STA, 31 August 2021 - Slovenia will significantly expand subsidised public transportation starting on 1 September in an effort to boost ridership and limit the use of cars. 

Students with subsidised transport passes will no longer be limited to the home-to-school route, they will be able to travel on all routes in Slovenia year-round.

The cost will remain the same, at EUR 25 for a monthly pass and EUR 200 for an annual pass that will now be valid for the whole year, not just the duration of the school year.

"The simplification of the subsidised pass system will therefore benefit particularly those who live at multiple addresses or attend two universities. The process of purchasing tickets will also be simplified," Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec explained recently.

Tickets can be bought online and with little input of personal data since the system will pull all the data automatically from official records.

"A key benefit is that the whole process from applying for a subsidised ticket to the actual purchase has been digitalised. This is the first step," said Vrtovec.

There are also family passes for travel during public holidays. The aim is to encourage the use of public transport and to enable families or groups with children to go on trips and holidays more cheaply than by using cars.

The Infrastructure Ministry has also reached an agreement with the municipalities of Ljubljana and Maribor to provide free bus transport for pensioners aged 65 and over. It will be available from the beginning of October.

After already enjoying free regional and intercity transport, pensioners over 65, disabled people and war veterans are now eligible for free transport on city buses as well.

Now that Ljubljana and Maribor are on board, the ministry will engage in talks with other municipalities which have mass transit.

STA, 31 August 2021 - The Health Ministry's Covid-19 advisory group on Monday prepared a proposal of restrictive measures to be introduced in various stages of the epidemic. According to unofficial information obtained by the STA, it proposes expanding the tested-vaccinated-recovered (PCT) rule if the situation deteriorates, while school closure is not envisaged.

In line with the proposal, the tiers of restrictions will be based on the number of cases in hospitals and the phases of Slovenia's hospital activation plan, the has STA learned unofficially.

The six-stage strategy for treating Covid-19 patients determines when Covid units will open in Slovenian hospitals.

In the sixth phase, when fewer than 70 patients need hospital treatment, Covid patients are accepted only at the UKC Maribor and UKC Ljubljana hospitals.

In the fifth phase, with fewer than 150 Covid patients, the two hospitals increase the number of beds for Covid patients, and the Celje general hospital and the Golnik clinic start accepting Covid patients.

In the forth phase, which Slovenia is in at the moment, the list of hospitals is expanded to Nova Gorica in the west, Novo Mesto in the east and Murska Sobota in the north-east, and the existing capacities for Covid patients are increased. This phase is envisaged for up to 250 patients.

In the third phase, with up to 500 patients, Slovenj Gradec in the north and Jesenice in the north-west will start accepting Covid patients as well, while other Covid hospitals will increase their capacities.

When up to 700 Covid patients need hospitalisation, the second phase is activated, with capacities further increasing and patients being admitted also in Trbovlje in central Slovenia, Ptuj in the north-east, Brežice in the east and Izola on the coast.

In the ultimate, first phase, with about 900 patients, all hospitals are activated, meaning Topolščica in the north and Sežana in the south-west are added to the list of Covid hospitals.

A total of 926 beds are available in this phase, including 762 regular beds and 164 beds in intensive care.

Health Minister Janez Poklukar confirmed as he visited the Ljubljana Paediatric Clinic today that the advisory group's proposal was based on the number of beds occupied by Covid patients. "The pace of restrictions will be dictated by the occupancy of hospital and intensive care beds," he said.

He would not comment on the proposed measures for each phase, noting they would be presented at a press conference once agreed on.

The latest data on covid and Slovenia

STA, 31 August 2021 - The newspaper Finance approves of imposing a tax on earnings from cryptocurrencies in Tuesday's commentary, but lambastes the Financial Administration's proposal for a 10% tax on the sale value of cryptocurrencies as being unreasonable.

The paper says there are several arguments in favour of taxing the crypto market, however the direction which the Financial Administration is taking with its proposal is "completely misguided".

"They want to tax 10% of the sales value of cryptocurrencies. This means that if you buy 1,000 euros' worth of Bitcoins and later sell them for 1,100 euros, your profit is 100 euros and the tax 110 euros."

Calling the idea unreasonable, the paper says trading in cryptocurrencies is much like trading in securities; no one buys them to use them as a currency and everyone buys them to sell them for a higher value later on, so there is no reason for traders not to pay tax on capital gains, at the same rate as investors in shares.

The paper says the state has been sending out a wrong message by not taxing trading in cryptocurrencies so far and is sending a wrong one now with a proposal that in many cases means state 'confiscation' of all or almost all profit.

"Since nothing is as bad as it seems let us hope the Finance Ministry will see reason and draw up a normal proposal - so that cryptocurrencies are taxed by profit, just like shares."

STA, 30 August 2021 - Nearly 90% of doctors working at Slovenian hospitals have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, data from the Slovenian Medical Chamber shows. The vaccination rate among other health staff is lower.

Out of 3,571 doctors employed at Slovenia's two medical centres and hospitals 89.4% have been vaccinated.

"The data shows clearly that vaccination is being opted for by people who know professionally the most about the safety and efficacy of vaccination and its significance for society," the Medical Chamber said in a press release on Monday.

Its data shows that all the doctors have been inoculated at the Topolšica hospital in mid north-east of the country, and nearly all at the general hospital in Celje (99.4%).

Over 90% have also been jabbed at UKC Maribor, Slovenia's second largest medical centre, at the Oncology Institute in Ljubljana and the general hospitals in Brežice and Slovenj Gradec.

At UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest medical centre, 87% of over 1,300 doctors working there have been vaccinated.

"The figure includes all doctors, including those on long-term sick leave or maternity leave, whereas in most other hospitals doctors on long-term leave are not included," said the release.

Some doctors are still deemed protected through a recent infection, which is why they have not yet been vaccinated.

Almost two weeks ago, UKC Ljubljana said 75% of its staff have been vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Tatjana Lejko Zupanc, the head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at UKC Ljubljana, said the vaccination rate among nursing staff was on a par with the national average.

Nation-wide, 43% of the population has been fully vaccinated or 51% of the adult population.

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This summary is provided by the STA: 

143 new cases of coronavirus confirmed as hospital numbers surge

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 143 cases of coronavirus on Sunday, a quarter more than in the week before, as 16% of all PCR tests came back positive and hospitals continued to fill up amidst an exponential growth in new cases. There were 141 patients with Covid-19 in hospital this morning, up by twelve, whereas the number of ICU cases rose by four to 27, show data by the tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population rose by four to 241 and the number of active cases is estimated at 5,156, according to the National Institute of Public Health.

Slovenian shooter Tiršek wins silver at Tokyo Paralympics

TOKYO, Japan - Shooter Franček Gorazd Tiršek won the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in the men's 10m air rifle standing competition in what is the first medal for Slovenia at the games. The gold was won by Philip Jonsson of Sweden with a new Paralympic Games record of 252.8 points, while bronze went to Andrea Liverani of Italy. For Tiršek, who was only 0.4 points behind the winner, this is the third medal at the Summer Paralympics, as he also won silver medals in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 in the same discipline.

Logar talks migration and Afghanistan with Spanish counterpart

MADRID, Spain - FM Anže Logar met his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares in Madrid to exchange views on current EU and international issues. The pair discussed migration, the situation in Afghanistan, the security situation in the region, climate change, efforts to tackle the impact of Covid-19 and economic recovery. Slovenia and Spain have similar views when it comes to efforts to prevent illegal migration, and similar concerns over how the developments in Afghanistan might affect illegal migration trends, Logar's ministry said.

Defence Ministry's efforts to evacuate Afghan who helped Slovenia continue

LJUBLJANA - The Defence Ministry continues with its efforts to evacuate an Afghan who worked for the Slovenian Armed Forces and his family from Kabul. According to the army's spokesman Marjan Sirk, evacuation is now possible only through a UN humanitarian convoy or one of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries as virtually all of them offered to help. The family has been offered several options, but the final decision will be theirs, Sirk said.

Slovenia to allocate EUR 83m for digital transformation in healthcare

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will allocate EUR 83 million for achieving goals in digital transformation of healthcare, according to Health Ministry State Secretary Robert Cugelj. The focus will be on four areas - users and providers of health services, healthcare decision-makers and designers and those who pay for the services. The goal is to improve the transparency of waiting times, and enable good policies and decision making while providing for quality, Cugelj said at a conference entitled Days of E-Health.

FURS proposes special tax on cryptocurrencies

LJUBLJANA - The Financial Administration (FURS) has proposed changing how income from cryptocurrencies is being taxed so that a 10% tax rate would be imposed when the cryptocurrency is spent or turned into cash. They are proposing adopting the new system to tax cryptocurrencies by passing a new law. It would be a major simplification for FURS as they would no longer need to examine the many transactions the taxpayer has performed in between or how many cryptocurrencies they have bought or sold.

Qatari delegation visits Foreign Ministry, Ljubljana mosque

LJUBLJANA - A delegation of Qatari Foreign Ministry officials was in Ljubljana for a visit to the Muslim Cultural Centre, which was built with substantial financial support from Qatar, and for political consultations at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. A press release by the ministry said the delegation was led by Ahmad Hassen Al-Hammadi, secretary-general at the Qatari Foreign Ministry. The Qatari official and his Slovenian counterpart Jernej Müller reviewed bilateral political and economic relations and ways to upgrade them.

Peter Geršak reassigned state secretary for digitalisation

LJUBLJANA - Peter Geršak was relieved of his duties as a state secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration by the government and appointed state secretary at the new Government Office for Digital Transformation effective from Tuesday. A release issued after the government's correspondence session said that Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik will put forward the name of a new state secretary at his ministry to the government shortly.

Centre-left opposition rejects possibility of cooperation with SDS

LJUBLJANA - After the ruling Democrats (SDS) presented their terms of cooperation in the next coalition, most parties responded to these proposals with the centre-left opposition ruling out cooperation with the SDS. The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) said it was open to cooperation with parties with whom it shared the country's development vision. The opposition National Party (SNS), which has signed a cooperation agreement with the current government, is in favour of part of the proposals.

Nine out of ten hospital doctors inoculated against Covid-19

LJUBLJANA - Nearly 90% of doctors working at Slovenian hospitals have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, data from the Slovenian Medical Chamber shows. The vaccination rate among other health staff is lower. Over 90% have also been jabbed at UKC Maribor, Slovenia's second largest medical centre, at the Oncology Institute in Ljubljana and the general hospitals in Brežice and Slovenj Gradec. At UKC Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest medical centre, 87% of over 1,300 doctors working there have been vaccinated.

DARS revenue, profit up in first six months

LJUBLJANA - The National Motorway Company (DARS) generated EUR 218.8 million in revenue in the first six months of the year, which is 16% more than in the same period last year. Net profit was up 55% to EUR 43.9 million, according to the company's unaudited report. DARS sold little more than 2.5 million 2021 toll stickers in the first half of the year, up slightly year-on-year, but still significantly lower than in 2019, before the Covid-19 epidemic.

Profit of Slovenian Henkel subsidiaries slightly down last year

MARIBOR - The two Slovenia-based subsidiaries of German chemical group Henkel recorded a combined EUR 81 million in revenue and over EUR 4 million in net profit last year. While the production company Henkel Maribor saw a slight drop in revenue, the revenue of the sales company Henkel Slovenija increased. Profit was down in both companies, with Henkel Maribor posting a net profit of almost EUR 2 million, and Henkel Slovenija recording a net profit of almost EUR 2.3 million.

Slovenian, international PEN centres urge govt to restore STA funding

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian PEN centre again called on the government to immediately settle its financial liabilities to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), saying that the "STA is undoubtedly an autonomous and unbiased source of information about events in Slovenia and abroad" and that its "financial revenue is clearly defined by law." The head of the International PEN Centre, Jennifer Clement, and several PEN centres from other countries joined the call.

Only part of e-tolling to be ready by December

LJUBLJANA - E-tolling system for cars will not be fully up and running by December as planned. Only annual electronic vignettes for cars and semi-annual e-vignettes for motorbikes will be available from December, while weekly and monthly e-vignettes will not be available until February 2022. The delay follows from amendments to the e-tolling act that have been published on the government website as matters under consideration and still need to get endorsed by the cabinet.

Slovenian top football referee Damir Skomina retires

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The most successful Slovenian football referee Damir Skomina, whose record includes refereeing at the European championships, World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the 2019 Champions League final, officially announced the end of his career at a press conference. "Damir Skomina's successes should be a challenge to the many young football referees who are following his path," the Football Association of Slovenia (NZS) noted on the occasion. Skomina said he wanted to stay in football, revealing that he would run for the presidency of the third division team Izola.

STA, 30 August 2021 - The Financial Administration (FURS) has proposed changing how income from cryptocurrencies is being taxed so that a 10% tax rate would be imposed when the cryptocurrency is spent or turned into cash.

The administration proposes the tax, at a rate of 10%, be paid on the amount of cryptocurrency turned into another currency or spent for goods or services.

"We would like to emphasize that it is not profit which would be taxed but rather the amount a Slovenian tax resident receives on their bank account on turning the virtual currency into cash or when buying a thing," said FURS.

They are proposing adopting the new system to tax cryptocurrencies by passing a new law.

It would be a major simplification for FURS as they would no longer need to examine the many transactions the taxpayer has performed in between or how many cryptocurrencies they have bought or sold.

There are currently more than 1,000 different cryptocurrencies, the best known of which are Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Under current legislation taxable income from virtual currencies depends on the circumstances of each individual case, but as a rule physical persons need to pay capital gains tax from selling cryptocurrencies when they make the income as a business.

This typically involves excessive number of transactions, even tens of thousands, but the increasingly digitalised world calls for simple taxation solutions, said FURS.

Under the new solution that is being proposed the taxpayer would have to prove they incurred a loss, which means that all transactions would have to be examined.

STA, 30 August - The annual Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), Slovenia's pre-eminent foreign-policy conference, will take place in Bled on Wednesday and Thursday. The conference discussions will focus on the future of Europe and will feature the most high-level line-up of senior officials to date.

Top Slovenian officials, including President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Janez Janša, will welcome officials including European Council President Charles Michel, and European Parliament President David Sassoli.

The list of guests from abroad includes two presidents, ten prime ministers, two European commissioners and several foreign ministers; the latter will also attend an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday.

Several other high-level guests are also expected, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Vatican. Five former prime ministers or presidents have been confirmed.

A special guest will be Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus opposition leader, according to Peter Grk, the secretary general of the Bled Strategic Forum.

Around 170 panellists from all over the world will discuss various aspects of the future of Europe, a topic which is not only among the priorities of the Slovenian presidency but of the entire EU, Grk said.

"A weak EU cannot be in anyone's interest," he stressed. "A weak EU means an unclear future, both in terms of our mutual relations and the role that the EU will play in the future international architecture," he said.

"The debate on the future of Europe has reached a stage where solutions, proposals and ideas need to be found on how we will continue to live together as the EU or as Europe."

While the 16th BSF will focus on the priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency, it will create an opportunity for debate on all top issues faced by Europe and the international community at the moment.

In this sense, the conference's four main themes are the future of Europe, transatlantic relations, sustainable development and digitalisation, said Grk.

The debate on the transatlantic relations will be marked by developments in Afghanistan, while the talks on sustainable development will be closely connected to the fight against climate change.

"This summer was a big warning that sustainable development and the fight against climate change must be taken very seriously. Half of the planet was on fire. Literally," he said.

Since prime ministers of all Western Balkan countries and all three members of the presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina will attend, the BSF will be a preparation for the informal summit of the EU and Western Balkans which Slovenia will host in early October.

Both Janša and Pahor will take part in the panel on the EU enlargement process, which is one of the priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency.

Grk also highlighted a visit by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is to present developments in the Indo-Pacific region, where major change is under way.

A panel discussing this is also expected to touch on the future of Afghanistan, a topic that will be covered in more detail at a panel featuring defence ministers.

The Covid-19 pandemic will be on the agenda as well, with this year's panels focussing on recovery. The digital transformation of Europe will be discussed, as will the future of European tourism.

As customary, the forum is preceded by the Young BSF, a conference attended by about 40 up-and-coming leaders from the EU and its neighbourhood that started on Sunday. They too will mostly discus the future of Europe.

Due to the current epidemiological situation, some panellists will take part in debates online, but most plan to attend in-person.

Grk said that the health of all participants will be one of the organisers' main priorities. In line with general requirements, all participants will need to meet the tested-vaccinated-recovered requirement. Debates will also be broadcast online.

According to Grk, the fact that the BSF has not been affected by the pandemic much this year shows that it is becoming a leading conference in SE Europe.

Last year, the BSF was a one-day event due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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STA, 30 August 2021 - Shooter Franček Gorazd Tiršek won the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in the men's 10m air rifle standing competition on Monday in what is the first medal for Slovenia at the games.

Tiršek was fourth in the qualifying, and was also excellent in the finals, staying in the medal range all the time and securing at least a silver medal in the last rounds.

Eventually, Philip Jonsson of Sweden prevailed with a new Paralympic Games record of 252.8 points to win the gold medal, while bronze went to Andrea Liverani of Italy.

For Tiršek, who was only 0.4 points behind the winner, this is the third medal at the Summer Paralympics, as he also won silver medals in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 in the same discipline.

"I had known myself that I was excellently prepared. I focused on the Tokyo games, I believed in myself, and I proved this today. If I had another shot, maybe the medal would have been even shinier. But this is sport," he told the press.

Tiršek had found himself in a tough position in the qualifiers, and his excellent effort in the last series earned him a spot in the finals, which he thinks had not started very well, either.

"I knew exactly what I was doing and why I was looking for, and eventually I found the silver medal. I knew that an excellent shot must come eventually."

The medal won by Tiršek is the 50th medal for Slovenian Paralympians, counting appearances both for independent Slovenia and for the former Yugoslavia.

STA, 29 August 2021 - The head of the ruling coalition Democrats (SDS) and Prime Minister Janez Janša commented at the party's regional meeting in Leskovec pri Krškem on Saturday on a possible new coalition, saying that the SDS did not exclude anyone but that it did have certain conditions such as that all partners work for the common good rather than own interests.

He said coalition partners will need to put the interests of the people first. This is why there cannot be any talks on open borders and migration corridors, he was quoted as saying in a post on the SDS's website.

Another condition for cooperating in the next coalition is strict respect for the values of the Slovenian Constitution, Janša said.

All parties that will join the SDS in the next coalition must also agree to support the European Parliament's resolution condemning all totalitarian regimes, he said.

Commenting on the upcoming election year, he said that a lot of work had been done so far despite the fact that the state was faced with the epidemic, and despite criticism from the opposition.

He listed efforts for debureaucratisation, investment in education and sport, and the bill on long-term car that has been filed in the parliamentary procedure as the most important measures adopted by the government.

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.

This summary is provided by the STA: 

Slovenia logged 273 new coronavirus infections on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 273 new coronavirus infection on Saturday for a positivity rate of 19.6%. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 people increased from 229 to 237, fresh official data show. Hospitalisations continue to rise, according to the national data tracker Covid-19 Sledilnik. No deaths were reported.

Janša presents SDS's terms for cooperation in next coalition

KRŠKO - The head of the ruling coalition Democrats (SDS) and Prime Minister Janez Janša commented at the party's regional meeting in Leskovec pri Krškem on Saturday on a possible new coalition, saying that the SDS did not exclude anyone but that it did have certain conditions such as that all partners work for the common good rather than own interests. He said coalition partners will need to put the interests of the people first. This is why there cannot be any talks on open borders and migration corridors, he was quoted as saying in a post on the SDS's website.