Last week in Slovenia: 4
FRIDAY, Feb. 4
LJUBLJANA – The National Assembly rejected the appointment of Marjan Divjak as vice-governor of the central bank. The Democrats (SDS) proposed to postpone the vote, but their proposal was rejected and the vote took place with 44 votes in favor and 40 against in a secret ballot, without the required super majority.
LJUBLJANA – The National Assembly passed a bill on electronic communications, which the government proposed for the transposition of EU law, which is not suitable for further consideration. The bill would ban risky sellers from market access with a provision targeting China’s Huawei. Although I would not specifically mention the seller, the law would prohibit bidders from using high-risk suppliers’ equipment if they were designated as such by the government based on the opinion of the National Security Council.
LJUBLJANA – The National Assembly failed to revoke the veto of the upper house on a bill to raise the required level of knowledge of the Italian language for employees in schools and kindergartens with Italian. While the coalition voted in favor, the center-left opposition voted against.
LJUBLJANA – The opposition Left announced that it would withdraw the proposal to call a referendum on the Personal Income Tax Act after the government indicated that the referendum could take place on the same day as the general elections. The amendments are likely to be adopted during the term of this government, and the Left will work to win the election and then “correct the law”, said Left leader Luka Mesec.
LJUBLJANA – The Ministry of Finance presented a new draft law on the taxation of cryptocurrencies. It proposes a 10% tax rate and a general tax exemption for up to € 10,000 in cryptocurrencies redeemed per year. The proposed solutions would apply to all natural persons who pay taxes in Slovenia, but not to legal and natural persons who have cryptocurrencies as a business asset.
DOBROVO – Minister of Agriculture Jože Podgoršek spoke with his Italian counterpart Stefan Patuanelli. They discussed plans for the joint promotion of Slovenian and Italian wines from the border area, especially rebula white wine, known in Italy as fishing.
LJUBLJANA – Slovenian exports increased by 19.8 percent year-on-year to 39.4 billion euros in 2021, while imports increased by 30.8 percent to 42 billion euros, the Statistical Office said. The deficit reached EUR 2.6 billion, the highest in ten years.
SATURDAY, Feb. 5
BEIJING – Slovenian ski jumpers Urša Bogataj and Nika Križnar made history at the Winter Olympics. Bogataj won gold and Križnar won bronze in the hill individual event, which is the first time that several Slovenian athletes in the same discipline have qualified for the Olympic podium.
CARDIFF, UK – Ema Kozin, the best Slovenian boxer, lost in Cardiff, Britain to American Claressa Shields in the fight for the title of world champion in many categories in the middleweight category. For Kozin, this is the first defeat in his professional fighting career.
SUNDAY, February 6th
LJUBLJANA – Slovenia reiterated its support for the integration of nuclear energy into the EU taxonomy of sustainable energy sources. The finance ministry said nuclear energy would be needed to maintain low-carbon energy production in the long run, not just during the transition period.
BEIJING, China – Slovenian ski jumper Peter Prevc took fourth place in the men’s mountain discipline at the Beijing Winter Olympics. He ran out of half a point to win what could be his third Olympic medal after the two he won in Sochi in 2014.
MONDAY, Feb. 7
VATICAN CITY, Vatican City – President Borut Pahor paid an official visit to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Slovenia and the Holy See. They emphasized the importance of dialogue and discussed the situation in the Western Balkans, the Ukrainian crisis and bilateral co-operation.
ROME – President Borut Pahor met with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarello. EU issues were on the agenda. The talks focused on peace and stability in the EU’s eastern neighborhood, the need to coordinate policies to recover from the pandemic economy and the need for more ambitious discussions on a common European future.
LJUBLJANA – The Free Movement, Robert Golob’s party, is the leader in the RTV Slovenia poll before the ruling Democrats (SDS). One in five respondents said they would vote for the Freedom Movement, up 6.8 percentage points from January. The SDS gained three points at 15%.
LJUBLJANA – Slovenia’s annual inflation reached 5.8% in January, the highest since August 2008, with 4.9% inflation at the end of last year, mainly due to more expensive fuels and energy. Consumer prices rose by 0.4% compared to December.
BEIJING, China – Slovenian ski jumpers Nika Križnar, Urša Bogataj, Timi Zajc and Peter Prevc won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in the mixed discipline of normal hills and became the first nation to win the Olympic premiere in Beijing. .
CLERMONT FERRAND, France – Animated filmmaker Špela Čadež received a special mention for her short animated Steakhouse at this year’s Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the tenth international film award.
TUESDAY, Feb. 8
DUBAI, UAE – Foreign Minister Anže Logar spoke with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as he embarked on a tour of the Gulf states. The two ministers confirmed the excellent bilateral ties that have deepened since Slovenia opened its embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2018, and discussed opportunities for closer co-operation.
STRASBOURG, France – Minister of Agriculture Jože Podgoršek welcomed the initiative for a new business model for low-carbon farming, which is based on actual carbon sequestration and includes the possibility of evaluating it on the market. Podgoršek told his interlocutors at the informal meeting that the initiative is an opportunity for additional earnings for farmers and foresters.
BEIJING – Slovenian snowboarders won two medals in the Olympic parallel giant slalom. Tim Mastnak won silver in the men’s category as one of the favorites for medals, and Gloria Kotnik won bronze in the women’s competition, which few expected before the Olympics.
WEDNESDAY, February 9th
LJUBLJANA – President Borut Pahor officially called general elections in Slovenia for April 24 and announced that he would give a mandate to form a government to a person with sufficient support in the new parliament after the elections.
LJUBLJANA – Prime Minister Janez Janša was self-tested for coronavirus. He posted a photo of the positive test result on Twitter, saying he has all the symptoms typical of Covid-19, albeit mild.
DOHA, Qatar – Foreign Minister Anže Logar met with Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to discuss economic co-operation and regional and global issues, including energy. On this occasion, Logar also spoke about Slovenia’s candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
ZAGORJE OB SAVI – The new Green Party Vesna held a founding congress, at which environmentalists Urša Zgojznik and Uroš Macerl were elected co-presidents. The first said that the goal was to enter the National Assembly and demand the implementation of programs in the field of environment, economy, agriculture, youth policy and democracy.
LJUBLJANA – The current strong economic growth obscures the deterioration of public finances in Slovenia, the Fiscal Council wrote in its latest assessment of public finances. He estimated that structural measures taken during the non-Covid epidemic would have an impact on public finances by reducing GDP by 2.2% per year.
LJUBLJANA – The Slovenian competition supervisor has established that Renault Nissan Slovenia and four car dealerships have been anti-competitive in the repair and maintenance of Renault vehicles for more than ten years. One company admitted its involvement and provided additional evidence in exchange for a milder sentence.
THURSDAY, Feb. 10
LJUBLJANA – The government adopted a bill on the promotion of digital inclusion. Central to the € 31 million project is a € 150 digital voucher scheme that high school, university and adults over the age of 55 will be able to use to attend various digital literacy courses or purchase digital devices.
LJUBLJANA – The European Commission lowered this year’s growth forecast for Slovenia by 0.4 percentage points from the autumn forecast to 3.8 percent, and in 2023 it predicts a more moderate growth rate of 3.6 percent. and 2.7% in 2023.
LJUBLJANA – Slovenian industrial production increased by 10.2% in 2021 due to strong results in manufacturing, according to the latest data from the Statistical Office. Industrial revenues increased by more than 15% and the value of inventories by almost 5%.
LJUBLJANA – The Slovenian labor market recorded a record 22,900 vacancies in the last quarter of 2021, as the number of occupied jobs reached 792,100, which is another highest value of all time, according to new data from the Statistical Office. The vacancy rate was 2.8% in the fourth quarter.
BRUSSELS, Belgium – Six out of eight Slovenian MEPs have sent a letter to European Parliament President Robert Metsol expressing regret over her statement, which they say expresses the “untrue and repeatedly criticized position of former Italian President Giorgio Napolitano” on the phobia. massacres during and after World War II.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Foreign Minister Anze Logar spoke with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and many other members of the government at the end of the Gulf tour. The focus was on economic cooperation and Slovenia’s efforts to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.