News roundup - Thursday, 20 June, until 3pm

Slovenian farmers not happy about EU Nature Restoration Law

LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry (KGZS) regrets the recent approval of the Nature Restoration Law by the EU ministers in charge of the environment, noting that dedicated funds have not been secured for its implementation and that the new regulations bring additional restrictions to farmers. Green party Vesna meanwhile said that the law is essential for the preservation of nature.

Fmr environment minister under investigation

LJUBLJANA - Former Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak is being investigated due to the deals he made in the last months of his term in the government of Janez Janša, Necenzurirano reported. The National Bureau of Investigation is looking into suspected irregularities in granting the funding of the national Climate Change Fund to hydro power company HESS.

Report: Kindergarten deals scrutinised by corruption watchdog

LJUBLJANA - The newspaper Dnevnik reported that the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) is scrutinising certain deals made by kindergartens in Ljubljana, including the alleged favouring of certain service providers and the related misuse of public funds. Some are related to the controversial plan to merge all Ljubljana kindergartens into a single institution.

Maribor bookshop target of anti-LGBTIQ+ violence

LJUBLJANA - A small independent bookshop in the centre of Maribor has been a target of repeated anti-LGBTIQ+ violence since it displayed a rainbow flag above its entrance in honour of Pride Month. Mariborka has reported several cases of homophobic harassment, verbal attacks and threats in recent days. Unhappy with how police handled the matter, owner Anja Zag Golob plans to initiate a formal police complaint procedure. The Maribor Police Department told the STA they would look into the allegations.

Consumer confidence improves in June

LJUBLJANA - Consumer confidence in Slovenia improved in June, rising by three percentage points on a monthly basis, and by ten points year-on-year, the Statistics Office said on Thursday. The index was also 10 points higher than last year's average. Two components pulled the index up on the monthly level: consumers' opinion about their current household finances and their expectations about the economic situation in the country, each going up by 5 percentage points.

Polymer products maker Roto turning 75 and expanding production to Africa

MURSKA SOBOTA - Roto, a leading European rotational moulding company, addressed the press to mark its 75th anniversary and announced the launch of production at a new subsidiary in Kenya. This will be the ninth factory within the Roto Group, which exceeded EUR 110 million in revenue last year. The family-owned company has four factories in Slovenia and subsidiaries in Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Austria, Germany, and France.

Display marking 20 years of design group opens in Rog Centre

LJUBLJANA - An exhibition celebrating 20 years of the design collective Oloop will open in the Rog Centre in Ljubljana this evening. Featuring the collective's women artists and designers, the exhibition will pay tribute to the importance of textile design in community building. The collective brings together Tjaša Bavcon, Katja Burger Kovič and Jasmina Ferček, who founded the Oloop institution for contemporary textile art and design in 2003.