OTHER NEWS
KATHMANDU, Nepal - Slovenian mountaineer Tomaz Humar was found dead on Saturday morning after he got stuck in the southern face of the Langtang Lirung peak (7,227 m) with a broken leg on Monday. With bad weather hampernig rescue efforts over the past few days, Humar's body was finally found by a three-member team of Swiss mountain rescuers, who transported his remains to the base camp under the mountain with a helicopter.
POLITICS
MOSCOW, Russia - Slovenian Economy Minister Matej Lahovnik and Russian Energy Minister Sergey Ivanovich Shmatko signed on Saturday in Moscow an agreement on the construction of the Slovenian leg of South Stream, a EUR 10bn gas pipeline with a capacity of about 60 billion cubic metres. PMs Borut Pahor and Vladimir Putin were also present at the signing. The signing marks the end of long and strenuous negotiations in which Slovenia and Russia had to work out important details, including the ownership of the company which would build the Slovenian leg of the gas pipeline.
LJUBLJANA - Painter Jure Cekuta, who acted as a middleman in the controversial Patria defence deal, confirmed for Saturday's edition of daily Delo that he had taken out a loan of about EUR 400,000 at Steiermaerkische Sparkasse bank, but stressed that the sum was not related to Patria. Cekuta moreover admitted that he had been receiving EUR 4,000 a month under a contract with the Riedl Handelsgeschaft (RGH), a company associated with Austrian businessman Hans Wolfgang Riedl, an alleged bribery suspect in the affair.
BUSINESS
NOVA GORICA - Between 80% and 90% of the staff at Nova Gorica casinos Perla and Park joined a three-hour token strike on Friday night after failed talks with Slovenian gaming giant Hit, the owner of the casinos. "The strike was very successful. If we have to, we will repeat it," said Iztok Cernigoj, the chair of the strike committee.
PORTOROZ - Marina Portoroz closed the first nine months of 2009 with a pre-tax profit of EUR 1.5m. The marina operator generated EUR 6m in operating revenues, down 6% compared to the same period last year, while operating expenses were down 7% to EUR 4.6m.
SPORTS
MOSCOW, Russia - The Slovenian national football team lost to Russia with 2:1 (1:0) in the first of the two play-off matches for the entry to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in Moscow on Saturday. A late goal by substitute Nejc Pecnik gave Slovenia a crucial away goal in the play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup, after Russia opened a daunting 2:0 lead in Moscow on Saturday. Slovenia will play the return match on 18 November in Maribor.
STUTTGART, Germany - Slovenian gymnasts celebrated top-three finishes in the season standings in their respective categories in the Gymnastics World Cup on Saturday. Mitja Petkovsek finished the season first, Aljaz Pegan had to settle for second, while Saso Bertoncelj and Adela Sajn each secured third place.
