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This summary is provided by the STA:
FM Fajon meets Ukrainian FM and PM, Kyiv mayor
KYIV, Ukraine - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon travelled to Kyiv to meet with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitchko and investment office head Sergiy Tsivkach. She promised Slovenia's support in the future, both in facing the consequences of war and efforts to join the EU. She expressed support and solidarity with Ukraine and learnt about Ukraine's aid needs. "Slovenia remains a friend and supporter of Ukraine and its residents who have shown great courage," Fajon was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
Businesses urge fast action on electricity, gas prices
LJUBLJANA - Business representatives urged the government to draft as soon as possible emergency legislation that will ensure continued resilience of the Slovenian economy and kick-start its entire healthy core. In an appeal signed by the Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business, Employers' Association and the Association of Employers in Trade Crafts and Small Business, they also propose several measures for this end, including measures related to energy costs.
Budgeting for next two years under way
LJUBLJANA - The government started drafting budgets for 2023 and 2024 as it discussed a budgeting framework for the next two years last Thursday. Substantive talks are expected to start after 20 August, while it is not yet entirely clear whether the government will also draft a supplementary budget for this year. The government has until 1 October to send to parliament amendments to the budget for 2023, which was passed last November. The general government expenditure is capped at EUR 13.365 billion.
Darko Muženič back at the helm of NBI
LJUBLJANA - Acting Police Commissioner Boštjan Lindav has appointed Darko Muženič director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Muženič was reinstalled on Tuesday after leading the division that is in charge of investigating the toughest forms of crime between June 2019 and May 2020. Muženič was dismissed in early May 2020 by Police Commissioner Anton Travner, soon after the previous government took over. A court later ruled his dismissal unlawful.
Signatures for RTV Slovenija referendum to be collected in September
LJUBLJANA - Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Danijel Krivec set the time window to collect signatures in support of a referendum on the new RTV Slovenija act. The referendum petitioners, the opposition Democrats (SDS), can start collecting signatures on 1 September, and have until 5 October to hand in the required 40,000 signatures. The date of the referendum is not yet known, but Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič said it would not coincide with any of the elections held later this year.
Event in New York notes cooperation key against cyberattacks
NEW YORK, US - The Slovenian permanent mission to the UN hosted a hybrid event on protection of critical infrastructure against cyberattacks in New York on Tuesday. Slovenian Ambassador to the UN Boštjan Malovrh said that international cooperation was key in facing cyber threats. He offered a report on the protection of critical infrastructure against cyber threats that was drawn up by the University of Ljubljana, the Government Information Security Office, Microsoft and the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia as a good example of how government and non-governmental organisations can work together.
New fire breaks out in Kras, flames fanned by wind
KOSTANJEVICA NA KRASU - Firefighters kept putting out flames rekindled at the site of the huge wildfire in Kras for the third night running after the fire was contained on Sunday as a new fire broke out on the other side of Trstelj, the area's highest peak, and was now largely contained. The new fire broke out on the part of the ridge that has so far not been affected by the wildfire that was contained on Sunday after destroying more than 3,500 hectares of brush, meadows and other types of farmland. Preliminary data show the fire was caused by lightning.
Suspected rape of a minor in asylum centre raises broader concerns
LJUBLJANA - The N1 web portal has reported that the police had filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator at the end of June for suspected rape of a minor in the asylum centre in the Ljubljana borough of Vič. NGOs and civil initiatives noted on the occasion that the conditions at the centre were concerning and that the facility was overcrowded. The portal said on Tuesday that the police had confirmed receiving the report of rape at the beginning of May, while not giving any additional information in order to protect the victim.
Nearly 2,000 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday
LJUBLJANA - A total of 1,964 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Tuesday, an increase of 7% from the same day a week ago, according to the Health Ministry. The number of patients hospitalised for Covid-19 as their primary condition surpassed a hundred, of which 14 in intensive care and 88 in regular wards. Altogether 334 infected patients were in hospitals. One patient with Covid-19 died.
Campaign starts to supply coastal area with water
DEKANI - In the first such operation in Slovenia water started to be pumped from the Unica river near Postojna on Tuesday to be transported by trucks to the Slovenian coastal region, where restrictions have been introduced due to water shortages. The water is taken by army and fire brigade tank trucks to a water works facility near Dekani to be treated before being released into the area's water supply system. The government-approved project was launched just as the region got see some rainfall at last.
Company Smirna buys hotel in spa town Rogaška Slatina
ROGAŠKA SLATINA - Hotel Slovenija in the spa town Rogaška Slatina in the east of the country has been acquired by the local tourism company Smirna at the third public auction at the auction price of EUR 1.85 million. Smirna was the only company to participate in Wednesday's auction. Having acquired the hotel, Smirna has also become the owner of 26 artworks by different artists, and trademarks HS Hotel Slovenija and Kristal Spa. At the first auction, held in February, the auction price was set at EUR 2.8 million, and at the second auction in April at EUR 2.28 million.
Unicredit Slovenija's profit down in Q2, up in H1 y/y
MILAN, Italy/LJUBLJANA - Unicredit Banka Slovenija, the Italian banking group Unicredit's subsidiary in Slovenia, posted just under EUR 20 million in net revenue in the second quarter of this year, level with the same period last year. Net profit stood at EUR 4.5 million, down about EUR 1 million, but it rose in the first half of the year. In the second quarter of the year, net interest income fell from EUR 11.6 million to EUR 11.3 million, and fees and commissions rose slightly, from EUR 5.4 million to EUR 5.5 million.
Men's canoe team wins gold, women's team silver at World Championships in Augsburg
AUGSBURG, Germany - Slovenia opened the 2022 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Augsburg, Germany with a bang as the men's team of Benjamin Savšek, Luka Božič and Anže Berčič won the gold medal in the C1 team event and the women's kayak team of Eva Terčelj, Ajda Novak and Eva Alina Hočevar won silver, conceding defeat only to the German team.
No end to drought on the horizon
LJUBLJANA - Tuesday's long-awaited rain in Slovenia was not enough to significantly raise water levels and river flows, which have been the lowest in 30 years in some parts of the country. The rain that is forecast for the coming weekend will also not significantly improve the situation, so relief is expected as late as in the autumn.
