News roundup - Tuesday, 16 May

Slovenia's Q1 GDP up 0.7% year-on-year

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. After a year and a half, external demand exceeded domestic expenditure. Domestic expenditure decreased by 4.4% year-on-year, mostly due to lower inventories. Exports increased by 1.9% while imports decreased by 3.8%. External trade balance on services was positive for the fourth consecutive quarter, the Statistics Office said.

EBRD upgrades Slovenia's GDP growth forecast to 1.5%

LJUBLJANA - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has upgraded its forecast for Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year to 1.5%, up by 0.5 percentage points from the February forecast. The bank kept the 2024 forecast at 2.3%, which is more or less on a par with the expectations of other domestic and foreign forecasters. With the continued high inflation and demand exceeding supply in the labour market, the EBRD expects further wage growth this year.

FinMin expects agreement on resilience plan changes within weeks

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is still negotiating changes to its recovery and resilience facility plan and expects an agreement within weeks even though the European Commission is "relatively rigid" in its positions, Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said after a financial ministerial. Commenting on delays in the drawing of the funds, he said the government's hands were more or less tied. Therefore, Slovenia is focusing on measures, milestones and reforms, as this is the only way it will be able to draw the funds, albeit with a delay.

Slovenia so-so satisfied with EU proposal to reform fiscal rules

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is "medium satisfied" with a proposal to reform the EU's fiscal rules which the European Commission unveiled in late April, Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said following a two-day meeting of the EU finance ministers. Slovenia supports changing the rules so that they focus more on monitoring debt developments and less on structural deficits, mainly because the latter are very difficult to calculate and the results can also vary a lot depending on the methodology, he said.

Slovenia and Belarus face off in debate over UN Security Council seat

NEW YORK, US - Slovenia's and Belarusian permanent representatives to the UN, Boštjan Malovrh and Valentin Rybakov, presented their countries' bids for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council in 2024-2025. Both representatives had to fight off accusations about their countries running at the behest of other powers. Rybakov argued Slovenia's decision to run for the position was not its own. Malovrh rejected the allegations as a offensive, underlining that Slovenia's decision was that of a sovereign country.

Reading literacy of Slovenian ten-year-olds deteriorates

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian fourth-graders have exhibited a drop in their reading literacy result after years of an upward trend, showed the latest PIRLS 2021 international study. With 520 points, Slovenia still placed above the mean value. The drop in results can in part be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic but not entirely, Education Minister Darjo Felda said. The ministry is drawing up an action plan to develop reading literacy.

SDS wants parliamentary inquiry into sewerage project

LJUBLJANA - The opposition plans to launch a parliamentary commission to investigate suspected abuses related to the construction of a major sewerage project in the Ljubljana area known as the C0 canal. SDS MP Anja Bah Žibert said the project amounted to "environmental crime" perpetrated by Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković. She said the SDS had decided for the move because the C0 canal posed a threat to the drinking water of more than 300,000 people.

Removal of mesh fence along border finally underway

OSILNICA/JELŠANE - A company contracted by the Interior Ministry to remove the wire mesh fence along Slovenia's border with Croatia started the works after delays due to tender complications. Slovenia put up 135 kilometres of wire mesh fence and 145 of barbed wire fence after the migration crisis in 2015. The army has already removed 136 kilometres of barbed wire fence, the rest will be removed within three months. The minister of the interior and defence, Boštjan Poklukar and Marjan Šarec, said today was a great day for the locals.

RTV Slovenija takes govt to court for reimbursement of labour costs

LJUBLJANA - RTV Slovenija has taken the government to court claiming EUR 24 million in compensation for higher labour costs. The government pledged to compensate the public broadcaster for the costs in the 2018 strike agreement but has failed to deliver on the promise, RTV Slovenija acting director general Andrej Grah Whatmough said. Grah Whatmough said the broadcaster had no debt, planned no loans, while its future financial situation is "partially in the hands of the government".

Slovenia advocates independence of public media in EU media freedom talks

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is advocating the independence of public media and journalists in talks on the draft European Freedom of the Media Act, which is being discussed by the EU culture ministers, Slovenia's Asta Vrečko said as she arrived for the meeting. She said the act also addressed the issues of media concentration and advertising, all pressing issues facing Slovenia and other member states.

Massive investigation of bank accounts raising dust

LJUBLJANA - The news of an investigation by the police and the state prosecution into suspected abuse of office by former director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention Damjan Žugelj over a massive review of bank accounts has caused a stir among parliamentary parties. In only three weeks, the office sent 238 requests to banks to look into 195 bank accounts of 107 individuals and companies, the N1 news portal has reported. A new parliamentary commission may be launched.

Bilingual education in focus as minister visits minority in Hungary

FELSŐSZÖLNÖK/SZENTGOTTHARD, Hungary - After having met Hungarian officials in Budapest, Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon on Tuesday visited the region in Hungary where the Slovenian minority lives. Bilingual education topped the agenda. The minister visited two bilingual primary schools, in Szentgotthárd and Felsőszölnök, where the head teachers presented the conditions, and held talks with minority officials.

Slovenia to go greener with new grid fee system

MARIBOR - Slovenia will introduce a new method for calculating network charges from 2024 in a bid to promote a more efficient use of the power grid and take an important step towards the green transition, the Energy Agency announced. Electricity bills for June will provide more details about the new system, which is planned to be phased in gradually. Calculated power and energy tariff rates, which together with some other costs represent around one-third of the electricity bill, will vary according to time of day.

Legislative changes sought to help children from "difficult social environments"

NOVO MESTO - The mayors of eleven municipalities from south Slovenia have launched the collection of signatures in favour of changes to four laws designed to help "children from difficult social environments" after they berated the state for failing to address persistent problems with the Roma. The proponents have sixty days to collect 5,000 signatures. If they do, the National Assembly will have to read the bills.

Dnevnik: Maribor hospital, ex-boss taken to court over procurement deals

MARIBOR - The National Review Commission has launched court proceedings against UKC Maribor, its former director Vojko Flis and his legal adviser for purchasing medical consumables worth over EUR 1.8 million from 17 suppliers in 2019 in breach of the law, Dnevnik reported. The commission acted on an anonymous complaint that claimed Flis had placed several orders for the medical consumables in 2019 against public procurement law, which requires a full-fledged open call.

Podim brings more than thousand start-ups, investors to Maribor

MARIBOR - The two-day Podim international business conference opened, bringing talks, panels discussion, product demonstrations and networking for some 1,100 start-ups, investors, experts and business executives in attendance. Out of 213 start-ups that will appear at the conference, 60 come from Slovenia, 38 from Croatia and 36 from Austria, with countries like Serbia, the Czech Republic and Italy also represented. The Podim Pitching Competition for the best Podim start-up will take place in the evening.

P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. museum celebrates 30th anniversary

LJUBLJANA - The P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art is kicking off a series of events to mark its 30th anniversary with an exhibition at the Cukrarna venue. The exhibition showcases a selection of reading materials that have been accumulated over the past three decades .Founded by conceptual artist Tadej Pogačar in the 1990 after he was part of the experimental music group SRP, the virtual museum of visual arts is considered one of the trailblazers of Slovenia's experimental art.

Library opens in Ljubljana Muslim Cultural Centre

LJUBLJANA - The Averroes Library, focused on Islamic studies, opened on Monday in the Muslim Cultural Centre in Ljubljana. Founded in 2013, the library has changed locations several times and is "now finally in the right place", reads the website of the Islamic community in Slovenia. The library will not only be a referential library for Islamic studies but also for other religions, especially Abrahamic religions, brining the viewpoints of theology and religious studies.

Bird flu cases identified in black-headed gulls at Lake Ptuj

PTUJ - Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been found in black-headed gulls on a tiny island on Lake Ptuj in northeastern Slovenia in what is another outbreak in the area. About 40 dead birds were removed by local firefighters. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 was confirmed in samples taken from three dead black-headed gulls after a two-month spell of zero confirmed cases, the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection said.