Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 21-27 April

FRIDAY, 21 April
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - At Africa Day, an annual conference dedicated to the continent, Slovenian officials called for nature-based solutions to address the challenges of sustainable development, biodiversity and climate change. A number of bilateral meetings with African officials were also held as Slovenia solicits support for its bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the general government budgeting framework decree for the next three-year period that predicts a gradual reduction in deficit to align it to EU rules. The general government deficit is projected to drop to 2.8% of GDP in 2024 before contracting further to 2.2% in 2025 and just 1.3% in 2026.
        LJUBLJANA - Nada Drobne Popović, the CEO of the energy company Petrol, announced in an interview with the STA that, after the State Attorney's Office rejected a proposal for an amicable settlement of the dispute over fuel price regulation in the spring of 2022, Petrol will probably file a lawsuit against the state to get compensated for the damage.
        LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed amendments to labour legislation that aim to curb violations of working hours provisions by introducing recording of additional data on working hours and mandatory electronic records of working hours for companies that have been fined for violating labour legislation.
        LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry said it had called on the Italian government on several occasions to convene a meeting of a body dealing with minority issues after ethnic Slovenians have been required to pay extra to have their names written correctly in driving licences. The meeting has not been called so far.
        LJUBLJANA - A delegation of the European Commission led by Deputy Director-General for Health and Food Safety Claire Bury wrapped up its visit to Slovenia, focused on the proposed ban of pesticides in sensitive areas, which Slovenian farmers strongly oppose. The officials were informed about the situation in Slovenia and real-life examples of how the regulation would hurt farmers.
        LJUBLJANA - Following a review of the police's handling of protests in 2020 and 2021, which found certain irregularities and shortcomings, Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar issued guidelines and instructions for additional measures to be taken to tighten up procedures in which the legality and professionalism of the use of police powers is reviewed.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's general government deficit in 2022 amounted to EUR 1.78 billion or 3% of GDP, 0.9 percentage points less than the previous estimate, according to revised data released by the Statistics Office.
        LJUBLJANA/AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - The media and telecommunications group United Group has sold its mobile towers infrastructure in Slovenia, Bulgaria and Croatia to the Saudi company Tawal. While the value of the transaction has not been disclosed, United Group estimates the infrastructure at EUR 1.22 billion.
        LJUBLJANA - The Mufti of the Islamic Community in Slovenia, Nevzet Porić, said in his message on Eid al-Fitr that the community would launch talks with the government about imams becoming religious workers under Slovenian law and about food options in kindergartens and schools.

SATURDAY, 22 April
        ROME, Italy - The Italian Environment Ministry said it would like to resettle some brown bears from the region of Trentino-Alto Adige abroad and could ask Slovenia to take some in. The Slovenian side said it had not received any requests so far.
        LJUBLJANA - Minister Matjaž Han told a sports newspaper Ekipa SN that sport used to be underestimated as a pillar of Slovenia's development, which he plans to change by giving it the same weight as tourism and business enjoy at his Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport. One of the main goals is to raise the ministry's annual sport budget from EUR 32 million to at least 50 million.

SUNDAY, 23 April
        LJUBLJANA - The government of Robert Golob at least partly met the expectations of 44.6% of respondents, shows a poll conducted a year after the election by Mediana for the newspaper Delo. The expectations of 8.8% of respondents have been met fully and of 35.8% partly. Another 17.7% said their expectations have not been met and 28.6% said their expectations have not been met at all.
        LIEGE, Belgium - Slovenia's cycling superstar Tadej Pogačar suffered a nasty fall 84 kilometres into the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, injuring his left wrist. The 24-year-old collided with Danish cyclist Mikkel Honore and they both fell so hard that none of them was able to continue the race.

MONDAY, 24 April
        VIENNA, Austria - President Nataša Pirc Musar and her Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen expressed the hope after holding talks that the countries would find a solution regarding the border checks before the summer. They also told the press they would strive for the rights of the Slovenian minority in Austria.
        LJUBLJANA - The most recent Vox Populi poll, released by the newspaper Večer, shows the Freedom Movement losing the support of 20% of decided voters since winning the general election in April 2022. The Democrats (SDS) have gained 40% after losing the election. A poll commissioned by POP TV meanwhile showed Freedom Movement gaining 0.9 points to 24.4% and the Democrats losing 0.6 points to 22.2%.
        DIVAČA, Slovenia/VIENNA, Austria - Seven Refractories, the Divača-based maker of refractory concrete and plugs for blast furnaces, will get a new owner in RHI Magnesita, the Austrian producer of refractory materials. While the price has not been revealed, business newspaper Finance put it at EUR 93 million.

TUESDAY, 25 April
        RIJEKA, Croatia - The foreign ministers of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia stressed the importance of cooperation in energy, providing of aid to Ukraine and migration as they met in Croatia. In the face of Austria's border controls with Slovenia, Minister Tanja Fajon called for restoration of the Schengen Area, pointing out that solutions on illegal migration must be adopted at the EU level.
        LJUBLJANA - Farmers from around the country gathered in Ljubljana for their second rally in a month to protest against environmental and other restrictions they say are making farming nearly impossible. Thousands descended on the city along with some 1,500 tractors, causing traffic to grind to a halt for several hours.
        GRAZ, Austria - Economy Minister Matjaž Han visited the Austrian province of Styria for talks with Governor Christopher Drexler and visits to Cargo Center Graz and Talent Center. He said that the benefits of cross-border movement of goods, service and workforce were evident there, and that both sides of the border had merged into a single economic region.
        BRDO PRI KRANJU - The Health Ministry unveiled a national strategy of quality and safety in healthcare for 2023-2031. The document pursues four goals: outcomes for individuals and the population, costs per individual and the population, patient experience, and staff satisfaction.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenian municipalities need just over 15,000 housing units, of which around 10,800 rental flats, shows a survey the national Housing Fund carried out this year. The fund has provided the municipalities with EUR 46.7 million in funds through several programmes for 928 public rental flats, of which 551 will be completed in 2023-2024.
        LJUBLJANA - Lunos, the Ljubljana-based developer of home ventilation systems which recently changed its name to I-Vent, has been acquired by the British company Volution Group, for up to EUR 40 million. Volution Group said I-Vent would continue to be led by its founder Milan Kuster. Regulatory approval is still pending.
        ŠENTJUR - Milan Kučan, Slovenia's first president, repeated his appeal for peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, telling a ceremony ahead of Day of Uprising Against Occupation that peace talks could not negate Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and that calls for a ceasefire should not be seen as support for the aggressor.
        LJUBLJANA - The Social Democrats (SD) launched the think-tank 1 May Institute, whose aim will be to seek broad social consensus. The launch featured party leader Tanja Fajon and Martin Schulz, former EU parliamentarian and chairman of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

WEDNESDAY, 26 April
        LJUBLJANA - The news portal 24ur.com reported that Slovenia had sent 20 six-wheeled light armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine last week.
        LJUBLJANA - 24ur.com and N1 reported that the recently uncovered cyberattack on the Foreign Ministry had been in progress at least since March 2022. Its start 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.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia and China marked 30 years since the launch of diplomatic relations with President Nataša Pirc Musar opening an exhibition dedicated to Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein (1703-1774), a Ljubljana-born Jesuit missionary to China.
        LJUBLJANA - The government adopted the 2023 stability programme, a document that must be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the month alongside the national reform programme.
        ŠOŠTANJ - Addressing the national ceremony on the eve of Day of Uprising Against Occupation, National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič stressed the importance of cooperation between politically divergent factions.
        LJUBLJANA - SID Bank, the state-owned export and development bank, saw its net profit reduced by two-thirds last year to EUR 8.25 million, which the management says is still above targets. The total of loans to companies and other non-bank customers rose by 15% to EUR 1.38 billion.
        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.
        ZREČE - The group around the tool maker Unior generated EUR 287.7 million in net sales revenue in 2022, 20% more than the year before. Net profit was down 7.7% to EUR 10.2 million on the back of higher costs for energy, materials, services and labour.
        CELJE - Cetis, a printing group specialised in secure documents, commercial printing and packaging, posted EUR 119.2 million in revenue in 2022, which is 52.2% more than the year before. The net profit rose by 165% to EUR 19 million.
        
THURSDAY, 27 April
        LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Eurostat data shows Slovenia is was on the lower end of gas and electricity prices among EU member states in second half of 2022. Average electricity price for households in Slovenia went up by 41%.
        KOČEVJE - Melamin, the Kočevje-base chemical company, reported a EUR 1.8 million loss last year. The company attributed its first loss in decades to the blast that killed seven and injured ten workers last year. It is expected to return to profit in 2023.
        LJUBLJANA - Slovenia marked Day of Uprising Against Occupation, a public holiday dedicated to the Liberation Front, an organisation that spearheaded resistance against Nazi and Fascist occupation in the Second World War.
        LJUBLJANA - Delavska svetovalnica, an NGO promoting worker rights, and digital communication agency Agencija 101 have developed an app to help foreign workers access information on workers' rights in Slovenia.