News roundup - Thursday, 30 March, until 3pm

Constitutional procedure launched to change appointments of judges

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Constitutional Commission approved with 11 votes in favour and five against the launch of procedures for constitutional changes under which the appointment of judges would be transferred from the National Assembly to the president. The nomination of candidates would remain in the hands of the Judicial Council and the judges would get a three-year probation period before they get lifetime tenure. An expert group will review the draft bill and submit a report by the end of April.

Biggest observation satellite operator to acquire Sinergise

LJUBLJANA/SAN FRANCISCO, US - The Ljubljana-based geographic information system company Sinergise will be acquired by Planet, the San Francisco-based operator of the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, the companies announced. Pending certain closing conditions, the transaction is to be completed in the second quarter of Planet's current fiscal year, which started in February. The value of the deal has not been revealed.

Project on role of the dead in society wins ERC grant

LJUBLJANA - A Slovenian-led project on the role of death in the lives of individuals in modern society has won the European Research Council (ERC) advanced grant for established researchers. Led by folklore researcher Mirjam Mencej, the nearly EUR 2 million project will launch in September and last 5 years. The project will research how the dead affect the thinking, values and behaviour of people, how they participate in their social relationships, and how they influence individuals inside a broader societal, cultural and political context. Their role will be researched in three different contexts in four countries.

Agreement reached at A&E Europe

MARIBOR - An agreement has been reached between the workers and the management of the Maribor-based thread maker A&E Europe after two days of negotiations following a strike aimed at preventing the closure of the US-owned company. The management, the works council and the strike committee determines the severance and also agreed that certain parts of the production line will remain in operation at least until the end of October. There will be a transitional period for the buyers as well.

Debate hears UK still open for business, trade on the rise

KRANJSKA GORA - A business event was held in Kranjska Gora to discuss the issues raised by Brexit, with the organisers noting that the UK is still open for business, and that trade between and the UK and the EU is continually on the rise. The event was hosted by the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and the Spirit Slovenia investment promotion agency to present business in the UK market and to discuss how to successfully enter it after Brexit.

Insurance sector collected over EUR 3bn in premiums last year

LJUBLJANA - Insurers in Slovenia collected EUR 2.63 billion in gross insurance premiums in 2022, which is 5.9% more than in 2021. Combined with the re-insurers, more than EUR 3 billion in gross insurance premiums was collected for the first time ever and more than EUR 2 billion was paid out in damage payouts, the Insurance Supervision Agency said.

Downward trend persists in survey unemployment

LJUBLJANA - Survey unemployment continued to inch lower in February, reaching 3.2%, 0.1 percentage points lower than the month before, and 0.9 percentage points lower than a year prior, the Statistics Office said. It is estimated that some 32,000 people aged between 15 and 74 were out of a job last month. Of them 51% were men and 49% were women. For men, survey unemployment stood at 3% and for women it was 3.5%.

Prices of commercial property up 15% year-on-year

LJUBLJANA - The prices of commercial property - offices and retail space - increased by a record 15% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The prices have grown for the ninth consecutive quarter, this time by 3.6% compared on the quarter before, data by the Statistics Office shows. Year-on-year, the prices of offices grew by 15.1% and the prices of retail premises by 12.6% in the fourth quarter.

Average hourly labour costs in Slovenia well below EU average

LUXEMBOURG - In 2022, the average hourly labour costs in Slovenia in "the whole economy" rose by 5% to EUR 23.10, which compares to EUR 30.50 at the level of the EU, which saw the same increase, and to EUR 34.3 in the euro area, where the increase was 4.7%.
In Slovenia, labour costs were much higher than in central and eastern European members states and the figure puts it in a group of Mediterranean countries.