News roundup - Tuesday, 18 February, until 3pm

Regular annual indexation of pensions set at 4.5%

LJUBLJANA - The council of the public pension insurance fund manager ZPIZ decided that pensions will increase by 4.5% this year. The annual indexation will cost EUR 342 million, ZPIZ council chair Danijel Kovač announced. The higher pensions will be paid out for the first time at the end of the month along with the difference for January. The latest data shows that there are around 647,600 pensioners covered by mandatory insurance, including around 493,000 recipients of old-age pensions.

Council of EU appoints Slovenian diplomat to a top post

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Council of the EU appointed Slovenian veteran diplomat David Brozina as the new director general for agriculture, fisheries, social affairs and health. He will assume his new role on 1 April. Brozina currently serves as Slovenia's deputy permanent representative to the EU. At the new post he will succeed Cesare Onestini, who has taken on the role of director-general for organisational development and services within the Council's General Secretariat.

Chamber of Commerce urging lower taxation of labour

LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) urged several measures to tackle what it sees as heavy taxation of labour in the country. These include the automatic indexation of income tax brackets and reliefs to annual average wage growth, the elimination of the top bracket, and lower taxes on performance-based bonuses. "The business environment in Slovenia has deteriorated significantly in recent years. We are concerned because the government's actions do not reflect an awareness of the severity of the situation facing the Slovenian economy," GZS director-general Vesna Nahtigal said.

Presbytery of Kostanjevica monastery church restored

NOVA GORICA - The 400-year-old church at the Kostanjevica Franciscan Monastery overlooking Nova Gorica shines in its former glory again after extensive restoration, most recently focusing on presbytery. Although the restoration is not over yet, scaffolding has finally been removed from the church after seven years to let the public marvel at restored frescoes and stucco decorations. The last to undergo renovation was the presbytery, which was added to the existing church after 1654 and was made of different materials and structure. That phase alone took almost two years.

Bad news for pheasant hunting tourism as last breeding facility is closing

BELTINCI - The national Forest Service (ZGS) announced it will cease pheasant and partridge breeding operations in Beltinci as of 1 May, marking the closure of the last such breeding facility in Slovenia. The Fazan Beltinci special-purpose hunting ground will remain, but hunting activities in the area will be redirected from commercial pheasant and partridge hunting toward general public hunting purposes.