in what is the first-ever team event victory for Slovenia's women's ski jumping. It comes after they finished second at the same venue, in Slovenia's Ljubno ob Savinji, in 2019 and 2020. "This is a historic victory for Slovenian ski jumping. I'm glad it's a team victory because it means the most to me," head coach Zoran Zupančič told the press.

Slovenia draw with Sweden to stay in contention for q-finals

CAIRO, Egypt - Slovenia played out a 28:28 draw with Sweden in their second match of the main round of the World Men's Handball Championship on Friday, with Matej Gaber saving the day with a goal three seconds before the final whistle. Slovenia now need to beat the hosts Egypt on Sunday to make it to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Telemark skier Jure Aleš to good season start

OBERJOCH, Germany - Slovenia's best telemark skier, Jure Aleš, started the new World Cup season successfully, winning Thursday's opener in Germany's Oberjoch and finishing today's parallel sprint third. "I'm happy with the third place, and I hope I can do even better tomorrow," he said. Aleš finished the last season third overall, and emerged the parallel sprint winner.

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PM Janša congratulates US President Biden

LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša announced late on Wednesday he had sent congratulations to the newly sworn-in US President Joseph Biden. "For those curious: Prime Minister Janez Janša congratulated today the new US President Joe Biden on taking the oath," wrote Janša, noting he did it the same way as in 2005 when as prime minister he congratulated the then US President George W. Bush. "Slovenia and the US were NATO allies then and are today," added Janša, who was one of the few world leaders who had not congratulated Biden on his election victory before the inauguration.

Pahor welcomes US rejoining Paris climate deal and WHO

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor welcomed the US's rejoining the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organisation under President Joe Biden. "Multilateralism has regained encouragement and value. This is important for Slovenia, the EU and the whole word," Pahor said on Twitter. Meanwhile, climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, commenting for the STA, assessed the US's return to the climate deal brought hope the agreement would actually start to be implemented.

1,445 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia reported 1,445 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, a marked decrease over a week ago in what is a continuation of a declining trend. Government data show that out of 4,813 PCR tests, just over 24% came back positive, as did about 4% of 6,786 rapid antigen tests. Hospitalisations dropped by 19 to 1,159, 183 of whom were in intensive care. Another 27 patients with Covid-19 died to bring the death toll to 3,284, according to tracker site Covid-19 Sledilnik.

Some cultural institutions, shops to reopen in nine regions

LJUBLJANA - A new decree banning non-essential services will take effect on Saturday, expanding the list of exceptions to the ban in nine out of Slovenia's 12 regions that have lower infection rates to stalls selling farmers' produce, repair shops and shops offering children's goods. The government also allowed galleries, museums and libraries to reopen on Saturday in Gorenjska, Koroška, Obalno-Kraška, Osrednjeslovenska, Podravska, Pomurska, Primorsko-notranjska, Savinjska and Zasavska.

Ski resorts allowed to open in nine regions on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - Ski resorts in nine regions that have been moved to the red tier of coronavirus restrictions will be allowed to reopen on Saturday. All skiers except children under 12 and professional athletes, their coaches and their staff will have to produce negative coronavirus test results no older than 24 hours to hit the slopes and strict public health rules will have to be observed. Some of the resorts, such as Pohorje and Rogla, will have testing available on-site.

EUR 47m in budgetary funds to go for minimum wage rise

LJUBLJANA - Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said the government would provide some EUR 47 million to help employers cover part of the minimum wage rise. The proposal to that effect will be included in the eighth economic stimulus bill, the draft of which the government reviewed today and could be in parliament in the middle of next week. The minister said the latest stimulus package was worth EUR 320 million. It will extend subsidies for furloughed workers and those on reduced hours.

Cabinet approves financial plans of pension and health funds

LJUBLJANA - The government endorsed the 2021 financial plans of the ZPIZ public pension insurance fund and the ZZZS public health insurance fund, valued at EUR 6.2 billion and EUR 3.4 billion, respectively, with balanced revenue and expenditure. The pension fund's revenue and expenditure are by 4.4% higher than the estimate for 2020. Meanwhile, the health fund's revenue is 6.9% above the 2020 performance estimate, and expenditure is 3.1% higher than the 2020 performance estimate.

Brkan gets unanimous endorsement for EU Court judge prior to final vote

LJUBLJANA - Maja Brkan, the candidate for Slovenian judge on the General Court of the EU, was unanimously endorsed by the parliamentary Privileges and Credentials Commission, the final step before the National Assembly vote, where she needs 46 votes in the 90-member legislature. Brkan, an associate professor of EU law at Maastricht University's Faculty of Law, was put forward by President Borut Pahor following consultations with deputy groups.

Govt adopts bill to protect children in criminal procedure

LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a bill to provide protection to children in criminal procedures either as victims, witnesses or perpetrators. It establishes a safe house where children will be interviewed in a neutral environment. The bill aims to create a comprehensive approach to interviews of victims and witness, and, under certain conditions, perpetrators as well. The bill also entails psychological support during interviews and physical exams, and long-term therapy for children.

Medicines agency finds rapid tests not risk to public health

LJUBLJANA - The Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices told the STA its inspections had so far not detected any risks to public health from the rapid antigen tests used for mass screening. The agency opted for the inspections after the reliability of the Chinese-made tests, purchased by the Health Ministry and supplied by Majbert Pharm, was questioned in the media. The agency carried out over a dozen checks at various community health centres. In some cases swabs had to be replaced.

Six institutions found breaching vaccination strategy

LJUBLJANA - A report by the health inspectorate about compliance with the national vaccination strategy shows that the strategy was not fully complied with in the vaccination of 297 persons at six health institutions between 27 December and 16 January. In most cases, individuals who were not on the priority list received the sixth dosage obtained from the multidose vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, initially registered for only five. The institutions, including the Ljubljana Oncology Institute, said they did not receive detailed instructions on how to administer the sixth jab.

Four new supervisors appointed at Telekom Slovenije

LJUBLJANA - The shareholders of state-owned telecoms operator Telekom Slovenije appointed four new members of the supervisory board and changed the articles of association. These are Iztok Čenoša, a director at the state-owned 2TDK, Marko Kerin, a director at rail operator Slovenske Železnice, Ljubljana School of Business and Economics lecturer Aleksander Igličar and lawyer Radovan Cerjak. All four will formally start their terms on 22 January. The appointments come after three Telekom supervisors resigned in October, whereupon the vacancies were filled by the Ljubljana District Court.

Pipistrel looks back on best business year yet

AJDOVŠČINA - The Ajdovščina-based ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel did great last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Director and co-owner Ivo Boscarol told the STA the company posted a record high net profit of EUR 4.5 million on EUR 32 million in total revenue. The profit will be used for numerous new investments this year, including in China, where Pipistrel will launch a new subsidiary, with Boscarol expecting a major business deal in China starting at the end of the year.

Benčina Henigman takes over as new CEO of Sberbank

LJUBLJANA - Jana Benčina Henigman took over on 18 January as the new CEO of the Slovenian subsidiary of the Russian bank Sberbank, succeeding Gašpar Ogrisa-Martič, who concluded his term in November 2020 to assume new duties at the headquarters of Sberbank Europe in Vienna. Benčina Henigman will be in charge of corporate and investment banking, financial markets, legal affairs and human resources. The new CEO has more than 20 years of experience in banking as part of various groups.

Consumer confidence continues to improve

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's consumer confidence continued to improve at the monthly level in January, adding one percentage point on December 2020, mostly owing to an improvement in the outlook for household finances. However, the index is still 18 points below that in January 2020 and eight points lower than the long-term average. The biggest decline year-on-year was in the expectations about the state of the national economy.

Pahor receives charity workers to thank them

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor received representatives of the humanitarian organisations associated in the National Forum of Humanitarian Organisations, thanking them and their volunteers for the important work in addressing people's distress, which has only increased during the epidemic. The epidemic has not spared anyone, all generations have been met with distress, each in its own way, the president told the press after the meeting at Presidential Palace.

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Nine regions to enter red tier of restrictions on Monday

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Nine of Slovenia's twelve statistical regions will enter the red tier of coronavirus restrictions on Monday after new cases and hospital figures dropped below thresholds set in the exit strategy. Kindergartens and first three grades of primary school will reopen and teachers who will return to teaching in person will be tested on Monday, Prime Minister Janez Janša announced. The red tier also involves the reopening of museums, libraries and galleries, and businesses including car mechanics, technical goods stores, sports stores, florists and book shops. More on this story

Labour minister faces motion of no confidence

LJUBLJANA - Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Minister Janez Cigler Kralj is facing a motion of no confidence from the opposition over the ministry's decision to grant funds to an NGO with close links to the minister, the STA has learnt. The Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) has drafted the motion and has already sent it to several opposition parties. The news comes after it was revealed the ministry last year granted funds to Zavod Iskreni in an open call for funding supporting vulnerable groups in the epidemic. Cigler Kralj has worked there as a volunteer.

Logar to visit to Croatia Friday

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar announced his first official visit to Croatia for Friday with discussions to include the intention by Croatia and Italy to declare exclusive economic zones in the Adriatic Sea. The minister announced the visit as he attended today's session of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee. He told MPs he was optimistic about a joint statement on cooperation in the Adriatic that the three countries are to sign. The countries' experts will meet in Rome on 29 January.

Slovenian ambassador writes to Austrian authorities over bilingual signs

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's ambassador to Austria Ksenija Škrilec has written to the Austrian authorities about the recent vandalising of bilingual signposts in the state of Carinthia, according to Foreign Minister Anže Logar, who told the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee that Slovenia regretted and condemned the incident. Škrilec expressed the expectation that the Austrian authorities will condemn the incident, and investigate it.

MPs endorse govt declaring whole Hezbollah a terrorist organisation

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Police Committee debated the government declaring the Lebanon-based political party Hezbollah a criminal and terrorist organisation as a whole, with most of its members endorsing the decision. Foreign Ministry State Secretary Stanislav Raščan said that the ministry and the national security and intelligence agency SOVA had established that Hezbollah was a threat to international peace and security. Restrictive measures related to its operations are therefore sensible.

Coronavirus curve flattening

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 1,698 coronavirus infections from 11,308 tests on Tuesday as the seven-day average of new infections and hospitalisations fell below the thresholds set by the government to move from black to red tier where the easing of restrictions can start by regions. Government data show 1,178 patients were hospitalised with Covid-19 yesterday, including 181 in intensive care. Another 26 patients with Covid-19 died, to bring the overall death toll to 3,257.

Covid-19 vaccination rate in Slovenia currently at 2%

LJUBLJANA - A total of 42,410 people have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Slovenia, about 2% of the population. Marta Grgič Vitek, the vaccination coordinator at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), the biggest problem at the moment is limited supplies and there is not enough vaccine for people over 80. Meanwhile, 36.3% of medical staff have received the first shot and at least 22% have recovered from Covid-19, so "we are close to 60%, which might suffice for collective immunity" in this group, she said.

Minister Koritnik tests positive for coronavirus

LJUBLJANA - Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Public Administration Ministry said. He is self-isolating and with mild Covid-19 symptoms but continues to work. At the end of last week Koritnik was in contact with a co-worker who later tested positive. The first test came back negative, but he was tested again after developing Covid-19 symptoms and the second test was positive.

Susan Falatko charge d'affaires at US Embassy in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - Susan K. Falatko has again assumed the position of chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Slovenia following the departure of former Ambassador Lynda C. Blanchard. Falatko has been serving in Slovenia since June of 2019. "We have made great strides in expanding the US-Slovenia relationship in areas of mutual interest, creating new opportunities for us to work more closely together than ever to overcome the challenges ahead as Allies, partners, and friends," she was quoted as saying.

Twenty companies interested in investing in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The Economy Ministry has a list of 20 potential investors, foreign and domestic, who are considering investing in the country. They are planning ten major and just as many smaller investments. The ministry believes the pandemic could be an opportunity for Slovenia given its developed infrastructure and skilled labour. The ministry is currently processing four applicants under the investment promotion act.

Employers oppose subsidised rise in minimum wage

LJUBLJANA - The Employers' Association voiced its opposition to the Labour Ministry's proposal to partly cover the minimum wage rise for employers for a limited period of time since it thinks such a measure would offset less than 40% of the increase in labour costs. The organisation urged the government to come up with a solution that would be better at mitigating the impact of the rise as part of the next stimulus package.

Unions complain to EU Commission about state of social dialogue

LJUBLJANA - Six major trade union associations have written to the European Commission to warn about the "worrying state" of social dialogue in Slovenia. They claim that an increasing number of decisions affecting workers and employers are being taken without social dialogue, with the last straw being a provision on forced retirement. They said the provision paved the way for "arbitrary and, in our opinion, discriminatory treatment of older workers".

AmCham event discusses post-epidemic recovery

LJUBLJANA - A virtual AmCham Slovenia business breakfast heard the Slovenian economy had been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, and but was kept afloat by state aid and was now waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel. Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the event the situation could improve with the arrival of spring, but said vaccination alone would not end the health crisis, as protective measures need to be respected too. Unlike Počivalšek, most participants believe economic cooperation with the US will improve under the Joe Biden administration.

Priceless 18th century presentation of Slovenian lands issued in book

LJUBLJANA - A priceless presentation of geographical, geological and ethnographic features of Slovenian lands in the 18th century by Belsazar Hacquet, a Carniolan physician of French descent, has been issued in Slovenian. It is the first out of four volumes of Oryctographia Carniolica, which features the first known image of Mt Triglav. Hacquet presents the physical geography of Carniola, Istria and part of the neighbouring lands in text, maps and illustrations.

Slovenia open main round at handball worlds with a win

CAIRO, Egypt Slovenia made their first step towards the quarter-finals at the World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt with a convincing 10-goal win against North Macedonia in the first match of the main round. The top scorer in Slovenia's ranks was Dragan Gajić with seven goals. The true challenge for Slovenia is only to come as they play the group-leading Sweden on Friday, before they wrap up the main round against the hosts Egypt on Sunday.

Police warn of increase in cases of child sexual abuse

LJUBLJANA - The police conducted several house searches as part of an investigation into the dissemination of images of sexual abuse of very young children. Eight men are being investigated, one with a history of similar crimes. The contents seized by the Ljubljana, Koper and Maribor police administrations show children between six months and two years of age being abused by adults.

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Motion of no confidence in government temporarily withdrawn

LJUBLJANA - Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Karl Erjavec has withdrawn his bid to become PM-designate until all MPs are able to vote in person, after an opposition MP was confirmed to have the coronavirus and several others still waited for the results of their tests. Erjavec said he planned to resubmit the motion of no confidence in the Janez Janša government as soon as all MPs who have signed the motion can vote. The ruling coalition criticised the move as an excuse to avoid a failure to vote out the government, after Erjavec already said on Monday he was considering withdrawing his bid.

Strain resembling English coronavirus variant detected in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - A strain of the novel coronavirus very similar to the highly virulent English mutation has been detected in the smear test sample of a person who has recently arrived in Slovenia from England, the national lab has confirmed. The National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food told the STA that sections of the sample they had been able to analyse fully matched the English variant, but they were unable to acquire the whole genome sequence.

Daily coronavirus count down on week before for 10th day

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 1,690 new coronavirus infections from 14,010 tests on Monday as the daily increase in cases fell on the week before for the tenth day running. Government data also show that 25 more Covid-19 patients died. Government data show 5,306 PCR tests and 8,704 rapid antigen tests were performed yesterday, of which 22.8% and 5.5%, respectively, came back positive. The number of cases confirmed is a decline of almost 11% on the figure a week ago, follows from the tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org.

Janša expects 70% of Slovenians could be vaccinated by beginning of summer

LJUBLJANA - PM Janez Janša said he expected 70% of the Slovenian population could be vaccinated against coronavirus by the beginning of summer as he presented fresh figures on planned deliveries of vaccines that indicate Slovenia should get significantly more jabs in the second quarter than previously thought. In the second quarter Slovenia expects to get 2.4 million shots compared to fewer than 1.7 million shots projected last week, mostly due to a doubling of deliveries by Pfizer/BioNTech to 1.4 million. "The second quarter will be the most important quarter ... If the deliveries come through, we'll achieve a 70% vaccination rate by the beginning of summer and contain the epidemic within our borders," Janša said.

Minimum wage for 2021 to be set at EUR 1,024 gross

BRDO PRI KRANJU/LJUBLJANA - Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj announced after meeting social partners that he will set the minimum wage for 2021 at EUR 1,024 gross. This is 120% of the minimum cost of living and the lowest possible rise under minimum wage legislation. Last year, the minimum wage stood at EUR 941 gross. The minister said the government intended to partly cover the raise for employers until the end of June with the option of a six-month extension. The last time the minimum cost of living was calculated was in 2017, at EUR 613 for a single person. It will be next calculated in 2023. This is what particularly bothers the trade unions, as the raise does not take into account all the price increases since 2017.

First EU recovery fund transfers expected before end of June

LJUBLJANA - Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj expects that the first transfers from the EU's recovery fund will be made during Portugal's EU presidency in the first half of this year, as member states including Slovenia are rushing to ratify the legal basis and draw up national recovery plans. "We'll hurry up as best as we can so that this project regarding the entire recovery package commences as soon as possible," Šircelj told Slovenian reporters after an online session of EU finance ministers. Unofficial information indicates that the ratification by the National Assembly of the legal basis, called the Own Resources Decision, is planned in March.

Parliamentary majority opposes probe into rapid test procurement

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Health Committee debated the contentious rapid antigen test procurement for mass testing at Monday's session, voting down the proposal by the opposition Social Democrats (SD) to urge relevant institutions to look into potential wrongdoing in the matter. The session was called by the SD, whose MP Franc Trček said suspicions were being raised as to the lawfulness of the public procurement as well as the reliability of tests.

Slovenia's Expo Dubai pavilion ready for showcase

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia is to take over the management of its pavilion at Expo Dubai next week on the sidelines of Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek's visit to the United Arab Emirates netween Sunday and next Wednesday. The exhibition is to help with Slovenia's economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister said, adding he was glad to see plans to expand Slovenia's economy to the fastest growing markets coming to life. "This year the icing on the cake of our export efforts will be active participation in the greatest world event, that is Expo 2020 Dubai," Počivalšek said.

Police find ten people who threatened govt officials

LJUBLJANA - Police have recorded 18 cases of threats to government representatives or persons connected with government work in any way from March 2020 until the end of last year and managed to find perpetrators in ten of the cases. Intensive investigation is still under way into several cases, the police told the STA on Monday evening. The news comes after Prime Minister Janez Janša told the commercial broadcaster Nova24TV in an interview on Sunday that he received about 100 death threats on a daily basis, mostly through social media.

Squatters evicted from Rog as building site emerges

LJUBLJANA - Members of an autonomous social and cultural community that have been squatting the defunct Ljubljana bicycle factory Rog for years are being forcefully removed from the premises on Monday as construction work started on the site. The Ljubljana authorities confirmed they had started tearing down buildings on the site as part of the long running efforts to remake the rundown site into a new creative hub. Police said ten persons were detained, one of whom was injured during arrest. Users of the Rog compound claim three people were injured during arrest and had to be taken to the emergency room.

Slovenia with highest construction growth in EU in November

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Slovenia recorded the highest growth in construction works in the EU in November, both on the monthly and annual levels, show Eurostat data. Slovenia's volume of construction works was up by 12.2% in November on the previous month. Hungary follows with a 12% increase and Slovakia with 7%. At the EU level, the figure rose by 1.2%.

Slovenia remains attractive for Austrian investments

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia remains an attractive investment destination for Austrian companies despite the pandemic, shows a survey conducted by the Austrian trade office Advantage Austria Ljubljana among its members. Investments are being postponed due to Covid-19, but most companies think that Slovenia will keep its investment allure in 2021.

Revoz forced to briefly suspend production after fire at supplier's

NOVO MESTO - Revoz, the Renault-owned assembly plant in Novo Mesto, will have to suspend production for a few days starting on Thursday after a supplier of insulation components had to stop deliveries due to a massive fire, Revoz spokeswoman Nevenka Bašek Zildžović said. A week ago the production facilities and offices of Treves, based in Bič in south Slovenia, went up in flames and it had to suspend production.

Ljubljana budget revised up by EUR 34m

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana city council has endorsed a revised budget for this year to expand the original one by EUR 34.35 million to EUR 439 million. The city is to spend EUR 187.3 million on investments. The council, where Mayor Zoran Janković holds an outright majority, also gave its go ahead last night to the draft budget documents for 2022 and 2023, valued at EUR 417 million and EUR 416 million, respectively.

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