Last week in Slovenia: 15
The following is a weekly review of events in Slovenia, prepared by STA.
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FRIDAY, April 15th
LJUBLJANA – Data from the Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants show that about 1,200 Ukrainian refugees have temporary protection status. There are 18,415 of them officially registered in Slovenia, and only 4,718 registered, as most of them only pass through the country. Some have already returned home.
Klagenfurt, Austria – On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the first wave of persecution of Carinthian Slovenes, the Governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, apologized to Carinthian Slovenes in a statement issued on 14 April.
RADOVLJICA – As the first project partially financed by the EU Fund for Resuscitation and Resilience, the upgrade of the railway track between Kranj and Jesenice, which is a key section connecting the Slovenian railway system with Austria, was officially opened.
LJUBLJANA – The government has approved plans to build a new general hospital in northwestern Gorenjska, a project estimated at 305 million euros and a home worth almost 27 million euros for long-term care to be built in Ptuj in the north. -east.
LJUBLJANA – Bojan Dremelj, former President of the Management Board of Telekom Slovenije, pleaded not guilty at a pre-trial hearing in a case in which three defendants are accused of abusing their position due to Telekom’s takeover of Kosovo’s Internet service provider Ipko in 2007.
PARENTS – A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who died at the scene in a village near Maribor in northeastern Slovenia. The suspect, who apparently stabbed the 48-year-old during the altercation, was later detained. Several media outlets reported that the victim was sports journalist Aleš Tihec.
SATURDAY, April 16
ORMOŽ – In Ormož in the northeast of the country, a new production plant of the German motorhome manufacturer Carthago worth 45 million euros was demolished. Production at the new factory will start next spring, initially with 160 new workers, said Sandra Županec, director of the Slovenian subsidiary Carthago.
BRDO PRI KRANJU – The national football team of Ukraine will be preparing for the last match of the European part of the qualifications for this year’s World Cup in Slovenia, the sports channel Sportklub reported. From April 29, the team will train in the new modern hub in Brdo near Kranj.
SUNDAY, April 17th
LJUBLJANA – In his Easter message, Prime Minister Janez Janša emphasized the importance of hope and unity of the nation and expressed the wish that Christians show their responsibility by participating in the general elections on April 24 and choosing “the right leaders”, Janša’s office said.
LJUBLJANA / MARIBOR – Archbishop Stanislav Zore of Ljubljana emphasized that the Christian holiday is something that brings new hope and life, while Archbishop Alojzij Cvikl of Maribor announced Easter that a new beginning is always possible.
MONDAY, April 18
VIPAVA – During his working visit to Slovenia, President Borut Pahor assured his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić of Slovenia’s continued support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
LJUBLJANA – Composer and pianist Janez Matičič, one of the most prominent contemporary Slovenian composers, has died at the age of 95. His opus, which focuses on piano music, is famous for its modernist and experimental feel. In 2007 he received the Prešeren Lifetime Achievement Award.
LJUBLJANA – Robert Golob’s self-test showed a positive result, so the leader of the new party Svobodnjaško gibanje, which is considered the main rival of Prime Minister Janez Janša, only a few days before the elections in self-isolation and since then participated in several television shows. electoral debates via video link.
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
WASHINGTON, USA – The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast of economic growth for Slovenia in its latest global economic forecast, as the country’s GDP is expected to increase by 3.7% this year and by 3% in 2023, which is a decrease of 0 .9 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively, since last October.
MEDVODE – Prime Minister Janez Jansa, leader of the Democrats (SDS), got acquainted with his party’s achievements in the government and its incentive policy and blamed the opposition when he addressed SDS members at the party’s last major event. The convention was hosted by the President of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, who supported the SDS and Nova Slovenija (NSi).
LJUBLJANA – President Borut Pahor cast his vote in the early general elections and joined civil society organizations and politicians in urging citizens to exercise their right to vote. Turnout reached almost 5% in the first two days of the three-day early voting, a new record.
MARIBOR – The High Court in Maribor annulled the verdict from December 2021, by which Silvo Drevenšek was sentenced to life imprisonment, admitting guilt that he admitted the murder of his ex-wife and her parents on Christmas Eve 2020 in front of his four-year-old son. The first life sentence for such a sentence, which was reintroduced in Slovenia in 2008, was annulled due to a procedural error and a retrial was ordered.
MARIBOR – The mayor of Maribor, Sašo Arsenovič, was accused by his 13-year-old father of assaulting his son and causing him minor injuries. Arsenovich initially said he had responded to the vandalism, but later admitted he should have acted differently and apologized but would not resign. The father said he would take him to court nonetheless.
LJUBLJANA – One of the two Slovenian police unions has filed a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and Robert Kos, director for organization and police staff, for allegedly obstructing union activities in an emergency and abusing their position.
KOPER – A study commissioned by the Italian parliament and presented by a Slovenian environmental NGO advises against extending the life of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK), the only such plant in Slovenia, due to earthquake safety.
WEDNESDAY, April 20th
LJUBLJANA – Minister of Agriculture Jože Podgoršek resigned after he became the target of media scrutiny in January due to ambiguity regarding the payment for his weekend at a prestigious hotel in Bohinj. He said he was “resigning solely because of a delay in paying the bill” after he claimed he was being blackmailed, and reported it to police. The Anti-Jump Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into the matter.
LJUBLJANA – A follow-up poll conducted by Ninamedia for the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer showed that the Free Movement and the ruling Democrats (SDS) remain in the lead before Sunday’s general elections. The Association Connecting Slovenia would also run for parliament, while the center-left opposition parties LMŠ and SAB risk being ousted. In third place was the left with 8.8%.
WASHINGTON, USA – Freedom House, an American non-governmental organization that assesses the state of democracy in the world, wrote in its latest annual report that Slovenia recorded the largest democratic decline in the wider region last year. Slovenia is ranked among the six countries that are still described as “consolidated democracies”, but all have suffered a decline in results due to the “corrosive effects of illiberalism and corruption”.
LJUBLJANA – A state investigation into alleged political interference in the work of the police has filed a criminal complaint against Police Commissioner Anton Olaj and former Police Commissioner Anton Travner. They are suspected of bullying in the workplace or perjury.
LJUBLJANA / UZHOROD, Ukraine – The Slovenian Red Cross has announced that it has delivered 55 tonnes of food and 25,000 liters of water to war-affected Ukrainians. The aid package will provide 40,000 meals for babies and 112,000 meals for adults.
LJUBLJANA – The Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana has opened a language center for Catalan within the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. The new subject, which has been available to students since last autumn, is a valuable addition to the faculty, said the head of the department Katarina Marinčič.
LJUBLJANA – The French Institute in Slovenia awarded translator Suzana Koncut with an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters for her work in literary translation, especially in the last six years.
LJUBLJANA – The Catholic publisher Družina and the Government Communication Office have published a monograph that chronicles the events from December 23, 1990, when Slovenes decided on independence in a referendum, and January 15, 1992, when Slovenia was recognized as an independent state by the European Union. . .
THURSDAY, April 21st
BERLIN, Germany – The German news agency dpa reported that Germany has reached an agreement to send heavy weapons to Ukraine with several other European countries, including Slovenia, which will send its tanks to Ukraine in exchange for tanks and armored vehicles from German supplies. . The Slovenian Defense Ministry did not want to comment for STA, but later said that Minister Matej Tonin and his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht discussed after a video call on Wednesday “how allied countries can help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression”.
LJUBLJANA – Prime Minister Janez Janša and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized in a telephone conversation that strong security support must continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also condemned the atrocities of Russian forces in the war against Ukraine and stressed that Moscow should be held accountable, the Janša office said.
LJUBLJANA – In the first three months of the year, the Slovenian police recorded 2,023 attempts to cross the border illegally, which is 77.5% more than in the same period last year. Afghans accounted for more than a third of all intercepted, according to the latest police statistics.
LJUBLJANA – The government has expanded the regulation of heating oil prices, according to which the retail margin is limited to six cents per liter. The decree came into force on April 21 and is valid for 30 days.
LJUBLJANA – Pollster Valicon expects a fierce battle to win the elections, as the Free Movement will be only slightly ahead of the Democrats (SDS), and the Social Democrats (SD), Nova Slovenija (NSi) and the Left will most likely join the National Assembly. The fate of three parties – the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), the Marjan Šarc List (LMŠ) and the Association of Slovenia – will be decided by tactical voters. Valicon estimates turnout will be around 68%.
LJUBLJANA – In 2021, Telekom Slovenije generated EUR 37.9 million in net profit of the Group, which is 52 percent more than in the previous year, in sales revenues, which were largely unchanged at EUR 648.2 million. The Group allocated a total of EUR 208.2 million for investments in 2021.
LJUBLJANA – The shareholders of the energy company Petrol have decided to distribute practically the entire distributable profit from last year or EUR 61.8 million, which means that they will receive EUR 30 gross per share, which is EUR 8 more than in 2021. . split one Petrol share into 20 shares to improve liquidity and attract new investors.
LJUBLJANA – The Bank Receivables Management Company ended 2021 with EUR 178.4 million in revenues from asset management and EUR 63.2 million in profit before taxes, which is 57% more than in the same period last year. The average annual return on equity, whose target value is set at 8% by law, reached 25%, according to the annual report.
VENICE, Italy – The Slovenian pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale opened with an exhibition of paintings by Marko Jakšet, one of the most renowned Slovenian painters, known for his surrealist Dalí paintings. Jakše represents Slovenia at the prestigious art exhibition with Without a Master, which brings 13 canvases made by the 62-year-old artist in this century.