Morning news for Slovenia: Thursday, August 18, 2022
Check the date at the top of the page and you’ll find all the “morning covers”. here. You can also follow us at Facebook and get all the news in your feed.
This summary was prepared by STA:
Brussels freezes the investigation into the acquisition of MOL in Slovenia
BRUSSELS, Belgium – The Uncensored web portal reported that the European Commission has frozen an in-depth investigation into the takeover of OMV Slovenia gas stations by the Hungarian energy group MOL. The investigation will continue when the MOL provides the commission with the requested information. The portal states that the suspension will extend the process at least until the end of the year. The takeover would leave Slovenia with only two large fuel retailers, MOL and Petrol.
Banks’ profit before taxation in the first half of the year is 15% lower
LJUBLJANA – Banks registered in Slovenia generated EUR 212.5 million in profit before taxation in the first half of the year, which is a 15.4% drop compared to the same period last year, which, according to the central bank, is the result of higher operating costs and the creation of a net impairment and provisions. The volume of household deposits increased by 1.1 billion euros in the first half of the year. The capital strength of the banking system remained solid, and liquidity was good, the report notes.
Zavarovalnica Sava reports a lower half-yearly profit
LJUBLJANA – The Sava insurance group reduced its half-year net profit by a third to 28.9 million euros, while operating revenues remained at 364.2 million euros. The company said the drop was mainly due to the frequency of auto insurance claims returning to pre-pandemic levels, inflation-driven claims settlement and provisioning costs and large weather-related losses. It also notes that compared to the year before the pandemic and inflation in 2019, the half-yearly net profit increased by 28.2%.
Unions are disgusted by the labeling of food couriers
LJUBLJANA – Trade unions have regretted the agreement according to which food delivery people Wolt and Glovo in Ljubljana will have to wear identification numbers so that residents can report them for traffic violations. The youth union Mladi Plus, which is also supported by other unions, believes that local authorities and companies want to shift the blame and responsibility for traffic violations to couriers, instead of taking responsibility for the conditions that first force them to break traffic rules. city.
Three months after the explosion, melamine works at 20%
KOČEVJE – Melamine has managed to restore about a fifth of its former production volume since the Kočevje chemical company was hit by a deadly explosion on May 12. An alternative location for moving the most dangerous part of production out of the city has not yet been found. Antun Gašparac, the head of the reconstruction monitoring commission, said that they plan to restart enough production in September to bring the factory “to the point where it can survive on the market”.
NSi urges the government not to repeal the tax reform
LJUBLJANA – The opposition Nova Slovenija (NSi) called on the government not to repeal the tax reform introduced by the previous government, and warned that it must prepare a set of targeted measures to help vulnerable groups and measures to help the economy cope with rising energy prices. NSi MP Jernej Vrtovec warned that we can expect an “avalanche of layoffs and bankruptcies” if the government does not help companies cope with rising energy prices.
The minister opposes the proposal of the provinces
DOBROVNIK – Minister of Public Administration Sanja Ajanović Hovnik opposed the bill on the establishment of provinces at a meeting with Pomurje mayors on Tuesday. She said that the proposal submitted by the upper house of the parliament in June, given all the current challenges, such as global security and the energy and climate crisis, hardly belongs among the priorities in the coming year. In addition, according to her, it “undermined the entire system of state administration”.
The higher court granted the SD’s lawsuit against Janša for defamation in the amount of 10,000 euros
LJUBLJANA – The government, which ordered the champion of the opposition Democrats (SDS) Janez Janša to pay 10,000 euros in compensation and apologize to the coalition Social Democrats (SD), has become final. The verdict of the High Court in Celje on Janša’s appeal against the verdict of the District Court in Velenje from October 2021 is, according to SD, very important, because “Janša is once again faced with the responsibility for his false statements”.
Golob promises that the government will help Prekmurje develop
LJUBLJANA – On the day of the reunification of Prekmurje Slovenians with their homeland, Prime Minister Robert Golob promised that his government would move from words to actions and help the far north-eastern region achieve a development breakthrough. “After years of searching for solutions for a development breakthrough, it is time to be more concrete and sincere in our desire to recognize and support innovation, knowledge and the desire for new, sustainable approaches that are emerging in the region,” he wrote.
The head of TV Slovenija has a dispute with Mladina over the latest editorial
LJUBLJANA – The director of the television unit of RTV Slovenia, Uroš Urbanija, has decided to cancel his subscription to Mladina because of an editorial that criticizes the staffing at RTV. Urbanija described the move as the end of business cooperation, while the responsible editor of Mladina replied that there was no business cooperation at all, only a subscription to twenty copies of Mladina. Repovž said that Urbanija wanted to cover up what was happening on TV Slovenija by attacking the weekly.
Almost 2,600 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday
LJUBLJANA – A total of 2,591 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Slovenia on Tuesday, which is a good third more than a week earlier, which can be attributed to reduced testing for the holiday on Monday. One patient died, according to the Ministry of Health. Hospital figures remained steady, while the 14-day rate of reported cases per 100,000 population rose by 41 to 887 from the previous day.
Third gold for Garnbretova at the European Championships
MUNICH, Germany – Janja Garnbret won gold in the new boulder & lead discipline, her third straight gold medal at the European Championships in Munich. Garnbret didn’t leave anything to chance, as she dominated both the boulder and the lead discipline: 200 points were available in both disciplines, and she took home 199.9 points. “It’s definitely an incredible feeling,” Garnbretova said in her first words after the event. Mia Krampl, another Slovenian, finished in second place.
Tina Šutej won bronze at the European Athletics Championships
MUNICH, Germany – Slovenia’s Tina Šutej won the bronze medal in the pole vault at the European Athletics Championships, finishing with a height of 4.75 meters, just shy of her outdoor personal best of 4.76 meters. Šuteeva performed with a minor injury, which she suffered during the warm-up, and she competed with a bandaged hand.
Anna Netrebko will perform at the Ljubljana Festival
LJUBLJANA – The concert of Russian soprano Ana Netrebko at the Ljubljana Festival remains scheduled for September 26, said the director and artistic director of the festival, Darko Brlek, following the appeal of the Ukrainian community in Slovenia to cancel it. Brlek described the opposition to Netrebko’s concert as “politicization”, which, in his words, the Ljubljana Festival strongly condemns. In a written statement, Netrebko Netrebko condemned the war in Ukraine and distanced herself from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The photographic exhibition celebrates Slovenian rivers
KANAL – An exhibition of 19 Slovenian rivers and 29 river protectors through the lenses of 19 renowned photographers opens today in Kanal pri Soča. The exhibition, which is part of an environmental project aimed at long-term pollution, will then travel around Slovenia until 2024 with debates, workshops for activists and children, and artistic events. The project aims to raise awareness of the importance of watercourse protection and encourage active citizenship.