News roundup - Sunday, 23 June

President Pirc Musar to visit Ukraine on Thursday

CERKNO/KYIV, Ukraine - President Nataša Pirc Musar announced that she will visit Kyiv on Thursday to sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine. She noted that it is an agreement of the kind signed with Ukraine by other countries that are willing to help the country. "It's about making a commitment ... to continue helping Ukraine as long as necessary," Pirc Musar told TV Slovenija on the sidelines of a charity concert on Saturday.

Number of new companies in 2022 increases by 9% y/y

LJUBLJANA - A total of 21,833 new companies were established in Slovenia in 2022, which is about 9% more than the year before and the largest number since the Statistics Office has started monitoring this data in 2004. Their number increased in most activities, most notably in the hospitality industry and other services. The largest number of new companies were established in the services sector, just under 83% of all.

Number of bus passengers in Slovenia increased last year

LJUBLJANA - City buses in Slovenia transported around 44 million passengers last year, which is 16% more than in 2022. In intercity transport, the number of passengers was up by 8% to around 26 million, while the number of passengers in international public scheduled transport carried out by domestic operators remained level at around 33,000.

Slovenians still prefer to pay with cards, survey shows

LJUBLJANA - Nearly 30% of Slovenians use bank cards every day, shows a survey by Mastercard Slovenija. Slovenians prefer to pay with cards, but mobile banking is becoming more and more popular, the survey found. Some 87% of them use bank cards on a weekly basis and 29% use them every day. Slovenians are also becoming more comfortable using bank cards on vacation and for small payments. Cards are mostly used for online purchases, buying gas and groceries.