News roundup - Friday, 24 March, until 3pm

Fajon at UN conference: Future of all people depends on water

NEW YORK, US - FM Tanja Fajon addressed the UN Water Conference in New York on Thursday by saying that the future of all people depended on water. Slovenia is therefore making an effort for issues related to water to become more visible on the global agenda and that they are discussed comprehensively at all levels. She also had several bilateral meetings with senior representatives of the UAE, Indonesia, Ukraine, Singapore and Cuba to present Slovenia's foreign policy priorities.

Pirc Musar says Slovenia should share its know-how on water

NEW YORK, US - President Nataša Pirc Musar said on the sidelines of the UN Water Conference that Slovenia must cooperate with the international community when it comes to water issues. "We can sell our know-how to many," she told Slovenian reporters. When it comes to water, Slovenia is "Europe's green treasure and we stress ... that Slovenia is not a small island in the ocean and we need to turn to the international community and work together on these issues," she said.

Half of Slovenian hospitals running deficit in 2022

LJUBLJANA - Half of Slovenia's hospitals were operating at a deficit last year with the total figure amounting to EUR 50 million. UKC Ljubljana, the country's largest medical centre, ran the largest deficit of EUR 26 million. The other half made a profit or surplus of EUR 18 million in total, the newspaper Finance reported. In total, hospitals posted revenues of EUR 2.026 billion in 2022, 2.3% less than the previous year in light of fewer reimbursements for Covid-related costs, but 25% more, or EUR 400 million more, than in pre-pandemic 2019, when hospitals made EUR 1.627 billion in total revenue.

Former Hoteli Bernardin boss gets two more years in prison

KOPER - The Koper District Court has sentenced Stanislav Valant, a former CEO of Hoteli Bernardin who is already serving a prison sentence, to two years in prison for abuse of office during his stint as boss of the hotel operator. Co-defendant Franci Strajnar got one year, the newspaper Primorske Novice reported. Valant was accused of abusing his powers in a deal with Sava shares to defraud the company and allow the holding Zvon Ena to illegally gain EUR 1.18 million.

JSI report shows Unior leak did not harm people's health

ZREČE - A review commissioned by Unior from the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) has shown that the October 2022 emission of small amounts of corrosive and carcinogen substance from the Zreče industrial plant had no effect on people's health or harmful impact on the soil. In the incident on 26 October, a small concentration of chromium trioxide was released into the air as a result of a faulty waste gas treatment installation. The report notes that inspectors did not ascertain any flaws in the company's conduct.

Business sentiment further down in March

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's business sentiment deteriorated further this month as the indicator fell to -1.4 percentage points, down 0.3 points on the previous month and 2.7 points lower than a year ago, shows data released by the Statistics Office. Compared with February, the outlook deteriorated in retail by 0.5 points and in both manufacturing and construction by 0.2 points, while sentiment in the services sector and consumer confidence improved by 0.4 points and 0.2 points, respectively.

Ukraine crisis challenge for tuberculosis management in Slovenia

GOLNIK - An international conference on tuberculosis hosted by the Golnik Clinic of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases heard that the incidence rate for tuberculosis in Slovenia stood at 3.8 cases per 100,000 people in 2021 and that preliminary figures for last year suggested little change. But experts warned that the war in Ukraine brings new risks, and urged for refugees to be provided with an adequate level of health protection, also as this can help nip a potential spread of the disease in the bud.

Slovenia co-hosting art and science symposium in Ottawa

OTTAWA, Canada - The Slovenian and German embassies in Ottawa are hosting an international conference on art and science. It will be held on Saturday, when an exhibition will also open at the SAW Gallery. Workshops and lectures by the participating artists and scientists will be held on Sunday. The event will bring together a number of internationally renowned artists, scientists and researchers to discuss the latest achievements in the research of the environment, heritage, philosophical and scientific issues, bioart and bioscience, and the humanisation of technology.