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This summary is provided by the STA:
Austria sees no alternative to border checks for now, says Schallenberg
LJUBLJANA - Visiting Slovenia as the first foreign official after the new government was sworn in, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that Austria did not see any alternative to checks on its internal Schengen border with Slovenia, citing the war in Ukraine and an increase in illegal migration. Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said Slovenia saw no reason to maintain border controls and Prime Minister Robert Golob called for checks to be lifted as soon as possible. The countries otherwise reaffirmed good bilateral cooperation in various fields and stressed the importance of minorities for such relations. Golob and Schallenberg also discussed alternative gas sources.
Fiscal Council sees coalition agreement as vague
LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council criticised the coalition agreement as being too vague, warning against a possible increase in expenditure that could outstrip that of revenue. The advisory body believes the document, which contains a set of largely broadly defined measures that go beyond the four-year term, does not provide a sufficient basis for fiscal planning, due to the high degree of vagueness, both in terms of the scope and the timing of the measures. It expects the government to specify the fiscal implications of the measures.
Speaker pledges to boost cooperation with anti-graft body
LJUBLJANA - Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič met Robert Šumi, the head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, to receive its annual report. The speaker said she would like the corruption watchdog to enjoy more respect and that its voice should be heard by all officials who need to work on their integrity. She said her office and the anti-graft body would have regular contacts in a bid to boost cooperation to make integrity the standard.
Speaker meets Women's Lobby to discuss gender equality
LJUBLJANA - Parliamentary Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič met representatives of the Women's Lobby, pledging to the organisation of constructive cooperation and announcing that a club of women MPs in the current sitting of parliament will be formed this month. The club will be formed on 22 June and will be chaired by the oldest deputy, Mirjam Bon Klanjšček from the Freedom Movement. The club will team up with women's associations to address all issues related to gender equality.
Damages suits against protesters withdrawn
LJUBLJANA - The State Attorney's Office announced it had withdrawn suits against individuals to compensate the Interior Ministry for the costs of policing anti-government protests held in the past two years. This was after the ministry under the new government withdrew its consent for the damages claims last week. Acting on behalf of the ministry, the State Attorney's Office filed the first such lawsuit late last year, but the main hearing in the case has not yet started in court.
Journalist Vodušek acquitted in retrial
SLOVENJ GRADEC - Journalist Vladimir Vodušek was acquitted of attempting to extort a business executive in 2012 in a retrial at the Slovenj Gradec District Court. In the original trial Vodušek was given a year and a half in prison in 2018, but the ruling was overturned by a higher court. It was the alleged victim of extortion, Gorazd Korošec, the then CEO of Unior, who reported Vodušek to the prosecution. Vodušek said this was a typical SLAPP suit against him as journalist. The prosecution announced an appeal.
Sovereign Holding gets back its former chief supervisor
LJUBLJANA - Karmen Dietner returned to the post of chair of the supervisory board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) to replace Ivan Simič at his own initiative. Simič stepped down as director general of the Tax Administration just minutes after the new government was sworn in last Wednesday. Today he proposed his replacement as chairman of the SSH supervisory board but he stays on as a board member.
Luka Koper shareholders get EUR 1.14 gross per share dividend
KOPER - Port operator Luka Koper will pay out dividends of EUR 1.14 gross per share as shareholders endorsed a counter-proposal by Slovenian Sovereign Holding. This means that EUR 15.96 million will be paid out for dividends out of the EUR 29.5 million in distributable profit. The remaining EUR 13.6 million will remain undistributed. The counter-proposal for higher pay-out was based on Luka Koper's increase in revenue and transshipment last year and the improvement in the operating result.
Interblock gets new owner
MENGEŠ - Interblock, a leading global manufacturer of electronic table games for casinos, has a new owner - IB OCM Voteco, a company based in the Cayman Islands, shows a report published after today's shareholders' meeting. According to Finance, the off-shore company is controlled by the US fund Oaktree Capital Management. Previously, the largest owner was Dutch company Elektroncek Group (95.25%), owned by Interblock founder Joc Pečečnik. The rest was held by John Connely, who took over as the CEO of the Interblock group in 2015.
Energy company NGEN gets capital injection
ŽIROVNICA - NGEN, a Žirovnica-based energy system solutions company, announced it had received a capital injection of EUR 70 million to finance growth and expansion to new markets. This was as one of the company's founders, crypto millionaire Damian Merlak, converted his loan to equity and Boštjan Bandelj, the owner of Belektron, one of the largest global traders of emission allowances, joined NGEN as a new partner. NGEN now aims to become one of the most important pillars of Europe's energy transformation.
Chemical plant blast death toll increases to seven
LJUBLJANA - The death toll of the powerful explosion that ripped through the Melamin chemical plant in Kočevje, south Slovenia, on 12 May has increased to seven after a second of the two severely injured workers died in hospital on Monday, nearly three weeks after Slovenia's deadliest industrial accident. The latest death was announced by UKC Ljubljana hospital where the worker had been treated for severe burns. Two Bosnian citizens and one Macedonian citizen are believed to have been among those killed.
Sunday's coronavirus case count below 100
LJUBLJANA - Only 76 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Slovenia on Sunday, 16 more than a week ago, Health Ministry data, shows. 26 patients are hospitalised due to Covid-19 at regular wards and another four are in intensive care. The 7-day average of new cases is at 238, a daily rise of two, and the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population stayed unchanged at 175.
Slovenian work of sound art wins Palma Ars Acustica
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian sound artist Brane Zorman has won the Palma Ars Acustica award for The Spirit of Trees/Touch (Duh Dreves/Dotik), a piece exploring the sound component of the life of trees and the way in which trees communicate among themselves. The bioacoustic piece was made on the basis of a sound installation after Zorman recorded for two years the microsounds of trees and plants hoping to make people rethink their relationship to the environment we take for granted.
Slovenia lose to Serbia in second round of Nations League
BELGRADE, Serbia - The Slovenian men's football team lost to Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday 1:4 in the second round of play in League B of the UEFA Nations League to score two consecutive defeats to start the campaign in the second tier of the competition. Another tough test awaits Slovenia in Oslo on Thursday as they face Norway. Slovenia's only goal was scored by Petar Stojanović in the 30th minute to equalise at 1:1, after which Serbia scored three goals, the last one in the stoppage time.
NBA stars Dragić, Dončić and Čančar to join Slovenia vs Croatia
LJUBLJANA - The team that won the 2017 EuroBasket title will reunite in Stožice Arena on 30 June for a 2023 World Cup qualifier against Croatia as the national side is joined by Slovenian NBA stars Goran Dragić, Luka Dončić and Vlatko Čančar. Dragić, a Brooklyn Nets point guard, will be joining the national team for the first time since they won gold at the 2017 EuroBasket with him as the captain to bid farewell to his teammates. Slovenia will then take on Sweden in Stockholm on 3 July.
Triple murder defendant changes story in retrial
PTUJ - Silvo Drevenšek appeared for retrial for murdering his former spouse and her parents in front of his four-year-old son on Christmas 2020 after his life imprisonment sentence was quashed last month. After pleading guilty to the triple murder in the first trial, the defendant now blamed his long-time alcohol problem for what he had done. He told the court he did not remember the month of December 2020, or events a few weeks after the murders, when he was in detention.
