News roundup - Sunday, 8 August

Tokyo Games most successful Summer Olympics for Slovenia yet

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian athletes participating in the 32nd Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo won three gold medals, the largest number at any Olympics, summer or winter, since independence. With three golds, one silver and one bronze, the medal tally is the best for Slovenia at Summer Games yet. The tally places Slovenia 7th in medals per capita among the 93 countries that won at least one medal in Tokyo, the same spot as in Rio in 2016, and the 4th in golds won per capita.

Dončić makes Tokyo 2020 All-Star Five

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenia's basketball star Luka Dončić has made the All-Star Five of the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament, FIBA as announced. But while Kevin Durant, who helped the US win gold, has been selected the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Dončić won 75% of the fan vote for the MVP of the tournament. Dončić topped statistics in terms of assists, averaging 9.5 per game, along with 23.8 points and 9.7 rebounds. He was also ranked by far the most efficient player.

Coronavirus epidemic keeps spreading

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 68 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, an increase of 17% from the same day a week ago, as 8.8% of the 776 PCR tests came back positive. Two Covid-19 patients died. The National Institute of Public Health estimates there are now 1,454 active cases in the country. The 7-day average of new cases rose to 116 and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents to 67. Of the 31 hospitalised Covid-19 patients, seven were in intensive care in the morning, show government data.

Prices of flats in Ljubljana up almost 50% in five years

LJUBLJANA - The prices of old flats in multi-storey buildings in Ljubljana rose by 48% in the period from 2015 to 2020, after the downward price trend reversed in 2015. The median price per square metre reached nearly EUR 3,000 last year. At EUR 2,960, it was record for a third year in a row and 69% above the median price for entire Slovenia, shows the 2020 Slovenian property market report by the Mapping and Surveying Authority.

Novem Car Žalec sees higher profit on lower revenue

Žalec - Novem Car Interior Design, the Slovenian subsidiary of the German supplier of decorative components and functional elements for car interiors, saw its net sales revenue drop by 15.5% last year to EUR 84.6 million due to fallout from the Covid pandemic. Meanwhile, net profit rose to EUR 2.5 million from EUR 190,000 in 2019. In the report for the 2020 business year, which ended at the end of March, the CEO of the Žalec company, David Uranjek, blamed disruption in automotive supply chains for lower than expected sales.

Cultural sector impacted strongly by pandemic in 2020

LJUBLJANA - The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures had a major impact on the Slovenian cultural sector last year with data from the Statistics Office showing the turnout at museums and theatres slumping to roughly a third of the figures seen the year before. Meanwhile, many events and activities moved online. Museums and galleries held 893 in-person exhibitions last year, down from 1,406 in 2019. They attracted 989,000 visitors, compared to 2.8 million the year before. Box office revenue at cultural, theatre and music venues amounted to around EUR 5.3 million, roughly a third of that in 2019.

Julian Alps to become cross-border biosphere area

BLED - Slovenia's Triglav National Park and Italy's Prealpi Giulie Nature Park have launched a bid to have the Julian Alps declared as a single trans-boundary UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve to manage it together. The Slovenian Julian Alps biosphere reserve was designated as early as 2003 as the first such reserve in the country. After the Prealpi Giulie Regional Nature Park took the same step a few years ago, the two parks now seek the trans-boundary Julian Alps Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve designation.