News roundup - Wednesday, 25 August, until 3pm

Ljubljana, 25 August - Below is a roundup of major events on Wednesday, 25 August, until 3pm local time:

Number of new coronavirus cases tops 500

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 508 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the highest number since 18 May. The new cases were confirmed in 2,805 PCR tests for a positivity rate of 18.1%. There are now an estimated 4,015 active cases in the country, according to fresh data from the National Institute of Public Health.

FM Logar and Maltese colleague Bartolo agree on migration issue

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar and his Maltese counterpart Evarist Bartolo, who is on an official visit to Slovenia, said that reforms in the EU's migration policy were necessary. The pair agreed that migration issues should be tackled primarily in countries of origin, adding the same applied to the situation in Afghanistan.

Schools, kindergartens will be able to fire staff over Covid-19 requirements

LJUBLJANA - Schools and kindergartens have received instructions on how to act if staff does not adhere to the recovered-vaccinated-tested rule. The Education Ministry document obtained by the STA shows that a refusal to get tested for coronavirus will be sufficient ground for a lay-off.

Domestic and foreign tourist figures even out in July

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's tourist accommodation providers recorded some 767,500 arrivals in July and 2.3 million overnight stays, show fresh data by the Statistics Office. The figures for overnight stays by domestic and foreign tourists have evened out as the latter total was up by 55% in July year-on-year. Slovenian tourists accounted for 54% of all July overnight stays and foreign tourists 46%, show data released today.

Business sentiment improves in August

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's business sentiment improved again in August after a period of decline. The indicator is now at 6.4 percentage points, up 0.8 points from July and up 12.4 points year-on-year, the Statistics Office reported. On a monthly level, business sentiment and confidence improved in services (+0.7 points), retail (+0.3 points) and manufacturing (+0.1 points).

Hoteliers believe tourism recovery will take longer than expected

LJUBLJANA - The recovery of tourism from the current crisis will take much longer than expected and may even take a generation, warned Gregor Jamnik, head of the Slovenian Hoteliers' Association. He also pointed to the difficulties in recruiting staff, especially young people, and the uncertainty in the tourism and hospitality industry during a debate We Are All Tourism, hosted by the Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Slovenia.

Aeroflot cancels Ljubljana-Moscow winter route

LJUBLJANA - Russian airline Aeroflot will apparently not operate flights between Slovenia and the Russian capital in the winter season, the Ex-Yu Aviation web portal has reported. Aeroflot currently flies from Ljubljana Airport to Moscow three times a week. Aeroflot has suspended ticket sales for the Ljubljana-Moscow route during the winter season, i.e. between 31 October and 26 March 2022, reportedly due to the coronavirus situation.

Ventilation window supplier MIK posts higher revenue, profit in 2020

VOJNIK - MIK, a company producing and supplying doors and windows, generated EUR 24.4 million in revenue in 2020, up by more than 40% on 2019, and EUR 1.2 million in net profit, up by some 50% year-on-year. The Vojnik-based company expects a 10% growth this year. MIK also plans to start building an institute to develop ventilation systems as well as a manufacturing facility where these development ideas will be brought to life.

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