MARIBOR

Ljubljana/Maribor/Koper/Nova Gorica – The beginning of October marks the start of a new academic year, once more impacted by Covid-19, as in-person lectures, seminars and exams being reserved for those meeting the recovered-tested-vaccinated rule. There will be no traditional university welcome for new students either.

Ljubljana – The total debt of Slovenia’s 212 municipalities and their utilities increased by a further EUR 47.5 million last year to EUR 971.2 million, or 2.1% of GDP. Average total debt per capita thus increased to EUR 473 in 2020 from EUR 449 in 2019, a report compiled by the Finance Ministry shows.

Maribor – Sebastijan Pregelj is the winner of this year’s Večernica prize for the best youth and children’s book written in the past year. He won the award given out by the Maribor-based newspaper Večer for his book Vrnitev (Return), Večer reported online.

Pregelj will accept the award worth EUR 3,000 at a literary festival in the city of Murska Sobota on 19 September.

Ljubljana – Slovenia will significantly expand subsidised public transportation starting on 1 September in an effort to boost ridership and limit the use of cars.

Students with subsidised transport passes will no longer be limited to the home-to-school route, they will be able to travel on all routes in Slovenia year-round.

Murska Sobota – A ride with an innovative horse-drawn electric carriage developed as part of a Slovenian-Austrian EU-sponsored project was demonstrated on Tuesday at the Rakičan Mansion near the city of Murska Sobota. The project aims at developing carriage routes in a bid to promote sustainable cross-border tourism.

Brussels – The European Environment Agency (EEA) has launched the city air quality viewer, which has taken data from two Slovenian cities, Ljubljana and Maribor. The latest data show that the Slovenian capital is plagued by poor air quality, whereas the situation is a bit better in Slovenia’s second largest city.

Ljubljana – The government has passed legislation that involves EUR 1.9 billion in spending on health investments over the next ten years for hospitals and educational institutions to beef up the capacity of the national health system. The money will be secured in regular annual budgets from 2021 to 2031.

Ljubljana/Maribor – Slovenia’s vaccination centres are receiving fewer anti-Covid vaccines this week than they have ordered because there are not enough at the moment, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) has told the STA. This is because supplies by produces other than Pfizer are still rather unreliable.

Ljubljana – Slovenia plans to diversify its energy sources after the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for greater resilience. Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak counts in particular on solar and hydro power, and waste incineration.

Ljubljana, 28 March – A EuroNight train taking passengers from Slovakia’s Bratislava via Vienna to Croatia’s coastal city of Split later this year will cross Slovenia, with stops in the Slovenian towns of Maribor, Celje, Sevnica and Dobova.