News roundup - Monday, 27 February, until 3pm

Govt approval rating falls below 50% in POP TV poll

LJUBLJANA - The voter approval rating for the Robert Golob government fell to 46% in a poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster POP TV, the first time to drop below 50% in this poll. The government's rating fell by 4.6 percentage points from January. The Freedom Movement, the party of PM Robert Golob, lost 1.5 points to poll at 26.8% this time, as the opposition Democrats (SDS) gained 1.9 points to 22.2%. SDS MP Anže Logar continues as the most popular politician.

Laibach concert in Kyiv cancelled

KYIV, Ukraine - The Kyiv concert planned by the world-acclaimed Slovenian band Laibach for 31 March has been cancelled. The subversive industrial rock band confirmed for the STA that the organiser decided to cancel the event because its announcement had caused too much controversy in Ukraine. Laibach said it had been confronted with the categorical demand to explicitly state that all Russians are bad and that all Russian art is worthless, which was something they could not agree to.

Riding instructor charged with sexual abuse of minors

LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Dnevnik reported that a riding instructor from Ljubljana had been charged with sexual abuse of two under-aged girls following a four-month police investigation. The police based their case on testimonies by the two victims and a number of witnesses. The victims are the young women who talked to Dnevnik last year when it broke the story. The abuse allegedly started over a decade ago, when the victims were 11 and 12 years old.

Unemployment rate drops to 3.5% in Q4

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in the last quarter of 2022, half a percentage points lower than in the previous quarter and 1.1 percentage points lower than in the final quarter of 2021, the Statistics Office reported. Unemployment among men was at 3.2% and at 3.8% among women. Some 35,000 people were unemployed in the final quarter of 2022, which was 15% fewer than in the third quarter and 25% fewer than a year earlier.

Revenue in services up by almost a fifth in 2022

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's services providers increased sales revenue by 18.4% last year. The hospitality industry saw its sales going up by 57% in what was the most substantial growth, according to the Statistics Office. All groups of services posted growth last year compared to the year before. However, month-on-month sales were slightly down in December, by 0.9%.

Adventura Investments expects EUR 450m in revenue in 2023

LJUBLJANA - Adventura Investments, the owner of electronics retailer Big Bang and part owner of coach company Nomago, expects to generate nearly EUR 450 million in revenue this year after having completed three mergers and acquisitions in 2022. If Croatian electronics retailer Sancta Domenica and software developer Imaging Systems had been a part of the group the entire year, its revenue would have been a record EUR 409 million. Initial estimates show the group's EBITDA exceeded EUR 40 million.

Celje hosting best of Slovenian comedy

LJUBLJANA - The 31st Days of Comedy festival is getting under way in Celje to feature eight productions over the next two weeks. Three are one-person shows, which programme director Alja Predan says are a result of creativity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Predan selected the eight comedies from 19 entries. They will be in the running for the awards that will be presented at the closing ceremony on 12 March. The festival will open with the original Slovenian comedy Nikoli Ni Prepozno (It's Never Too Late).