News roundup - Thursday, 11 May

NLB banking group reports EUR 120m in net profit for Q1, down 46% y/y

LJUBLJANA - The NLB banking group reported EUR 120.1 million in net profit for the first quarter of 2023, a 46% decrease year-on-year. While speaking of a strong performance in the first three months, NLB attributed the drop in profit to the March 2022 acquisition of the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank. The result before impairments and provisions in the first quarter grew by 101% year-on-year reaching EUR 124.8 million.

Telekom Slovenije sees quarterly profit fall by a third

LJUBLJANA - Telekom Slovenije, the telecoms incumbent, reported an 8% increase in sales revenue in the first quarter to EUR 163.2 million. Net profit, however, declined by 32% to EUR 8.2 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at EUR 54.2 million, down 4% but above plans, the company said.

Minority warns about incomplete implementation of rights in Strasbourg

STRASBOURG, France - Representatives of Carinthian Slovenians met with members of the European Parliament's Intergroup for Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages, telling the MEPs that minority rights in Austria are not fully implemented. The representatives of United List (EL), the political party of Carinthian Slovenians, and the National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS), one of the community's three umbrella organisations, listed a number of issues, including Austria's new curriculum, under which there will be fewer hours allocated to Slovenian language classes than German classes in bilingual schools, the Austrian broadcaster ORF reported.

Court annuls govt decision on public interest for Mokrice plant

LJUBLJANA - Environment Minister Uroš Brežan told the newspaper Večer the Administrative Court had decided that the public interest of producing renewable energy does not prevail over the public interest of nature conservation in the planned Mokrice hydro power station on the river Sava. The government will now have to decide on next steps.

Defence Committee discusses UAVs and air defence systems

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Defence Committee discussed the proposed 2023 supplementary budget for defence, which raises spending by EUR 2.7 million. Defence Ministry State Secretary Damir Črnčec said that 20% of the defence budget would go for key investments in equipment, which did not include investments in infrastructure and facilities. With the 2023 supplementary budget, defence spending is being raised from EUR 976.6 million to EUR 979.3 million.

Job vacancies up by 2% in first quarter of 2023

LJUBLJANA - A total of 23,938 job vacancies were announced in Slovenia in the first quarter of the year, which is 2% more than in the last quarter of 2022. The largest number of workers were sought in manufacturing, almost 5,000, the Statistics Office reported. At the beginning of 2023, increased demand for new workforce was recorded in most areas, with employers in commerce, for instance, announcing over 3,000 job vacancies, which is 540 more than in the previous quarter.

Education to get most of ex-education ministry's EUR 2.7bn funds

LJUBLJANA - The former Ministry of Education, Science and Sport's budget of EUR 2.7 billion for 2023 will be distributed among the Ministry of Education (EUR 1.8 billion), the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (EUR 846 million) and the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education Boris Černilec told the parliamentary Education, Science and Youth Committee heard as it discussed the revised national budget for this year.

Govt takes initiative to find venue for monument to independence

LJUBLJANA - The government tasked the Military Heritage Administration to come up with starting points for the project of erecting a monument dedicated to Slovenia's independence in what are the first steps to implement the proposal by former President Milan Kučan that has gained traction in recent days. While most parliamentary parties support the proposal, President Nataša Pirc Musar said she would discuss the matter with the proponent of the idea, the newspaper Delo reported.

R2P principle discussed at international conference in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia strongly supports Responsibility to Protect (R2P), the principle it helped create as part of a group of countries 20 years ago, President Nataša Pirc Musar said as she addressed a two-day international conference termed Responsibility to Protect in Theory and Practice that started at the Ljubljana Faculty of Law. Pirc Musar stressed that political leaders have the moral duty and responsibility to do everything in their power and within the scope of their political influence to prevent conflicts and violence and to protect people from atrocities.

Cyberthreats discussed at international conference in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - A pro-active exchange of information is key to preventing cyberthreats directed against the EU and NATO, concluded a conference on the challenges of cyber defence held in Ljubljana between Monday and Thursday. More than 150 representatives of NATO, the EU and partner countries took part, the Defence Ministry said. The event was addressed by State Secretary at the Defence Ministry Damir Črnčec and General Jürgen Brötz as a NATO representative.

Štih re-elected SAZU president

LJUBLJANA - Peter Štih, a 62-year-old medieval history professor, was elected for a second three-year term as the president of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU). Meanwhile, virologist Tatjana Avšič - Županc and Indo-Europeanist, Slavist, Albanologist, lexicographer, and etymologist Marko Snoj were elected SAZU vice-presidents. Presidency members are elected for three-year terms and may be re-elected once, SAZU said.

New vote on sports and culture rep in upper chamber to be held at end of May

LJUBLJANA - The National Electoral Commission (DVK) called a new election for 31 May to appoint the representative for culture and sports in the upper chamber of parliament, the National Council, after the top court voided the appointment of Tomaž Horvat. The Constitutional Court deemed his candidacy unlawful as it found that he is active in sports in his spare time but not professionally, thereby he fails to meet a legal requirement and cannot be a member of the National Council.

Dončić gets fourth straight All-NBA first team selection

NEW YORK, US - Slovenian Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks has been named the All-NBA first team along this year's most valuable player (MVP) Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder). This is the fourth straight first-team honour for the 24-year-old guard, whose team failed to appear in this year's NBA play-offs after three straight appearances, including the Western Conference finals last year.

FIA boss visits Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - President Nataša Pirc Musar and Prime Minister Robert Golob hosted Mohammed Ben Sulayem, head of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Pirc Musar tweeted after her meeting with FIA boss that they had discussed the possibility of constructing a sustainable racecourse or training course in Slovenia. In their meeting, Golob and Ben Sulayem shared the view that activities to prevent hate speech must be stepped up and that sports are a great platform to do this.