POLITICS
ZAGREB, Croatia - Slovenian Defence Minister Ljubica Jelusic made a trip to the Croatian capital on Tuesday, citing the countries' cooperation in defence and security as an example for other countries in Southeastern Europe. Jelusic visited the Croatian Defence Ministry, and also met Croatian President Stipe Mesic, the supreme commander of Croatian armed forces, and Deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament Ivan Jarnjak. After talks, Jelusic told reporters that the countries cooperated excellently as NATO allies in regional projects such as the international missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian and Italian foreign ministers Samuel Zbogar and Franco Frattini have written to their EU counterparts a letter calling for stepping up the process of visa liberalisation for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, the Foreign Ministry said. Sent to the foreign minister of the EU presiding country, Sweden's Carl Bildt, and his European colleagues, the letter expresses commitment to EU enlargement and highlighting the scrapping of visas for the Balkans as an important concrete step in the process.
LJUBLJANA - Finnish investigator Kaj Erik Bjoerkqvist, who heads the investigation into suspected corruption in Patria, is determined not to give any more statements about the case to the Slovenian media. Bjoerkqvist told this STA on Tuesday after daily Delo allegedly misquoted him as saying that the money from the 2006 defence deal between the Finnish defence contractor and Sloven went to the Democrats (SDS) of former Slovenian PM Janez Jansa. He said he could not "accept or understand that someone is putting words into my mouth". He is considering filing a complaint against the reporter in question with the journalist ethics panel.
LJUBLJANA - President Danilo Tuerk called for intensive social dialogue as he received representatives of trade unions, who presented him their views on the current situation of workers, their requests for a higher minimum wage and doubts regarding the proposed pension reform. Tuerk called on social partners to restore social dialogue as soon as possible and seriously dedicate themselves to priority issues.
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Interior Minister Katarina Kresal reiterated Slovenia's steadfast support for Macedonia's efforts to join the EU as she wrapped up her two-day visit to Skopje. The main topic of Kresal's talks with Macedonian officials was the upcoming abolishment of EU visas for Macedonian citizens. Kresal also met her Macedonian counterpart Gordana Jankulovska and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Apart from EU issues, bilateral topics were also discussed by the officials.
ZAGREB, Croatia - The outgoing Slovenian Ambassador to Croatia Milan Orozen Adamic was awarded Order of Duke Branimir as he was received by President Stipe Mesic and parliamentary Speaker Luka Bebic in Zagreb. Orozen Adamic was awarded the state decoration for his professional work in maintaining and developing good bilateral relations.
LJUBLJANA - On the eve of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Office for Equal Opportunities warned against dating violence among students. This form of violence is still taboo, vice director Tanja Selecl said, stressing the importance of raising awareness. The young must be clear on what behaviour is acceptable and what they should say no to, she said.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
LJUBLJANA - The 2011 budget and the a bill on intervention measures during the crisis were debated in the National Assembly on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's vote. The discussion on the budget, whose deficit is expected to stand at 4.1% of GDP, was kept short in face of the many uncertainties involved, while criticism focused on supposed excessive spending. Crisis cuts in the form of a delayed growth of public sector wages, pensions and social transfers where meanwhile labelled by the opposition as the government's attempt to save at the expense of the poorest.
LASKO - Beverage group Pivovarna Lasko generated EUR 228.65m in net sales revenues in the first nine months of 2009. In the same period last year, the figure stood at EUR 246.12m. However, net profit increased by 14% compared to 2008, to EUR 21.11m. The parent company Pivovarna Lasko generated EUR 65.79m in sales revenues in the first six months of the year, while in the same period last year the figure was EUR 67.02m. The company increased its net profit by some 63% to EUR 11.19, data published on Tuesday show.
LJUBLJANA - Financial conglomerate KD Group posted a net loss of EUR 22.7m in the first months of 2009, while the net loss of the core company KD Group amounted to EUR 6m, which is already 95% of the loss recorded at the end 2008, the company said in a press release on Tuesday. Operating loss of the conglomerate decreased in the January-September period compared to the entire 2008. It stood at more than EUR 4m, while operating loss for last year was slightly less than EUR 50m.
KRANJ - Iskratel, Slovenia's leading telecommunications company, which generates the bulk of its revenues abroad, has been affected by the crisis as telecoms operators have radically cut investment. Iskratel boss Andrej Polenec believes the state could do more to stimulate growth and investment. While Polenec has told STA in an interview that his company has felt little growth stimulating measures, he also said that the telecommunications sector has managed to gain quality development funds in recent years.
LJUBLJANA - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) expressed its concern over the extent of the workers' protest announced for Saturday, with its Director General Samo Hribar Milic saying that conflicts might arise during the gathering. Several trade unions have already confirmed their attendance, while support has also been declared by the Slovenian Student Union and the organisation of secondary school students.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian blue chips registered their seventh consecutive day of losses on Tuesday, with the SBI 20 benchmark index dropping 0.57% to 4,222.35. The SBI TOP index of the top ten biggest blue chips fell 0.82% to 1,019.29 points.
OTHER NEWS
PEC, Kosovo /LJUBLJANA - A Slovenian soldier on service in Kosovo died in a shooting incident at her base in Pec. While media reports suggested that the soldier was likely to have committed suicide, the Slovenian Defence Ministry said the incident did not involve other people, but did not give more details. The victim was described by a ministry spokesman as an "exemplary soldier" on her first mission abroad.
LJUBLJANA - A road assessment programme, carried out in cooperation with the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), found 59% of Slovenian roads to have high or medium risk rates, president of the Automobile Association of Slovenia (AMZS) Danijel Starman said.
BOCHUM, Germany - Slovenian football player Zlatko Dedic, whose goal sent last week the Slovenian national team to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, has been diagnosed with swine flu, his club Bochum said. Dedic, who plays professionally for the German Bundesliga club, was admitted to hospital, missing a Sunday match against Hamburger SV.
SPORTS
ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatian police have arrested a 38-year-old Slovenian citizen on an international arrest warrant issued by Germany related to the investigation of the biggest match-fixing scandal in Europe. Police said the man, who they named as Dragan Mihelic, was arrested on Monday afternoon while trying to cross into Croatia. German authorities suspect he is involved in a betting ring that conspired to fix matches in Europe.
PORTOROZ - The Slovenian Basketball Association (KZS) on Tuesday announced its candidacy for hosting the European Basketball Championship in 2013. KZS secretary general Iztok Rems said that the organisation alone would cost between EUR 12.5m and EUR 13m. While matches would be held in Maribor, Celje, Koper and Ljubljana, the KZS hopes to hold the finals in the planned sports centre in Stozice near Ljubljana, thus meeting the FIBA requirement of a hall seating at least 12,000 visitors. Formal procedures for the candidacy have not been launched yet.
PORTOROZ - Peter Kukovic, the chair of the Slovenian Athletics Association (AZS), said that Slovenian sport had not been immune to savings, default on payments and even strikes that have plagued the business sector in time of crisis. Next year will continue to see a downward trend in sports, he stressed at a press conference held in Portoroz.
ARTS & CULTURE
LJUBLJANA - Publisher Milos Mikeln received the Schwentner Award for lifetime achievement conferred by the Slovenian Publishers' Association as the 25th annual Slovenian Book Fair opened at Ljubljana Cankarjev dom. President Danilo Tuerk labelled the fair a "celebration of promising future". A record 120 publishers presenting over 5,000 new works took part in the fair.
LJUBLJANA - An exhibition on the great Slovenian artist Zoran Music opened at the refurbished museum of 20th century art in Ljubljana, also featuring his earliest works that have never been included in retrospective shows of his work worldwide. The comprehensive exhibition on the world-acclaimed modernist painter Zoran Music (1909-2005) has been chosen to launch Moderna galerija as the 20th century museum after it had been closed for nearly three years for renovation.
