News roundup - Tuesday, 18 February

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.

Minister says Slovenia to speed up cohesion policy implementation

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is taking measures to speed up the implementation of cohesion policy, Cohesion and Regional Development Minister Aleksander Jevšek said after he met European Commission Vice-President Raffaele Fitto. The government is expected to adopt changes to the cohesion policy implementation programme on Thursday, he said. He expects the European Commission will approve the changes next month.

Soldiers fully compensated for stand-by duties

LJUBLJANA - After years of efforts, members of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) now receive full pay for location-tied stand-by hours under the public sector pay reform that entered into force on 1 January. This means soldiers are paid the same for location-tied stand-by duties as they are for other tasks during their working time.In July 2021 the Court of Justice of the European Union nodded to the union and in March 2022 the Slovenian Supreme Court did too. Several hundred soldiers subsequently filed lawsuits to receive compensation for stand-by duties in border protection and keeping guard.

British-Slovenian chamber hosts event on labour market challenges

LJUBLJANA - Businesses should consider the effects of technology, company culture and environment when it comes to finding and retaining staff, heard an event by the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce. Attendees also stressed that hiring foreign workers is a difficult, lengthy and expensive process. British Ambassador to Slovenia Victoria Harrison addressed the event and affirmed UK's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion. "Businesses have to attract and make use of different talents to create a competitive advantage," she said.

Steel group SIJ records loss in 2024, optimistic for 2025

LJUBLJANA - Steel group SIJ is moderately optimistic that the situation in the steel industry will improve this year, Sij Group senior vice-president Tibor Šimonka said. The group created around a billion euros in revenue and an EBITDA of EUR 51 million in 2024 but ended the year with a loss, preliminary data shows. The steel product market is expected to recover this year and demand is already increasing for some types of steel, SIJ said.

OECD delegation in Slovenia following 2021 corruption report

LJUBLJANA - A delegation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was in Slovenia on Monday and Tuesday, meeting state officials to discuss implementation of its 2021 recommendations under the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The delegation met with top state officials, including Justice Minister Andreja Katič and Chief Prosecutor General Katarina Bergant, among others.

Slovenian minority rep in Hungary sees infrastructure as priority

BUDAPEST, Hungary - The representative of the Slovenian community in Hungarian parliament Erika Köleš Kiss wants to focus on improving infrastructure in Slovenian villages in the south-western region of Porabje, building a sewage system and renovating a church in Apátistvánfalva/Števanovci before the end of her term, she told the STA. She is halfway through her third term, which will be her last as she does not intend to run again.

Economy minister supports efforts to salvage sheltered workshop

LJUBLJANA - Economy Minister Matjaž Han met the management and employees of CSS, expressing support to efforts to salvage the state-owned sheltered workshop. Han said he would back designating the workshop as a strategic rather than portfolio asset, which would enable Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) to recapitalise it. Han promised the staff he would advocate for this when the new strategy for managing state assets will be adopted at the proposal of the Finance Ministry. The latter has not responded to CSS's appeals.

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.