STA, 30 March 2022 - Orto Fest, the largest club music festival in Slovenia, will be held in the Orto Bar club in Ljubljana from 31 March to 30 April, bringing 19 Slovenian and seven foreign acts. There will be no attendance restrictions due to Covid.

While there are several big names in Slovenian rock music in the line-up, many young hopefuls will perform as well. One of the main missions of Orto Fest is to serve as an incubator for up-and-coming Slovenian groups.

The 22nd Orto Fest will open on Thursday with a sold-out concert by the Slovenian alternative rock band Siddharta.

Notable Slovenian acts at the festival include Laibach, Elvis Jackson, Dan D!, Prismojeni Profesorji Bluesa, Slon in Sadež, Zmelkoow, and Pero Lovšin.

Providing festival with the international note are Serbia's Partibrejkers and Pero Defformero, Croatia's Brkovi, Denmark's Baest, Poland's Vader, Belgium's Reject the Sickness and Latvia's Mara, among others.

After being held in alternative formats for the past two years due to the coronavirus epidemic, this year there will be no restrictions.

The organisers stressed that Orto Fest is an independent festival that has survived for 22 years without subsidies and other financial aid, so far hosting almost 700 bands and performers.

Learn more at the site

STA, 29 March 2022 - Izola Mayor Danilo Markočič has been charged with abuse of office in a case that led to the resignation of Aleksandra Pivec as agriculture minister in the autumn of 2020, regional paper Primorske Novice reported on Tuesday.

The charges, filed at the end of last year, concern a hotel bill that the municipality paid for Pivec and her sons during what was supposed to be an official function.

Markočič told the paper he had no knowledge of the charges and said that the former minister had reimbursed the municipality for the hotel bill.

The paper says Pivec is not among those charged, but the investigation showed payment of her bill was against the law.

The revelation that Pivec stayed with her sons in a hotel paid for by the municipality caused a political scandal after it was first revealed in the summer of 2020.

Pivec lost her job first as leader of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which ended up imploding, and later as agriculture minister.

She left politics only briefly, having last year established a new party, Our Land, which has entered the election race.

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:

Minister says Slovenia can accept over 50 Ukrainian patients

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Health Minister Janez Poklukar said after a meeting of EU health ministers that Slovenia could accept more than 50 Ukrainian patients. For now, Slovenia has offered to admit four sick people from Ukraine, including one child. Ukrainian patients who are currently in the EU member states bordering Ukraine could be accommodated in the university medical centres in Ljubljana and Maribor and in the Celje hospital. Poklukar also endorsed the proposal from Poland to establish a special mechanism for financing the treatment of Ukrainian patients.

Speakers stress importance of EU enlargement

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The second day of the conference of EU parliamentary speakers focussed on the EU as a guarantor of stability, safety and prosperity in the region and beyond. The speakers stressed the importance of EU enlargement. Slovenian Speaker Igor Zorčič said the Russian aggression of Ukraine represented everything the EU had been fighting against, describing the attack on Ukraine as an attack on the fundamental European values of peace, democracy and harmony among nations. He said enlargement policy had to remain a key geostrategic tool and had to be accelerated.

Amnesty International critical of Slovenia's refugee legislation, media freedom

LJUBLJANA - Amnesty International says in its 2021 report on human rights that Slovenia's refugee legislation is too restrictive as it continues to deny access to asylum to potential asylum seekers irregularly entering the country. It also notes that media freedom has deteriorated, including through verbal attacks on journalists and the defunding of the STA, and that freedom of peaceful assembly was restricted during the pandemic. Meanwhile, it welcomed the new definition of rape in the criminal code.

New legislation facilitating sanctions entering into force in mid-April

LJUBLJANA - Legislative changes empowering the government to better implement EU sanctions against Russia, more specifically the freezing of assets of certain Russian citizens, which were passed at the March session, will enter into force in mid-April after being published in the Official Gazette. Foreign Minister Anže Logar said last week the changes would empower the government to better implement the sanctions.

Huawei unhappy with new bill on electronic communications

LJUBLJANA - Huawei presented a legal opinion that it says shows the new bill on electronic communications, which parliament will vote on Thursday, has shortcomings which could lead to lawsuits at the EU court and disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The government adopted the bill on 17 March after the previous bill was voted down in parliament because of provisions on the security of 5G networks which the opposition claimed were an attempt to prevent Huawei from selling gear to Slovenian operators.

Covid continues to retreat

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 4,412 new coronavirus cases on Monday, over a tenth fewer than the same day a week ago as the downward trend continued for the fifth day running. One patient with Covid-19 died. A total of 186 patients were treated for Covid-19 at hospitals this morning, two more than yesterday. The figure includes 37 in intensive care, the same as yesterday. The 14-day notification rate per 100,000 people is now at 1,844, up by 11 from a day ago and up by 187 week-on-week.

Bad bank offering EUR 5.35m for outstanding Mladinska stock

LJUBLJANA - The Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) published a takeover bid for Mladinska Knjiga, Slovenia's largest publisher, offering EUR 8.90 per share or roughly EUR 5.35 million for the 48.77% stake it does not hold already. BAMC is offering to pay for the shares in cash with the offer standing from 30 March to 3 May. The bid does not set any threshold at which it would be deemed successful.

Olympic medallists Garnbret and Savšek receive presidential decorations

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor conferred the Golden Order of Merit on two outstanding Slovenian athletes, climber Janja Garnbret and whitewater canoeist Benjamin Savšek, both of whom won gold at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. The pair were honoured for "outstanding sports achievements, promotion of Slovenia in the global sports arena, and for inspiring people", Pahor's office said.

Croatian water bomber helping fight fire north of Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - Firefighters are fighting a major forest fire that broke out on Monday on the slopes of the Baba hill near Preddvor, about 30 kilometres north of Ljubljana. Army helicopters have been activated and a Croatian water bomber joined the effort. An estimated 600-700 hectares of forest has been affected. A near-by village has been secured, but several firefighters have been injured. A lot of wood in private forests has gone up in smoke along with several holiday facilities.

Ex-court stenographer gets five years for leaking confidential info

MARIBOR - The Maribor District Court sentenced Vojko Tadina, a former Celje District Court employee, to five years in prison for leaking confidential information to the criminal underground in exchange for money. Tadina pleaded guilty and will serve his sentence at Rogoza, an open prison. The judge accepted the fact that he had no criminal record and his guilty plea as extenuating circumstances, the newspaper Večer reported.

Izola mayor charged in case involving ex-minister

IZOLA - Izola Mayor Danilo Markočič has been charged with abuse of office in a case that led to the resignation of Aleksandra Pivec as agriculture minister in the autumn of 2020, regional paper Primorske Novice reported. The charges, filed at the end of last year, concern a hotel bill that the municipality paid for Pivec and her sons during what was supposed to be an official function. The paper says Pivec is not among those charged, but the investigation showed payment of her bill was against the law.

Engineer, chemist and biologist win L'Oréal-UNESCO scholarships

LJUBLJANA - Mechanical engineer Katja Klinar, chemical technologist Tina Kegl and biologist Eva Turk have won the national L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science scholarships for 2022. The trio were presented with the EUR 5,000 scholarships to join the 43 promising young women researchers who have won the awards in Slovenia in the 15 years since the start of the programme.

Hungarian community building youth hostel near Lendava

LENDAVA - The Hungarian self-governing community from the Slovenian region of Pomurje will build a youth hostel in Dolga Vas, a village on the border with Hungary, featuring a restaurant and an indoor garden. The EUR 1.6 million investment will be covered by the Bethlen Gábor Fund, which supports Hungarian institutions abroad. The restaurant with a terrace will be able to accommodate 150 guests and will offer dishes from locally produced food, while the hostel will feature 42 beds.

No Golden Fox in first draft of 2022/23 season calendar

MARIBOR - The Golden Fox, the traditional women's Alpine Ski World Cup event organised in Maribor, is not in the first draft of the 2022/23 season calendar. This comes after the event was either cancelled or relocated to Kranjska Gora eight times in the last ten years due to lack of snow. Announcing the decision of the International Ski Federation (FIS), the Ski Association of Slovenia it was in touch with the schedule makers, as "our priority is to keep the women's Alpine Ski World Cup competition."

STA, 29 March 2022 - Firefighters are fighting a major forest fire that broke out on Monday on the slopes of the Baba hill near Preddvor, about 30 kilometres north of Ljubljana. Army helicopters have been activated and now a water bomber from Croatia is to join the effort. A near-by village has been secured, but several firefighters have been injured.

According to the major of Preddvor, Rok Roblek, the priority had been to protect the village of Potoče and prevent even more damage as it will be substantial.

A lot of wood in private forests has gone up in smoke along with several holiday facilities, as the area is a popular hiking point, while additional damage due to erosion is expected later.

Some estimates suggest around 500-700 hectares of land has been affected. Yesterday, 250 firefighters were at the side and today about 100 are fighting the fire, said the head of the intervention, Andraž Šifrer.

The site is difficult to access, stones, rocks and trees are falling on firefighters and several have been injured while vehicles have also been damaged.

Web portal 24ur.com reported of three injured firefighters - two reportedly sustained minor injuries and in one case the degree of injuries has not been determined yet.

Two army helicopters are currently engaged in efforts to contain the fire and another is to join in this afternoon. Defence Minister Matej Tonin said after visiting the site that four helicopters would be secured on Wednesday.

The Kranj police department said that due to the extent of the fire a Croatian water bomber had also been activated. It is to take water from Zbilje Lake, which is half-way between Ljubljana and Preddvor.

According to Matija Zupančič, a pilot of an army helicopter, said strong winds had made firefighting efforts even more difficult yesterday.

Luckily, Černava Lake is close by, so water can be lifted quicker, he said. The army choppers can take 1,100-2,400 litres of water in one lift.

Bojan Kos from the Kranj police department told the press today that information gathered so far suggested that the fire had started on Monday at around 4pm just above the village and then spread towards the top of the hill and on its other side also due to the wind.

Firefighting efforts are expected to continue at least for a day or two, while rain is also forecast in the coming days.

STA, 28 March 2022 - Hourly labour costs averaged EUR 21.1 in Slovenia last year, well below the EU and eurozone averages of EUR 29.1 and EUR 32.8, respectively, despite growing at a brisk pace, show the latest Eurostat data.

At 6%, Slovenia had the third-fastest rate of increase last year behind Lithuania (11.9%) and Estonia (6.6%).

Hourly labour costs ranged from almost EUR 47 in Denmark and EUR 43 in Luxembourg to EUR 7 in Bulgaria and EUR 8.5 in Romania.

Slovenia's labour costs place it in the company of Mediterranean member states, between Spain (EUR 22.9) and Portugal (EUR 16).

Other Central and Eastern European member states had significantly lower costs.

The figures cover all major economic sectors except agriculture and the public administration.

More on this data

STA, 28 March 2022 - Prime Minister Janez Janša and his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković talked about cooperation in gas supply and the Krško nuclear power plant as they met in Zagreb on Monday. Talks will be resumed by the ministers in charge next week.

Potential for concrete cooperation will be discussed by Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec and Croatian Economy Minister Tomislav Čorić as they meet in Zagreb next Monday.

The ministers will talk about expanding the pipeline from Lučko, a Zagreb suburb, to Zalog, on the eastern outskirts of Ljubljana, and to Logatec, south-west of the Slovenian capital. They will also discuss further cooperation on the Krško N-plant, which is owned jointly by the two countries.

"We're trying to find a common approach to supply, transport routes and the other necessary logistic. Gas, of course, is a small part of the energy we need for a normal life in Europe. Nuclear energy is also very important," said Janša.

The two countries see plenty of potential to cooperate in both energy areas when it comes to satisfying the needs of Slovenia as well as Croatia, he added.

Predsednik vlade ?? @JJansaSDS je prispel v Zagreb, kjer bo opravil delovno srečanje s predsednikom hrvaške vlade ?? @AndrejPlenkovic. pic.twitter.com/7CeUySOd6t

— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) March 28, 2022

"A large part of Europe is fully or partly dependent on energy imports from Russia, and anything that represents an alternative to these imports and dependency is a European priority at the moment," said Janša.

Slovenia would like to have enough capacities to be energy self-sufficient even in case of difficulties on the energy market. "As for our interest to lease capacities, the capacities that have been leased are leased, we're interested in additional capacities," said Janša when asked about lease of Croatian capacities.

Slovenia needs about a billion cubic metres of gas a year. The capacity of the gas pipeline from Lučko to Logatec would be 270 million m3, which Janša said represented an important share of Slovenian gas supply.

While Slovenia is short of gas, Croatia is short of electricity. The Croatian government expressed readiness to take part in the construction of a second reactor in Krško following the model of cooperation so far.

Janša said the relevant government departments would look into potential for cooperation to jointly invest in the second reactor.

The prime ministers also talked about other bilateral issues, including the fishing regime in the Bay of Piran. Plenković said the two countries deepened their relationship in recent years and would also ease them on that point so that fishers would not be fined by Croatian or Slovenian police.

Since Slovenia started implementing the border arbitration award declared by the arbitration tribunal in June 2017 the following year Slovenian police have fined vessels entering waters awarded to Slovenia illegally, while Croatia has been fining Slovenian vessels fishing in the part of the bay it continues to claim as its own because it does not recognise the border award.

The two prime ministers also touched on the refugee crisis with Janša expressing Slovenia's readiness to accept the number of Ukrainian refugees in proportion to its size and the size of its population.

"There're no tensions, all the problems that exist, even if they have for several years, we're solving quietly and to the satisfaction of both governments and nations," said Plenković.

He thanked Slovenia for supporting Croatia in joining the EU, Schengen zone and the efforts to become a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"You have all the support for membership in the integrations that Slovenia is already a member of and Croatia is still a candidate country for," said Janša.

The prime ministers also talked about cooperation in trade and tourism. The volume of bilateral trade has reached EUR 5.6 billion. Plenković noted that some 1,166,000 Slovenian tourists holidayed in Croatia last year.

This was the eighth time that Janša and Plenković have met in the past two years.

STA, 29 March 2022 - Slovenia recorded 4,412 new coronavirus cases on Monday, over a tenth fewer than the figure reported the same day a week ago as the downward trend continued for the fifth day running. Just one patient with Covid-19 died, Health Ministry has reported.

A total of 186 patients were still treated for Covid-19 at hospitals this morning, two more than yesterday. The figure includes 37 in intensive care, the same figure as reported yesterday.

The National Institute of Public Health estimates there are now just below 39,000 actively infected people in the country, roughly 260 fewer than the previous day but still almost 4,000 more than estimate a week ago.

The 7-day average of new daily cases dropped to 2,710, down 77 from the previous day and down 95 compared to the figure reported a week ago.

The 14-day notification rate per 100,000 people is now at 1,844, up by 11 from a day ago and up by 187 week-on-week.

Monday's cases were picked up from 2,018 PCR tests and 17,966 rapid antigen tests.

All the latest data on COVID and Slovenia

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:

Janša and Plenković talk gas, nuclear energy cooperation

ZAGREB - PM Janez Janša and his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković talked about cooperation in gas supply and the Krško nuclear power plant as they met in the Croatian capital. Potential for concrete cooperation will be discussed by Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec and Croatian Economy Minister Tomislav Čorić as they meet in Zagreb next Monday. The ministers will talk about expanding the pipeline from Lučko, a Zagreb suburb, to Zalog, on the outskirts of Ljubljana, and to Logatec, south-west of the capital. They will also discuss further cooperation on the jointly-owned Krško N-plant.

Pahor urges consensus on EU enlargement, Metsola EU membership prospect for Ukraine

BRDO PRI KRANJU - The EU's enlargement to its eastern neighbourhood dominated the opening session of the conference of EU parliamentary speakers with President Borut Pahor arguing the EU should reach a consensus on how to speed up accession talks while preserving safeguards in terms of fulfilment of criteria and rules. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said it was important to secure the prospect of membership to Ukraine and that Ukraine should become an EU candidate country. Metsola also met PM Janez Janša to discuss Ukraine, agreeing EU should stay united in response to Russia's aggression.

Slovenia's interim chargé d'affaires arrives in Kyiv

LJUBLJANA/KYIV, Ukraine - Slovenia's interim chargé d'affaires Boštjan Lesjak arrived in Kyiv safely Sunday night, the Foreign Ministry said. The Slovenian Embassy in Kyiv reopened today. According to the ministry, Lesjak said upon arrival that the town was deserted and that alarms and detonations could be heard in the distance but other than that life was normal for those who stayed in the Ukrainian capital.

EU parliamentary speakers to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine

BRDO PRI KRANJU - Slovenian Speaker Igor Zorčič said that EU parliamentary speakers will condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand an immediate end to the war as they meet for a conference at Brdo Congress Centre. He also urged facilitated EU enlargement as he spoke to the press before the start of the two-day event. The conference will be an opportunity to show unity with Ukraine and express support for democracy, peace and the rule of law, said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola as she addressed the press together with her two co-hosts of the conference, Zorčič and National Council President Alojz Kovšca.

7,000 Ukrainian refugees seek protection in Slovenia

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Some 7,000 refugees from Ukraine have so far applied for temporary protection in Slovenia, Franc Kangler, a state secretary at the Interior Ministry, told reporters during a session of EU Home Affairs Council. Roughly 50,000 people from Ukraine have crossed Slovenia, most of them heading on to Italy, France and Spain, according to the state secretary. He today also discussed helping Moldova, where some 360,000 people have fled the war in Ukraine.

Trieste National Hall in Slovenian minority's hands

TRIESTE, Italy - A contract was signed in Trieste to formally transfer the ownership of National Hall, a building of great symbolic importance to the Slovenian minority in Italy, from the University of Trieste on to the minority. The ceremony was attended by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, reports the minority's paper Primorski Dnevnik. A contract was also signed under which the university can continue to use the building free of charge for ten years, until a building to which it will move is renovated.

Telekom Slovenije finalises deal to acquire Actual I.T.

LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije, the majority state-owned telecoms incumbent, has finalised an agreement to buy software developer Actual I.T. for EUR 20.6 million. The transaction is expected to be completed within six months, the company said. Telekom plans to buy an outright stake in the company after receiving the green light for the deal from Actual I.T. shareholders. The agreement will be signed later today.

Žito shutting down two Slovenian locations

LJUBLJANA - Žito, a bread and pasta maker owned by Croatian food company Podravka, plans to shut down two production locations in Slovenia, in Ljubljana and Novo Mesto, in a move it says will improve productivity and long-term profitability. The decision is in line with the five-year strategic plan confirmed last year to focus on baked goods, the company said late on Sunday. Other production programmes will be "optimised at the level of the Podravka group."

Coronavirus case count continues to drop

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 910 new Covid infections on Sunday, down 341 from Saturday and 166 from a week a ago, data from the National Institute of Public Health shows. It is estimated that there are currently 38,695 active cases in the country, a daily rise of 53 and a weekly of around 5,400. Health Ministry data shows that there are currently 147 Covid-19 patients at regular Covid-19 wards and another 37 in intensive care, up 10 and 2 from yesterday, respectively. Five Covid patients died.

Dissent aroused as new party gets status affording it more air time

LJUBLJANA - The public broadcaster has invited protests by deciding to treat the party of Aleksandra Pivec, the former agriculture minister, as a parliamentary party in election debates arguing it is a legal successor to the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), the party Pivec used to head. As position disagrees with the view taken by the broadcaster's legal service, DeSUS protested against Our Land being declared their legal successor, calling the decision politically-motivated.

POP TV poll shows SDS overtaking Freedom Movement

LJUBLJANA - Less than a month before the general election, the ruling Democrats (SDS) are in the lead in a poll conducted by pollster Mediana for commercial broadcaster POP TV at 16.8%, just ahead of the Freedom Movement, which polled at 16.7%. The SDS saw its rating rise by 0.4 percentage points in the past month, while the Freedom Movement lost 0.7 points.

Košorok dismissed as state secretary, tipped to be GEN Energija CEO

LJUBLJANA - Blaž Košorok was relieved of his duties as a state secretary at the Infrastructure Ministry with media reports tipping him as a serious contender to become CEO of GEN Energija, one of two major energy groups in the country. Košorok served as CEO of HSE, the state-owned holding running a series of power plants, from November 2012 to July 2017. The news portal Necenzurirano reports that Košorok enjoys Prime Minister Janez Janša's support to become CEO of GEN Energija.

Slovenia's hourly labour costs grew rapidly in 2021

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Hourly labour costs averaged EUR 21.1 in Slovenia last year, well below the EU and eurozone averages of EUR 29.1 and EUR 32.8, respectively, despite growing at a brisk pace, show the latest Eurostat data. At 6%, Slovenia had the third-fastest rate of increase last year behind Lithuania (11.9%) and Estonia (6.6%).

Slovenian banks lag behind in digital experience

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks scored lower than foreign banks in overall user experience and in mobile user experience, according to a digital banking analysis carried out by E-laborat. NLB, the Slovenian market leader, scored the most points among Slovenian banks overall, as it did last year. NLB, SKB Bank and NKBM all made it among "advanced digitals", a group which includes banks that set standards in the industry and scored best in all categories.

STA, 28 March 2022 - Some 7,000 refugees from Ukraine have so far applied for temporary protection in Slovenia, Franc Kangler, a state secretary at the Interior Ministry, told reporters during a session of EU Home Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday.

At the session, Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, presented an index showing the pressure of the refugee crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine on EU countries. Poland currently faces the biggest pressure, followed by Austria and the Czech Republic.

The commissioner did not mention Slovenia specifically, Kangler said at a press conference in Brussels while the ministerial was still under way.

He said some 7,000 Ukrainian refugees had asked for temporary protection in Slovenia, which figure did not include those who register with their relatives at police stations.

Kangler said that the latter often left Slovenia, registered in Austria and then returned to Slovenia. He noted the importance of single registry at the European level.

Roughly 50,000 people from Ukraine have crossed Slovenia, most of them heading on to Italy, France and Spain, according to the state secretary.

Kangler discussed the issue with Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who told him there were roughly 15,000 Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, which meant the situation in Slovenia was comparable to Croatia's.

Božinović later told Croatian reporters that some 11,000 Ukrainian refugees had applied for temporary protection in Croatia.

The home affairs officials today also discussed helping Moldova, where some 360,000 people have fled the war in Ukraine. Kangler said the government needed yet to take a decision on Slovenia accepting refugees from Moldova.

One of the topics under discussion was financial support for EU countries to care for refugees. By activating the temporary protection regulation, Slovenia secured financing from the budget, said Kangler.

"However, given the burden and the number of refugees arriving in Slovenia, we would also like to try to find European funds that Slovenia could tap into," he added.

As one potential option he mentioned financing from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, where an additional EUR 200 million is available that is left over from last year and the year before.

At the session Kangler also offered the assistance of the Slovenian-run ITF fund in demining Ukraine after the war. Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastirski called on the ministers to start thinking how Europe would go about deactivating unexploded mines.

STA, 28 March 2022 - Finance criticises in Monday's commentary the administrative units for being slow in processing applications for work permits filed by foreigners, saying that these applicants will not sit idle while waiting for a response. This is also important in light of Ukrainian refugees coming to Slovenia.

This is a long-standing problem - there are no workers in Slovenia, foreigners from third countries would like to work, but they have to wait an average of six months for a permit.

On the other hand, the state apparatus says that the matter cannot be speeded up because there is not enough employees, the newspaper says under the headline An F for Administrative Units.

The most surprising data is that 15,000 applications are pending in the Ljubljana administrative unit alone, Finance says, noting that production or construction workers, as well as highly qualified staff, are waiting for a permit.

A new task force has been appointed to deal with the issue, which has assessed that the backlog could be reduced or eliminated in six months, under the assumption that there will be unannounced sick leaves or termination of job contracts.

"Today, when user experience is important, it seems that public administration has gotten stuck in the previous century," Finance says, adding that it is processing mountains of documents and complaining that it does not have enough employees.

A foreign worker cannot sit idle while waiting, and if they are not hired in Slovenia, they will try to get a job in Austria, as he is only tens of kilometres away and where wages are higher.

Noting that Ukrainian refugees are coming, Finance says that the state is all about promises and wonders whether it will now wake up and make sure that refugees sort out the paperwork faster so that they can start to work.