News roundup - Wednesday, 26 April, until 3 pm

Report: Slovenia sent 20 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia has sent 20 six-wheeled light armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine, POP TV reported. Completed in secrecy, this is the latest shipment of arms after Slovenia has already donated tanks, howitzers, infantry vehicles and other gear. The vehicles were shipped to Ukraine with transport aircraft via either Poland or Slovakia. The operation was completed this week. The Defence Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the report for the STA, invoking a government decision which stipulates that data on Slovenian military aid to Ukraine are confidential.

Foreign Ministry cyberattack lasted over a year, reports say

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee met behind closed doors to discuss the recently uncovered cyberattack on the Foreign Ministry. The news portals 24ur.com and N1 report that the attack had been in progress at least since March 2022. The meeting was called on the proposal of Anže Logar, a Democrat (SDS) MP who was foreign minister between March 2020 and May 2022. The start of what is believed to be a Chinese cyberattack can be traced back to January 2022, when Janez Janša, the prime minister at the time, gave statements implying Slovenia was planning to forge closer ties with Taiwan, 24ur.com said.

Slovenia and China mark 30 years of diplomatic relations

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia and China are marking 30 years since the launch of diplomatic relations this year. To mark the occasion, President Nataša Pirc Musar opened in Ljubljana an exhibition dedicated to Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein (1703-1774), a Ljubljana-born Jesuit missionary to China. "He left a great mark with his work in China, where he spent half of his life, and with his innovations and scientific achievements he wowed the world," Pirc Musar said of the missionary who lived in China for 35 years.

Sole bid for Koper-Divača track tunnel systems rejected again

LJUBLJANA - In a repeated tender for the construction of rail and tunnel systems on the new track between the port city of Koper and the Divača inland junction, the state-run company managing the track project, 2TDK, has again rejected the sole bidder because the bid exceeded the funds available. The decision is still subject to a potential appeal. The bid by a consortium that was once again led by Železniško Gradbeno Podjetje Ljubljana stood at EUR 207.7 million. This compares to EUR 198.5 million in the bid that was rejected in April 2022 with the explanation that the value of the contract subject to the tender was capped at EUR 142.2 million.

Retailers suffer major drop in revenue in March y/y

LJUBLJANA - Retail turnover in real terms was down nearly 13% in March compared to the same month last year, which was marked by the first weeks of the war in Ukraine, the Statistics Office said. In motor fuels trade, revenue declined by almost 17%, in non-food trade by some 11% and in food trade by 8%, shows fresh data. In the first quarter of this year, retailers' turnover was 0.5% lower than in the same period last year. It fell by 6% in the food category, by 4% in non-food trade, while motor fuels trade rose by 7%.

State to convert EUR 32m in claims against tourism holding Sava to equity

LJUBLJANA - The shareholders of the tourism holding Sava, which is in 90% state-ownership since last year, will decide in 29 May on a share capital increase to the tune of EUR 32 million. It will be brought about by a debt to equity swap on the part of the two main owners, the Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the state asset custodian, and KAD, a state-owned fund managed by SSH. They will convert EUR 16 million in claims each, shows the assembly call published by Sava.

RTV management accused of irregularities in sale of shares

LJUBLJANA - The Culture Ministry, responsible for the country's media policy, alleges that in the latest sale of Eutelsat shares the management and supervisory boards of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija violated the broadcaster's bylaws. The supervisory board approved in July last year the sale of EUR 1.8 million worth of Eutelsat Communications shares to cover severance payments for terminated workers, but the sale did not take place in 2022 because the share price did not reach the EUR 9.95 set by the supervisors as the minimum sale price, the ministry said on Tuesday. The RTV management dismissed all the accusations as false and misleading, and called on the ministry to withdraw them.

Slovenia's population up last year despite fewer births

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's population increased by almost 9,800 last year, of which 9% were foreigners, mostly Ukrainian citizens. After more than two years of a downward trend, the number of female foreigners has increased, while figures for births and deaths were both lower compared to the year before, shows fresh data from the Statistics Office. On 1 January 2023 Slovenia had 2,116,972 residents. Last year, the number of Slovenian citizens dropped by almost 7,600 and the figure for foreign residents in the country was up 17,400. The number of Ukrainian citizens increased by 250% from 2021.

Bear attacks man in woods south of Ljubljana

ŠKOFLJICA - A man walking his dog was attacked by a bear this morning, in a village some 20 kilometres south of Ljubljana. The man got away with a minor injury, and the bear retreated after the attack, said Škofljica municipality, where the incident took place. Local hunters and the relevant ministry have been informed of the attack.