Morning headlines for Slovenia: Friday, April 1, 2022
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This summary provides STA:
The general government deficit narrowed to 5.2% of GDP last year
LJUBLJANA – Slovenia’s general government deficit last year amounted to 2.705 billion euros or 5.2 percent of GDP, which is 961 million euros less than in 2020. The central government deficit last year amounted to 2.94 billion euros and the local government 60 euros. million and social security funds surplus 178 million. Gross government debt reached 74.7% of GDP, a decrease of 5.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year, an increase of EUR 1.435 billion in nominal terms.
Annual inflation slowed to 5.4% in March.
LJUBLJANA – Slovenia recorded 5.4% annual inflation in March, which is a significant decrease from 6.9% in February, as a 30% reduction in electricity prices fell by as much as one percentage point, according to the Statistical Office. While electricity was cheaper, prices in other major groups rose. With more than 30% increase in petrol and almost as much diesel, the prices of petroleum products contributed 1.2 percentage points to the overall inflation rate. Food, almost 7% more expensive, added another point.
The latest IMAD announcement has been rescheduled
LJUBLJANA – The latest announcement by IMAD was not included in the agenda of today’s session, and for the second time in two weeks this item was not discussed. The reason, as reported by Delo, is that the macroeconomic forecaster did not take sufficient account of the positive effects of EU recovery and resilience and other investments. IMAD denies this and says that the forecast is realistic based on all available data.
Slovenian and Croatian Italian foreign ministers will meet on Monday
LJUBLJANA – Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar, Croatian Gordan Grlić Radman and Italian Luigi Di Maio will meet in Zaprešić, Croatia on Monday to discuss co-operation in the northern Adriatic, the third meeting of its kind. The ministers will review the cooperation so far and examine concrete proposals that will be included in a joint statement, the foreign ministry said.
SD accuses Janša of endangering the arbitration agreement
LJUBLJANA – Prime Minister Janez Janša is threatening the 2009 arbitration agreement on the border between Slovenia and Croatia and is abusing his position by discussing what has already been agreed with Croatia, said Matjaž Nemec, a member of the opposition SocDems. The German told reporters the day after the Croatian newspaper reported that Croatia and Slovenia had drawn up a pilot plan to tackle fishing in the Piran Bay.
Slovenian and UAE speakers discuss cooperation and international issues
ABU DHABI, UAE – Potential for enhanced economic cooperation and current international issues were at the top of the agenda, as National Assembly Speaker Igor Zorčič met with Federal National Council President Saqr Ghobash at the beginning of a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. . Officials said of the war in Ukraine that “confrontation is not going anywhere, peace is the only answer to conflicts.” Zorčič and Ghobash also shared the view that cooperation between all countries is crucial in resolving the current energy crisis.
The President and the Ambassador marked the Day of Friendship between Slovenia and the United Kingdom
VINICA – President Borut Pahor and British Ambassador to Slovenia Tiffany Sadler celebrated Friendship Day in Gornji Suhorje, a village in southeastern Slovenia where a British bomber crashed in March 1945 while locals and Slovenian partisans helped rescue a crew kingdom. In their address, Pahor, Sadler and the Mayor of Črnomelj Andrej Kavšek emphasized the role of mutual friendship, which was concluded in the most difficult moments. They also touched on the war in Ukraine, saying that it had brought a lot of suffering, but also a lot of compassion and solidarity.
Slovenia will soon have new ambassadors to Croatia and Belgium
LJUBLJANA – The government has officially dismissed Slovenian ambassadors accredited to Belgium and Croatia, as their terms expire at the end of May. Ambassador Vojislav Šuc will leave Croatia on May 31, and according to media reports, he will be replaced by Gašper Dovžan, currently State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rado Genorio will leave his embassy in Belgium on May 27 and will retire, according to media reports. Petra Kežman has been appointed the new national coordinator of Slovenia for relations with the Union for the Mediterranean, the Government Communication Office announced.
The Slovenian flag at the embassy in Kiev was temporarily removed due to similarities with the Russian one
LJUBLJANA – Chargé d’Affaires of Slovenia at the embassy in Kiev Boštjan Lesjak, who arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, told TV Slovenija late on Wednesday that he had to remove the Slovenian flag in front of the embassy because of its resemblance to the Russian flag. . However, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry told STA today that after Ukrainian security forces tightened security on the street where the Slovenian embassy and several other embassies are located, Lesjak raised the Slovenian flag again, which is now expected to remain there.
The number of coronavirus cases continues to decline
LJUBLJANA – The coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia continues to decline gradually, as a total of 2,743 cases were confirmed on Monday, which is 17 percent less than last week. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population fell slightly to 1,832, and the 7-day average of new daily cases fell by nearly seventy to 2,601, according to data from the National Institute of Public Health. Due to Covid-19, a total of 157 patients were hospitalized this morning, 35 of them in intensive care, numbers that have remained broadly unchanged since early March. According to the Ministry of Health, three patients with covid-19 died.
The Radioactive Waste Agency is re-examining the bids for the construction of the landfill
LJUBLJANA – The new management of the Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ARAO) annulled the decision of the previous management not to select any of the three bids for the construction of a radioactive waste repository, and the bids will now be re-examined. Last week, the agency announced that it had not awarded the contract, as the offer of the only consortium that remains in the game, the joint offer of Slovenian construction companies Riko, Kolektor CPG and CGP, is more than one hundred million euros above available. .
The government sets the highest wholesale prices for gasoline and diesel
LJUBLJANA – Two weeks and a half after the regulation of retail prices, the Slovenian government limited the wholesale price of regular petrol and diesel. The wholesale price is set two cents lower than the retail price. Wholesalers will be able to charge € 1,483 per liter of petrol and € 1,521 per liter of diesel, a price announced by the government on Thursday, representing a margin that would allow small retailers to secure fuel supplies.
The new electronic communication act needs to be monitored quickly
LJUBLJANA – The National Assembly approved plans to speed up the adoption of a new electronic communications law, the government’s second attempt to pass the law after an almost identical bill was rejected in February over concerns about Huawei’s independence. . The decision, which was confirmed at the beginning of the emergency plenary session, means that according to the agenda of the session, the bill will be voted on on April 6.
The national railway operator gets the green light to buy the Nomago bus company
LJUBLJANA – The Slovenian State Holding (SDH), the custodian of state property, has given the green light to the State Railway Company Slovenske Železnice (SŽ) to buy half of the Nomago bus company, reports the business newspaper Finance. On Wednesday, the SSH Management Board highlighted the strategic investment of SŽ. The investment will cost SŽ about 30 million euros, which it will pay in three years. SŽ will also have the pre-emption right to buy the rest of Nomag by the end of 2024, Finance reported.
DARS almost doubles its annual profit
LJUBLJANA – The state motorway company DARS generated almost 470 million euros in sales revenue in 2021, compared to more than 398 million euros in 2020. The largest share of revenue – 456 million euros – was tolls. Net profit nearly doubled to 112.7 million euros from 59.5 million euros in 2020. DARS, as it released financial statements for 2021 on Thursday, how much it earned from selling toll stickers and how much of the toll for trucks.
The Slovenian pavilion at the Expo is visited by almost a million people
LJUBLJANA – Almost a million visitors were recorded in the Slovenian pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020, which closes today. More than 200 events took place in his business center, attended by 600 companies, both exhibitors and members of business delegations, said Expo Slovenia Commissioner General Matic Volk. The next Expo will be in Osaka, Japan in 2025, and Slovenia also plans to participate. The cost of an independent pavilion there would be around 15 million euros.
A major fire in Gorenjska has been extinguished, we are still observing
PREDDVOR – A major fire on Potoška gora and the Baba hills near Preddvor, some 30 kilometers north of Ljubljana, which broke out on Monday afternoon, was extinguished on the surface as firefighters were helped by rainfall. Efforts to find the hotspots continued overnight, as they did on Wednesday, when the fire was already contained. “It finally started to rain early in the morning,” said Andraž Šifrer, head of the fire brigade and commander of the Kranj Fire and Rescue Service. 1,100 firefighters were involved in the blaze, and four were injured.
The director of the Mini Theater and the Jewish Cultural Center receives a French contract
LJUBLJANA – Robert Waltl, director of the Mini Theater and the Jewish Cultural Center in Ljubljana, received the Order of Arts and French Letters for “deepening ties between Slovenia and France and promoting mutual respect and combating all forms of discrimination”. “The French Institute in Slovenia announced that the Knights were handed over to Waltl on Wednesday on behalf of the French Minister of Culture by the French Ambassador Florence Ferrari.
A retrospective of Pier Paolo Pasolini at an exhibition at the Cinematheque
LJUBLJANA – On the centenary of the birth of the Italian film director, the Slovenian Cinematheque is hosting an extensive retrospective on Pier Paolo Pasolini, which screened all his feature films and several documentaries about his life and work. The retrospective, called Pasolini 100 !, will begin today with the 1962 drama Mamma Roma and end on May 8th. The retrospective is accompanied by an exhibition on Pasolini’s film work, which will be on view until 30 June.