Slovenia

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša met with representatives of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) on Friday. They discussed the global role of the EU, religious freedom and the ongoing pandemic, said the PM’s office and the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference (SŠK).

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor addressed a meeting of foreign diplomats accredited to Slovenia on Friday, calling for strengthening the EU’s unity and stability.

The meeting of the diplomatic corps was hosted by the corps’s doyen Jean-Marie Speich, the apostolic nuncio to Slovenia, to mark the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence and its second presidency of the EU.

Ljubljana – A total of 3,771 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Slovenia on Thursday in 9,961 tests for a positivity rate of almost 38%, the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) announced, as the daily number of cases dropped somewhat after reaching an absolute record on Wednesday.

Ljubljana – Gross domestic expenditure on R&D amounted to EUR 1 billion last year, an increase of 2% compared to 2019, according to provisional data. That was a record both in absolute terms and as a share of GDP – 2.15% of GDP or 0.1 percentage point more than in the previous year, the Statistics Office said on Friday.

Ljubljana – NLB, Slovenia’s largest listed bank, has proposed an additional dividend of EUR 3.37 gross per share to be paid in December after the expiry in September of the central bank’s restrictions on the payout of bank profits. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at a general meeting scheduled for 16 December. The ex-dividend date would be 22 December, NLB announced on Friday.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša met in Ljubljana on Thursday the representatives of the European Muslim and Jewish Leadership Council. They discussed the key priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency, the rights of religious minorities and the dignity of people of all faiths in European society, Janša’s office said.

Ljubljana – The coordinator for Covid-19 vaccination Jelko Kacin said on Thursday that the government would hold a special meeting at Brdo pri Kranju on Friday to assess the current situation, discuss the expectations for the next few days and the new measures, which were “to be implemented as soon as possible”.

Ljubljana – Minister for Digital Transformation Mark Boris Andrijanič received on Thursday his Montenegrin counterpart Tamara Srzentić. He presented to her plans and initial solutions produced by Slovenia’s Strategic Council for Digitalisation to promote digitalisation in the public administration to make life easier for citizens.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s telecoms group Telekom Slovenije reported EUR 486.8 million in net sales revenue for the first three quarters of the year, up by 1% on the same period a year ago. Net profit was up by 31% to EUR 35.9 million, although the company said the figure would have been 36% higher when taking into account one-off events in 2020.

Kranj – Gorenjska Banka, the Slovenian bank owned by the Serbian AIK Banka, has signed a deal to acquire the Slovenian subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank. Pending approval by regulators, the merger would create the third largest banking group in the country.