News roundup - Thursday, 4 January, until 3pm

Judges and prosecutors suspending work over pay issue

LJUBLJANA - Judges and prosecutors suspended work for an hour at 10am to protest at the government's failure to implement a pay raise in line with a Constitutional Court ruling that would align their pay with that of the most senior officials in the other two branches of government. Judges are not ruling out further action should the government continue to ignore the ruling.

Justice Ministry state secretary steps down

LJUBLJANA - Valerija Jelen Kosi has tendered her resignation as a state secretary at the Justice Ministry, the ministry confirmed. Unofficially, the reason for her move is the failure to raise judge pay by 3 January as decreed by the Constitutional Court. Before becoming state secretary Jelen Kosi served as a judge at the Ljubljana Higher Court, and headed a project aimed at improving the quality of the judiciary at the Supreme Court.

Slovenia's exports up 4.8%, imports 1.8% in Jan-Nov

LJUBLJANA - The country's exports of goods rose by 4.8% to EUR 50.9 billion and imports of goods by 1.8% to EUR 53 billion in the first nine months of last year over the same period in 2022. The export-import ratio was 96.2%, the Statistics Office said. The exports and imports were up at the annual level in November due to more trade with non-EU members, while trade with EU countries declined by about a tenth. In November, exports reached EUR 5 billion, up 4.8% from November 2022, while imports were up 8.8% to EUR 5.3 billion.

Loss-making thermal plant and coal mine to be excluded from HSE

LJUBLJANA - HSE, a state-owned energy holding, is gearing up to transfer two loss-making subsidiaries - the coal-fired power station TEŠ and the Velenje coal mine - onto a new state-owned company to avoid bankruptcy, according to a report by the news portal Necenzurirano. SSH, the company managing state assets, did not comment but is aware of the situation.

Furloughed news show staff prevented from entering RTV Slovenija building

LJUBLJANA - Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija has furloughed 15 of its staff who made Panorama after cancelling this daily TV news show in the 2024 production plan. The staff were informed of the move just days before the end of 2023, and when they tried to come to work today, they could not enter the building as their entry cards were blocked. They have turned to the relevant inspection authorities and the police, but the management is adamant its decision is in line with the regulations.

Private collection, Ukraine art among 2024 highlights at National Gallery

LJUBLJANA - The National Gallery in Ljubljana will put on show in 2024 an extensive private collection of Slovenian art from the 19th and 20th centuries, while also bringing an exhibition of Ukrainian Modernist art and another of works from the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Croatia. A smaller exhibition will be dedicated this year to Slovenian painter and graphic artist Marjan Pogačnik's print technique, to be accompanied by a documentary.