News roundup - Tuesday, 5 September

New bank tax to be in place for five years

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Robert Golob announced on Monday evening a tax on bank assets as a temporary measure to help finance the reconstruction of the country after the devastating early-August floods. "All across Europe, new taxes are being introduced and Slovenia is headed in that direction as well," he said. The new tax will be in place for five years, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday, as it provided more details on what is to be a 0.2% bank assets tax intended to help with flood reconstruction. At the end of June, total assets of banks in Slovenia reached EUR 51.3 billion, up 6.7% from a year earlier, which means additional taxation would bring in EUR 102.6 million annually.

Businesses claim EUR 350m in advance flood payments so far

MISLINJA - The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport announced it had so far received a total of 777 applications from businesses who would like to receive an advance payment of compensation for damage done by the recent floods. Minister Matjaž Han noted that the applications were worth more than EUR 350 million in total. Speaking to the press after meeting the mayors of the Savinja and Koroška regions in Mislinja, the minister said that some more applications were likely to arrive by mail, and expressed the hope that payments would be made as soon as possible.

Brussels vows support in post-flood adjustment of Slovenia's recovery plan

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission confirmed it had received, within the 31 August deadline, Slovenia's request for EUR 747 million in additional loans from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility in the wake of the August floods. Initially, Slovenia planned to apply for EUR 545 million in loans, but now the plan is to get loans worth EUR 1.3 billion in total. Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek is expected to discuss this with European Cohesion Commissioner Elisa Ferreira in Brussels on Thursday.

German chancellor, Slovenian president to open Frankfurt fair

LJUBLJANA - The 75th Frankfurt Book Fair, at which Slovenia will be the guest of honour, will be opened on 17 October by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar, the fair's organisers announced. Following the opening ceremony at the fair's congress centre, Scholz and Pirc Musar will also inaugurate the Slovenian pavilion, where Slovenian authors and literature will be featured over the next following days. Apart from Pirc Musar, Slovenia's guests at the opening event will be philosopher Slavoj Žižek and poet Miljana Cunta.

Slovenia welcomes debate on new tech to adapt agriculture to climate change

CORDOBA, Spain - Slovenian Minister Irena Šinko took part in a three-day informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers which focussed on new technologies to promote the transition to a more sustainable and productive model adapted to climate change. Slovenia welcomes the debate on new technologies, the Agriculture Ministry said on the last day of the meeting. On the sidelines of the meeting, Šinko also met European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, briefing him on the situation in the agricultural sector in Slovenia after the recent storms and floods.

Slovenian, Croatian ministers visit bridge-building troops

NAZARJE - The Slovenian and Croatian defence ministers, Marjan Šarec and Mario Banožić, visited Lačja Vas near Nazarje, where Croatian troops are setting up a temporary bridge over the Dreta to replace the one destroyed by the floods a month ago. The construction began on Sunday and the bridge will expectedly be open for traffic on Thursday. Both ministers underlined the importance of cooperation and help in the wake of natural disasters, with Šarec thanking Croatia for the aid so far.

NSi determined to oppose "socialism under guise of solidarity"

PORTOROŽ - New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin said after the opposition party's annual consultative meeting that when it came to post-flood reconstruction "the NSi does not intend to support socialism under the guise of solidarity". The party believes that people whose homes were destroyed should get compensation to build new homes instead of the government launching "some nationwide new house building project". As for reconstruction of the remaining infrastructure, the NSi would raise funds for municipalities by roughly 15%.

Volkswagen wants to keep flood-affected KLS Ljubno as supplier

MUNICH/WOLFSBURG, Germany - The Volkswagen Group, which has been forced to stop production in one facility and reduce production in another two due to a shortage of components made by its Slovenian supplier KLS Ljubno, which was affected by the August floods, wants to keep KLS Ljubno as a supplier. The group said it had sent some 130 workers to Slovenia to help in the clean-up effort.

Corruption watchdog and business club sign no bribery pledge

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Business Club (SBC) and its members have signed a public pledge to zero tolerance toward bribing of public servants, as the club has been working since December with the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) against corruption in deals between the state and the corporate sector. SBC president Joc Pečečnik said a code would be drafted in two months and the SBC would be implementing the standards laid down in it through courses for its members. There are some 400 SBC members in total, and risk exclusion unless they adhere to zero tolerance to corruption.

Prices of natural gas and electricity for households up in quarterly comparison

LJUBLJANA - The prices of natural gas and electricity for households went up in the second quarter of the year compared to the first, the Statistics Office said. Meanwhile, both gas and electricity were cheaper for non-household users. The prices of natural gas for households increased by 2% in the second quarter of the year, compared to the first, while prices of gas for non-household consumers dropped by 28%. Meanwhile, electricity prices for households increased by 7% and dropped by 4% for non-household users.

Committee okays bill to grant amnesty for breach of Covid rules

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Justice Committee backed in a 9:4 vote a bill to grant amnesty for fines people received for breach of Covid rules during the pandemic. The Democrats (SDS), the largest opposition party, which was in power when the fines were imposed, announced it would oppose the bill in parliament. Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan said the bill was aimed at regaining trust in the rule of law and redressing the injustice of imposing fines for breach of rules which had lacked legal or constitutional basis. There will be no amnesty for fines for offences with elements of violence, she added.

Registered jobless up slightly in August

LJUBLJANA - The country's registered unemployment grew by 0.2% in August compared to July to 47,383 jobless registered with the Employment Service. In yearly comparison, registered unemployment was down 12.1%, the Employment Service said. A total of 3,952 jobless were registered anew in August, down 20.7% from July and up 0.1% from August 2022.

Retailer Spar Slovenija posts EUR 17m in net profit for 2022

LJUBLJANA - Retailer Spar Slovenija recorded EUR 1.06 billion in gross turnover in 2022, a 10.8% increase year-on-year. Net sales revenue increased by 11.3% to EUR 963.6 million and net profit rose by 1.4% to EUR 16.9 million. "We are very pleased with our 2022 business results, which were good. Our turnover increased by almost 11%, which is about 2 points higher than the market," Spar Slovenija CEO David Kovačič said at a press conference. Estimates show that the retailer had a 22.8% market share last year, up 0.8 points from 2021. The return on revenue was 1.75%.

Paloma ups revenue, but finishes 2022 with EUR 6.3m net loss

SLADKI VRH - Paloma, a maker of hygienic paper products, generated EUR 117 million in sales revenue last year, almost a quarter more than in 2021. It nevertheless ended 2022 with a EUR 6.3 million net loss due to a significant increase in prices of raw material and energy. The net loss for the company, owned by the Czech-Slovak group Eco Investment, was lower last year by half a million euros than in 2021. The management noted in the annual report that 2022 was another challenging year in the hygienic paper industry in Europe.

Young researcher wins EUR 1.5m ERC grant for heart therapy research

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian researcher Lea Rems has won a EUR 1.5 million grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for Reincarnation, a project looking into the potential of electroporation in heart therapy. The five-year project will focus on acquisition of basic knowledge needed for the development of new therapies based on electroporation, a method using short high-voltage pulses to overcome the barrier of the cell membrane.

Elderly woman abused by student worker at care home

LJUBLJANA - A secondary school student assaulted an elderly resident of a care home in the Dolenjska region while she worked there to earn some money during her summer holidays. According to media reports, the girl pulled the elderly woman's hair and pinched her nose, and danced mockingly in front of another care home resident who was in a wheelchair. The care home reported the abuser to the police as soon as it received an anonymous message that the student worker posted the abuse on social media. PM Robert Golob and Minister for Solidarity-Based Future Simon Maljevac strongly condemned the incident.

Slovenians in Croatia cancel annual gathering to donate money for flood relief

ZAGREB, Croatia - The Union of Slovenian Associations in Croatia has called off its annual gathering that was supposed to be held this Saturday to donate the money that would be spent on the event to help those hit by the disastrous floods in Slovenia. The union will donate between EUR 10,000 and 12,000 for flood relief efforts, and had urged its members to donate the EUR 10 they would otherwise spend on the participation fee.

Border police officer injured in rare assault by migrant

KOPER - A border police officer was injured over the weekend as a group of migrants without valid papers fled during identification procedure, the Koper Police Department said, underlining that assaults by migrants against officers are virtually non-existent. The incident happened as police officers were taking three persons from the train to the police car in order to verify their identities.

STA stepping up fact-checking effort

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Press Agency (STA) is expanding as of this month its fact-checking website Ne/Ja (No/Yes), which aims to debunk myths on socially relevant topics and raise awareness of the importance of recognising misleading information. The goal of the project, backed by the Government Communication Office, is to step up fact-checking effort in the Slovenian public and thus contribute to the battle against the spreading of misinformation.

Metelkova counter-culture centre celebrating 30 years

LJUBLJANA - The Metelkova counter-culture centre in Ljubljana will be celebrating 30 years with exhibitions, workshops and concerts until Sunday. The festivities will take place in most venues at Metelkova, starting with an exhibition that opened tonight showcasing concert photos. The celebration marks 30 years since the former military barracks slated for demolition were occupied by artists and autonomous groups, creating what is now known as Metelkova, a centre featuring eight club venues, five galleries and a hostel in the former military prison.

Krško library shortlisted for best library award

KRŠKO - The Valvasor Library in Krško in eastern Slovenia was shortlisted for the Public Library of the Year Award given out at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress 2023. The Krško library was one of the four finalists alongside public libraries in Sydney, Shanghai and Barcelona. The Gabriel Garcia Marquez library in Barcelona was named library of the year.