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17 May 2022, 12:24 PM

Mathematician Franc Forstnerič: Math Creates Order in the Universe (Interview)

STA, 17 May 2022 - Mathematician Franc Forstnerič, a professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, is one of the three Slovenians who won the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for established researchers this year. Maths is about creating order in the universe, says the recipient of the first ERC project for mathematics in Slovenia.

Forstnerič received the European Research Council (ERC) five-year grant worth nearly EUR 1.5 million for his project titled Holomorphic Partial Differential Relations, which is aimed at coming up with new methods and findings in the area of Oka manifolds and more generally of oriented holomorphic systems.

In 1985, Forstnerič completed his doctoral thesis about holomorphic mappings in several complex variables at the University of Washington in Seattle, US.

During his studies, he was introduced to the Oka-Grauert principle, which deals with the existence and properties of holomorphic mappings from certain classes of complex manifolds. At the time, he lacked the "mathematical maturity" he now has to build on the principle, he told the STA.

After he obtained his PhD, Forstnerič first returned to Ljubljana and then went on several extended research stays abroad. In 1997, he was back in Ljubljana, determined to work intensively on the Oka-Grauert principle.

"In 1989, an important article on the subject was published by the eminent Russian-French mathematician Mikhael Gromov, the recipient of the Abel Prize in 2009. Gromov put the theory on a new footing, introduced new techniques and suggested possible further development, but he did not present detailed proof.

"Gromov is a brilliant mathematician who has contributed key new ideas in a number of mathematical fields, but he often leaves the detailed arguments and further development to others," Forstnerič said.

He involved his PhD student Jasna Prezelj in the research, and together, in a few years, they managed to make a crucial breakthrough in the understanding of Gromov's ideas.

Forstnerič then went on to work on the problem of characterising the class of complex manifolds to which the results of the theory apply. In 2006, he characterised this class by a simple "convex approximation property" and by a number of other properties which were not obviously equivalent to each other.

"This manifold property means that any holomorphic mapping of a convex set in a complex Euclidean space can be approximated by holomorphic mappings of the entire Euclidean space into a given manifold," he explains. This has solved one of the key problems posed by Gromov, and within a few years a complete theory emerged.

Based on this, Forstnerič introduced a new class of complex manifolds into the literature in 2009, which he named Oka manifolds after the theory's originator, the Japanese mathematician Kiyoshi Oka (1901-1978).

Manifolds are geometric objects such as curves and surfaces. "The world we live in is a manifold," notes the Slovenian mathematician, adding: "We live on a sphere; the sphere, galaxies, the universe, these are all manifolds."

Complex manifolds always have an even number of dimensions. "There is an additional structure to them that defines a special class of mappings between these manifolds - holomorphic mappings."

One reason why holomorphic mappings are important is because they occur naturally in physical problems. "For example, if you want to design an aircraft wing, you need to study laminar flow. The wing is situated in a flow of air, this air will bounce off, the wing will change its direction, and this will cause buoyancy.

"This is what keeps the aircraft in the air. But when you want to model how that airflow is going to flow around the wing, you draw a shape and then you have to calculate what is going to happen. It is more straightforward to use conformal mapping to map this wing shape onto a circle. Having mapped it onto a circle, you have explicit solutions of laminar flow that avoids the circle. Then you map these solutions back using conformal mapping. This is one simple application of such mappings," Forstnerič said.

His Oka theory received significant recognition in 2020. "Every 10 years, the American Mathematical Society renews the classification of mathematical fields in cooperation with the German journal Zentralblatt fur Mathematik. There was no suitable field for this theory, so we proposed it and it was accepted.

"They introduced a new field called Oka Theory and Oka Manifolds. This is my contribution to the classification. As far as I know, this is the second such case in mathematics in Slovenia," he noted.

His work is also fascinating in that it has helped to bring the theory of this type of complex manifolds back home to Japan after 80 years. "My main contribution was to conceptualise the theory and therefore make it more widely applicable."

The ERC project awarded to Forstnerič will allow him to expand his research into this field and pave the way for the existence of solutions to a number of problems in complex analysis and geometry as well as other areas of mathematics and beyond.

It will also allow him to build an international team that will include another three or four researchers. The project will be carried out at the Ljubljana Faculty of Mathematics and Physics.

Forstnerič's work has inspired Japanese mathematician Yuta Kusakabe, who managed to make some important breakthroughs in this field in his PhD thesis in 2020.

"I have invited him to Slovenia. He has a young family, so he can't come at the moment, but since the project will last five years, I hope that during that time he will be able to get a sabbatical and come here," Forstnerič said, adding he is pleased he will be joined by another established researcher, Rafael Andrist.

In science it is very important to introduce a new concept at the right moment, he said. "Examples may have been discussed before, but once you introduce a relevant concept and show that it has many different characterisations that all lead to the same goal, then it can become the germ of a new theory."

This requires a good knowledge of a specific scientific field, the ability to detect and abstract key features, and a bit of serendipity, he added.

"Mathematics is, in a way, creating order in the universe. It's not just calculations. You have to establish a concept and based on this concept, develop a theory. Once you have the right concept, you can develop it further, but until you get it, it's all a bit foggy," Forstnerič said.

17 May 2022, 10:58 AM

Astrophysicist Maruša Bradač Brings Research into Early History of the Universe to Ljubljana (Interview)

STA, 17 May 2022 - Slovenian astrophysicist Maruša Bradač is the recipient of the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant for a project called FIRSTLIGHT. The dive into the prehistory of the universe, backed with EUR 2.1 million over five years, will allow the researcher, who has worked in the US for 17 years, to continue her career in Slovenia.

The main focus of Bradač's research has been the formation of the first galaxies, from which all other galaxies evolved. She was also involved in the development of the NIRISS camera, one of the four most important instruments on the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope.

The ERC funding was awarded to Bradač for the processing of data from the James Webb telescope and related research on the first galaxies in space. "This is a very important part of the origin of galaxies in the universe, because it is about a very early universe, about which we know very little," the astrophysicist told the STA.

"The universe at that time was full of neutral hydrogen and was not permeable to visible light. Try to imagine it like a kind of fog, and like with fog which can be dispelled by the sun, the first galaxies gave off enough light to ionise the hydrogen and drive the fog away.

"This brings us to the end of the cosmological dark ages. However, we know very little about how this actually happened. Thus this data and this ERC project will help us answer this question," she explained.

The James Webb Telescope differs from the older Hubble Space Telescope in that it captures images in the infrared spectrum, whereas Hubble operates in the visible spectrum. In the infrared, we can observe galaxies that are far away from us.

"The main thing about the James Webb are the spectrographs which are featured on all four cameras and which allow us to not only capture images of an object, but to study its composition. So for these first galaxies, we will be able to discover what they are made of and, as a result, answer the question of how they were formed," Bradač explained.

With FIRSTLIGHT, Slovenia is also gaining access to data from the new telescope. "As a result of me having been a member of the scientific team that helped develop one of the four cameras, we have access to data that other researchers around the world do not have," Bradač said, pointing out that only about 30 people in total have access.

"Since I am one of them, all my collaborators on the ERC project will have access to this data. This is a really good opportunity for young researchers," she noted.

The Slovenian astrophysicist, who spent 17 years working in the US, most recently at the University of California, Davis, said it had been "quite a big step to move back to Slovenia".

Bradač said she would continue her research in Slovenia at a higher level than in the US, and that she was looking forward to better opportunities in the future.

"This is the biggest project I have been given in my time as a researcher, so it will definitely allow me to work more easily than would be the case presently in the US."

"I expect that we will take Slovenia to a higher level of membership of both the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory, which is building the next large telescope in Chile.

"If Slovenia joins these projects, we will have optimal conditions, even better than in the US, where these projects are experiencing some issues at the moment," she explained.

The project will be carried out at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, where Bradač will set up her own research group, which will include students at the faculty and researchers from abroad.

"We have just recruited a researcher from Australia and one Slovenian researcher is returning from Germany, so it will be a diverse bunch here."

"I'm already full-time at the faculty and I already have one course, so I'm getting to know the students. Of course, I'm trying to get them to take part in this project, because there will be a lot of opportunities for research here," said Bradač, who herself studied at the Ljubljana faculty.

17 May 2022, 08:54 AM

Doctors Oppose Proposed Ban on Working for Both Public & Private Sectors

STA, 16 May 2022 - Doctors strongly oppose the announcement in the draft coalition agreement that doctors in the public sector will be fully banned from working for private providers. Nurses, on the other hand, have welcomed an announcement of better pay and of a new set of standards and norms for staffing and workload.

While the powerful FIDES trade union has yet to study the document, the Medical Chamber and Young Doctors believe the blanket ban is not a solution to the problems in the country's healthcare and could even encourage more doctors to leave the public health system.

Restricting the scope and organisation of the work of doctors with bureaucratic measures when there is a shortage of at least 1,000 doctors could further affect the capacity of the Slovenian healthcare system, the chamber said on Monday.

It said the current restrictions already reduce the interest of doctors in working in public health services while the latest proposal would put them at a great disadvantage compared to other public employees.

Young Doctors said "every doctor who carries out an examination, surgery or gives an opinion is reducing waiting times - regardless of when they do it," they told STA.

The organisation noted that conditions to work for private providers while being employed at a public health organisation are already clearly set down and the scope is limited. At the same time, working conditions and pay in public healthcare cannot even be compared with private providers.

The doctors' view that the ban would be discriminatory to doctors in comparison with some other groups was upheld by jurist Nataša Pirc Musar.

She noted that under the existing legislation, doctors must obtain a permission from their employer before starting working with another employer.

Pirc Musar therefore urged better oversight, and clearer guidance so that public providers know under what conditions they can approve work for private providers.

Nurses meanwhile reacted more positively to what the draft coalition agreement envisages for them - the adoption of staffing standards and norms as set down in the 2018 strike agreement, the elimination of wage disparities, rewarding good performance, scholarships for secondary and tertiary education, and less administrative work.

The Chamber of Nurses and Midwives and the Trade Union of Health and Social Care are particularly happy with the announcement of the staffing standards and elimination of pay disparities.

The chamber's head Monika Ažman told the STA that they see it as "the step in the right direction". She noted however that until pay for nurses become competitive, staff will continue to leave the public health system and young people will not be deciding to study to become nurses or midwives.

17 May 2022, 06:55 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Tuesday, 17 May 2022

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:

Pahor and Qatari emir optimistic about bilateral ties

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani hailed the good relationship between their countries and expressed the hope that Qatari investors would invest in Slovenia as the emir started a two-day visit to Slovenia, accompanied by a large delegation featuring the ministers of foreign affairs, finance and trade. Outgoing Prime Minister Janez Janša also met with al Thani, while Slovenia's SPIRIT agency and Qatar Holding LLC signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate. Pahor and al Thani also visited the Muslim Cultural Centre in Ljubljana, and unveiled a bench of friendship there.

Slovenia's economy expanded by 9.8% y/y in Q1

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual nominal rate of 9.8% in the first quarter of this year driven by household spending and capital expenditure. The seasonally adjusted rate was 9.6%. At the quarterly level GDP was up by 0.8%, a significant slowdown compared to the 5.3% recorded in the previous quarter, the Statistics Office reported. Domestic consumption increased by 16.6% year-on-year with household expenditure up by 20% as the main driver of growth, as imports growth outpaced exports growth.

Brussels cuts Slovenia's growth forecast

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission has downgraded its economic growth forecast for Slovenia by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7% for this year and by half a point to 3.1% for 2023. The rates are still substantial above those forecast for the eurozone, while inflation is projected to run at 6.1% in Slovenia and the rest of the eurozone this year. Next year Slovenia's inflation is to run at 3.3%, above the 2.7% projected for the eurozone.

Left membership voting on whether to join coalition

LJUBLJANA - The Left has launched a vote among members on whether it should join the coalition after the party's council initialled a coalition agreement with the Freedom Movement and the Social Democrats (SD). The members have one week starting on Monday to cast their vote in a secret ballot. The party said it had managed to include "some of our key programme objectives" in the coalition agreement and secured three portfolios dealing with issues highlighted as essential during the campaign.

Poll shows Freedom Movement making post-election gains

LJUBLJANA - The Freedom Movement gained ground in the first post-election Vox Populi opinion survey commissioned by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer polling at 38.4% after winning 34.5% of the vote in the 24 April election. Dnevnik writes that this is the first time in 20 years that a political party enhanced its poll showing post-election in that way. The Freedom Movement nearly doubled its margin ahead of the SDS, while only three more parties garnered over 4%.

Economists deem coalition agreement unrealistic, very leftist

LJUBLJANA - Economist Marko Pahor assessed that, from the economic point of view, the coalition agreement of the Freedom Movement, Social Democrats and the Left is much more leftist than centrist. He sees many of the priorities as expensive and thus unrealistic. Mitja Kovač expressed shock and disappointment, as the agreement "mostly deals with massive rearranging of funds and extreme increasing of public spending, massive raising of taxes." Sašo Polanec warned against high public sector spending.

Pundit misses NATO, Central Europe in coalition agreement, happy with multilateralism, W Balkans

LJUBLJANA - International relations professor Zlatko Šabič told the STA as he commented on the foreign policy segment of the draft coalition agreement document that there are many good things in the document. However, time will tell how much of what has been written for international relations or foreign policy is a wish list and what is reality. Commitments about "international reputation and security" bode well that the coalition intends to promote peaceful policies and the culture of peace, he said.

Doctors unhappy with blanket ban on work for private providers

LJUBLJANA - Doctors expressed strong opposition to the announcement in the draft coalition agreement that doctors in the public sector will be fully banned from working for private providers. Their view that the ban would be discriminatory to doctors in comparison with some other groups was upheld by jurist Nataša Pirc Musar. Nurses, on the other hand, have welcomed an announcement of better pay and of a new set of standards and norms for staffing and workload.

Future coalition wants inquiry of financing of "party propaganda in media"

LJUBLJANA - The MPs of the emerging coalition have filed a request to form a parliamentary inquiry that will look into alleged illegal financing of "party political propaganda in the media with funds of state-owned companies, state institutions or foreign institutions or entities." The request by the MPs of the Freedom Movement, Social Democrats (SD) and Left, with former journalist Mojca Šetinc Pašek of the Freedom Movement as the initiators, refers to the period from 13 March 2020 to the present day.

Hisense Gorenje Slovenia's top exporter in 2021

LJUBLJANA - Home appliances manufacturer Hisense Gorenje has overtaken drug makers Lek and Krka to become the country's biggest exporter in 2021, with exports totalling almost two billion euros, according to data gathered by Delo. Lek is in second place with EUR 1.59 billion and Krka right behind with exports worth EUR 1.47 billion. The only other company to break the one-billion mark is the Renault-owned car assembly plant Revoz with EUR 1.18 billion.

Ljubljana adopts ambitious energy strategy by 2030

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana city council endorsed the energy strategy for 2022-2030, envisaging a 40% cut in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2008 and zero net greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century. Three hydro power plants on the Ljubljanica river are planned along with a waste-to-energy plant and number of solar power plants. In line with the strategy, Ljubljana should achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2025 and the entire energy chain in the municipality should become carbon-free.

Slovenia improves energy self-sufficiency

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia met 53% of its energy needs with domestic energy sources last year, which makes an improvement of two percentage points compared with 2020, Statistics Office data shows. The country depended fully on imports for petroleum products. Petroleum products represented 31% of the energy supplied, followed by nuclear (23%), renewable energy sources (19%), coal (15%) and natural gas (12%).

Covid hospitalisations, cases continue downward trajectory

LJUBLJANA - The gradual decline in the Covid pandemic continues, with Slovenia reporting lower hospitalisations and cases over the weekend, according to the latest Health Ministry data. There were 58 patients in hospital due to Covid this morning, down by 20 from Thursday, plus another seven in intensive care, up by two. Between Friday and Sunday a total of 910 new cases of coronavirus were reported, compared to 1,265 in the same period last week.

Damage at chemical factory Melamin estimated at around EUR 36m

KOČEVJE - The damage caused by the fire at the chemical factory Melamin in Kočevje last Thursday has been estimated at around EUR 36 million. CEO Srečko Štefanič said the management had presented details of the accident to supervisors today and they had backed the plans for mending the damage and gradual re-launching of production. The company will seek EU funding for renovation.

UKC Ljubljana reports EUR 9.3 million shortfall for 2021

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's largest medical centre, UKC Ljubljana, generated a shortfall of EUR 9.3 million last year. Given the Covid-19-related constraints and increase in costs, director-general Jože Golobič assessed the performance as successful. UKC Ljubljana treated 113,254 patients in its hospitals last year, 8.8% more than in 2020 but 4.9% fewer than planned for 2021. A total of 87,360 patients were handled in out-patient surgeries, which is 5.8% more than in 2020 but 8.9% fewer than planned.

SMEs struggling with digitalisation

LJUBLJANA - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovenia lack the funds and properly skilled staff to adopt digital technologies, shows a survey which took a closer look at digitalisation at Slovenian companies. "SMEs will not be able to overcome such problems on their own," said Barbara Bradač Hojnik, the lead author of the Entrepreneurship Observatory survey.

Lampič switching from cross-country to biathlon as Gross takes over

LJUBLJANA - Anamarija Lampič, Slovenia's best cross-country skier, announced a switch to biathlon, a decision she says was long in the making since she had wanted to become a biathlete as a child. She made the announcement as the Biathlon Association announced that German biathlon legend Ricco Gross is taking over as the new headcoach of the Slovenian biathlon team.

16 May 2022, 15:44 PM

Economists Warn Over New Govt’s Spending Plans

STA, 16 May 2022 - From the economic point of view the coalition agreement of the Freedom Movement, Social Democrats (SD) and the Left is much more leftist than centrist, economist Marko Pahor said on Monday. He sees many of the government priorities as expensive and thus unrealistic. Economist Mitja Kovač expressed shock and profound disappointment.

Pahor said the social component was very highlighted in the coalition agreement, while Slovenia was already among the best in the world in terms of social security and equality.

The professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics warned against the planned progressive taxation, noting this was a "rather unique solution".

The planned changes to the public sector pay system cannot be implemented without notable wage bill rise, so this will be a big burden on the public finances, he said.

Annulling the changes to the income tax act is "perhaps not something that would really belong into the coalition agreement", Pahor added.

The pension reform is well conceived but the wording of the coalition agreement allows for broad interpretations, which could lead to conflicts within the coalition, he warned while praising the planned measures for activation of pensioners.

As for additional sources for pensions that should come from managing state assets, Pahor said the coalition partners "obviously overestimate the size of the assets" as even when highly profitable revenue from these assets covered less than 10% of the current deficit, which is now being covered from the state budget.

Pahor finds the commitments on entrepreneurship promotion encouraging, although he does not know how this will be financed.

The parts about economic democracy make sense from the Left's point of view, but "they understandably cause fear among entrepreneurs".

Pahor thinks the gradual increasing of health spending to 12% of GDP is an "extremely high and probably unrealistic number".

Pahor's colleague Kovač was even more critical. He said he was "shocked and deeply disappointed". Rightist populism is being obviously replaced by "extremely leftist populism", he said.

He thinks the coalition agreement is an example of a regulation based on a "completely obsolete system of central planning of entire economic sectors and social systems". "Potential implementation of such a coalition agreement is a true recipe for economic disaster."

According to Kovač, the coalition agreement "mostly deals with massive rearranging of the distribution of funds and extreme increasing of public spending, massive raising of taxes, regulation of entire economic sectors and social subsystems". It aims to expand the already rigid labour legislation and introduce a "kind of state healthcare based on central planning".

He believes that in view of liberal western European standards, the plans of the future government coalition are a great disappointment. In line with the document, the new government will do nothing to improve the business environment, decrease administration, increase productivity and added value, and achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth, he said.

Kovač thinks the implementation of "such populist coalition agreement" would soon lead to slower economic growth, explosion of public debt, further structural imbalances and unemployment, brain drain and departures of businesses from Slovenia.

Economist Polanec said the announced increase in public spending for healthcare, wages, pensions, and construction of apartments indicated that the costs of public sector could be close to 50% of GDP or even higher, which would be one of the highest shares in the EU.

More funds for healthcare would entail raising contributions and taxes. "If health spending increased from 8.5% to 12%, a significant increase in contribution rate would be required, by more than a half, which could raise contribution rates on gross wages from 12.9% to 19.5% and decrease wages by several percent."

Households would also be affected by higher taxes on real estate, he warned.

But he welcomed the new coalition's commitment to raise funding for health. "Raising the spending to around 10% is urgently needed if waiting times are to be cut."

However, he disagrees with the idea to ban doctors from working in private institutions in their free time. This will decrease the offering of health services, he believes. He also sees no advantages in abolishing supplementary insurance.

The planned minimal pension would reduce income inequality but Polanec stresses pensions should reflect peoples' past work.

Instead of building 20,000 state-owned apartments for rent, Polanec proposes introducing a tax on plots intended for construction that are not used for this purpose, and measures to release more plots in central Slovenia.

He would also like the coalition agreement to deal more with long-term development, especially investment in research and development, which currently stands at 2% of GDP, while most developed countries allocate about 3% for this purpose.

16 May 2022, 14:38 PM

New Govt Plans Better Integration of Foreigners, Affordable Housing, Price Caps on Energy & Food If Needed

STA, 16 May 2022 - The incoming coalition intends to implement a pension reform, raise the minimum pension and the minimum wage, respect social dialogue, eliminate precariousness, introduce an integration system for foreigners, while providing affordable housing and regulating energy and food prices if necessary.

The Freedom Movement, Social Democrats (SD) and Left pledge in their coalition agreement to raise pensions to at least EUR 700 in 2023 and to examine the option of universal basic income for lower-income pensioners.

Workers will be allowed a gradual transition to retirement and the option of pensioners starting working again will be examined by taking into account the needs of pensioners, the labour market and the public interest.

The coalition partners commit to implement a financially sustainable pension reform by strengthening the first pillar (mandatory contributions from the wages) and encouraging people to additionally save for pension.

The lowest pension will be by 10% above the poverty threshold, while new sources of pension funding will be secured to reduce dependency on contributions from wages.

Apart from raising the minimum pension, the new coalition also intends to raise the minimum wage to at least EUR 800 net as of 2023 and pursue its growth in real terms.

The partners pledge to implement the minimum wage as the lowest possible base pay in a transitional period to eliminate cases where workers receive less than the minimum wage while the difference must be paid from the budget.

The coalition will return to social dialogue on the Social and Economic Council (ESS), which has come to a standstill under the outgoing government.

In agreement with the social partners, the work week will gradually be reduced to 30 hours while the full pay for the existing 40-hour week will be preserved.

Precariousness is planned to be eliminated by drafting a strategy with a specific timeline of measures in collaboration with experts and the civil society.

The option of blacklisting employers that systematically violate labour legislation will be examined, also to prevent them from taking part in public procurement.

Measures are also planned to eliminate violations when a worker is hired for short periods of time as a way of bypassing legislation.

Oversight over agencies which provide workers to companies will be enhanced and agency workers will be guaranteed the minimum wage.

A better work-life balance will be pursued, including by introducing a right for workers not to have to answer messages from their employer in their spare time.

The coalition also pledges to draft, in collaboration with NGOs, a comprehensive system of effective integration of foreign workers and their families.

More Slovenian-language classes and other integration programmes will be provided for foreign kids at school and inter-cultural dialogue will be encouraged.

An employment strategy for EU workers and third-country workers harmonised with the needs of businesses and public sectors services is also planned.

The coalition pledges to pursue a coordinated migration and integration policy alongside measures to make life and work easier for foreigners.

Language proficiency requirements for third-country workers are to be softened.

As for long-term care, a comprehensive approach is planned with a new bill on long-term care, harmonised with key stakeholders, to be adopted by May 2023.

The partners promise that long-term care will be solidarity-based, fair and financially sustainable based on progressive taxation and other budgetary resources.

More funds to expand the public network of institutions providing long-term care will be provided, while waiting times to get a bed at a care home will be halved.

In housing, a priority will be drafting a crisis management plan to build and renovate rental homes, especially in areas where rents and the prices of land are highest.

To provide for 20,000 public rental homes by 2030, the coalition intends to strengthen the national Housing Fund and support other models of financing.

Property owned by the bad bank that is suitable for housing construction will be transferred onto the Housing Fund.

Legislation will be adopted to enable construction through housing cooperatives and a special guarantee scheme.

Legislative changes are also planned to encourage owners to put their flats on the rental market for an indefinite period of time, while regulation of rents and the rental market is also being considered.

Conditions for platform holiday rentals could be tightened in areas where there is a shortage of flats.

The coalition intends to give a special focus to the youth in housing efforts, while pledging that all policies regarding the young will be drafted together with them.

As for social policy, the coalition pledges to work hand in hand with the civil society, stressing eligibility for social transfers will be informed by clear criteria and fairness to serve "the people's needs".

The impact of income tax breaks on family and social policies will be examined and changes potentially made to enhance employment and social inclusion.

The option of gradually introducing universal basic goods for children and youth to provide for a regular income for living and education will be examined.

The coalition also plans to eliminate the measures that have decreased the right of the unemployed to freely choose employment and the right to unemployment benefit.

Prices of electricity and petroleum products will be regulated if necessary, especially to protect the most vulnerable groups.

16 May 2022, 12:18 PM

Slovenia 53% Energy Self-Sufficient in 2021

STA, 16 May 2022 - Slovenia met 53% of its energy needs with domestic energy sources last year, which makes an improvement of two percentage points compared with 2020, Statistics Office data shows. The country depended fully on imports for petroleum products.

Total amount of domestic energy sources last year was 3.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE), which is 9% less than in 2020.

The country's total primary energy supply was 6.4 million TOE, up by 0.2% from 2020.

Petroleum products represented 31% of the energy supplied, followed by nuclear energy (23%), renewable energy sources, including hydro energy (19%), coal (15%) and natural gas (12%).

16 May 2022, 10:53 AM

Slovenia’s GDP Grew at Annual Rate of 9.8% in Q1

STA, 16 May 2022 - Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual nominal rate of 9.8% in the first quarter of this year driven by household spending and capital expenditure. The seasonally adjusted rate was 9.6%. At the quarterly level GDP was up by 0.8%, a significant slowdown compared to the 5.3% recorded in the previous quarter, the Statistics Office said on Monday.

Domestic consumption increased by 16.6% year-on-year with household expenditure up by 20% as the main driver of growth. Gross fixed capital formation increased by 12.7%. Changes of inventories had a positive impact on GDP growth as well.

External trade, for years the main engine of growth, has exerted a negative impact on GDP since the start of the pandemic due to surging imports and the trend remained unchanged in the first quarter.

With imports up by 15.7% and exports increasing by only 7.7% year-on-year, the contribution of external trade balance to GDP growth was negative again, shaving 5.6 percentage points off GDP growth.

Total value added increased by 9.3% over the first quarter of 2021. Trade, transport, and accommodation and food service activities grew by 21.8% and contributed the most to the structure of total value added. Construction increased by 16.7%.

Services continued to grow strong in the first quarter, while manufacturing growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter but remained positive, at 3.9%. Net taxes contributed significantly to GDP growth as they grew by 13.2% over the same period last year.

The payrolls total rose by 3.3% to 1,073,000 persons. The bulk of the new jobs were created in accommodation and food service activities, manufacturing, and construction.

16 May 2022, 10:50 AM

Gorenje Overtakes Lek & Krka as Slovenia's Top Exporter

STA, 16 May 2022 - Home appliances producer Gorenje, which is part of the Hisense Europe group, has overtaken drug makers Lek and Krka to become the country's biggest exporter in 2021, with exports totalling almost two billion euros, according to data gathered by Delo.

Lek is in second place with EUR 1.59 billion and Krka right behind with exports worth EUR 1.47 billion. The only other company to break the one-billion mark is the Renault-owned car assembly plant Revoz with EUR 1.18 billion.

Revoz saw its export revenue decrease compared to 2021, whereas Lek and Krka posted solid gains and Gorenje reported an increase in exports of over 70% on the year before.

"In the first Covid year in 2020 there was a disastrous decline in orders, but in 2021 orders in the white goods segment surged. None of these years was typical. Demand is already tapering off this year," Gorenje said.

Steel group SIJ is in fifth place with EUR 820 million worth of exports, followed closely by aluminium producer Impol (EUR 800 million).

The top ten is rounded off by Caravan maker Adria Mobil (EUR 538 million), home appliances maker BSH Hišni Aparati (EUR 535), the industrial conglomerate Kolektor (EUR 351 million) and Mahle Electric Drives (EUR 324 million).

16 May 2022, 06:48 AM

Morning Headlines for Slovenia: Monday, 16 May 2022

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:

Spending, training in focus of Slovenian Armed Forces Day

LJUBLJANA - Senior officials spoke in favour of increased defence spending, in the face of heightened security risks at a ceremony marking Slovenian Armed Forces Day. "No matter how much Slovenia sincerely strives for the peaceful resolution of all disputes, it may not turn a blind eye to the current tense circumstances," said President Borut Pahor. Both Pahor and Defence Minister Matej Tonin also defended the government's decision to buy Boxer armoured vehicles, which Tonin said were essential if Slovenia was serious about building defence capabilities in a deteriorating security environment.

Sole bid for construction of women's prison too high

LJUBLJANA - The planned construction of a new women's prison in Ig, south of Ljubljana, could be delayed after the Justice Ministry declared that the sole bid for construction works exceeded the available budget amidst soaring prices of construction services. The ministry will now issue a new call for bids, a two-step procedure with a pre-qualification round and a second round featuring only bidders who are designated as qualified.

Share of women managers in 56 monitored companies at 23%

LJUBLJANA - Gender balance targets were being met at the end of April in 30% of the 56 state-owned and listed companies monitored by the Directors' Association and Deloitte Slovenia as part of the 40/33/2026 initiative. On average, the companies had slightly more than 23% of women on their management boards and 26% of women among supervisors. A report released this week focusing on 13 companies shows that four have made progress when it comes to the targeted minimum of 40% women on supervisory boards and 33% together on supervisory and management boards.

Slovenian families getting smaller

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian families have contracted over the past 40 years. The number of those living alone has more than doubled and the number of childless families has risen by nearly a half, shows data released by the Statistics Office ahead of International Day of Families. Last year, 80% of Slovenia's population lived in families as defined by statistics, which compares to 88% forty years ago.

15 May 2022, 13:36 PM

Slovenian Families Continue to Get Smaller

STA, 15 May 2022 – Slovenian families have contracted in size over the past 40 years. The number of those living alone has more than doubled and the number of childless families has risen by nearly a half, shows data released by the Statistics Office ahead of International Day of Families.

Slovenian statisticians have been monitoring data on families since 1981, during which time society and the way of life in the country has changed, which is reflected in the figures.

Last year, 80% of Slovenia’s population lived in families as defined by statistics, which compares to 88% forty years ago.

The Statistics Office notes that the increase in the share of population living alone is linked to population ageing. The share of those aged 80 or over has tripled and it is this group that tends to live alone or in institutional households such as care homes.

Many of those who live alone are foreigners. These are often men who came to Slovenia on their own to get a job. Over the past decade alone, the share of foreign nationals in the population has doubled.

Compared to 40 years ago, the share of families without children has increased from 21% to 30%, and the share of those with two or more children has decreased. Only one out of four families has two children now but it used to be one out of three.

The share of large families, those having three or more children, has declined from 10% to 6%, while the percentage of families with one child has remained roughly the same (39% in 2021 and 37% in 1981).

The average number of children in families with children has decreased from 1.70 to 1.56.

More families being without children is in part attributed to the longer life expectancy and population ageing as more couples grow old together.

Married couples with children accounted for 63% of all families forty years ago, but the share has since contracted to 34% as the proportion of families of cohabiting couples with children has gone up from 1% to 13%, and the share of single-parent families has increased from 14% to 23%.

Since 2007 more than half of children are born to unmarried couples.

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