News roundup - Monday, 26 August

Finance Ministry refines mini tax reform proposal

LJUBLJANA - The Finance Ministry has made some tweaks to a proposed mini tax reform that is meant to boost competitiveness, create jobs and attract highly skilled staff. The original changes to seven tax laws were sent into public consultation on 3 June, and were now upgraded based on the inputs provided by stakeholders. Most of the additions concern an effort to reduce the use of the flat-rate sole proprietor system as unfair competition to regular employment, while entitlement is also being expanded for tax breaks envisaged for highly skilled workers returning or coming to Slovenia. The government is expected to discuss the package on Wednesday.

Fajon expresses support for Albania's EU accession process

TIRANA, Albania - Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon visited Albania expressing Slovenia's support for the country's EU integration and the hope that Albania will join the EU as soon as possible. Her talks with her counterpart Igli Hasani, Albanian President Bajram Begaj, PM Edi Rama and Speaker Elisa Spiropali focussed on EU enlargement and ways of strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation. "Slovenia is a friend of Albania's, the relations are traditionally positive. There are many opportunities for continued cooperation, especially in economy, education and tourism," Fajon said.

Vesel to meet von der Leyen on Wednesday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's candidate for European commissioner Tomaž Vesel confirmed in a statement to the STA that he will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks in Brussels on Wednesday after she started talks with candidates for EU commissioners in mid-August. However, the initial talks are not expected to reveal which portfolio may be given to Slovenia. Vesel, former Court of Audit president, has earlier identified budget, administration, and enlargement as portfolios he would personally prefer to be in charge of.

Crisis looms as Slovenia faces worsening teacher shortage

LJUBLJANA - Warnings of a worsening workforce shortage in the education system are being raised again as the new school year approaches. More than 3,200 job openings for education professionals were recorded in July. The Education Ministry acknowledges the ongoing departures of teachers and an upcoming wave of retirements, but it believes that some of the measures taken are already showing positive results. Trade unions disagree, saying that not enough is being done.

POP TV poll: SDS gaining ground on Freedom Movement

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) have gained ground on the ruling Freedom Movement party, shows a survey conducted by Mediana for the commercial broadcaster POP TV. 23.6% of the respondents would vote for the SDS, up 0.9 percentage points from July. The Freedom Movement would have the support of 17.7% voters, down 0.3 points. The Robert Golob government has kept the 36.2% support from July, while the share of those who do not support its work fell by five points to 46.6%.

Pro-Palestinian groups demand former Israeli minister not come to Bled

LJUBLJANA - The Movement for the Rights of Palestinians and the Solidarity Committee for a Free Palestine called on the government to disinvite Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, from the upcoming Bled Strategic Forum. Livni was foreign minister between 2006 and 2009 and a member of the war cabinet during attacks on Gaza in 2008-2009 when Israeli forces "killed at least 1,166 Palestinians and destroyed the homes of over 100,000 people", they said.

Clash between DARS and trade union continues

LJUBLJANA - The Trade Union of DARS Workers (SDD), which has been dissatisfied with the situation at the national motorway company DARS for months, accused the management of using intimidation tactics against workers' representatives. SDD, one of the three in-house unions and a member of the Pergan confederation, called on DARS to immediately refrain from this. Pergam also said it was appalled at the situation. The management meanwhile denied the allegations, saying it had been holding social dialogue with all social partners.

Several parties to be deleted from register

LJUBLJANA - Six inactive political parties will be erased from the register of political parties, including Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković's Positive Slovenia, ex-LDS secretary general Gregor Golobič's Zares and the Citizen's List of ex-Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant. According to the Official Gazette, Verjamem (I Believe), Voice of the People, and the Social Party of Serbs of Slovenia (SSSS) will also be erased. Parties are erased on their own request, by a court decision, or by the Interior Ministry if it finds a party was registered with false data or did not take part in at least one of either local, general or EU elections twice in a row. There are currently 88 political parties in the register.

Ljubljana prison confirms tuberculosis case

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana prison confirmed that one of their inmates had tuberculosis. The inmate has been hospitalised and is undergoing treatment at the Golnik Hospital for Respiratory Diseases. "The situation is under control as we have taken all measures planned for such situations," prison director Denis Perše said. This is only the sixth Slovenian case of prison tuberculosis in the past ten years.

Business sentiment up in August

LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment improved by 1.2 percentage points in August compared to the revised data for July and by 4.6 percentage points year-on-year and is now roughly in line with the 2010-2020 long-term average, the Statistics Office said. The August improvement was driven by all five confidence indicators, with the biggest improvements in confidence in retail (+12 points) and construction (+4 points).

SIJ posts EUR 1.6m in profit in H1

LJUBLJANA - SIJ, a steel manufacturing group, produced 256,500 tonnes of steel in the first half of 2024, up 12.2% from the same period last year, yet its sales revenue fell and the group posted a net profit of just EUR 1.6 million. SIJ attributed the low bottom line to customer pressure on prices amid cooling demand and to energy prices that are still high, and in line with its business model, SIJ translates them into product prices. SIJ finished 2023 with a loss of EUR 18.8 million after posting a net profit of almost EUR 100 million in 2022.

Darko Jorgić wins WTT Contender Lima 2024

LIMA, Peru - Slovenia's best table tennis player Darko Jorgić won the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lima 2024 on Sunday with a USD 80,000 prize pool after he defeated Germany's Patrick Franziska in the finals with 4:0 (5,9,3,7). This is the first WTT tournament win for the 26-year-old. "I knew why I came to Lima, I knew I wanted to win a WTT tournament," he said.

Ultra cyclist sets another new world record

LENART - Slovenian ultra cyclist Marko Baloh smashed another world record in Lenart, northeast Slovenia, over the past weekend, improving the 1,000 kilometre outdoor track world record by almost two hours, his team said. Previously, the record stood at 31 hours, 23 minutes and one second, as set by Spain's Francisco Rodriguez, but the Slovenian rode the distance in 29 hours, 31 minutes and 35 seconds. The new record was set under the auspices of the World UltraCycling Association and the Guinness World Records, the press release reads.

Two Siberian tigers arrive in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - A couple of Siberian tigers have arrived in the Ljubljana Zoo, but visitors will have to wait a bit to admire the newcomers, expectedly until mid-September, the Ljubljana Zoo wrote in a press release. The three-year-old tiger Ussuri came from Norway's Kristiansand Zoo and the two-year-old tigress Arisa arrived from Poland's Zamošč Zoo. There are fewer than 500 Siberian tigers living in the wild.