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This summary is provided by the STA:
Govt reintroduces price caps on fuels
LJUBLJANA - The government reintroduced price caps on motor fuels, setting the maximum retail prices at EUR 1.560 a litre for regular petrol and EUR 1.668 a litre for diesel. Wholesale prices are capped at EUR 1.540 for regular and EUR 1.648 for diesel. New pricing will be valid from Wednesday. Fuel retailers whose business is damaged substantially as a result will be eligible for compensation, which could cost the state at least EUR 30 million a month. The government reimposed price caps after Robert Golob, the most plausible candidate for the new prime minister, announced yesterday his centre-left government would impose energy price regulation, targetting not just fuel but other energy sources as well.
Janša says Russia never de-Communised
KYIV, Ukraine - Prime Minister Janez Janša said the West remained oblivious to the fact that Russia never de-Communised, as he told Ukrainians in an address aired on Ukrainian national TV on Monday that Ukraine was the real heir of the victories of the Second World War. Janša said only one evil, national socialism or Nazism, had been defeated in the Second Word War in 1945, whereas the other evil, international socialism or Communism, was not.
Pahor in Croatia for Slovenian association anniversary ceremony
RIJEKA, Croatia - President Borut Pahor addressed a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Union of Slovenian Associations in Croatia in Rijeka, noting the importance of the friendly relations between the countries and calling for the fastest possible entry of Croatia in the eurozone and the Schengen Area. Croatian President Zoran Milanović was scheduled to attend the ceremony as well and hold bilateral talks with Pahor, but he excused himself, citing unplanned obligations in Zagreb.
Recalls and appointments of several ambassadors take effect
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor's decrees recalling the current Slovenian ambassadors to Italy, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Denmark and Slovakia and appointing new ambassadors to Copenhagen, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Bratislava, Brussels and Seoul became effective as they were published in the Official Gazette. Around 15 new ambassadors are expected to assume their posts by the end of August, including several who in the opinion of Robert Golob, the presumptive prime minister-designate, are too connected politically with the current government. He suggested the new government will replace them.
EUR 120m for investments in armed forces this year
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the 2022 annual plan of investments in the Slovenian Armed Forces, under which the Defence Ministry will have EUR 120.55 million at its disposal to develop two key capabilities for national and collective defence as part of NATO; a battalion battle group and a special operations unit. The funding is higher than specified in the relevant act for 2021-2026 investments in the military, set at EUR 100 million annually, as the funds for last year were not fully spent.
Slovenia pledges EUR 150,000 aid for Syria
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia pledged to provide EUR 150,000 in humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Syria by 2024 at the donor conference organised by the EU for the country ravaged by war. The conference raised EUR 6.4 billion as donors sent a strong signal that the Syrian conflict was not been forgotten despite the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. Slovenia was represented at the conference by Foreign Ministry State Secretary Stanislav Raščan.
Constitutional Court again under huge burden in 2021
LJUBLJANA - Matej Accetto, president of the Constitutional Court, highlighted the high number of petitions for constitutional review as he presented the 2021 report. The court has successfully resolved 1,300 of them with 100 more to go. Accetto also expressed certain grievances the court has with the government over insufficient funding. The court has already exhausted its internal resource reserves and streamlined its procedures. A solution is hiring more advisors but this would also call for extra space.
LMŠ and SAB in favour of consolidation of centre-left
LJUBLJANA - As Freedom Movement leader Robert Golob, the presumptive prime minister-designate, announced his wish to create a strong liberal bloc, including by cooperating with the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), the two parties said that they were in favour of consolidation of the centre-left. Golob is seeking to merge his party with the LMŠ and SAB and plans to offer the leaders of both parties, Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarec, ministerial posts.
Protest over changes splitting TV Slovenija news programmes
LJUBLJANA - Journalists' trade unions urged withdrawal of changes planned to the statute of the Slovenian public broadcasting service under which TV news programme would be split into two separate production units, which staff see as an attempt to create separate pro-government and anti-government news programmes. The new statute was endorsed on Monday by the RTV Slovenija Programme Council. It is expected to be rubber-stamped by the supervisory board.
Fate of flagship TV show uncertain after departure of moderator
LJUBLJANA - The fate of a flagship current-affairs show on the national public broadcaster, Studio City, remains uncertain after RTV Slovenija refused to renew the contract with long-time leader Marcel Štefančič amidst accusations that it is conducting a politically-motivated purge. RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough told the Programming Council on Monday that the leadership would conduct consultations until 23 May as to how to continue with the show without Štefančič.
Govt adopts regulation on waste incineration
LJUBLJANA - The government issued a regulation on waste incineration as a public service under which concessions for the service are to be issued for 30 years. The government did not say how many concessions will be granted, but a draft regulation published with the government documents envisages up to four incineration plans. In January, doctors raised concern over the draft regulation on waste incineration.
Eco Fund to pay out EUR 84m in loans and grants this year
LJUBLJANA - The Eco Fund will provide EUR 47 million in loans for environmental investments and EUR 37 million in incentive grants to reduce the use of energy this year, under the business and financial plan of this public fund endorsed by the government. The fund will also issue calls to award EUR 38 million in incentives from the Climate Fund to replace old boilers and for household electricity generation.
Government adopts new seven-year strategy for tourism
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a new seven-year strategy for tourism that envisages a moderate increase in accommodation capacity and quantitative indicators, and focuses on higher quality. The total tourism demand is expected to generate EUR 2.1 billion in added value in 2028, which would be a 59% increase compared to 2019. The plans to consolidate state assets in tourism under a new holding have been suspended.
Economist Damijan warns about stagflation
PORTOROŽ - Economist Jože Damijan praised the government's decision to regulate energy prices but subsidies for food producers will also have to be considered and investment kick-started. Addressing a financial conference in Portorož he said inflation had become a permanent feature and warned about the threat of stagflation. Marjan Divjak, head of the Finance Ministry's treasury directorate, stressed that Slovenia was committed to keep lowering its debt and was better off than before the 2008 financial crisis.
Experts note role of cybersecurity in companies, cities
BRDO PRI KRANJU - Companies as well as municipalities are targets of cyber attacks, and it is key they come up with a cybersecurity strategy, experts said at a conference on cybersecurity that was held in Brdo pri Kranju. Awareness raising and cooperation are also important, they added. Defence Minister Matej Tonin announced that his ministry would establish a cyber training ground, a platform where the public administration and economy will have the option to test the performance of their systems.
Slovenia's digitisation performance above CEE average, Microsoft says
LJUBLJANA - The Digital Futures Index designed by technology giant Microsoft to measure the level of digitalisation in 16 European countries puts Slovenia seventh in digital performance, slightly above the average for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Microsoft experts say Slovenia has a long way to go to accelerate its digital development.
New joint venture to set global standards in measuring industry
TRBOVLJE - Dewesoft, a Trbovlje-based maker of data acquisition systems, and HBK, a German company specialising in product physics, launched a joint ventured dubbed Blueberry to work on backbone standardization for the new generation of data acquisition systems. The company was incorporated in Trbovlje in March and will get investments of EUR 6 million over five years. In its first year of operation it plans to hire twenty engineers and generate revenue of EUR 600,000 this year.
Petrol's second wind farm in Croatia operational
KNIN, Croatia - The Slovenian energy company Petrol officially launched its second wind farm in Croatia. The Ljubač wind farm, situated near the town of Knin in south Croatia, had been on a trial run since last summer. Its nine turbines generate around 96 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year. The EUR 37 million wind farm is Petrol's second in Croatia; the first one opened in 2017 near the coastal town of Šibenik. The combined power of both wind farms can meet the needs of 45,000 households.
Slovenian museum director to take over as Zagreb City Museum head
LJUBLJANA - Aleksandra Berberih Slana, director of the National Liberation Museum in Maribor, is taking over as the head of the Zagreb City Museum on 20 June after 16 years on the job at the Maribor regional museum of recent history. She is also quitting as the chairman of the Slovenian Museum Association, having led it since 2015.
