News roundup - Friday, 15 March, until 3pm

Petrol returns to profit in 2023

LJUBLJANA - Energy group Petrol posted a net profit of EUR 137 million for 2023 after having reported a small loss in 2022. Revenue declined by 26% to just shy of EUR 7 billion, largely due to lower prices of fuel and other energy commodities, show unaudited results. Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) nearly tripled to EUR 277 million. The group sold 3.8 million tonnes of fuels, an 8% drop compared to 2022, while the sales of merchandise and services rose by 10% to EUR 571 million.

PM insists reform of entire public sector pay system the only solution

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Robert Golob insists that the strike demands in the public sector will be resolved in the framework of sector-wide talks rather than in discussions with individual professional groups, as he appeared on late-night shows on TV Slovenija and POP TV on Thursday. The only solution for the doctors' strike and all other strikes in the public sector is to continue negotiating with all public sector trade unions. "An agreement in healthcare can only be achieved if we reach an agreement with everyone," he said.

Oncology Institute doctors demand immediate action from govt

LJUBLJANA - A number of doctors from the Ljubljana Oncology Institute, the largest of the only two cancer treatment centres in Slovenia, addressed an open letter to the government, demanding that it start addressing issues in healthcare immediately. The consequences of inaction are serious and detrimental to current and future patients, they warned.

Radwaste agency not leaving Krško

KRŠKO - The Agency for Radioactive Waste Management will not move from Krško to Ljubljana as the locals feared. While its formal address will change to Ljubljana, everything else will remain the same, the agency's director Sandi Viršek told the press. The statement comes after locals protested aganist the change of headquarters under amendments to the agency's articles of association that the government adopted last week. The locals decried the changes as a "silent reorganisation" and "creeping centralisation of government".

SDS proposes changes to post-flood emergency legislation

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) have filed in parliamentary procedure changes to two laws introducing post-flood measures. Changes to the first law expand eligibility to compensation to those whose real estate was under construction during flooding and the second abolish fast-track procedure for expropriation.

Three bombs to be deactivated in Nova Gorica on Sunday

NOVA GORICA - Three aerial bombs that were recently discovered in Nova Gorica will be deactivated on Sunday, one of them requiring detonation at the site. Nearby residents will be evacuated for the duration of the operation and movement will be restricted. The three bombs were discovered during construction works near the Nova Gorica train station by the UXO unit. Last summer, a bomb was discovered close to the same site.