News roundup - Friday, 22 September, until 3pm

Ministers meet to discuss Yugoslavia succession

NEW YORK, US - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon hosted in New York on Thursday what the Foreign Ministry said was the first meeting of successors to the former Yugoslavia at the ministerial level. Serbia did not attend. Slovenia initiated the meeting in the desire to encourage talks on the resolution of open issues pertaining to the succession to Yugoslavia. It was agreed that they will work closely to resolve outstanding issues and hold regular meetings, the Foreign Ministry said.

Minority in Italy opposed to Slovenian schools closing

TRIESTE, Italy - Senator Tatjana Rojc addressed a question to Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti after the ministries passed a decree that would close three schools with Slovenian as teaching language in Friuli Venezia Giulia between 2024 and 2027. According to Primorski Dnevnik, the decree that the ministries passed on 30 June has not been officially published but was presented to the members of the joint representation of Slovenians in Italy earlier this week. Rojc told the ministers that the closure of schools is against the law.

Higher property prices and fewer deals in Q2

LJUBLJANA - Real estate prices increased by 1.9% in the April-June period compared to the first quarter of the year and by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2022. The number of residential property sales was down by 5% quarter-on-quarter and by a third year-on-year, the Statistics Office said. In quarterly comparison, prices of new residential property went up by 3% in the second quarter after going down 8.4% in the first quarter. The increase was driven by the higher prices of new flats.

EV sharing provider adds delivery vehicles to its fleet

LJUBLJANA - Avant Car, which runs Slovenia's biggest electric car sharing system, Avant2Go, is expanding its fleet of fully electric vehicles with delivery vans in what is the company's latest pilot project. The vehicles will be available for pick-up and return at Ljubljana's shopping and logistics hub BTC. The service will include Peugeot's E-expert vans, which have an estimated range of 330 kilometres. The project is a joint effort between Avant Car and the BTC Group.

Business sentiment improves further

LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment improved for the second consecutive month in September, after it had deteriorated for the first seven months of the year. It stood at -5.4 percentage points, which is up by 0.6 points on the month before but still 0.4 points lower than a year ago. The monthly gain was driven by improved indicators in services and among consumers, which rose by 0.3 and 0.2 points, respectively.

Public contracts worth over EUR 8bn last year

LJUBLJANA - More than a million public contracts were concluded last year with the total value surpassing EUR 8 billion, shows a report by the Public Administration Ministry. The share of public procurement in GDP stood at 14.11%, which is lower 0.65 percentage points than in 2021 but still the second highest share in the last 12 years. Small-value procurement accounted for 54.71% of procedures.

Ljubljana police wrap up massive property crime investigation

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana police have concluded a three-month long investigation of property crime cases in the areas of Kočevje, Ljubljana and Grosuplje, having arrested 22 perpetrators who are suspected of having committed 72 criminal offences. Criminal complaints have been filed against all suspects, who have been detained after being brought before an investigative judge. The cases include the six burglaries into rectories, four grand larcenies in the Kočevje area, and three criminal acts of robbery, violent conduct and larceny in the Ribnica area.

NGOs submit signatures in support of stricter standards for co-incinerators

LJUBLJANA - A group of NGOs submitted more than the required 5,000 signatures to table legislative changes that would subject co-incineration plants to same emission standards as incineration facilities. They called on political parties to prioritise public health over the interests of capital and endorse the proposal. Joined in a campaign fighting for cleaner air and water in the area around the Anhovo cement plant in western Slovenia, the NGOs and civil society organisations have collected more than 6,000 signatures since 1 September.