News roundup - Tuesday, 3 January, until 3pm

Fuel prices going up slightly

LJUBLJANA - Regulated fuel prices will go up somewhat at midnight. Off motorways, regular petrol will be sold at EUR 1.483 a litre, up 3.4 cents, and diesel at EUR 1.276, 1.6 cents more than so far. Heating oil will cost EUR 1.115 a litre, 2 cents more, the Economy Ministry said. New prices will be in force until 16 January. Regulated fuel prices apply only to petrol stations outside the motorway network. Along motorways, retailers are free to set their prices.

Class action lawsuit filed against Telekom Slovenije

LJUBLJANA - The association of small shareholders VZMD filed at the end of last year a class action lawsuit against Telekom Slovenije, the telecommunications incumbent, over what it sees as unjustified unilateral price hikes over the past five years. The lawsuit against Telekom Slovenije is worth EUR 122.69 million, an amount that according to VZMD corresponds to the damage Telekom's subscribers have suffered. Similar suits will be filed against A1 Slovenija, Telemach and T-2 this month.

NGO trying to help patients get their named GP

LJUBLJANA - The Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy has decided to help those who have health insurance but are unable to get a named GP, arguing this is in breach of patient rights. Under the healthcare and health insurance law, people have the right to freely choose their personal GP, and they have the right to have the GP where they live. The NGO believes that ZZZS, the national health insurer, is the one that should secure a named GP, or else the patients can file a lawsuit at the Social Court.

New coalition in Ljubljana pledges to carry out several major projects

LJUBLJANA - The Zoran Janković List and the Freedom Movement, the two largest parties in Ljubljana's city council, signed a coalition agreement focusing on six major projects, including the construction of a new bus and railway terminal, a new hospital, the national library extension, and renovation of the SNG Drama theatre. Aleš Čerin from the Zoran Janković List said that finding common ground with the Freedom Movement had not been hard because the parties have similar views on the development of the city and are ideologically close.

Funds for protection of war graves up by nearly 70%

LJUBLJANA - Efforts dedicated to the protection of war burial sites will receive almost EUR 1.73 million in funding this year, nearly EUR 700,000 more than last year. The bulk of the funds, nearly a million euros, will go towards the identification and marking of concealed graves, the Defence Ministry said. Some EUR 600,000 is set aside for the conservation and management of war graves and memorials.

Slovenia issuing new ten-year sustainability bond

LJUBLJANA - The government launched proceedings for the issue of another ten-year euro-denominated sustainability bond along with a tap of the outstanding 3.125% notes due 7 August 2045. The Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that Slovenia has mandated BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group, Nova KBM and UniCredit "to arrange a global investor call and a series of investor meetings to present the issuer's updated sustainability bond framework".

Number of traffic accident deaths down in 2022

LJUBLJANA - A total of 86 people lost their lives in traffic accidents on Slovenian roads in 2022, which is 28 fewer than in 2021. Still, the number of accidents topped 18,000, which is about 1,100 more than the year before, data from the General Police Administration show. The number of deaths in traffic accidents has been steadily declining between 2007 and 2014, dropping from a whopping 286 to 106, data from the NGO Varna Pot show. But since then it has been fluctuating.