News roundup - Sunday, 17 September

Maribor Pride Parade marred by violence

MARIBOR - More than 300 people took part in the third Pride Parade in Maribor on Saturday but like in a similar event in Ljubljana in June several violent incidents targeting participants were reported. In one of those Renato Volker, a well-known Maribor LGBTQIA+ activist, performer and author, was beaten while returning home from the event. He had to sought assistance at the emergency ward. The incidents and violence were condemned by NGOs and the country's top politicians, including President Nataša Pirc Musar and Prime Minister Robert Golob.

Ivan Kristan, first National Council president, dies

LJUBLJANA - Ivan Kristan, a constitutional jurist who served as the first president of the upper chamber of the Slovenian parliament after independence, died, aged 93. In the 1980s Kristan served as the dean of the Ljubljana Faculty of Law and as the rector of Ljubljana university. As a judge on the Yugoslav Constitutional Court he backed Slovenia's independence efforts. President Nataša Pirc Musar and Prime Minister Robert Golob were among those who paid their tribute to Kristan on his death.

Qtari minister visits Ljubljana mosque

LJUBLJANA - Qatari Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanim, visited the Ljubljana mosque and met with members of the Slovenian Islamic Community and their leader Mufti Nevzet Porić on Friday and Saturday. The community said the minister was pleased with the atmosphere in their community and its work and efforts to establish Islamic values. He promised them Qatar's future cooperation. The Qatari minister met Prime Minister Robert Golob on Friday.

Čeferin: Russia ban to stay until war ends

LJUBLJANA - UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin told the news portal N1 in an interview that Russia would remain expelled from European football "until the end of the war" in Ukraine. He also defended the decision to end partnership with Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy company, after the war started and not earlier. Commenting on the World Cup kiss scandal in Spain, Čeferin reiterated the need for a code of conduct in women's football to clearly define the limits of acceptability and the consequences when that boundaries are crossed.

ICT sector continued to grow in 2022

LJUBLJANA - The ICT sector in Slovenia generated EUR 5.8 billion in net revenue in 2022, an increase of 15% over 2021. The sector also generated EUR 2.25 billion in value added last year, a rise of 11% more year-on-year. The number of active companies in the sector was up by 8% and the number of employees by 6%. data from the Statistics Office show. Nearly 10,200 active companies in the ICT sector last year accounted for 5.3% of all active commercial companies in the country, up by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Albaugh reports seven-fold increase in net profit

RAČE - The US-owned chemical company Albaugh almost doubled its revenue last year to EUR 93 million and ended 2022 with EUR 7.7 million in net profit, seven times more than in 2021. The Rače-based company, which is owned by the namesake US producer of phytopharmaceuticals and fertilisers, said in the annual report that revenue growth was recorded mainly in the sales of phytopharmaceuticals. Marketed mostly in the EU, phytopharmaceuticals represent 97% of the company's total revenue, which last year rose by 90%.

Roglič and teammates celebrate historic feat in Madrid

MADRID, Spain - Primož Roglič took third place overall in the Vuelta a Espana, joining his teammates on the podium in Madrid for a historic hat trick of Grand Tour victories for Jumbo Visma this year. American Sepp Kuss won the general classification for his debut Grand Tour victory, ahead of Dane Jonas Vinegegaard and the Slovenian cycling ace. The Dutch team thus completed an unprecedented achievement of winning all three of Europe's Grand Tours of Italy, France and Spain in the same season. Roglič won the Giro in May, and Vingegaard the Tour in July.

Spain's Bassols Ribera wins Ljubljana tennis tournament

LJUBLJANA - Marina Bassols Ribera won the singles competition at the WTA 125 tennis tournament in Ljubljana in career best for the 23-year-old Spanish player. She defeated Turkey's Zeynep Sönmez 6:0 and 7:6 in the final after the latter knocked out Slovenia's favourite Tamara Zidanšek 6:2 and 6:3 in the semi-finals on Saturday. The doubles tournament was won by the Russian-US pairing Amina Anshba and Quinn Gleason. They beat Columbian Yuliane Lizarazo and Briton Freya Christie 6:3 and 6:4 in the Saturday final.