News roundup - Monday, 21 October

FinMin says Slovenia capable of financing Krško 2

LJUBLJANA - Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said that Slovenia is capable of financing a second unit at the Krško nuclear power station with a combination of equity and debt financing. He warned, however, that clear rules would have to be laid down. Relations between the majority and minority equity partners will have to be clearly defined, he told a panel organised by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy. Boštjančič feels a public-private partnership would be the best solution. "Slovenia can provide the required amount of debt financing without a deterioration of its position on international debt markets," he said.

Coalition parties agree to cancel referendum on Krško 2

LJUBLJANA - The coalition Freedom Movement, SocDems and the Left agreed to cancel the 24 November referendum on a second unit at the Krško nuclear power station after the opposition Democrats (SDS) proposed calling off the vote. The ruling Freedom Movement labelled the SDS's move on this as "misleading" because the party had been the one to propose it in the first place. The Freedom Movement will now return to its original plan of preparing a blueprint for a bill on Krško 2 in November. The public will be included in its drafting and it will also be able to decide on the investment later on, Kumer said.

Vox Populi poll shows 10-point drop in Krško 2 support

LJUBLJANA - The latest poll run by the newspaper Dnevnik shows a nearly 10-point drop in support for Krško 2, a new nuclear reactor at the Krško power plant since January. The October Vox Populi poll shows that 59.4% of the respondents are in favour of Slovenia building its second nuclear reactor, down from 68.6% in January. Over 64% of the respondents said that they did not have enough information about the project.

Fiscal Council says govt again plans overblown expenditure

LJUBLJANA - The Fiscal Council has assessed that the 2025 and 2026 draft national budgets, which are currently being debated in parliament, anticipate unrealistically high expenditure and as such enable further uneconomical spending. It also says that additional measures will be needed to meet the commitments from the medium-term fiscal-structural plan. The anticipated increase in deficit compared to 2024 is despite the emergency measures expected to no longer have a negative impact on the balance as of 2025, since the expenditure on the post-flood reconstruction will be financed with earmarked funds.

Golob visits Gazan children treated in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - PM Robert Golob visited a group of children from Gaza who are being treated at the Soča University Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana, describing their stories as upsetting, while pointing out to the continued killing in Gaza. "It's hard to find an answer how to move forward, but that doesn't mean we are not trying all the time, and it is with this aim in mind that I'm travelling to the US today to meet President Joe Biden tomorrow. Trust me, the situation in the Middle East, as far as we are concerned, will be the main topic of these talks," he said.

Logar's party, Vesna over electoral threshold in Vox Populi poll

LJUBLJANA - A party that renegade Democrat (SDS) MP Anže Logar plans to start by the end of the year would make the 4% threshold to enter parliament if elections were held today, along with the green non-parliamentary party Vesna, shows the latest Vox Populi poll by the daily Dnevnik. The SDS appears not to be affected by Logar's rise, however. It remained at the top of the party rankings with 24.1%, up 0.1 percentage points on September. The ruling Freedom Movement was down 1.4 points to 17%. The share of undecided voters contracted by three percentage points to 24.4%.

Lebanese chemist found guilty of incitement to murder again

LJUBLJANA - Lebanese chemist Michael Stephan, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for incitement to murder, was found guilty of the same crime by the Ljubljana District Court for trying to order another murder from prison. He received an additional 16 years for a total sentence of 23 years and eight months in prison, but the verdict is not yet final and his lawyer announced an appeal. In 2017, Stephan tried to order the murder of his boss but the Iranian asylum seeker he tried to hire exposed him to the police and testified against him. Out of revenge, he then tried to order a murder against the Iranian.

Three policemen injured during scheduled mountain training

LJUBLJANA - Three police officers were injured as members of the mountain police unit were training in the Karavanke mountains in the north of the country. None of them sustained life-threatening injuries and they were already discharged from hospital, the General Police Administration said. The accident happened around 1pm in a gorge near Zelenica when a large rock broke away from the mountain side. The rescue effort, involving Slovenian and Austrian helicopter teams, was complex due to the difficult terrain and the serious injuries, as well as the fact that the accident happened practically on the border with Austria.

Hyla wins top award for high-growth companies

LJUBLJANA - The Golden Gazelle Award for high-growth companies conferred by the publisher Dnevnik went to Hyla, a maker of high-quality water vacuum cleaners that both suck and clean the air. Last year, its 75 employees generated an added value of over EUR 156,000, while sales doubled in five years and exceeded EUR 33 million in 2023. The Silver Gazelle went to builder Trgograd and the Bronze Gazelle to digital solutions company Caretronic.

Regulated fuel to increase further on Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - The prices of fuel sold outside Slovenia's motorway network will increase again on Tuesday, with the price of regular petrol going up 4.1 cents to EUR 1.51 a litre. The price of diesel will be 2.9 cents higher at EUR 1.528 a litre, and heating oil will cost 2.2 cents more at EUR 1.127 a litre. The prices will be in effect until 4 November.

Last Jewish Holocaust survivor from Prekmurje dies aged 93

MURSKA SOBOTA - Erika Fürst, the last Jewish Holocaust survivor from Prekmurje, died aged 93 this weekend, the Maribor Synagogue said on Sunday. She had been deported to Auschwitz at the age of 13 along with her mother and sister. All three survived, but most of the other members of her broader family died. She returned to Murska Sobota and lived there until her death as one of the few remaining members of a once thriving Jewish population in the region of Prekmurje. In 2012, the president of Slovenia presented her with the Golden Order of Service for her contribution to Slovenian and European Holocaust awareness.

Hungarian art critic Edit Andras wins Igor Zabel Prize

LJUBLJANA - Edit Andras, a Hungarian art historian, critic, curator and senior researcher at the Institute of Art History of the Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, is the winner of the 2024 Igor Zabel Prize for Culture and Theory. She was honoured for achievements of culture workers whose work supports, develops or investigates visual art and culture in Central, Eastern and SE Europe. She will receive the EUR 85,000 biennial prize at the end of November in Ljubljana.

Topical German-language films on show at Cinematheque

LJUBLJANA - A selection of contemporary films made in Austria, Germany and Switzerland will be screened at the Slovenian Cinematheque from Tuesday to Friday as part of the annual Days of German-Language Film. Six films will be shown, most of them released this year. Three are live-action films and three are documentaries. All the films are in German but subtitled in English and Slovenian.