Weekly review of events involving Slovenia, 14-20 February

FRIDAY, 14 February

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's GDP increased by 1.6% in 2024, showed the initial estimate of the Statistics Office. Final consumption expenditure, comprised of household and government spending, contributed positively to GDP growth, increasing by 3.5%. Gross fixed capital formation and external trade had a negative impact, as the former decreased by 3.7% and imports and exports dropped by 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively. Seasonally adjusted, GDP grew by 1.3%.

MUNICH, Germany - FM Tanja Fajon said that superpowers should serve the world and its peoples and not impose domination as she took part in the Munich Security Conference. She believes Europe should stand together while facing security challenges.

LJUBLJANA - Landis+Gyr, the Swiss owner of a leading Slovenian-based EV charging stations maker, said that the company, formerly named Etrel, was in liquidation. It announced it would discontinue its Slovenian subsidiary Landis+Gyr EV Solutions.

LJUBLJANA - Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić, the director and screenwriter of the multi award-winning Granny's Sexual Life, opened the new official competitive section Perspectives at the Berlinale film festival.

SATURDAY, 15 February

LJUBLJANA - Following discussions on peace negotiations in Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Golob said that Slovenia has been helping Ukraine since the first day of the war, which is "why we care about how a ceasefire is reached". He expects from the US allies a solution that will be acceptable for Ukraine and called for a united stance on Ukraine.

LJUBNO OB SAVINJI - Slovenia's Nika Prevc won the first of two Ski Jumping World Cup events for women. With her 15th individual victory Prevc consolidated her leading position in the overall standings.

SUNDAY, 16 February

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian officials condemned the 15 February knife attack in Austria's Villach in which a 14-year-old boy was killed and five people were injured. While PM Robert Golob said his thoughts were with the relatives of the young victim and the other injured, opposition leader Janez Janša suggested the victims' blood was on Golob's hands. He said it was very likely the 23-year Syrian asylum seeker who perpetrated the attack had come to Austria via Slovenia.

LJUBLJANA - Marking the first anniversary of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry called for "immediate and unconditional release" of all political prisoners in Russia.

LAŠKO - Janez Janša declared that his Democratic Party (SDS) was ready to return to power, arguing that the time was running out for the current ruling coalition. Addressing an event marking the 36th anniversary of the SDS, he said the party was entering its political heyday.

LJUBNO OB SAVINJI - Before an ecstatic home crowd, ski jumper Nika Prevc also won the second World Cup event, sweeping the competition to reaffirm her dominance in the overall standings. The event organisers said they were planning to enlarge the Ljubno hill or build a new, larger one, so that the venue could host both women and men in the future.

MONDAY, 17 February

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Robert Golob described the meeting of the PMs of Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain and EU top officials in Paris to discuss Ukraine as a meeting of influential European NATO members which should be followed up by an EU summit to find common ground on how to come to a prompt ceasefire and a lasting and just peace.

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian and Macedonian defence ministers, Borut Sajovic and Vlado Misajlovski, urged stronger bilateral defence cooperation as Misajlovski paid an official.

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković published a letter in which he responded to the protestors who demanded his apology for backing Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, reiterating that everyone has the right to their own opinion and that he condemns violence.

LJUBLJANA - Average monthly pay in Slovenia in 2024 stood at EUR 2,394.92 gross and EUR 1,526.02 net. Gross pay was 6.2% higher year-on-year in nominal terms and 4.1% higher in real terms. Average net pay was 3.8% higher in nominal terms and 1.8% in real terms compared to 2023.

TUESDAY, 18 February

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, with the higher pensions to be paid out for the first time at the end of the month.

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.

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.

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 EBITDA of EUR 51 million in 2024 but ended the year with a loss, preliminary data showed.

WEDNESDAY, 19 February

PARIS, France - PM Robert Golob reiterated that Europe's strength lies in its unity as he attended an informal meeting on Ukraine hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. He also called for building Europe's defence capabilities and industry as soon as possible.

LJUBLJANA - Vojko Volk, the state secretary at the prime minister's office in charge of international affairs, expressed concern over the statements by US President Donald Trump that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is a dictator who better moved fast or else he would have no country left.

LJUBLJANA - Lt-Gen Robert Glavaš, chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF), called for higher defence spending both in Slovenia and NATO in the face of the war in Ukraine and the challenges such as hybrid conflicts, cyber attacks and terrorism.

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Constitutional Commission rejected the proposed amendments to the Constitution which would increase the number of MPs from 90 to 92 and introduce preferential voting in general elections, as well as amendments on the appointment of judges and the composition of the Judicial Council. The preferential vote had received very strong support in a referendum.

LJUBLJANA - The Voice of Pensioners party and the 1 October Institute led by Pavel Rupar staged a rally to protest against the current government and collect signatures in support of early elections. The crowd was also addressed by opposition Democratic Party (SDS) leader Janez Janša and representatives of other right-wing parties.

LJUBLJANA - Banks in Slovenia generated EUR 1.2 billion in pre-tax profit in 2024, up 5.5% from 2023 while their net profit dropped by 2.1% to EUR 1.1 billion. The total assets of banks increased by 2.2% to EUR 54.24 billion last year, the central bank said.
        
THURSDAY, 20 February

LJUBLJANA - The banking group NLB reported a net profit of EUR 514.6 million for 2024, a drop of 7% compared to the record year of 2023. The bank described the past financial year as solid, as it released its unaudited financials, adding that the group expects its dividend payout this year to reach 50% of its profit in 2024.

KOPER - The group around port operator Luka Koper reported a net profit of EUR 60.3 million for 2024, a 7% improvement on the year before coming on the back of a 6% rise in sales revenue to EUR 330.1 million. Total maritime cargo throughput grew by 3%, and container throughput hit a record high with a 6% increase, show the company's report.

LJUBLJANA - The government proposed for Damjan Bergant to be relieved of his duties as Slovenia's ambassador to Serbia, as the issue of the Serbian ambassador to Slovenia has been resolved, which was a pre-requisite for Bergant's successor to take over. This will likely be Foreign Ministry official Slobodan Šešum, who was endorsed for this capacity almost a year ago.

LJUBLJANA - An OECD delegation looking into the implementation of recommendations under a convention addressing bribery of foreign public officials said after a multi-day visit that Slovenia has taken a significant step to address concerns on the independence of prosecutors, but more action is needed to ensure the independence of bribery investigations.

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Business Club (SBC) addressed an open letter to Prime Minister Robert Golob, calling out against what it terms as widespread corruption in the country.

LJUBLJANA - An initiative known as Odklopi.net joined forces with several experts to call for legal restrictions on the use of mobile phones and other digital devices in educational institutions. Until 30 March they will be collecting signatures under a petition urging the government and the Education Ministry to take action.