Below is a review of the headlines in Slovenian dailies for Friday, February 1, 2019, as summarised by the STA:

DELO

Golden Fox Cup
"After a space of two years, Pohorje foxes aiming for a win again": Braving the weather, the experienced Pohorje "foxes" closed their ranks to make a course for the Golden Fox Cup that all women skiers taking part in the World Cup events this weekend praised yesterday. (front page, pages 5, 22)

Italy recession
"Europe sneezing, Italy slips into recession": Italy, the third largest economy in the eurozone, has slipped into recession as its GDP contracted in the second half of 2018 in two consecutive quarters of negative growth. (front page, page 9)

Croatia tourism
"Croatia investing a billion into tourism, looking at the east": Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has talked to Delo about the neighbouring country's expectations for tourism this year. (front page, page 4)

DNEVNIK

Wage growth
"Now is the time to raise wages": The economic growth and an increasing shortage of right staff are forcing employers to increase wages. The government economic forecaster projects average pay will go up by about 5% this year. (front page, page 2, commentary 18)

Healthcare
"How to get a doctor in Kranj": The GPs at the community health centre in Kranj can no longer receive new patients, so those looking for their GP are told to find one in other towns in the Gorenjska region. (front page, page 11)

Economic trends
"German economy cooling off, Slovenia to feel the impact": The German government has downgraded its economic forecast to 1% for this year, the lowest rate of growth after the crisis year of 2018. Germany being Slovenia's biggest export partner, the slow-down will also affect Slovenia. (front page, page 5)

FINANCE

Italy recession
"Italy in recession": Edi Kraus, director of the Italian-owned company AquafilSLO, says: We feel we are looking at a major crisis, like the one in 2007, but we expect the situation to worsen further after the EU elections." (front page, pages 4, 5)

Diplomatic premises
"Premises of Trieste consulate could hardly be costlier": The Consulate General in Trieste will buy new premises which could cost Slovenia almost EUR 800,000. (front page, pages 6, 7)

Acquisitions
"Šešok buys Šibenik shipyard for EUR 5m": Iskra, the electronics group owned by Dušan Šešok and his two sons, has acquired the Šibenik shipyard NCP. They are also eyeing a majority stake in Hidria. (front page, pages 10, 11)

VEČER

Golden Fox Cup
"Little foxes ready": Six Slovenian skiers will appear in today's World Cup giant slalom for the Golden Fox Cup on the Pohorje hills. (front page, pages 22, 23)

Maribor city appointments
"Arsenovič would have four deputy mayors": This follows from the draft coalition agreement that is still under negotiations. (front page, pages 8, 9)

MPs
"MPs teach, play, heal": One tenth of the 90 members of the National Assembly are working outside of politics at the moment. Such side jobs are allowed under the deputies act. (front page, pages 4, 5)

Agriculture
"Mandatory contribution for promotion": Fruit farmers have received notices from the Agency for Farming Markets and Rural Development that they need to pay mandatory promotion fees for 2018. (front page, pages 2, 3)

STA, 31 January 2019 - The National Assembly passed legislative amendments on Thursday which transpose the EU directive setting down the conditions of entry and residence of third-country citizens for the purposes of research, studies and training.

The directive, which entered into force in May 2016, should have been translated into national law by member countries by 23 May 2018. Missing the deadline, Slovenia has already received a reprimand from Brussels.

The directive also deals with the entry of third-country nationals for the purposes of voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing.

Education Ministry State Secretary Jernej Štromajer said that the amendments to the research and development activity act entailed only minor changes.

The amendments were passed by unanimous vote, but many MPs said they expected much more from a bill reforming the act more thoroughly which is already in the pipeline.

However, the Left abstained from the vote, airing misgivings about the elimination of certain proofs in acquiring residence permits for third-country citizens hosted by research agencies.

The EU standards can be found in many languages and formats here

STA, 31 January 2019 - The Ljubljana District Court heard Gratel owner Jurij Krč back Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovič on Thursday in a case in which the mayor stands accused of taking a bribe to the benefit of the city. Much like Janković last week, Krč said the donation to Ljubljana Castle was no bribe but a payment in line with the contract.

The indictment says that soon after becoming mayor in late 2006, Jankovič demanded that Gratel pay a donation of half a million euro to the municipality to be allowed to continue digging roads to install optic cables for telecommunications company T2.

The prosecution argues Jankovič had unjustifiably revoked the permit for temporary road closures Gratel had received from his predecessor just before the 2006 local elections and then made a new contract with the company.

But he added a damages clause, thereby assuming powers of the city's traffic department, which is in charge of issuing permits for road closures, according to the prosecution.

Janković told the court last week he had annulled the permit signed by his predecessor Danica Simčič because it was illegal, as it should have been issued by the city's traffic department. He said legal expert Rajko Pirnat confirmed this.

"We had an agreement on how to come to the site, whom to inform, who must be present. The deal also had a provision on damages for making a spatial intervention that exceeds the one outlined in the permit for temporary road closures," Krč said today.

"We had an agreement with the mayor to pay the damages and we did," he added.

According to Krč, Janković did not set the donation as a condition for the continuation of works. As Gratel owner Krč said he did not feel there was something wrong with the payment because it was in line with the contract. "We would have to pay one way or another," he said.

Janković said the deal was that the company either pays damages or makes a donation. The money was allocated to the same purpose any way, he said.

Former T2 adviser Miran Kramberger also took the stand today, saying that T2 was in the middle of negotiations for a loan with a consortium of banks at the time and that any interruptions in the construction works would have affected the process.

All our stories on Mayor Janković can be found here

The City of Ljubljana’s efforts to make the capital a friendlier, more welcoming and liveable place are not restricted to its award-winning environmental initiatives or support for a packed programme of cultural  activities to keep the streets alive. As noted last year with the launch of the Ljubljana by Wheelchair app, and emphasised in our interview with the man behind it, the municipality is also working to make sure the city is more accessible to those with limited mobility. To the ramps, Eurokey bathrooms, disabled access buses and Kavalir electric vehicles we can now add another service – free rental of electric attachments for wheelchairs that convert an ordinary, manually powered wheelchair into a vehicle capable of moving faster and further.

V STIC Ljubljana si gibalno ovirane osebe lahko izposodijo SPEED3X priklop za invalidski voziček. Danes ga je preizkusil prvi uporabnik in bil s storitvijo zadovoljen. ? #dostopnost pic.twitter.com/QMygoDWuhn

— Turizem Ljubljana (@TurizemLJ) January 24, 2019

As Ljubljana Tourism stated in a press release:

The SPEED3X attachment enables people on wheelchairs easier and faster movement and overcoming longer distances. It simply attaches to the wheelchair and the linking element can be adjusted in height and width, making it compatible for practically any wheelchair without any specific adaptation. A full battery has a reach of 40 km, which means a person on a wheelchair can join their friends and family on bicycles or on foot while exploring the city. The user must present their personal document and a deposit, which is returned to them after they bring back the attachment in one piece and without any damage.

At present only two attachments are available for use, and they can be picked up at the Slovenian Tourist Information Centre (STIC) located at Krekov Trg 10 – the first tourist centre in Europe to offer such devices. If you’d like to email or call to ensure one is available, the details are T: +386 (0)1 306 45 83   E: info(at)visitljubljana.si

STA, 31 January 2019 - A major tourism, camping and caravanning fair for the Alpine-Adriatic region and further afield is getting under way at the Ljubljana fairgrounds on Wednesday, featuring 330 exhibitors until Saturday.

The 30th annual Alpe-Adria fair (website) will showcase tourism offerings from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Nepal.

The fair will see a versatile accompanying programme. Today, Economy Ministry State Secretary Eva Štravs Podlogar will discuss challenges of Slovenian tourism, and panel debates will focus on development of caravanning tourism in Slovenia and on the country's appeal as a gastronomic destination.

The fair will be accompanied by GASTexpo, a leading gastronomic fair in the region which caters mainly for business visitors looking out for drinks, coffee, confectionery, baking, ice cream, wine and hotel and restaurant equipment providers.

STASTA, 31 January 2019 - Slovenian tourism growth appears to have continued apace in 2018 after several consecutive record-breaking years, with preliminary figures showing that 5.6 million tourists visited Slovenia in 2018 spending a total of 15.3 million nights in the country.

This follows from Statistics Office figures released on Thursday that significantly exceed those recorded in 2017 - 4.95 million visitors and 12.6 million nights - but are not comparable year-on-year because in early 2018, a new system for registering guests was phased in.

The new system was expected to result in a significant jump since it requires that all providers report data on an ongoing basis; in the old system, only providers with more than 10 beds were required to do that, all others reported just once a year and the reporting rules were looser.

In December alone Slovenia recorded 314,000 tourists and 842,000 nights, with domestic guests representing less than a third of the arrivals and nights.

STA, 30 January 2019 - Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec has backed efforts by winegrowers from the Slovenian region of Brda to protect the Rebula wine together with fellow Italian winemakers across the border.

The Rebula vine is grown on some 25% of all vineyards in Brda, a region near the city of Nova Gorica on the border with Italy.

The Rebula wine is thus synonymous with Brda and is also grown on the Italian side of the hilly Brda.

What bothers the Slovenian farmers is that Italian winegrowers from the Padua Valley also grow this vine.

But due to a different climate, the same vine produces a different wine taste, wine company Klet Brda director Silvan Peršolja explained on Wednesday.

Growing Rebula in Brda is much harder than in the valley, where it is planted in sand as opposed to a marl-rich soil on the hills of Brda and in the Vipava Valley in Slovenia.

"We also kept Rebula when Chardonnays, various Pinots and other varieties of wine dominated the market," said Peršolja.

Now that Rebula is gaining ground globally, there are some who have never known Rebula in their entire lives who would like to take advantage of it, he said.

"The Rebula from low-lying areas does not reach the quality of the Rebula from Brda, what they have in common is only the name," said Igor Simčič, one of the leading winegrowers from Brda.

The winegrowers from Slovenia's Brda thus launched a debate with their colleagues from the Italian side of Brda to protect Rebula at the international level a few years ago.

However, protection procedures are rather long and it could already be too late in a few years' time, so prompt action should be taken, the farmers told Pivec.

The minister pledged her support for their efforts to join forces with the winegrowers from the Italian side of Brda.

She visited Brda to discuss various challenges faced by the local winegrowers and other farmers, including more efficient drawing of EU funds, where the farmers highlighted red tape as the biggest problem.

STA, 30 January 2019 - The past year has been again excellent for business, so it's time for long-term measures to raise net wages, the Managers' Association of Slovenia (Združenja Manager) boss Aleksander Zalaznik said as he addressed the association's annual get-together in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

https://www.zdruzenje-manager.si/en/home/

Taking a look at 2018, Zalaznik said exports reached 86% of Slovenia's GDP, and praised the fact that 75% of jobs were created by new and fast-growing companies, which was above EU average, as especially encouraging.

Still, signs of a slowdown in Slovenia's main trade partners could be noticed in recent months, and Brexit is another unknown, he said, adding competitiveness and productivity remained Slovenia's challenges, while demographics should also not be neglected.

Nevertheless, an important next step is raising net wages to contain brain drain and facilitate further economic development. So the association proposes a five-year agreement to gradually raise gross wages and reduce taxation.

Related: Find Out the Average Pay for Various Jobs in Slovenia

"A social agreement that we all want a competitive business environment is crucial here," said Zalaznik, who is convinced Slovenia is able to make this leap. "The moment is right, let's take it."

His view about higher wages but also a higher added value was echoed by Zdravko Počivalšek, the minister of economic development and technology.

He said the Council for Competitive and Stable Business Environment, the ministry's advisory body, had proposed the government and businesses draft a long-term plan for wage growth.

"Higher wages and a higher added value must be the goal of all of us, and they are also our responsibility," the minister stressed.

The managers were also addressed by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, who outlined via video conference government plans to improve the business environment in 2019.

Related: Outfit7 Founders Still the Richest Slovenians

He said the government would draft a proposal on tax restructuring and overhaul the regulatory framework.

The event was attended by President Borut Pahor, who thanked the association for its contribution to Slovenia becoming a better society since gaining independence.

The Managers' Association, which traditionally holds its get-together at the start of a new business year, also gave out its annual awards.

The lifetime achievement award for 2018 went to Bogomir Strašek, the founder, majority owner and director of automotive supplier KLS Ljubno.

Igor Verstovšek, the co-owner of hi-tech company Cosylab, became Young Manager of 2018.

The Artemide award for breaking the glass ceiling to assume top posts in companies was bestowed on GZS director general Sonja Šmuc and Agitavit Solutions director Anka Brus.

Below is a review of the headlines in Slovenian dailies for Thursday, January 31, 2019, as summarised by the STA:

DELO

Fire safety at hospitals
"Hospitals: Getting less safe with age": Funds are lacking for expensive construction measures that would improve fire safety at Slovenian hospitals. (front page, 4)

Venezuela
"Opposition preserving momentum": Tens of thousands take to the street to demand free democratic elections, while international pressure on the increasingly isolated Maduro regime is also growing. (front page, 6)

Ljubljana tourism fair
"Fair featuring exhibitors from the Adriatic region and even from Nepal": The 30th annual Alpe-Adria fair got under way on Wednesday, attracting 330 tour operators from the region as well from Nepal. (front page)

DNEVNIK

Jesenice hospital fire
"Towards safe hospitals for all": While it has not been confirmed that the fire at Jesenice hospital was caused by a patient with dementia, Denvnik has found out that there are no special rules for dealing with such patients at hospitals. (front page, 2, 18)

Criminal procedure act
"Katič waters down Klemenčič's amendments": The revised proposal for changes to the criminal procedure act, to possibly be discussed by the government today, is said to be without the most contentious initial provisions, including the one allowing police to interrogate a suspect without the lawyer's presence. (front page, 3)

FINANCE

Investment
"Leading listed companies investing EUR 500m": The top Slovenian companies on the stock exchange are announcing a substantial increase in investment. (front page, 2-3)

Takeovers
"Has Sergej Racman bought almost half of Komunala Nova Gorica?": According to the paper's sources, a company connected to businessman Sergej Racman has acquired the 45% stake held in the Nova Gorica (W) waste management company by cement maker Salon Anhovo. (front page, 4)

Competitiveness
"GTCI: Slovenia unattractive for foreign experts": The latest studies, including the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, show Slovenia has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to attracting foreign investment and top talent. (front page, 6-7)

VEČER

Kindergarten costs
"Higher wages driving up costs of care": The pay increase in the public sector has also translated into a 5-10% increase in kindergarten costs and a 1.3% to 4% higher bill for care in elderly homes. (front page, 15)

Palliative care
"First palliative care, then euthanasia": We have no right to dismiss the question of euthanasia. It is time for politics to say that we are ready to talk. (front page, 8-9)

Skiing
"Golden Fox fever in Maribor": All is set for the 55th women's Alpine Skiing World Cup meet in Maribor. (front page, 9, 22, 23)

If you live in Slovenia and don’t speak the language then at various times you’re going to need the services of a translator, and no matter what your abilities you’ll occasionally need a certified translation of an official document. On the other side of things, as a non-Slovene a common form of employment here, self or otherwise, will draw on your abilities with your mother tongue.

In short, translations, translators and translation agencies are an unavoidable part of life for individuals and firms operating in and out the country, and a subject of professional curiosity for many non-Slovene residents.

It was thus with great interest that I met with Dejan Šušnik, one of the founders of Amidas, the first private translation agency in the country, established just after Slovenia declared independence. Curious as to how the industry had changed over the last three decades, and the shape it’s in now, I sat down with Mr Šušnik for the following interview. 

How did you get started in translating?

My father worked for Yugotours, a well-known Yugoslav tourist agency first founded in London, Oxford street and then later in New York. Because of my father’s work in London and later New York I grew up bilingual. In fact my brother and I spoke to each other in English for some while after we came back to Slovenia. That’s how I started translating, although just Slovene into English at the time.

How did Amidas start?

The idea for the company was mine. At the time I worked as a librarian at the Jožef Stefan Institute,  finally as chief librarian. During this time I started getting work as a translator, the translation work started piling  and I had to make a decision, either to translate or to stop working at the Institute. Since I preferred to be my own boss, I quit my job at IJS.

Just before the war [in 1991] I was, among other things, asked to organise the news service for the Slovenian government, so I set up a team translating the news from Slovene to English. I was the person translating the news when the war began, which I announced to the media. Then with Slovenia’s independence it became possible to open a private business, and that’s how we became the first translation company to open in the country.

I should note though that I didn’t start Amidas myself, but with two friends. One took care of the organisation, I did the marketing and translating, and then we got an Englishman for the language editing and the image – Roger Metcalfe, who was actually involved with translating some of the Slovenian constitution.

What’s changed since the early days?

The technology, most of all. At first, in the 80s, I was using a typewriter and sending documents by courier. Then in the early 90s we started to get a bit of email, but we still had to use paper dictionaries and there were no translation tools. But then those started coming onto the Slovenian market, a few years after some other countries, and of course they’ve only improved, along with the number of computers we use. This has made both translating and organising translating much easier.

Another change is that I thought there’d be more translation into English than Slovene, and that was true at the beginning, but then we started to get more and more foreign companies who needed things translated into Slovene. We started working with for Nokia, for example, who also gave us some new translation tools to work with. And then around 2000 there was Microsoft and Windows XP. That was a huge volume of work, you have no idea how many words are in a programme, some two million. If you can imagine it, we translated all the interfaces, system messages, error messages and so on, for that version of Windows, some of which are probably still in there.

Some of the team at Amidas

Is your work mainly with large clients?

Yes, we still have some large clients, like Fraport, Telekom Slovenije, Pošta Slovenije, Postojnska jama and so on, and the work is quite varied. For example, for the Bank of Slovenia we translate their reports into English, while we translate from English into Slovene for the European Central Bank, and we do quite a lot of work for the EU.

That said, we also work on smaller projects, even with individuals, so certified translations for marriages, passports, that kind of thing.

I noticed that you’re very well organised in terms of project management. How important is that for the business?

Project management is key, especially when the business starts growing. The managers know, based on the subject matter, where to send each text. So if it’s nuclear physics or art history it’ll go to the right person. This kind of organisation might be quite common outside of Slovenia, but it’s still rare here, and those companies that do try and do it better tend to follow what we do, rather than something different.

But if I had to say why we’re so well organised, other than our experience, then I think it might be because we’re members of some professional organisations, such as European Language Industry Association (ELIA), Gala and Eulogia. We were actually one of the founding members of ELIA, and it started because the other translation organisations just didn’t seem good enough. We wanted to start something based on real know-how and knowledge, so that people could learn more about the business. It holds events  twice a year now, mainly to make contacts and organise some business-to-business work. But there are also sessions on, let’s say, project management, machine translation, sales, and so on.

So you’re quite well-integrated within the wider industry?

Yes, and that means we’re part of a transnational team that has access to almost all the languages. So, for example, if you need something from Slovene to Swedish we have a reliable partner we know is good at this, and who can meet your deadline.

Is outsourcing important?

Yes. It would be very difficult to find a good translator for, let’s say, English to Japanese or Japanese to English in Slovenia, so for jobs like that we go to our partners in the UK or Japan. What this means in practice is that whatever language pair people come here with we can probably help them, and not just with someone who knows a little Finnish, for example, but an expert. And we can deal with the whole project without the client having to worry about finding someone in Helsinki.

I saw that you also offer desktop publishing, editing and copywriting, are these other services a large part of the business?

Well, editing is always part of translating, and copywriting we don’t do so much of, to be honest. That’s more like localisation and making sure that your message is expressed in a way that’s culturally, and not just linguistically, appropriate.

Desktop publishing is another case, and that’s a growing part of our work. With this the customer just sends us the Adobe inDesign files for, say, a brochure or manual, and we’ll not only translate it but also handle the layout and design, so that the translated version looks as much like the original as possible, sending a file back to that’s ready for publishing

And what’s the future for Amidas?

One thing is we’re looking to expand to other countries, ex-Yugoslavia first. But my involvement is winding down now, and my daughter, Nina, who’s been working here for 20 years, she’s taking over, so you’ll have to come back in two decades and ask her what happened.

If you’re interested in working with Amidas, which is based in Ljubljana but works internationally, you can learn more about the company on its website.

STA, 30 January 2019 - Ment Ljubljana, a three-day tour de force featuring some of the most promising acts of Europe's independent music scene, gets under way in the capital tonight. As many as 75 up-and-coming acts will perform at multiple venues, while the conference segment of the festival holds a lot of promise as well.

The fifth edition of the showcase festival will kick off with a programme-packed night at Kino Šiška, an expected highlight being the concert by Iranian-Dutch performer Sevdaliza, whose debut album has has won her widespread acclaim.

Ment will expand to a total of nine venues in the city on Thursday and Friday, an element that has helped it create quite a splash in the capital in the past years.

The venues include multiple clubs at the Metelkova Mesto alternative arts centre, Orto Bar, the Old Power Plant and K4.

MENT has arranged a 68-track video playlist to show you the artists in action, which starts autoplaying above

What the organisers labelled the "winter festival of music creativity" also provides a welcome promotional platform for Slovenian acts and DJs, with as many as 21 featured this year.

The list includes the "dream trip-hoppers" JUNEsHELEN, electro rockers Kontradikshn, the Canyon Observer, labelled as doom and black metal, and the experimental electro act Warrego Valles.

Ment also invests a lot of effort in providing networking opportunities and in the conference segment of the festival.

The schedule includes a panel entitled How to Escape the Showcase Bubble, which will question the role of showcase festivals, their many focuses, and especially the role of creators in this increasingly popular event discipline.

The full schedule can be found here, while all the details of all the artists can be found here, with videos just another click or tap away. The festival is also on Facebook, and has both Android and IoS apps