Daily headlines - Wednesday, 12 April

DELO

Labour market
"Higher net pay in the pipeline for engineers": The Economy Ministry is drafting two bills to address a shortage of highly skilled employees in Slovenia's labour market, including a proposal to raise engineers' net pay. (front page, page 3)

Politics
"Disappointed voters": In four months' time the Freedom Movement has lost the advantage of 15 percentage points ahead of the Democrats (SDS), and now the ruling party and the largest opposition party are neck and neck in approval ratings. (front page, page 2)

Gault&Millau awards
"Janez Bratovž is Chef of the Year": Janez Bratovž won the Chef of the Year award presented by Gault&Millau Slovenia last night. The Slovenian branch of the famous gastronomy guide also picked the best restaurants for 2023. (front page, page 12)

DNEVNIK

Water Fund
"Two decades of non-transparent spending": Following a report by the Court of Audit that criticised the system of environmental taxes for use of water, the relevant ministry is said to be preparing the measures to remedy the situation, but the problem also includes non-transparent Water Fund spending. (front page, page 2)

Traffic
"Traffic savour becomes traffic nuisance": Not only that e-scooters did not improve traffic habits, they also turned out to be a hazard on the streets, so experts call for stricter rules. (front page, page 12)

FINANCE

IMF spring forecast
"IMF again projects recession for Germany, downgraded forecast also for Slovenia": The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) spring forecast raises the possibility of a hard economic landing as it projects significantly downgraded growth for most countries this year. (front page, pages 2-3)

Investment
"Lendava - municipality where one of the largest investments in Slovenia's history will take place": Swiss generics group Sandoz plans to set up Lek's high-tech biosimilars plant in the municipality of Lenadava. The paper looks at what this will mean for the local environment. (front page, pages 4-5)

VEČER

Food prices
"Lower prices at home": Foodstuffs are much more expensive in Austria than in Slovenia in the wake of record-high inflation in Slovenia's northern neighbour, but personal care products are cheaper there. (front page, pages 2-3)

Disabled
"Personal assistance dilemmas and fears of people with disabilities": The planned changes to the personal assistance act raise concerns, especially among people with significant disability. (front page, page 5)

Traffic
"Hopes of implementing Vision Zero Deaths by 2050": Antonio Avenoso, executive director at the European Transport Safety Council, believes that Slovenia could be one of the safest countries to drive in the future. (front page, page 13)

Basketball
"Eurobasket without team captain": Slovenia will appear at this year's FIBA Women's EuroBasket without its team's captain Nika Barič after she fell out with the Basketball Federation over a head coach replacement and got kicked off the team. (front page, page 2, 14)