News roundup - Sunday, 9 July

Electricity production notably down last year

MARIBOR - Slovenia's total electricity production reached 12,192 gigawatt hours (GWh) last year, which is down 15.4% compared to the year before, shows the Energy Agency's report for 2022. Consumption fell by 3.8% to 13,638 GWh. Domestic electricity production covered only 70% of the country's needs. While a total of 12,192 GWh was generated, half of the electricity produced by the Krško nuclear plant (NEK) belongs to Croatia, which co-owns the plant.

PM calls for action after dog torture case

Ljubljana - Prime Minister Robert Golob strongly condemned a recent case of animal cruelty in Koper in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday. He said he expected three ministries to prepare reports after the mistreatment of a dog. He said the state must know how to respond in such cases. After the incident junior coalition Social Democrats (SD) started collecting signatures in support of changes to the Penal Code that would classify unnecessary torture and death of animals as criminal act.

Some 1,500 swimmers evacuated on Saturday as fire broke out in spa complex

PODČETRTEK - A fire broke out in the warehouse of a restaurant in the Aqualuna spa complex in Podčetrtek in the east of the country on Saturday. Some 1,500 visitors of the outdoor pool area had to be evacuated, but nobody was injured and the fire was put out quickly. The spa centre reopened today, Terme Olimija said on its website.

ICT sector net revenue in 2021 surpassed EUR 5 billion

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector generated a net sales revenue of EUR 5.06 billion in 2021, 11% more than in the previous year. These companies employ more than 32,000 people, the Statistics Office (SURS) reported. In 2021, the number of ICT companies increased by 5% to 9546. These companies generated EUR 2.03 billion value added in 2021, which is 17% more than in the year before.

Study shows age discrimination in labour market

LJUBLJANA - The international insurance and asset management group Allianz has conducted a study showing discrimination of older workers on the labour market. In Slovenia, like in other OECD countries, the share of working people aged between 55 and 64 is considerably lower than the average of the entire working population. Allianz believes that discrimination against and exclusion of older workers undermines pension reforms, according to a press release from Allianz Slovenija.