Slovenia Business & Investment 2010

Green Shoots Breaking Through Looking back over the past twelve months, one can be excused for thinking that the excess optimism of the boom years has rightfully given way to sour expectations about the future of European economies and the future sustainability of their social models. Economic indicators have been painting nothing but a bleak picture of the Slovene economy for quite some time: exports plummeting, investment cut back by companies unsure of future prospects, households fearing unemployment and spending less and less.

However, we might also take a lesson or two from those economists who have long maintained that economic crises, be they only temporary slumps or protracted recessions, carry the seeds of subsequent recovery. Although this is very poor consolation to people who have lost their jobs and companies who have been forced to close their doors because of sharply falling demand for their products and services, the current economic crisis has definitely been purging excesses out of the system.

Over-indebted holdings that focused more on taking on debt and taking over companies in sectors as disparate as food processing and media rather than on developing brands in their core business are being dismantled by the creditors. This will lay the ground for the entry of new owners and better management.

The banks that lent freely to these companies have taken losses and, hopefully, learnt their lessons. The market-based economy seems to be very much alive and kicking, despite frequent protestations to the contrary.

That said, Slovenia’s financial system is in a better shape than that of the UK or the US. Slovene banks did not dabble in complex derivatives that sunk quite a few financial institutions around the world. The credit crunch has nevertheless been felt by both companies and households; the government has come to the rescue with generous guarantees, making it easier for banks to lend money again.

With the economic picture stabilizing, those companies that focused on their competitiveness can count on better days to come.

When the global economy rebounds, Slovenian exporters, the main engine of economic growth in the country, can expect rising orders. Those companies that relied on investment in R&D rather

than on debt-fuelled growth will ride the storm and even increase their market shares. As for the real estate sector, it has invested heavily in a number of high-profile commercial and residential projects; with prices falling, high-quality, prestige offices and apartments look very interesting even to bargain hunters.

Slovenia: Business & Investment 2010 takes stock of all these developments, which in many ways will determine the fate of the country’s economy in the years to come. But it does not stop at there. With tourism becoming an increasingly important focal point for businesses and government alike, this publication takes a look at the main drivers of Slovenian tourism industry, from city tourism to spas and golf. After all, everybody needs a place to wind down, especially in these difficult times.

Marko Vuković Editor-in-chief, The Slovenia Times

Contents 8 Slovenes and Capitalism

10

Prime Minister Borut Pahor

Coming Out on Top Slovenes and Capitalism

A Brief History ECONOMY

16 18 Exporters

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22

FDI Award Slovenia 2009 InvestSlovenia.org

24 26 27 28

Economy

Hold Tight Exporters

Bracing for Tougher Times Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia

Slovenia is Open for Business International Trade

No Choice, But to Venture Abroad FDI Award Slovenia 2009

And the Winners Are...

JAPTI

Opening the Doors SloveniaPartner.com

Get On Line

InvestSlovenia.org

Slovenia, Your Top FDI Destination

30

37

38

40

42 44 46

48

50

Innovators

Here Come the Tigers Si.mobil

Catching Up

Innovators

Abanka

Uniting Stability With Dynamism Banks

Shaken, but Standing Solid Finance

Treading Carefully NLB

Going Strong Banks

Energy

Sparkling with Ambition Iskraemeco

Measuring Up to the Best Logistics

Get That Motor Running

Logistics Real Estate

52 53 54

Aerodrom Ljubljana

Ready for Takeoff Ydria Motors

Pretty Indispensable Luka Koper

Into Stormy Waters

56 58

Real Estate

Survival of the Fittest Crystal Palace

Touching the Sky Emonika and Ĺ martinska

Emonika and Ĺ martinka Partnership

60 62 64

66 68 Trimo Slovenia Reloaded

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72

74

76 79

Partnership

Staying on Track IMOS

The Strong Move On Trimo

Where Innovation and Art Meet Riko

Build Me a House Linxair

How to Fly High Digitel Pristop Group

Setting New Standards IEDC

Developing Responsible and Creative Leaders Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana

Exploring New Horizons

2010 FIFA World Cup

Slovenia Reloaded Hit Group

Not Taking Chances

LIFE STYLE

82

86 90 92

94 98 100

106

108

110 112

Ljubljana, at the Heart of Europe

There’s No Nicer Place to Meet

Maribor - European Capital of Culture 2012

Believe the Hype Wine

Treasure in a Bottle Vivo Catering

Catering as a Form of Art Slovenian Food

A Delicious Mixture Vila Bled

A Villa With a View Greatest Hits

Slovenia the Wonderful Turizem Kras

Immensum, Ad Antrum Aditus Health Resorts

The Healing Power of Water Terme Olimia

A Dream Come True About & Around Slovenia

Basic Knowledge

Slovena the Wonderful

Transportation

113

How to Get Around

114

Index of Advertisers

Publisher: The Slovenia Times Domus, d.o.o.

CEO: Brane Krajnik

Trg MDB 12 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Phone: + 386 (0)1 520 50 85 Fax: + 386 (0)1 520 50 82 E-mail: info@sloveniatimes.com Web: www.sloveniatimes.com Editor-in-Chief: Marko Vuković, MSc Editor: Jaka Terpinc

Design & Layout: Maja Kaplan Translation: Grah prevodi, s.p.

Copy Editor: Terry T. Jackson

Marketing: Irena Kržan, Uroš Prezelj, Marko Stijepić (marketing@sloveniatimes.com)

Contents

Coming Out on Top

Slovenia is a small, open, export-oriented and developed economy, which has sustained a high level of economic growth for a number of years. Last year, however, we found ourselves in the grip of a deep economic crisis, like the rest of the world. The slow overcoming of this crisis offers us an excellent opportunity to exploit our competitive advantages over other countries.

Although small, Slovenia is a rapidly growing and relatively rich market that has already attracted foreign investors, especially in the field of services. As a member of the European Union and the Eurozone, Slovenia represents a stable macroeconomic environment and offers a high level of protection to investors.

The Republic of Slovenia fosters excellent economic links with economically significant European countries. The high level of export orientation of our economy and the direct investments of companies abroad indicate the good international competitiveness of Slovenian companies, the existence of appropriate infrastructure for international business, and the experience and knowledge of Slovenian companies in the field of international business.

This must be further enhanced. Another important competitive advantage of Slovenia and its business environment is the high quality of its workforce, well-educated and motivated, and with a good command of foreign languages and high level of computer literacy, which ensures the increasing technological level and innovation of Slovenian companies and the high quality of our research institutions.

In the future, Slovenia must further exploit its excellent geographical position, since its strategic position at the junction

of European transport corridors constitutes a natural bridge to the countries of South Eastern Europe. Increased investments in improved infrastructure and an extensive transport network will further strengthen the role of the Port of Koper as the central port of the Central European countries.

The future of the Slovenian economy lies in the export of goods and services with a high level of added value, and in a greater market presence in foreign markets. The Government is implementing an active policy of internationalisation of the Slovenian economy, as this is the key support mechanism for Slovenian companies in their expansion into foreign markets. The aim of stimulating internationalisation is to improve the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy in international trade, and to reduce the costs and risks involved in entering foreign markets. The Government has therefore strengthened economic diplomacy and invited Slovenian business people to participate in the visits abroad of Slovenian representatives. In this way companies can make contacts with potential partners and obtain information about foreign markets. The response of business people shows that these Government activities are welcomed and needed because they have a positive impact on Slovenian economic penetration

of new markets. The Government also ensures a legal framework for successful and competitive participation in and penetration of foreign markets by concluding various agreements on economic co-operation.

A new programme for stimulating the internationalisation of Slovenian companies is being prepared for the coming fiveyear period; it envisages the upgrading of existing measures and the introduction of numerous new, more varied and targeted instruments. The Government also wishes to support economic organisations by providing information and preparing comprehensive analysis of individual promising markets, as well as by co-funding education and training of business people with a view to their successful participation in such markets. Some financial incentives, including an updated model for financing exports, adjusted to the current situation, will also be introduced.

For Slovenia, the Western Balkans and wider South Eastern Europe are of strategic importance. For historical, geographical and cultural reasons, Slovenian businessmen are very well acquainted with these markets. They know the language and people, are familiar with this entrepreneurial environment, and have gained extensive experience in trading with companies from

these countries. The presence of Slovenia and its economy in the Western Balkan markets must become an essential phase on the way to building a global network of business relations. Companies must follow business trends in the Western Balkans with their scientific, technological and development potential, and make the best use of competitive advantages in this area. The Government will stand alongside and offer every support needed for achieving their goals and plans.

Borut Pahor Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia

Slovenes and Capitalism

A Brief History Slovenes have always been known as hard-working people, but that does not mean they have always been in a love affair with capitalism.

Not long ago, the economy was booming; the crisis, however, has brought disenchantment. But as this brief history of capitalism in Slovenian lands shows, people have lived through harder times in the past, having a laugh nonetheless.

By Jaka Terpinc

I

Speaking in tongues

As a true-to-the-cause neo-liberal, Mr Mrkaić wrote in one of his columns for the country’s leading business daily about how bad it was that celebrated Slovenian poets and writers, veritable saints and martyrs in popular discourse on culture, put such an effort into preservation of the Slovene language, a language so small that almost nobody understands it and almost nobody thinks it wise to invest a lot of time learning it. If we had just surrendered to the Germans a couple of centuries ago, we would be far better off in the European market. From a strictly economic perspective, he could be right, but the reactions to his thoughts were anything but pleasant. In addition, Mrkaić’s contemplations

Photo: Bistra Technical Museum

n 2004, when previous government came to power, it promised the electorate an economic renaissance. Giant neoliberal leaps would end the so-called gradualist period and finally launch the economic growth to levels not seen before. This new approach called for new people. One of them was Mićo Mrkaić, then a economics professor at a not-exactly-top-of-the-league faculty, who soon became the first leader of the newly-formed government’s strategic council. His term did not last long, so Mr Mrkaić did not contribute very much to the economy’s boom and bloom. However, Mr Mrkaić definitely succeeded in building up his media image.

When coal was known as the black gold: a 19th-century steam engine

10

Dawn of the oil era: Baron Anton Codelli, Ljubljana’s first car owner

were published on the Slovene Day of Culture, when the entire nation commemorates the tragic and lonely death of our great

The time of Peršeren coincides with the slightly delayed arrival of capitalism to Slovenia and more importantly, the rise of the first domestic industrialists.

19th century poet France Prešeren – the man who had proven that our language is by no means inferior to that of Goethe and Schiller.

Getting hands dirty The time of Peršeren coincides with the slightly delayed arrival of capitalism to Slovenia and more importantly, the rise of first domestic industrialists. In 1848, the year of poet’s death (coinciding with the trans-European Spring of Nations), Slovenians owned twenty five steam engines in total, and only a small proportion of the population worked in industry. The rest were still deeply engaged in agriculture.

Huge families, with many children available for manpower, appointed their second-smartest boy to go study in Vienna, hoping that he would become a priest, lawyer or a doctor. The most capable son was meant to carry on the farming business.

Even then, Slovenes were admiring and trying to live up to examples they observed in the more developed German parts of the Habsburg monarchy, a fascination which has yet to fade.

Foreign elements

were previously provided by many small workshops. These had supplemented the low incomes from farming; their breakdown caused a crisis, forcing many people to give up and emigrate overseas to the United States; an estimated 20% population left in that period.

When the outcome of WWI and the subsequent plebiscites finally laid the state border towards the German-speaking territories and Slovenes had to adopt a Serbian king as a sovereign, their national identity stepped on a more solid ground. Among others, Slovenes gained their first university during that period.

Into a new state In economics, a dramatic turnabout happened due to the newly established border. From the least industrialized outskirt of the Hapsburg Empire, Slovenia became the most developed part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia, which was strongly centred on Belgrade. Slovenia, with only 10 percent of the kingdom’s population, contributed over a quarter of its industrial output.

The law prescribed that at least 55% of companies’ shares should be in Yugoslavs hands, but in reality fictitious shareholders were quick to evade this rule so in fact some two thirds of the capital was of a foreign, mostly Austrian and Czech origin.

From the least industrialized outskirt of the Hapsburg Empire, Slovenia became the most developed part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia.

The second part of 19th century was extremely difficult. Small industrial plants were taken over, mostly by Austrian industrialists, but what hurt most was that factories began to supply goods which

Along with slow population growth, urbanization itself was also moderate, as 80% of people were still living in the rural countryside. Heavy social disparity, combined with lack of social security and labour rights paved the way for the socialist ideas

Hydro power plant Mariborski otok: The plans for it stemming from monarchy days, it still supplies electricity to the country

Progress: JB Tito, Yugoslavia’s president until 1980, turns on the country’s first nuclear reactor.

11

promoted by the Communist party. Slovenians again had many reasons to complain: along with the 1930s economic crisis, an unjust share of their income was drained towards Belgrade. The national tensions in the kingdom were described in a popular saying by conservative politician Anton Korošec who said, “Serbs rule, Croats argue, Slovenes pay.”

Talkin’ ‘bout a revolution After WWII, the Communist party, which lead the victorious Partisan army, made sure that all assets were nationalized and began to carry out its sequence of five-year plans on the ruins of the war-torn country. In the following two decades, socialist

Yugoslavia managed to establish a solid infrastructure and heavy industries, which (along with a sufficient variety of natural resources) contributed to a relatively developed and self-sufficient country. Balancing between the east and the west, Yugoslavia opened its borders and managed to introduce some market economy elements in the late sixties, but the extended liberal reforms in the seventies failed under the pressure of Communist party hardliners.

The Socialist period saw a dramatic turn in Slovenian demographics. Every decade took away a quarter of remaining rural folks, who traded their family traditions for opportunities in industry and services - from nearly half of the population in 1948, down to only 7.6%, who still kept to farming as their primary activity in 1991.

Looking east, turning west Slovenia ended its second Yugoslav period as – again – the far most developed federal unit, which produced 16.5% GDP, despite being only 8.3% of the population. It also contributed 20% of Yugoslav exports. The old burden of ever-hungry Belgrade was still heavy for Slovenes, who in their pacifist manner also considered the Yugoslav people’s army – the third most powerful in Europe – a totally unnecessary expense.

A relatively healthy economy, which largely retained national ownership, allowing gradual privatisation, saved Slovenia many of the troubles encountered by other post-socialist countries

Dinosaurs: Maribor’s truck manufacturer TAM did not survive the loss of the Yugoslav market and the transition to market economy Euro-giant: Biggest Slovenian exporter Revoz, a subsidiary of French car maker Renault, introduces a new assembly line for the Twingo II.

However, certain branches of Slovenian industry were strongly attached to Yugoslav market and its breakup had a devastating effect on them. But then again, Slovenia had established bilateral economic links to the western countries in the late 1980s, which eased the shock of transition.

A relatively healthy economy, which largely retained national ownership, allowing gradual privatisation, saved Slovenia many of the troubles encountered by other post-socialist countries, where uncompetitive industry was quickly and cheaply sold to the foreigners. The 1990s were marked by a gradual transition to market economy, not shock therapies employed in other eastern European countries. Then in 2004, Slovenia entered the EU.

Photo: Revoz

A mixed bag In 1882, French linguist Louis Leger characterized Slovenes as a strongly Catholic nation of small merchants, loyal to the court, but determined to resist pressures of Germanisation. Well over a century later, the nation is still rich with small businesses, loyal to Brussels, but with no one left to resist and blame but ourselves, along with our own lavish public administration.

Slovenes still look upon their industrious northern neighbours with respect, but yet somehow cannot escape their Slavic essence.

Moreover, their increasingly weak religious faith comes from the west, their development ideals from the north, their language from the east - and from the south? Probably their stubbornness; one element that has helped them keep their language and pride through the centuries.

SLOVENIA MEETINGS Feel the people.

Taste fresh ideas.

www.slovenia.info

www.slovenia-convention.com

Economy

Economy

Hold Tight Taking the definition of recession – two consecutive quarters of negative growth – and turning it on its head, one could say that Slovenia has emerged out of the slump. The country’s economy grew by one percent in the third quarter of 2009, which makes for the second consecutive quarter of growth after two negative ones.

However, this might not be the light at the end of the tunnel everybody has been hoping for.

By Marko Vuković

It is no secret that Slovenia’s economy is powered by exportoriented companies. National champions such as Gorenje, a home appliances maker, Krka, one of the leading generic drugs producers in Europe, and Revoz, a subsidiary of automaker Renault, were doing very well during the boom. The economy peaked in 2007, spurred largely by double-digit growth in exports, which was in turn fuelled by demand from the European Union, Slovenia’s most important export market.

Source: SURS

Which shape for the recession? economic growth and export growth, y-o-y, in % 15 10

…and easy money When banks around the world started teetering, credit suddenly evaporated and so has demand from the engine of the world economy, the US consumer. Plunging car sales and manufacturing malaise on a worldwide scale have badly hurt Germany’s automakers and capital goods producers, forcing them

Unprecedented

Source: SURS

Of export engines...

All this changed as the world economy entered recession in 2008 and Slovenia was caught in what is known in the economic profession as a disorderly unwinding of global imbalances. As long as banks were prepared to extend loans to over-indebted US households, gorging themselves on cheap Chinese imports, China had every reason to expand its production capacities. German firms that supplied machinery for blossoming factories had their order books full. As the majority of Slovenian exporters are tightly integrated into German companies’ supply chains, either as parts suppliers for cars or other capital goods, they had it pretty good.

However, it was too good to last.

public finances deficit, in % of GDP

Economic growth

2005

Export growth

2006

5

2007

0 -5

2008

-10

2009*

-15

2010*

20 Q1 2007

16 Economy

Q3 2009

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

* European Commission forecast

O

n the annual level, Slovenia’s GDP was still down 8.3% in the third quarter. However, it seems that the worst is over for the battered economy; in the next couple of years, the latter is likely to see some positive, albeit weak, economic growth. As for the whole of the euro area, the European Commission forecasts a recovery for Slovenia in 2010 and 2011. This year, however, will be bleaker; the Commission expects the GDP to shrink by 7.4%.

to cancel orders. This has weighed heavily on Slovenian exporters who saw the demand for their products dwindle. Exports have nosedived.

What many economists have been asking themselves is whether Slovenia can export its way out of recession as it did in 1990s

The economy peaked in 2007, spurred largely by double-digit growth in exports, which was in turn fuelled by demand from the European Union, Slovenia’s most important export market.

While Slovenia’s public debt remains well below the thresholds set by the EU (60% of GDP), the fallout from the recession is expected to raise the share of public debt in GDP from 29.3% percent in 2009 to 34.9% in 2010. Compared to countries such as Greece and Italy, where debt levels are approaching or even exceed 100% of GDP, this does not look too bad. Yet if problems in the banking sector escalate further, the costs of recession may rise steeply.

Getting older

after it lost its Yugoslav markets. The problem is that the country’s major trading partners are on their knees; their excellent growth performance was more a consequence of the cheap money sloshing around the world than of any sustainable increase in demand.

High fliers Looking at the statistics, one can see that business and real estate investment were the second most important drivers of Slovenia’s economic growth. Lately, both have been suffering; the former because at a time when new orders are lacking, underutilization of existing production capacities has become a problem, the latter because the overheated real estate market has been cooling down.

This puts construction firms and real estate developers in a tight spot. Unable to dispose of a large stock of unsold apartments and offices, some of them are sinking in debt, threatening to implode.

The situation in the construction sector is viewed with concern by policy makers as bad real estate loans may pose further danger to the stability of the country’s banking sector.

Longer-term challenges to the stability of the country’s public finances are more serious, however. In Slovenia, the state-run pay-as-you-go pension system still provides the majority of funds for retirement. With fewer and fewer workers to go around, however, either social security contributions that employees and their employers pay to finance old-age spending must rise to unsustainable levels or the budget must be tapped to make up for any shortfall.

In 2008, a quarter of EUR 4.5 bn that the state-run pension fund ZPIZ spent on pensions came directly from the budget.

According to the European Commission projections, however, public finances will face an enormous strain in the future. Today,

What many economists have been asking themselves is whether Slovenia can export its way out of recession as it did in 1990s. the government spends 22.9% of GDP on age-related services; in 2060, it will spend a whopping 35.7% percent.

Exit strategies

The big squeeze

A steep fall

Source: European Commission

State to the rescue?

age-related government expenditure, in % of GDP 22,9

Slovenia

35,7 20

Lithuania

38 26

Austria 23,6

2007 28,4

2060

18,9

UK 5

10

15

20

7 6 5 4

2 1 0

24

0

inflation, y-o-y, in %

3

29,1

Germany

Source: SURS

The government has been doing all it can; it has injected capital in the banks it owns, extended generous guarantees for deposits and new bank debt and given subsidies to help companies keep their employees, thus staving off lay-offs. As a spender of last resort, the government has somewhat countered the effects of private sector deleveraging, but in the process it has racked up a substantial budget deficit.

With the budget deficit ballooning and public debt reaching new heights, Prime Minister Borut Pahor has no choice: he must reform, lest the financial markets punish the country with higher costs of borrowing in a time when money is urgently needed to support the flailing economy.

The government is thus thinking about raising the retirement age from 63 to 65 years, abolishing differences in retirement ages for men and women and extending the pension base calculation period to 35 years. Whether this will be enough, is anybody’s guess. What is certain, however, is that a period of belt-tightening is inevitable.

25

30

35

-1

Jul 2008

Dec 2009

Economy 17

Exporters

Bracing for Tougher Times During the most recent economic boom, with the global economy and trade growing steadily, Slovenia’s exporters were riding high, with revenues and profits rising on the back of surging demand. At the end of 2008, however, major European Union economies slipped into recession; although this meant falling orders for most export-oriented companies, they are holding up reasonably well.

By Marko Vuković

O

Photo: Gorenje

perating in a small, open economy, the majority of Slovenia’s biggest companies have no choice but to rely on global demand for their growth. Counting on local households and firms to support their businesses would be foolish; economies of scale and corresponding cost savings can only be attained if companies break the confines of the domestic market and start producing for foreign ones.

Of course, venturing abroad, either as an exporter or an investor, has its downsides. These are the most pronounced when the economies of one’s trading partners go off the rails. Although

Gorenje’s kitchens and house appliances are well known in Slovenia and abroad

18 Economy

Germany, by far the biggest export market for Slovenian companies, has not had to go through a housing bust, its export-led economy has suffered disproportionately in the current recession. This certainly has not reflected well in Slovenia’s economic growth figures; many of the country’s firms are tightly integrated into supply chains of German carmakers and capital goods exporters, and have thus experienced steep falls in orders.

Keep that motor running One firm, though, is cutting through the malaise that has enveloped the global car industry. Revoz, the Slovenian subsidiary of French car producer Renault Nissan, has been hiring rather than shedding workers. In contrast to companies such as German BMW, famous for producing powerful gas-guzzlers, Renault has focused on lighter, more environmentally-friendly and, above all, cheaper vehicles. In times when households are keeping a tight lid on their expenses, this is certainly a competitive advantage, especially if your firm produces popular models such as the Clio and Twingo.

However, there is a difference between Revoz and other firms in the Slovenian car sector. The former is a car maker in its own right, exporting almost all the vehicles it produces to France, which has been weathering the downturn rather well. German car and engine building industries, in contrast, have been hit quite hard; not only have more expensive car brands been priced out of the market, the demand for capital goods from emerging markets such as China and Brazil, of which German companies are the world’s leading exporter, has plummeted.

This has hurt firms such as Prevent and Cimos, a seat cover producer and car part maker, which are among Slovenia’s major exporters. The former has had to lay off hundreds of workers in recent months. A number of smaller suppliers from the

Slovenia’s two pharma companies, Krka and Lek, have been weathering the recession pretty well

process as policy makers seek to counter the drop in tax revenues.

Margins could narrow, but the prospects for generics producers are nevertheless good.

Threat or opportunity?

The -heat is on Taking a look at the huge numbers of houses and apartments built throughout Europe in recent years, it is not hard to understand why Gorenje, a house appliances maker and the country’s second biggest exporter, was doing such good business in the last couple of years. All those new kitchens and bathrooms had to be fitted with heaters, ovens and refrigerators; Gorenje’s shareholders could rest assured that the bonanza would continue unabated.

Or so it seemed. In the last quarter of 2008, Gorenje had to face the fact that the demand for its products was faltering; the company shortened the work week to avoid lay-offs. Its strong presence in the markets of Central and South Eastern Europe was a boon in good times when the region was growing strong and loans were easy to come by. As the crisis spread, however, these markets experienced falls in economic activity sharper than in the rest of Europe; fears of unemployment understandably dented demand for durable goods.

Photo: Revoz

engineering and car sectors have also been forced to cut their workforce or close altogether.

It has become a platitude to say that the current economic crisis can be an opportunity as well as a threat. Slovenian exporters might well emerge from the turmoil stronger than before. Gorenje, for example, successfully took over the Dutch home appliances producer ATAG in 2008 in a deal worth EUR 130m, while Krka went on a shopping spree in China. The Slovenian Steel Group (SIJ), the country’s fourth biggest exporter, invested EUR 30 m in new equipment for production of higher quality steels.

When the global economy picks up again, these investments will allow Slovenia’s exporters not only to continue to compete successfully on the world market, but also to increase their market shares. In fact, the first signs of turnaround are already visible as emerging market demand pushes the price of raw materials higher. It’s a shame, then, that these dynamic economies do not figure among Slovenia’s more important trade partners.

Happy pills If there is one sector that could be called recession-proof, then it is certainly pharmaceuticals. Krka and Lek, Slovenia’s two generics producers, are a case in point. After a very successful 2008, when it managed to increase its revenues by almost a quarter, Krka, Slovenia’s 3rd largest exporter is well on its way to hitting the one-billion euro revenue mark in 2009.

With national health systems around the world faced with strained budgets, the producers of cheaper, generic medicines might be the weapon of choice to rein in health care costs. This has already been happening, but the recession could speed up this

Renault’s popular clio model is made by Revoz, a fully owned subsidiary of the French car maker

Economy 19

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia

Slovenia is Open for Business If there is one institution in Slovenia that has got its finger on the pulse of the country’s economy, it is certainly the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIS). With its wide membership, the Chamber’s network reaches into the farthest corners of the economy, giving it unparalleled knowledge about challenges faced by businesses all around the country. With Samo Hribar Milič, general manager of CCIS, we took a look at what the future has in store for them.

Do you think the government has done enough to limit the fallout from the economic crisis?

With wide-ranging guarantees for the banking sector, the government has succeeded in avoiding the financial panic and upholding the stability of financial institutions. On the labour market, subsidies were introduced to help firms keep their employees in the face of falling orders. In this way, the government has certainly assuaged the effects of the crisis. However, I think that it has still not realized how serious the crisis really is.

Where do you see the main challenges for the economy in the next couple of years?

When bankers refrain from extending credit to companies, they do so for a reason. Many Slovenian companies are over indebted, especially in the construction sector. The situation there calls for a more decisive action by policy makers.

As far as reforms announced by the government are concerned, we support their general thrust. Health system has to be rationalized, we are much to social-minded in this area, with those living healthy lifestyles often subsidizing those who don’t. With population ageing weighing on public finances, pensions will have to be reformed, too; we urgently need an in-depth debate about this.

Slovenia’s economy is strongly export-oriented. Could Slovenia export its way out of crisis?

It has become a platitude to say we export two thirds of our GDP. Taking into account the value added by Slovenian firms, however, it is more like 30% to 35% of GDP. While the economy boasts 8000 export companies, a mere 200 of them is responsible for 60 % of total exports.

The lesson is clear. Small companies need help in their efforts 20 Economy

to penetrate foreign markets. We try to do that; CCIS has agreements with its counterparts all around the world that can help when problems arise. A new paradigm that includes common platform for Slovenian export-oriented companies or the setting up of consortia of exporters is needed to allow our firms quicker and more efficient entry in foreign markets.

When do you think Slovenia will emerge out of the crisis?

I expect that the GDP will attain its 2007 level only in 2013.

But that’s not what’s most important. We have to find synergies between various support mechanisms, reduce bureaucratic, tax and other costs to attract FDIs and make better use of our exceptional geostrategic position within Europe.

Slovenia is an economy open to foreign companies, with a vital and high-quality workforce. The crisis has been a wake-up call for us all, it has exposed the vulnerabilities of our economy.

It has also served as a boost, however, clearly emphasizing the need that Slovenia takes further steps towards increasing the competitiveness of its economy.

Company notes Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia Dimičeva 13 1504 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 589 80 00 info@gzs.si http://eng.gzs.si

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Information At Your Fingertips

At Your Service Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – CCIS DimiÄ?eva 13 SI-1504 Ljubljana, Slovenia Phone: +386 1 5898 000 E-mail: info@gzs.si http://eng.gzs.si

Consulting

International Trade

No Choice, But to Venture Abroad Slovenia has a small, open economy. Because its domestic market cannot generate enough demand, growth has to come from outside.

As Maja Makovec Brenčič, professor of international business and marketing at Ljubljana’s Faculty of Economics, explains, companies and policy makers are well aware of this fact. The country’s exporters, however, face numerous challenges.

Exports are the engine of Slovenian economic growth. In times of crisis, is this a threat or an opportunity?

Due to its size, the economy needs to be export-oriented.

Slovenia’s good geographic location gives the country notable advantages, both in terms of commerce with the region of southeastern Europe as well as with western Europe. More than 70% of the country’s exports are destined for the EU, with Germany being our biggest trading partner; accounting for 19.2% of exports in 2008.

Being dependent on the EU markets to such an extent is even a greater threat in the current economic crisis. We export more intermediate goods to traditional European markets whereas to ex-Yugoslav or other South Eastern European markets we try to sell and produce final consumer brands. In addition, the added value of the exported products varies greatly; for that reason, we should focus even more on exports based on our own knowledge, technology and process development and less on labour-intensive products. Due to the dependence on European markets, we have to understand markets globally and diversify our exports, explore the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and Arab countries.

Slovene companies have been present in Arab markets since the times of Yugoslavia.

Experts say that the biggest challenge for Slovenian firms is to add value to their exports. Do you agree?

In my opinion, Slovenia still relies too much on manufacturing; so our future development should reorient and restructure our economy and exports towards knowledge- and service-based activities, through which we can create higher added value.

22 Economy

In addition, as with other European countries, we face the threat of Asian competition, especially from China. Therefore, we have to develop competitive advantages that cannot be easily imitated or transferred to the competitors in the low-cost production economies.

Still, markets in the region of southeastern Europe also grew strongly in the time of the boom. Slovenian firms took advantage of that.

Slovenian companies are relatively strong in these markets.

In 2008, exports to this region represented 16.5% of total Slovenian exports; also, much was invested in this region in the last decade. Bigger firms like Gorenje, Mercator, and Trimo are well-established in these markets, but there are also a number of smaller companies that are also very successful. Our FDI in this region has mostly been focused in production and takeovers.

Somehow, these markets are still our “natural” markets.

What should Slovenian firms do in the future to stay on top?

Firstly, we should look at markets globally and not just to the nearest geographical scope. We should overcome the fear of entering markets that are more distant if there is market potential or if we see the opportunity to create some. Slovenia should become a country known for its knowledge, technology, high-quality services; we should help our SMEs to grow in this way. Successful, globally active firms do not grow overnight and our established international and cultural mindset might slow down the process a little, but it is possible to go out there and succeed!

Grab the moment, Invest in Slovenia, and you can have a thriving business in turbulent economic times

Verovškova 60, SI-1000 Ljubljana Slovenia, tel: +386 1 5891 870

FDI Award Slovenia 2009

And the Winners Are ...

For the fourth year in a row, The Slovenia Times and the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) have chosen the two best foreign direct investments (FDI) in Slovenia. In 2009, the awards went to Austrian companies Wolford, luxury stockings and underwear maker, and XAL, lighting systems producer; their investments in the crisis-stricken Pomurje region are expected to create more than 400 new jobs.

By Maja Dragović

T

he awards ceremony was preceded by a round table discussion about the current business climate for investors, which was attended by some leading experts in the field, including Peter Kraljič of the McKinsey & Company consultancy group.

the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, suggested there is a general misconception by the Slovenes that foreign investors crowd out local investors.

How to do it better

There may be a low level of FDI, but the Slovenean economy has grown regardless and “...we mustn’t forget that Slovenia also invests abroad, which speaks for the strength of our economy,”

24 Economy

Increasingly attractive

Source: UNCTAD

The significance of the FDI awards soon became clear as the round table discussion took off. Foreign direct investment issues were highlighted from different perspectives at the round table – consultants, professors, CEOs of multinational companies and foreign investors all took a part in the debate.

Kraljič argued that the general business climate in Slovenia is poor; regarding business efficiency, the country is in the bottom half for out of 57 countries polled. In contrast, Franjo Bobinac, CEO of Gorenje, one of Slovenia’s biggest companies, suggested high taxes put investors off. This is also one of the reasons why Gorenje has moved some of its production to Serbia and the Czech Republic where, according to him, tax incentives for FDI are more favourable.

Mr Bahan Eldin Abdullah, chief financial officer at Iskraemeco, also singled out the high cost of labour, saying that latest reports suggest Slovenia has the highest social contributions in Europe, making gross wages and costs to the employer much higher than elsewhere.

The panellists agreed that there are also some “soft factors” that affect the low level of FDI. Marjan Svetličič, professor at

Multinationalty matters

FDI flows and stock in Slovenia, in US$ million Flows

Stock

12000

8000

4000

0 1992

16000

2008

introducing specific tax havens for holding companies.

One could get a sense that the brain-storming could have gone on forever. Aut after more than an hour of vigorous debate, it was time to mellow the senses. The panel was removed, the music was set and a ballerina came out. The hard world of tax incentives, business expansions and high labour costs seemed miles away. The stage for the winners of the evening was set.

Photo: Roman Šipič

Serious commitment

said Kraljič. He asserted that a positive sign for Slovenia is that it has more outflows than inflows.

Mr Svetličič agreed, adding that when FDI is compared to Slovenian multinational companies, the differences disappear.

Supporting the expansion of Slovenia’s companies abroad is especially important since companies cannot survive in small countries.

The winners of the 4th annual FDI awards were XAL (Xenon Architectural Lighting) and Wolford, both from Austria. Together they employ 320 people in Slovenia, and their combined investment is worth over EUR 8 m.

It was concluded, however, that Slovenia cannot promote the tion internationalization of its companies and discourage foreign investment at the same time. Furthermore, the government needs to introduce policies that support more foreign investment.

The government representative at the table, Darja Radič, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, had a lot of explaining to do. Agreeing there is still a lot that needs to be done, Radič emphasised that the government is working on resolving some of the problems mentioned in the discussion. Although there are currently no tax incentives specifically for FDI, the government has introduced tax relief measures for research and development as well as a special tax relief for the underdeveloped Pomurje region, that, the government hopes, will stimulate foreign companies to invest there.

The number of foreign investors may be small, but those who are in Slovenia have made serious long-term investments; their commitment has to be recognised.

The winners of the 4th annual FDI awards were XAL (Xenon Architectural Lighting) and Wolford, both from Austria.

Together they employ 320 people in Slovenia, and their combined investment is worth over EUR 8 m. Interestingly, their main investments are in Pomurje, where not many Slovenian companies have found interest to operate so far.

XAL is a fast-growing company from Graz that specialises in manufacturing illumination and lighting systems for shops, offices, hotels and other spaces. The company has operations around the world and the expansion of its production into Slovenia’s northeastern region of Pomurje is of a particular importance for the country. The region is one of the most under-developed, and the company’s investment of EUR 1.5 mllion and creation of 50 jobs is a great boost to the region.

In less than a year, XAL has invested additional EUR 2.5 m in production halls; the expansion of the company’s facilities means that 100 new jobs will be created over the next three years.

“We have had great support from local authorities. We are thankful to JAPTI as well; their support enabled us to act quickly”, said Michael Engel of XAL, upon receiving the award.

Wolford, the second winner, is also from Graz and is a famous international hosiery brand, selling its product in over 60 countries around the world. Its investment in Slovenia is worth EUR 4.6 ms, going into the production of high-end ladies’ hosiery in Murska Sobota, the administrative centre of Pomurje. This is company’s first investment in a factory outside Austria. The number of new jobs is expected to reach 170 over the next three years which should further help to improve the economic development of the region.

“We have invested in Pomurje where we find motivated people, quality thinking and a good proximity to Austria”, said Alois Gether of Wolford.

As the discussion drew to a close, the panellists moved away from analysing problems to looking to the future. Being a highcost country, Slovenia is not high on the ladder of attractiveness for manufacturing. Thus, it was suggested that it should increasingly opt for different types of FDI, such as tourism, health, or education.

Another possibility for Slovenia is to become a centre for holding companies operating in the Balkan countries, possibly

Photo: Roman Šipič

Thinking about the future

The winners: Alois Gether (left) of Wolford and Michael Engel of XAL

Economy 25

JAPTI

Opening the Doors To Eastern European countries, the transition from socialist to market economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought huge inflows of capital from the West. Greenfield and brownfield investments have always been welcomed and promoted in Slovenia by the Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI). We talked to its director Igor Plestenjak.

How does foreign investment help the Slovenian economy?

Foreign direct investment (FDI) helps Slovenian economy in a number of ways. It has been noted that especially the entry of foreign capital provides new jobs, knowledge and technology transfers into domestic environment.

FDI also contributes to more balanced regional development as well as increasing synergy effects of connections between foreign investors and Slovene companies, especially regarding supplies to foreign investors and knowledge and technology transfers.

Moreover, FDI contributes to a growth increase of companies’ productivity by bringing access to new global knowledge and technologies and aiding companies in penetrating new markets, thus contributing to the sector or company’s competitiveness.

Could you list the biggest foreign investments in recent years?

In 2007 by far the biggest FDI influx after 2002 was recorded.

Country-wise, biggest foreign investors in Slovenian economy are Austria, Switzerland, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, while activity-wise the bulk of FDI is in finance broking field and the fields of chemistry, commerce and real-estate trade.

KBC, a banking and insurance giant from Belgium, Sandoz, a world-renowned drugs producer, and Goodyear, a famous tyre maker, are just a few of the companies that have invested in the country.

Moreover, there are a number of smaller cases of FDI, which are very important and a model for the positive effect of foreign investment on Slovene economy. Let me mention just a few of them in the crisis-hit region of North Eastern Slovenia such as Carthago, Wolford, and XAL. What is JAPTI’s role in encouraging foreign investment?

JAPTI plays more than oner role. This is evident in our work which ranges from providing service for a foreign investor from the preliminary phase of determining an investment’s location or a country selection, providing all sorts of information, consultancy and other services in the investment phase to investor-monitoring in the post-investment phase.

26 Economy

Besides, JAPTI plays an active role in promoting Slovenia as an attractive FDI location on target markets and worldwide generally.

Each year JAPTI, through a public tender for foreign direct investment stimulation, co-finances certain costs of a foreign investment that has been rated as beneficial and therefore helps in creating new jobs.

What business environment are foreign investors looking for?

A company’s motive to invest into a foreign market originates in need for market expansion, cutting production or service costs or exploiting primary resources and raw materials, with the main objective of profit-making. Besides, a foreign investor’s combination of requirements is also unique. In general, however, investors are looking for tax benefits, access to knowledge and skilled labour as well as for an opportunity to exploit a good geographical position.

Which sectors need foreign investment today?

The right question is which are the sectors that have currently enough strength and competitiveness to attract foreign investors at all. As this year’s last research of Slovenia’s competitiveness has revealed these sectors range from food and beverage production to car making and production of electric appliances.

Company notes Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments Verovškova 60, 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 589 18 70 japti@japti.si www.japti.si

SloveniaPartner.com

Get On Line The Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI), i.e. the Ministry of the Economy, directly implemented several programmes in the field of internationalisation.

For entrepreneurs who are just taking up export or considering it, JAPTI offers education, consultancy service and key information on foreign markets through the web portal www.IzvoznoOkno.si. On web portal www.sloveniapartner.com, JAPTI also offers information about Slovene business partners.

T

he website www.izvoznookno.si represents the database of information on export markets and procedures and is designed for businesses that are already engaged in export activities or are just taking them up. This website provides information on international trade, economic and business information on 51 countries, current business opportunities, database of foreign trade fairs, etc.

A well-visited section of the website is the section dealing with the actual business opportunities. The vast majority of the users successfully contacted foreign companies based on the publication of business opportunities on this web portal. Moreover, we provide advice to businesses with concrete questions. Businesses make use of our consultancy service mainly from the following areas: entry on foreign markets, obtaining new business partners and customs.

A big majority of the participants consider information on the web portal useful. Moreover, they have expressed satisfaction with the web portal in general as well as the published content, data topicality and portal image as well. Every year the number of visits to the website increases.

In December 2009, the web portal www.izvoznookno.si was revamped in design and function while content upgrades are planned in order to further approach foreign markets to businesses and facilitate their operations.

Education In 2010, JAPTI will focus its attention to education regarding the development of an export plan and international cooperation.

To this end, workshops will be organised where businesses will be able to develop a concrete export plan.

Business delegations By organising business delegations, JAPTI and its partner institutions wish to enhance the exchange between some perspective target markets while with their co-funding they want to reduce costs associated with obtaining the first information about foreign markets. This year JAPTI co-organised nearly 40 business delegations in Slovenia or abroad. The survey

among business delegations showed that taking part in business delegations fulfilled expectations of almost 60% of respondents.

Joint presentations at trade fairs In 2009, JAPTI supported and organised also the participation of businesses in 10 joint presentations at trade fairs. The results of the survey conducted among businesses involved showed that 69% of the respondents have acquired new business contacts.

Most of the trade fair participants obtained up to 5 new business contacts or business partners. 9% of the respondents have already signed a deal due to the participation in trade fairs while 39% are optimistic in this regard. JAPTI will continue organising joint presentations at trade fairs in 2010 as well.

Business clubs We believe that Slovene business clubs abroad, which have already been established by Slovenian economists abroad in the past, may significantly help Slovenian businesses, especially SMEs. They may assist with information and experiences in the field of establishing contacts with business partners in a country of their operations. In 2009, JAPTI cooperated with a network of 11 business clubs, which contact information can be found on the web portal www.izvoznookno.si. In 2010 we expect to expand the network further to include more than 15 business clubs abroad.

Get a business partner in Slovenia and gain ground against your competitors

Why not grow your business by taking advantage of Slovenia’s business potential and benefit from our services tailored to meet the needs of your company through research and advice. All needed information and Slovene company database is at your table with the new portal www.sloveniapartner.com Information at: www.japti.si www.sloveniapartner.com www.izvoznookno.si

InvestSlovenia.org

Slovenia, Your Top FDI Destination The economic outlook is rapidly changing but Slovenia’s cutting edge as FDI destination remains sharp Slovenia’s much praised trade openness means that it is integrated more effectively into the global commerce and its export driven GDP is partly a result of early foreign direct investments made when other countries in the region were tightly closed up to western influences. The world’s household names in manufacturing, services and financial intermediation have been around for as long as thirty years and a myriad of Slovenian startup technology companies have foreign partners that loom large in niche activities such as sustainable energy sources, pharmaceuticals, electronics and other highly specialised fields that call for strong research and development.

Slovenia’s geographical advantage, multiple languages, cultural diversity, excellent infrastructure and cost-effective support functions give it a cutting edge for big and small international companies seeking entry into the markets of East and Southeast Europe.

Bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, Slovenia’s pivotal position at the cross-roads of transport routes, major Adriatic port, well-developed ICT, technological networks and platforms, centres of excellence and clusters as evidence of a high-level innovation activity, make it a location of choice for many types of businesses and in several multinational companies.

Alongside investors’ favourites: chemical and pharmaceutical industry, information technology and communications, energy supply and distribution, tourism, shared services centres, environmental technologies, transport and logistics deserve to be short-listed by foreign investors.

Quality of life

Slovenia’s natural beauties and historical sights make it a prime tourist destination but its diversity makes it unique. As the relief changes, so do the climate, flora and fauna. From the capital city Ljubljana you can reach the ski slopes of the Julian Alps or the Adriatic beaches in just one hour.

Quality of workforce The Slovenians foster a culture of pride in work, reliability and corporate loyalty. Technology minded and highly educated people have excellent foreign language skills (English, German, Italian, Serbo-Croatian …).

Quality link to regional markets Slovenia being the first of the new EU member countries, who adopted Euro, has the advantage of longstanding links with companies from CEE/SEE countries. Fluency in local languages, knowledge of corporate culture, economic and judicial system, and ever-increasing outward investment are an asset.

Quality of infrastructure The two main pan European transportation corridors intersect exactly in Slovenia. The major and most northern port of Adriatic Sea is located on Slovenian coast. The sea transport from Asia, Middle East as well as from the Americas has the natural closest point to the CEE in Port of Koper.

Photo: STO

Abundant natural beauty and unparalleled biodiversity make Slovenia an attractive destination for tourism investment

It is easy to do business in Slovenia

When foreign investors short-list locations, they compare the challenges of launching a business, the procedure, time and costs to obtain permits and licences and build a plant, to employee workers … Slovenia is to join the OECD in 2010 and its 53rd Doing Business 2010 rank – five places better than its overall rank a year earlier and 20 places better for some relevant topics – is a strong argument in its favour when investors weigh pros and cons of so many competing locations. There are many advantages to be considered when investing in Slovenia: • integration in EU and monetary union • access to EU market and markets of CEE and Balkans • educated, motivated and quality workforce, with good foreign language and IT knowledge • high technological level and innovation activities of Slovene companies and quality of research institutions • high export oriented Slovene companies doing investments in foreign countries • excellent geographical position and infrastructure (major Port in Adriatic basin, intersection of two main panEuropean corridors) • fast development of information and communication technologies and infrastructure • excellent educational system • dynamic and stable economical and political environment • high protection level of foreign investors • favourable profit tax • foreign investment incentive packages • high quality of life Slovenia is often seen as the location of production for regional and global market, for test production and marketing, a starting point for south east Europe, a great location for establishing regional centres, service, distribution and logistic centres. Slovenia offers a good environment for technological advanced and R&D intensive projects, the possibility to take part in the last privatisation and consolidation process or invest in infrastructure projects.

Investment incentives programme

development or foster alliances between foreign investors and Slovenian companies.

Foreign investors can apply at JAPTI for financial incentives when they intend to invest in manufacturing, in strategic services (customer contact centres, shared services centres, logistics and distribution centres, regional HQs) or in R&D projects.

Incentives can be granted for up to 30% (up to 40% for medium and up to 50% for small companies) of the eligible costs of the investment project. The incentive beneficiary company must be registered in Slovenia with a minimum of 10% equity share of foreign capital.

The latest government incentive package aimed at boosting development of Pomurje region worth some 100 million euros is highly attractive for investors smart to spot opportunity in a big pool of qualified workforce, compensation of employees (wages/ salaries and contributions) lower than in other parts of Slovenia, and infrastructure and services not inferior to the rest of the country generally praised for excellent infrastructure (transport, utility, ICT …).

Investor support Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments ( JAPTI) is a gateway for investors requiring access to continuously updated FDI data and intelligence on companies, industries and markets.

Activities of the division responsible for foreign direct investments (FDI) are focused in various actions in facilitating foreign investors coming to Slovenia and are focused on: • pre-investment support (facts, analysis and individual solutions, information on business opportunities, key sectors and economy, visiting programs to suitable locations, municipalities, authorities, professional service companies, Match-making with Slovene companies • establishment support (tailor-made information and practical advice on setting up a business, Legal framework, taxation, labour force issues, utilities, Information; Market data, Important network, regional partners, authorities etc.

• after-care support

The FDI Cost-Sharing Grant Scheme is designed to lower selected start-up costs under projects promising to create new jobs, apply high-tech solutions, contribute to balanced regional

Photo: SCT

Slovenia boasts world-class infrastructure and is located at the crossroads of major European transport corridors

Information on: www.japti.si www.investslovenia.org www.business-zones.si

Innovators

Here Come the Tigers ElektronÄ?ek Trimo

Pipistrel

AkrapoviÄ?

SeaWay

After all the gloom and doom that financial media are so good at distributing, it is easy to lose sight of things that are really important. The fact, for example, that Slovenia boasts a couple of firms whose products straddle the world. In the next couple of pages, we present you the companies that have made their mark on the world stage not only by investing heavily in innovative products, but have geared their marketing in such a way as to establish internationally renowned brands. Let the tigers roar!

By Luka Vodopivec Economy  31

Elektronček

Gaming Evolution

In gaming, one of the most regulated business activities in the countries all over the world, the traditional live card games, such as blackjack and baccarat, have never had a serious competition in the multi-terminal gaming machines, which nevertheless continually represent a growing share in the gaming industry. The players, who needed the sensation of playing with real cards, were not convinced with display cards on a video screen. The innovation from Mengeš based company Elektronček, G4 Organic Card Blackjack, has changed that. The first electromechanical gaming device with real cards filled the market niche and convinced judges of International Gaming and Wagering Business to award it as the most innovative product of 2008. Blackjack is part of the fourth generation of gaming machines produced by Elektronček that allow easy switching among several currently running games, such as roulette, sic-bo, keno, baccarat or horse racing.

Elektronček has been producing innovative electromechanical gaming machines for ten years and has become a trendsetter.

Technical excellence and durability are the main characteristics of all of its machines. In comparison with other products on the market they are also more electric energy saving and provide better security of operations for owners and also for players against possible manipulation by the casinos. “The main accelerator of innovation in the company is education, where visiting foreign fairs is of big importance”, explains i CEO Tomaž Žvipelj, who has been for years a right hand to company’s founder, co-owner and one of the wealthiest Slovenes Jože Pečečnik. The company educates its employees itself, because there is no specialized education and seminars for the gaming industry in Slovenia. “A source of innovation is also a very close relationship with our buyers, who give us an important feedback and ideas”, says Mr Žvipelj. Mr Pececnik stresses that the innovativity of individuals has to be supervised to “protect the the final goal, which gets its shape in perfect products.” The company also puts a lot of effort in patenting its innovations.

After seven years of effort, at the end of 2008, the company finally received a gaming licence in the US state of Nevada and thus access to the biggest gambling mecca- Las Vegas. The company already has a significant market presence in gaming machines in the Asia’s biggest gambling centre China’s Macao and sells significantly to several other countries. Elektronček has been chosen as one of the most innovative Slovenian companies in 2008 and recognized as the fastest growing one in 2007 and rewarded with Golden Gazelle. Last year the company also received a special award for its human resource policy and was placed among the 21 top Slovenian employers.

“Innovation, creativity and the spirit of enterprise are like a living organism in Elektronček. They get strengthened by autonomy, loyalty, diligence and understanding for learning from mistakes.”

Tomaž Žvipelj, CEO, Elektronček 32 Economy

SeaWay

Prestige With Consciousness

Motor boating has been long considered above all a prestigious leisure activity and thus environmental concerns and costs of fuel consumption were neglected in the development process. With the introduction of the Greenline 33 Hybrid to the market in 2008 the world’s leading boat development company SeaWay is proving that change is inevitable. The first series production boat with a hybrid engine, driven by diesel and electricity, extensively uses solar energy. It has new, extremely energy-saving hull, that the company patented. SeaWay is also the first company who started mass production of epoxy-carbon sailing yachts due to series of innovations that were incorporated in its Shipman line.

But the company is mostly the designer and developer of yachts and their components for the bigger shipbuilders “because of the high level of innovations in the field of design, engineering and construction technology”, explains the company’s co-founder and CEO Japec Jakopin.

SeaWay has developed sailing and motor yachts for more than 60 shipbuilders from 28 countries. “Our advantages are these wide international experiences. We have a better team of designers than the competition and we are also the only independent development company with supreme technology and infrastructure”, says Jakopin. The key for successful development and innovations is “to make a group of the best individuals from various fields, who really love their work and like to work in a team.” The development is expensive and the results are often visible in the long term, which, according to Jakopin, takes patience, big financial resources and stability for achieving goals. In times of crisis this is much more difficult, however the company has secured development and production orders well in advance.

SeaWay is focused in developing energy saving and environmentally friendly technologies that would change the yachting industry. The company has received 32 awards for the best sailing or powerboat in several countries and numerous awards in the field of industrial design. In 2007 the company production hall was completely damaged by fire. Jakopin considers it the thing of the past that has actually helped the company start working more purposefully and efficiently. In the meantime SeaWay built a new shipyard near Trieste in Italy and started developing yachts for the biggest European boatbuilder, the French company Beneteau.

Jakopin hopes to deepen this cooperation and has a vision of the company becoming the leading developer and producer of hybrid, solar technologies. Seaway’s ambition is also to expand into electrical energy production through wind power.

“For innovation to happen you need to give people freedom, interesting challenges, all the necessary tools… and be patient.”

Japec Jakopin (left), CEO and co-owner, SeaWay Economy 33

Pipistrel

Flying Green Developing environmentally-friendly and energy efficient means of transportation has become a trend also in civil aviation, not just in the automotive industry, and its main trend-setter in the class of ultralight aeroplanes is the company Pipistrel. With the introduction of the world’s first two seat aircraft with electric engine the company has again pushed up the boundaries. Completely silent, without any carbon dioxide emissions and charged by plugging it into the socket, the Taurus Electro has been recognised as one of the top ten innovations in 2008 by American magazine Popular Science. What matters is that the performance of the electric aeroplane matches the performance of the petrol engine-powered Taurus, which in 2004 became the world’s first side-by-side self launching glider.

Also the other three aeroplane models the company produces- the Sinus, Virus and Apis/Bee- all have different ‘world’s first’ and consequently ‘world’s best’ titles attached.

The company’s ecological awareness is not only expressed in its products, but also in the way how the products are developed and produced. The company’s building is emission free and energy selfsufficient, using only renewable energy sources and thus boasting Slovenia’s biggest solar power plant. Research and development gets around a quarter of the company’s income, but it is the way of getting the employees to participate that is remarkable. “Everyone, even the secretaries, has to contribute one innovation monthly to receive the complete monthly payment,” says company’s founder and CEO Ivo Boscarol. For each additional idea - which can be completely crazy - they get some extra money, but the best idea of the month and the best one of the year can enhance the employee’s income significantly. Although Pipistrel in cooperation with various other companies introduced several innovations, they chose not to patent them. ”Our biggest patent protection is thinking differently, coming first on the market and beating the imitators with sales”, explains Boscarol. Pipistrel has orders for more than a year in advance, it even has some for their fast, four seat plane that is not even fully designed yet.

In 2008, Pipistrel was chosen as one of the top ten innovative Slovenian companies, but among the recognitions for its work that stand out even more are two victories at NASA’s aviation challenges.

In 2007 NASA was looking for the most economic, fast and low fuel- consuming aircraft and chose the Virus S-wing. In 2008 the same plane beat the competition again as the quietest aeroplane with the shortest take-off and steepest climb. Pipistrel’s vision is summarized in its campaign named ECOlution- evolution towards ecology. Thus the company’s ambition is to produce aeroplanes with alternative energy sources. Currently the construction of hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft is taking place.

“Innovation reaches its goal through the satisfied customer, who then finances new development” Ivo Boscarol, owner and CEO, Pipistrel 34 Economy

Trimo

Inciting Unconventionality

“Real breakthrough innovations are also a result of certain coincidences.

The company has to deliberately create conditions that these coincidences can happen.”

Miloš Ebner, R&D and Design Engineering Director, Trimo

Creating a stir in the field of façade construction happens rarely, but with practically simultaneous launch of its two latest innovations Trebnje based company Trimo did just that. The Qbiss by trimo modular facade system puts modern minimalism of business façades to a higher level. While including already essential characteristic, such as aesthetic design, fire resistance, watertightness, easy assembly and cheap maintenance, its uniqueness is in a technological detail that initially raised some expert doubts over its feasibility: the rounded corner element without joints and sharp corners. The other innovation, named ArtMe, is a technological solution that enables imprinting façade surface without damaging it. This offers designers endless possibilities and allows complete individuality of each façade.

Both new products are compatible with Trimo’s other innovative products, such as the line of environmentally friendly panels.

In Trimo they put a lot of emphasis on research and development years ago, but what sets them apart from their competition even more is a high level of innovative culture.

Not only every employee, but also suppliers, business partners, customers and the academic sphere are incorporated in it. “We are trying to create an instrument to get new ideas for every actor and carry them out together,” explains Trimo’s R&D and Design Engineering Director Miloš Ebner. The researchers and architecture students all over Europe, for example, participate in Trimo’s competitions, named Trimo Urban Crash, a wider public tries to be attracted into so called open innovation system and the employees have every reason to let their imagination go wild. The two criteria for the internal “The craziest idea” yearly reward are basically that it really is “crazy”- its feasibility is not important- and that the employee who gets the idea, knows how to present it and inspire others. ”Our main aim is to incite unconventional-“out of the box”- thinking”, says Ebner.

Trimo has been constantly expanding over the recent years and its results and “way of doing” were noticed. AT Kearney last year rewarded it as Slovenia’s best innovator, it received the innovation reward at Munich’s fair BAU, as so far the only Slovenian company recognized for business excellence with the European EFQM Prize Award for Leadership in 2007 and just recently received Slovenian reward for social responsibility Horus also in relation to openness of its development and ideas. Its vision- to become top European producer of prefabricated steel buildings - is on the verge of becoming reality, but Trimo does not only wish to expand geographically, but also product wise. In Trimo they are convinced that façades and roofs are still too “monofunctional” and thus see the future of development in incorporating software, electronics, rudders and creating interactive systems that are ecological and energy saving.

Economy 35

Akrapovič

Exhausting Competitors Racing and professional sport demand the best and they know where to get it. In case of motorcycle sport, performance of each part matters and when it comes to exhausts Akrapovič, company from small town of Ivančna Gorica, is the world’s top producer in the field. Although it would be hard to single out an innovation that the company offered to the market since the introduction of hexagonal-shaped mufflers four years ago, a combination of small R&D achievements are constantly taking place. “We are simply focused on offering a better product than others, with the help of all the technologies available,” explains managing director Marko Adamič. The company is still the only one among motorcycle exhaust producers who uses extremely expensive technology of hydroforming in the process, which is more common for the automobile exhausts. And that is the field the company decided to step in just about a year ago; in line with its strategy, of course.

Akrapovič, one of the first ones to start using titanium and carbon in exhaust systems years ago and currently using its own unique metal alloy, is focused on customers for whom the quality of the product is much more important than the price. In this segment the company is practically without competition and thus its marketing and development are specific. “We are trying to motivate the customer to buy our product, not the substitute parts retailer to offer our product to the customer- the way all the others are doing,” says Adamič. The company’s development process is also much longer than in other companies and includes many more tests. Majority of members in the development department have been part of Akrapovič since its founder Igor Akrapovič, a former motorcycle racer, started his small business almost twenty years ago. Thus their motivation for staying innovative is permanent company growth and naturally the passion for motorsport. Adamič at the same time stresses that development is not work, but a way of life.

Besides almost countless victories of motorcycle racers using its products, the company is proud of four consecutive awards for the best brand by the readers of German magazine Motorrad and already a second place in the category of automobile exhaust systems. Also other specialized magazines have rewarded it as best brand and it has also received best various design related awards. The company, whose activities are focused into fulfilling constantly more and more demanding requests for environment friendly product, intends to stay in the market of substitute parts.

Producing big series for a specific motorcycle or a car model would- according to its managing director- damage the brand and gradually put quality into the second place. Nevertheless, Akrapovič plans to get a bigger share in an automobile exhaust industry and start producing specific metal alloys for various industrial branches.

36 Economy

“Stimulating innovation is a matter of motivating an individual. The key element for that is an appropriate position in the working environment.”

Marko Adamič, CEO, Akrapovič

Si.mobil

Catching Up Taking a longer-term look at the Slovenian mobile services market, one trend immediately catches the eye: a steady increase in the market share of Si.mobil, Slovenia’s second biggest mobile operator.

Dejan Turk, the company’s CEO, talks about what it takes to succeed in a fiercely competitive environment and at the same time live up to high standards of corporate social responsibility.

Lately, your company has been looking to decrease its impact on the environment by implementing Re.misli (Re.think) project.

What is it all about?

Social responsibility is not new to us. Re.misli (Re.think) is a unique project. It actually began to develop as the colleagues’ initiative, from an idea of separate waste collection to serious proposals how to make our offices greener.

Firstly, we cleaned our own doorstep. Despite more work, we managed to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing consumption of energy, water, packaging, waste, and a certain part of transport and publications.

However, our path has not ended here. We are probably the first Slovene business to have set up its own fund- Si.voda (Si.water), which aims at improving the condition of waters in Slovenia.

Si.mobil’s market share has been steadily rising. What is the reason behind this trend?

2008 was concluded with flying colours. In 2009, we faced significantly altered market conditions. The mobile market is pretty saturated, so that possibilities for growth are rather more limited. The price struggle with competition practically ranges around the offers for EUR 0 and 1; at the same time regulatory framework keeps changing.

However, Si.mobil has lived through many difficult periods in the ten years of its existence, and this has led us to achieve the highest possible efficiency of our operations. We also have strong backup and a considerable competition advantage in our owners, the Mobilkom Austria group and the strategic partner Vodafone.

Mobile phones have become much more than just devices allowing us to talk to one another. Data services are on the rise.

How is Si.mobil facing this challenge?

The mobile Internet use in Slovenia has literally soared after the introduction of services through the UMTS/HSDPA network.

Adequate infrastructure was set up in all big Slovene cities and towns.

Nowadays data services represent an increasingly important revenue share. The development is heading in the direction based on the mobile Internet, which is evident in three recently exceptionally progressive products such as new capable cell phones with Android and BlackBerry platforms and mini laptops with a built-in modem for the mobile Internet.

Your shifted your focus from cell-phone subsidizing to very cheap subscribtions. Why have you changed the strategy?

The new SIMPL packages reflect current market conditions.

More and more people were making enquiries about packages with low fixed costs and payment based on actual usage. Moreover, SIMPL is also the best unified rate in Slovenia.

The new packages are meant for all those who want to have complete control over costs – paying according to actual usage, without fixed monthly costs. And this is also the opportunity for our further growth, at least in regard to a user base.

Do you expect the economic crisis to hurt your company? How well are you prepared for tougher times?

Our operations have been based on efficiency and fast adaptation to changes ever since. That is why also presently we have a good starting point to adjust operations cost-effectively, but not at the expense of vital parts of operations.

Company notes Si.mobil, d.d. Šmartinska 134b 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)40 443 000 info@simobil.si www.simobil.si

Economy 37

Abanka

Uniting Stability With Dynamism Abanka is Slovenia’s third largest bank, offering its clients a wider range of services of a superior quality. As Aleš Žajdela, the president of the management board of the bank, points out, Abanka is one of the most respected brands in the region’s banking sector, its reputation resting on above-average profitability combined with prudent lending policies. All this bodes well for Abanka’s future prospects in these uncertain times.

After more than ten years of solid growth Slovenian economy started to contract at the end of 2008. How has your bank been weathering the recession?

The first measures, taken at the onset of the financial crisis in the summer of 2007, were aimed primarily at creating an appropriate liquidity reserve, attracting new investors and expanding our business with existing partners.

To ensure that we had enough financial firepower to deal with the fallout from the crisis, we obtained two syndicated loans in the first half of 2008, one from Asian financial markets, the other, in the amount of EUR 165 m, from European ones. We also issued a Schuldschein note in September of the same year.

One of the causes of the crisis was also imprudent lending of financial institutions and their reliance on wholesale funding.

That’s correct and that is why we have been focusing efforts on increasing our deposit base. At the beginning of year 2008 we succeeded to raise EUR 102 m of new capital, providing the bank with solid capital support. We have also introduced stricter credit standards and significantly reduced our exposure in the trading book. Cost control is also high on our list of priorities.

In 2009, despite unfavorable conditions on international capital markets, we successfully completed a EUR 500 m international bond issue, guaranteed by the state. A syndicated loan in the amount of EUR 80 million was successfully negotiated with foreign banks in August.

Have you taken advantage of the active state support used by Slovenian banks throughout the year 2009?

The government first introduced a set of measures aimed at improving the liquidity situation of the banks and then focused on increasing the credit activity of to help companies improve their liquidity and consequently stabilize the labour market.

We played an active role in advising Slovenian government 38 Economy

how to prepare anti-crises measures. Abanka participated in all auctions for funds offered under the state guarantee scheme. The share of Abanka is 40%, well above the bank’s market share in corporate lending. As a consequence our balance sheet expanded by 14 percent to EUR 4,4 bn.

Despite the crisis, 2009 was a successful year for you. This has not gone unnoticed by the business media in Slovenia and abroad.

Yes, the renowned British financial magazine The Banker has in cooperation with the FT Group, publisher of The Financial Times, chosen Abanka as the best Slovenian bank in 2009.

Finance, the leading Slovenian business daily, also, awarded us with a prize for the best annual report in communication among financial inctitutions. The electonic version allows readers to browse it quickly on-line and emphasizes Abanka’s environmental responsibility.

What are your plans for 2010?

We expect that 2010 will still be marked by uncertainties..We are going to focus on our core business. We aim to extend more loans to the corporate sector, especially SMEs. A lot emphasis will be put on increasing non-interest revenues, widening of our offer of hedging products and private banking services.

Company notes Abanka Vipa d.d.

Slovenska cesta 58 1517 Ljubljana T: +386(1) 471 81 00 info@abanka.si www.abanka.si

Abanka Vipa d.d., Slovenska 58, 1517 Ljubljana, Slovenia

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www.abanka.si l investors@abanka.si

YOUR FRIENDLIEST BANK

Banks

Shaken, but Standing Solid The financial turmoil that has swept the world since the demise of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in autumn 2008 left no country unscathed. Although Slovenia’s banks had not dabbled in the complex, risky derivatives that have sunk quite a few financial institutions (not only in the US but also in Europe), they have been forced to curtail lending. However, the country’s financial system seems to have withstood the stress of the crisis.

By Marko Vuković

I

ronically, all those critics that regretted the relative underdevelopment of the Slovenian financial system at a time when investors in money centres from New York to London were rushing to buy innovative financial instruments based on real estate loans have been proven right. Securitisation of mortgages never took off in the country’s financial markets; banks were forced to carry the majority of loans on their books, which – naturally – restrained their lending activity.

What had been a weakness proved to be an advantage once the financial bubble burst. At the height of the credit boom, banks

A major slowdown Source: Banka Slovenije

loans to non-financial sector, growth in % 40

32 24 16 8 0

Q1 2005

40 Economy

Q3 2009

EUR 2.5 bn was raised with two government bonds, majority of funds deposited at banks EUR 1.0 bn was raised with treasury bills, majority of funds deposited at banks EUR 1.2 bn is the size of the guarantee scheme for corporate loans EUR 600 m is the size of the guarantee scheme for mortgages Of course, that meant less money for firms and households; credit growth has been falling steeply for months now (see chart).

The credit crunch quickly spread to the real economy, starving companies unable to rollover their loans of working capital and hitting the real estate and car markets.

Home-made troubles

Banka Slovenije, Slovenia’s central bank, has been an anchor of stability in these turbulent times

in the country were much less leveraged than their counterparts abroad. Because they were not able to sell the loans and mortgages they extended to firms and households, they were forced to evaluate the risks more stringently and screen their clients more thoroughly.

Photo: Banka Slovenije

Weak points However, this is not to say that the financial and the ensuing economic crisis have not put Slovenian banks in a tight spot.

Taking a look at the formidable pace of credit growth from 2006 to 2008, one cannot help but wonder where the banks got all that money they channelled into the economy. Since the deposits in their vaults were not sufficient to satisfy their appetite for loans, banks tapped international financial markets, either by issuing bonds or arranging syndicated loans with foreign banks.

The dependence of the Slovenian financial system on foreign funds thus rose dramatically (see chart). When the US real estate market imploded, however, these sources of funding suddenly dried up. With banks going belly-up all around the world, once generous providers of funds became very exacting and demanding, not only because they suddenly woke up to the benefits of prudent risk management, but also because they had holes in their own balance sheets to plug.

This flight from risk hit Slovenia, too. Unable to renew their foreign loans, the country’s banks had to start paying them back.

It would be wrong, however, to attribute all the troubles Slovenian banks face at this moment to forces beyond their control. It is true that banks cannot do much about the fall in export orders that could make some of the loans extended to the country’s export-oriented companies go sour. The fact, however, that careless financing of domestic management buyouts (MBO) blew holes in their balance sheets, cannot be overlooked.

Istrabenz, a sprawling holding with interests in sectors as diverse as food processing and energy trading, and Pivovarna Laško, an drinks, retail and media empire, are a case in point. Their bosses first set up financial firms in which they owned controlling stakes and then proceeded to buy up significant stakes in both companies – with other people’s money. In the heady times of the stock market boom, banks gladly accepted shares as collateral for MBO loans. When it became clear that share prices could not, in fact, only go up and losses started mounting in the wake of recession, the banks were stuck with a large pile of bad debts.

The state to the rescue In 2008, the government pumped nearly half a billion euros of fresh capital into the two banks where it still holds sizeable stakes: NLB, the country’s largest bank, and NKBM, the second biggest financial institution in Slovenia. These funds have not only come in handy as both banks have been writing down portions of their debt; they have also boosted confidence in Slovenia’s financial system.

The latter is stable and solid, according to Banka Slovenije, Slovenia’s central bank. The greatest challenge at the moment is thawing the credit freeze. It is not that the demand for loans is particularly strong; with real estate developers unable to sell their real estate and a battered export sector, that would be hard to expect. The economy, however, needs credit to function smoothly, so the government decided to help with hefty guarantees.

The success of those guarantee schemes has been mixed, as not all available funds have been dispersed. Still, the government can take some comfort from the fact that the sale of its treasury bills and bonds went smoothly. Most of the proceeds were deposited at banks, building up their deposit base just at the right moment.

When the banks will start lending these funds to economy, however, is anybody’s guess.

Economy 41

Photo: BOBO

Finance

Treading Carefully Saying that Slovenia’s banks have not been implicated in the excesses that have sunk a number of financial institutions in Europe and the US has become a platitude that policy makers never seem to tire of repeating. Mojmir Mrak, a professor of international finance at Ljubljana’s Faculty of Economics, takes a less sanguine view of the health of the country’s banking sector, pointing out that the crisis has hurt the country by other means.

Banks in Slovenia have not dabbled in the complex derivatives that are at the heart of the financial crisis. Does this mean Slovenia’s financial system is more stable than that of other countries?

Not necessarily. The banks have been hit through other channels. Firstly, the crisis has hit Slovenia’s export-dependent economy through trade, as demand for the country’s exports plummeted. Secondly, the freezing of the international interbank market in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers meant that banks in Slovenia, having grown increasingly dependent on foreign funds for their operations, had trouble refinancing their loans. The situation has somewhat eased since the beginning of the crisis. Banks can now at least get money, although it is much more expensive than before the crisis.

Why has the banks’ dependence on foreign financing increased?

Raising deposits is rather complicated and therefore costly.

As the money was cheap on international markets, it was much easier and cheaper for banks to tap those sources. Banks simply lent too much in the boom times, financing their credit expansion primarily with financial sources from abroad.

Would you say that Slovenia is in a better position to weather the crisis than other countries in the region?

It has to be remembered that the region is far from homogeneous. Slovenia, as a small and open economy, has been hit particularly hard. The structure of is exports, heavily geared towards consumer durables and car components, has been an additional negative factor. However, membership in the euro area has certainly helped our country to avoid the currency problems 42 Economy

that are plaguing several countries of the region that still have their national currencies.

Has the government been doing enough to fight the crisis?

In conceptual terms, the policy measures addressing the crisis are not that different than in some other small EU economies.

What has been a significant problem is their exceptionally slow and sometimes confused implementation. It took the government half a year to put in place guarantee schemes for banks and enterprises – that’s far too long.

Furthermore, too much time and energy has been spent on politically charged debates about tycoons and loans they got to take their companies private. We also have substantial corporate governance problems. For example, it is simply not acceptable that an essentially state-owned bank, NLB, which is by far the largest commercial bank in the country, has been without a stable leadership for over a year.

Can the government spend its way out of the slump? The latest budget estimates are not exactly rosy.

On the contrary. The fiscal picture of Slovenia is quite dramatic for several reasons. First, in good economic times, we did not do our fiscal expenditure homework properly. Cyclical expenditures simply increased too much in the years before the crisis. Second, the functioning of fiscal stabilizers and anti-crisis budget expenditures brought the public finance deficit to close to 6% of GDP this year.

Consequently, public debt also increased. Putting public finances back in order will, thus, be one of the main challenges for Slovenia in the medium-term. The problem is even more pressing due to the country’s rapidly ageing population.

NLB

Going Strong As Slovenia’s leading bank, NLB has unrivaled knowledge about workings of the country’s economy. It does not only count the country’s biggest companies as its customers, its presence in the region is also growing. With solid backing of its owners, NLB is thus well poised to take advantage of the economic recovery when it comes.

NLB Group Nova Ljubljanska banka Group (‘NLB Group’), with the parent company Nova Ljubljanska banka, d. d., Ljubljana, (‘NLB’), accounts for 30,5% of total domestic banking assets, making it the largest banking and financial organization in Slovenia. As of December 31, 2008 NLB Group consists of 55 members operating in 17 countries and correspondent network of 1,300 banks in 137 countries. Its strategic objective is to establish itself as one of the

Selecting NLB as your business partner means enjoying the security of one of the highest rated banks in Central and South Eastern Europe leading, most competitive and financially sound institution in southeastern Europe.

NLB Group offers a complete range of domestic and international banking and financial services with a number of alternative products. NLB as a Group together with its daughter companies offer various forms of financing such as forfeiting and purchase of export claims and instruments, direct financing of import/export operations in the form of suppliers loans and loans

Rated High Rating agencies

Long-term credit rating

Moody’s

Aa3

Fitch

A-

Capital Intelligence

A+

44 Economy

Among 10 leading banks in Central Europe: 10th place in Tier 1 capital

(The Banker, London, July 2009)

to customers, trade and financial credit lines in favor of foreign banks. NLB takes over specific country risks, confirms banking instruments and provides guarantees, counter-guarantees and silent confirmations. Additionally, NLB Group is active also in corporate international Cash management, and financial advisory services, as well as leasing products, factoring, asset management, pension and life insurance.

With an extensive worldwide network we are on the spot from Frankfurt/Main, Germany to Skopje, Macedonia and from London, U.K. to Moscow, Russia. In South Eastern Europe the Group member banks include NLB Razvojna banka, Banja Luka; NLB Tuzlanska banka, Tuzla; NLB Banka Beograd, NLB Montenegrobanka, Podgorica; NLB Tutunska banka, Skopje and NLB West-East Bank, Sofia.

Regional leader NLB traces its origins back to the 19th century when the City Savings Bank in Ljubljana was founded in 1889. Under its present charter NLB was established by legislative act of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on 27th July 1994.

As the parent company of NLB Group, is a universal bank with a leading position in retail, corporate and investment banking.

NLB is the largest institution, accounting for more than 50% of the Group’s total assets.

The NLB Group strategy is to put its customers, their wishes and needs at the centre of its activities, to maintain our leading position in Slovenia and to become a leading banking

“Creating a new model of banking culture based on excellence, trust and tradition” is the basic mission, leading NLB in its everyday business, when meeting our customers, employees, shareholders and other investors.. and financial Group in the region of Central and Southeastern Europe. The strategy represents the core guidelines for NLB’s future development and the groundwork for measuring our performance. During long tradition NLB Group has determined and respects the values and rules of ethical behaviour.

Focus on strategy NLB is continually consolidating its influence in the financial markets through its active and strategic role in all fields of social development. By implementing business goals on the basis of tradition and trust and by cultivating business values, NLB is creating a new image of banking culture. As the largest Slovenian bank, NLB understands well the significance of its mission, and

Božo Jašovič, president of the board

International Awards In The Best banks in the world global awards of The Banker, London, NLB was selected as the Slovenia’s award winner for 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007.

The renowed magazine Global Finance named NLB the best bank in emerging markets for the third consecutive year and it was also named the best bank for foreign exchange trading in Slovenia for the eleventh consecutive year.

In 2008 NLB was awarded with the Euromoney Annual Award for Excellence for the eleventh consecutive time. is aware that the successful development of society as a whole also increases the reputation and value of the bank as a part of this society.

Shareholder structure NLB is a company jointly owned by shareholders and its shares are not publicly quoted on the Stock Exchange. The largest NLB Shareholders are Republic of Slovenia (33,1%) and KBC Bank NV (30.57%).

Company notes NLB Group in Slovenia Headquarters Nova Ljubljanska banka d. d.

Trg republike 2 1520 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 425 01 55 info@nlb.si www.nlb.si, www.nlbgroup.si

*All data included in the text as of 31 December 2008

Economy 45

Energy

Sparkling with Ambition Nobody wants to be left out in the cold. It is therefore more than fitting that Slovenia and Russian energy giant Gazprom would come to the agreement on the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline through the country’s territory just before winter.

Slovenia, however, is keeping its options open; massive investment in new energy infrastructure is planned in the next couple of decades.

By Marko Vuković

A

fter the main points of contention between both sides – ownership structure of the company managing the Slovenian offshoot of the South Stream pipeline (it will be split in two equal halves between Gazprom and Slovenian companies) and its tax status (no preferences) – had been resolved, there were no further obstacles to the agreement.

Admittedly, the details concerning the pipeline route and its

Although natural gas accounts for only around 14% of Slovenia’s energy needs, industry depends on it for more than a third of its final energy consumption. capacity (presumably somewhere in the region between five and eight bn m3 per year) will be decided only in 2011; it is now clear, however, that Russians will be supplying gas to the huge Italian market through Slovenia.

Not everybody is enthusiastic. Critics say that Slovenian involvement in this EUR 20 bn project led jointly by Italy’s ENI 46 Economy

and Gazprom will only increase the country’s dependence on Russian gas. This issue dominates energy security debates in the European Union as a whole, pitting supporters of tighter energy links with Russia against those that want to diversify not just the routes by which Russian gas flows to Europe, but also the sources of gas itself.

Streaming Although natural gas accounts for only around 14% of Slovenia’s energy needs, industry depends on it for more than a third of its final energy consumption. Natural gas is the second most important energy source, almost on par with electricity. Given that manufacturing is the pillar upon which the country’s exportdriven economy rests, any supply disruptions are viewed with the utmost concern by managers and policy makers alike.

South Stream will bypass Ukraine, bringing gas from Russia under the Black Sea and then through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary to an Austrian gas hub serving the wider region. The Slovene offshoot will link South Stream to Italy, Europe’s largest gas consumer. Not only would Slovenia be able to collect transit fees, its gas supplies would no longer be hostage to pricing disputes between Ukraine and Russia.

Slovenia’s gross domestic energy consumption

Hydro 3,3 % Renewables 6,9 %

Solid fuels 19,8 %

Nuclear 19,2 %

Gas 14,6 %

Source: Ministry of Economy

Balanced

Oil and derivatives 36,1 %

South stream pipeline will increase the importance of gas in Slovenia’s energy consumption

Photo: Dreamstime

scheme has put a lid on the amount of CO2 that power plants can afford to pump into the atmosphere. That makes nuclear power an attractive alternative; nuclear power plants are not as CO2intensive as coal-fired ones and they use uranium, a fuel that is not going to run out any time soon.

Gen Energija, the state-owned operator of Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant in Krško, has recognized the opportunity and is planning to invest around EUR 3.5 bn in the construction of a second nuclear reactor of the plant. In contrast to the Šoštanj

Hot ashes

Slovenia produces a little less than a third of its electricity from renewable sources; the nation’s biggest rivers, the Drava and Sava, are dotted with hydro power plants, with new ones being planned.

Yet the biggest investment in the country’s electricity generation capacity in the coming years will be the construction of a new block for the Šoštanj coal-fired power plant, Slovenia’s largest, due to come on line in 2015. Worth about EUR 1 bn, the project will be financed by the state, without relying on foreign investors.

In light of the fact that Slovenia is lagging behind its Kyoto targets for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, some experts say that more should be invested in renewable energy sources. However, having the South Stream gas pipeline crossing the country, it also makes sense to invest in gas-fired power plants.

By 2015, Verbund, an Austrian energy company will build one in the northeast of the country.

Nuclear option Still, much coal is burned in thermo-power plants around Slovenia and plans to install new capacity are already under way. However, by establishing the price the companies have to pay for each ton of CO2 emissions, the EU’s emissions trading

As Slovenia and Russia celebrate the South Stream agreement as a means of binding them closer together, there are many who worry about the Russian embrace becoming too tight for comfort. thermo-power plant, however, the government will not finance the whole project itself; it is already searching for foreign partners.

Because nuclear power is relatively cheap once the plant is up and running, presumably by the end of the next decade, some experts point out that the state will be giving up a part of the nuclear dividend if it divides the ownership of the new plant between itself and another operator.

Too much of a good thing?

If all the above-mentioned projects are completed, Slovenia will shift from being an importer to being an exporter of energy, especially electricity. Yet observers warn that underinvestment in transmission and distribution networks, not to mention interconnection with neighbouring countries, in recent decades will make it difficult for Slovenian energy companies to capitalize on their new role. Policy makers thus know very well on what the next investment cycle should be focused.

As Slovenia and Russia celebrate the South Stream agreement as a means of binding them closer together, there are many who worry about the Russian embrace becoming too tight for comfort.

Italy and Croatia are both building liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on their coasts, giving themselves a chance to tap the global LNG market that is not unlike the global oil market.

Slovenia, however, seems determined to stick with Russian gas.

At a time when energy is increasingly becoming a scarce good and investors such as Germany’s TGE are willing to invest in LNG on the country’s coast, that is not necessarily a good policy.

Economy 47

Iskraemeco

Measuring Up to the Best Being one of the top five electric meter producers in the world and the third largest in Europe, Iskraemeco is definitely one of the few global industry leaders from Slovenia. The company is also one of the biggest successful foreign direct investments in the country; it was taken over

by El Sewedy Cables a leading integrated energy solutions Company.

We talked with Bahaa Abdullah, Iskraemeco’s chief financial officer, about what lies in store for the company.

Iskraemeco is a very export-oriented company. What are your most important markets?

True, in the first half of 2009 we exported 95.5% of our production. This is in line with our 2008 results: we had revenues of EUR 90 m, 92% of them were realized on foreign markets.

We are present in more than 100 countries around the world.

The introduction of smart meters is of unprecedented importance to our industry. On the global level, we expect the market for smart meters to grow by 8% over next ten years.

The biggest three markets for us, however, are the European Union, eastern Europe and the Middle East. In Europe, Iskraemeco holds almost a 20% market share; in Germany even a bit more, while in the Netherlands, for example, it covers around 40%.

48  Economy

Environmental standards are becoming increasingly stringent; much emphasis is being put on energy efficiency. Measuring energy use, especially electricity consumption, is very important in this context. Do you see any new business opportunities arising from these trends?

Of course, regulatory demands regarding environmental standards and energy use represent significant opportunities for us. We have been busy adapting our strategies to take advantage of them for quite a while.

We think that one of the solutions ushering in the era of environmental sustainability will certainly be smart meters, which are able to break down consumption parameters into more detail and communicate this via information networks to customers and utilities. We expect that the global market for these meters is set to grow by eight percent over the next five to ten years; in Europe, the growth is expected to be even more dynamic, reaching double digit figures.

The introduction of smart meters is certainly among the most dramatic change in the metering business in the last decade, as such a large roll-out (due to the change of technology from electromechanical to electronic meters) is rare for any industry and can, to some extent, even be compared with the IT boom from the 1990s.

Our research and development department is one of the biggest in the country, employing 130 people, so we are well poised to take advantage of new technological developments.

What exactly is Iskraemeco doing in the R&D department to keep pace with the competition?

We have been developing smart meters for seven years now, constantly updating ourselves on the most advanced technologies available. Our research and development department is one of the largest in the country, employing around 130 people; almost 7% of our turnover is invested in this.

We see the biggest potential in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); this refers to systems that measure, collect and analyse energy usage. Smart metering and system solutions are where our focus is at the moment.

The shift from electromechanical, analogue meters to electronic smart meters that require sophisticated software is of unprecedented importance to our industry. Iskraemeco has developed the software that allows users to enter the so-called multi-utility segment of the market; our meters are able to communicate not only with other electric meters, but also with those measuring gas and water consumption.

How are your customers responding to these more complex, advanced products that you are bringing on the market? Your competitors must be doing the same.

They are responding positively indeed; nevertheless, we still have the edge over them, and this fact is recognized by our customers.

Take ÉlectricitÊ de France (EDF), a French electricity provider that is also the biggest utility company in the world. Recently, we were chosen by EDF as one of only three suppliers to provide them with one hundred thousand meters for a pilot project. The whole roll-out performed by EDF will include an exchange of 35 million meters in the next five years. This is certainly an achievement to be proud of.

This is not all, however. We have been able to convince utilities from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom to enter into pilot projects with us, which testifies to the quality of our products.

Obviously, utilities where governments usually have significant ownership stakes are your biggest customers. They already decided to introduce smart meters, but when will this start happening on a large scale?

We expected this to happen by 2010, but with the recession the things have changed. Because state budgets are strained, we now expect the introduction of smart meters to happen somewhere in 2011 and 2012.

Are you satisfied with your 2008 business results?

Well, things could always be better. However, 2008 was the first year since 2004 that Iskraemeco was profitable. Most importantly, we have changed our way of thinking. This, I think, has reflected

very well in our approach to markets, as we have opened a couple of new ones.

As far as our plans for 2009 are concerned, the recession has taken its toll. At the moment, we are running 20% behind the plan, but other firms in the industry are also hurting. What is important is that our sales this year will not be dramatically lower than in 2008. We are also tightly controlling costs.

Many companies in Slovenia are having problems with excessive debt, which could hamper their efforts to take advantage of the recovery when it comes.

If you take into account the fact that Iskraemeco was flirting with bankruptcy in 2006, the way we have turned around the company is all the more impressive. Moreover, in a time when other companies have been taking on increasing amounts of debt, we have managed to lower our debt burden and pay our obligations for both debt and normal operations. We will certainly be in great shape when the economy starts to grow again.

Company notes Iskraemeco, d.d.

Savska loka 4 4000 Kranj T: +386 4 206 40 00 info@iskraemeco.si www.iskraemeco.si

Economy  49

Logistics

Get That Motor Running That Slovenia’s excellent strategic position at the crossroads of major European transport corridors should be used as a leverage to boost the development of the country’s logistics sector, has become a platitude that policymakers never tire to repeat. However, it seems that Slovenia will become just another transit country without anything to add to the logistics value chain, if words are not followed with deeds (and money) as soon as possible.

T

rans-European networks (TENs) are all the rage in European policy circles. The integration of the European Union’s internal market depends on a smooth flow of goods across the region stretching itself from the sunny Mediterranean to the Arctic circle. Moreover, the status of the EU as the worlds biggest trader, accounting for a fifth of all the world’s imports and exports, can be maintained only if entry points to the vast common market, such as ports of Rotterdam on the North Sea or Koper on the Adriatic coast, are tightly linked with their hinterland.

While TENs can be thought of as an enormous challenge in terms of road, rail and other infrastructure that needs to be in place to make them work efficiently, they also represent an opportunity for those countries lucky enough to be located on major transport corridors. Take Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. Here is where the fifth and the tenth European transport corridors, coming from west and north, respectively, meet, only to go their separate ways. The former runs eastward towards Kiev in Ukraine, while the latter terminates at the Greek port Thessaloníki, deep in the south of Europe.

Europe’s portal When the bosses of the three biggest ports in the northern Adriatic – Slovenia’s Koper, Italy’s Trieste and Croatia’s Rijeka - met at the logistics’ industry most important fair in Munich, 50 Economy

Photo: Luka Koper

By Marko Vuković

they had every reason to be optimistic about the prospects of their companies. Although the economic crisis and the corresponding drop in world trade are hurting the revenues of Europe’s ports, for at least some of them the recession can be an opportunity, not just a threat.

In times when most companies are slashing costs, being able to offer shorter way to markets is certainly an advantage. The shortest and therefore the cheapest way for exports from Far and Middle East to reach Europe is through the Adriatic, making the Adriatic ports an attractive alternative to their competitors such as Rotterdam and Hamburg on the North Sea. Koper, the biggest Slovenian coastal town, lies at the northernmost tip of the Adriatic where the waters of the Mediterranean eat deep into the continent. It takes ships bound for Europe six days less to reach Koper than Rotterdam from Asia, making Luka Koper, the only Slovenian port, the gateway not just to Central Europe but also to markets farther west. In times when shippers are becoming increasingly cost-conscious, this is certainly an advantage.

The port of Koper is the gateway to the regional market, giving exporters easy access to more than 500 million consumers

neighbouring countries. This lack of concern is now coming back to haunt the policymakers. With heavy lorries crowding the highways and their exhaust fumes polluting the environment, many are asking themselves whether the money would not be better spend on railway infrastructure as railway traffic is less of a burden for the environment.

Looking ahead Troubles in Transitland

However, seamless integration of the port of Koper into the country’s transport network is of paramount importance, if the country is to take advantage of its geographical position. It does not help Asian exporters much if the goods destined for the region sit in the warehouses on the coast, because the port cannot move them onwards quickly enough. The railway link to the interior, from Koper to Divača, consists of a single track, winding its way from the coast to Karst plains overlooking the Gulf of Trieste.

Even before the entry of Slovenia in the EU, experts had warned that the link may soon become a bottleneck; that it has indeed become one should come as no surprise. The port of Koper has namely seen its throughput rise by almost a quarter since 2004, but it is still served by the same railroad track.

Successive governments have long said that building a second track from the coast to Ljubljana is one of Slovenia’s priorities.

However, nobody knows exactly how much the project will cost and when it will be finished. Observers say that the upgrade could be finished by 2015, costing up to EUR 4bn. The second track would allow the port of Koper to expand its operations without worrying about railway congestion and thus gain an advantage over competitors from Italy and Croatia.

The port’s problems with the railway are symptomatic. In the past 15 years, Slovenia has spent huge sums on the highway programme, leaving the railway system to lag behind those of

This question is especially important for Slovenia which is a transit country; 70 percent of all cargo landing or arriving at the port of Koper is loaded on trucks, trains and ships and shipped onwards. Logistics experts warn, however, that the most money is not to be earned in transit, but in services such as warehousing, cargo handling and distribution. Slovenia has thus been hit with double whammy; not only that its logistics sector relies on environmentally burdensome road traffic, the services it offers add relatively low value to the logistics value chain.

Admittedly, these troubles are of the country’s own making and measures are being taken to remedy the situation. As the highway network is almost completed, the government has promised to shift the focus to railways. Where the money will come from in times of economic crisis is still uncertain. The other big push should come from intermodal logistics centres that the government wants to set up in public-private partnerships in the years to come.

The integration of rail, road and air transport along the lines proposed by Zmago Skobir, the boss of Aerodrom Ljubljana, would certainly help to push the logistics sector on a faster growth path. The timing is crucial, however. As Croatia slowly but surely finds its way into the EU, Slovenian logistics services providers will have to offer more to their customers than just highways, if they want to keep their business – and soon. After all, Slovenia is not so big that it could not be overtaken, either on the left or on the right.

Economy 51

Aerodrom Ljubljana

Ready for Takeoff As companies not only in Slovenia but throughout Europe slash or even shelve their investment plans in the face of what will likely be a prolonged period of paltry economic growth, it is encouraging to see that ambition has not entirely disappeared from the business world.

Zmago Skobir, the boss of Aerodrom Ljubljana, wants to turn Ljubljana’s Jože Pučnik Airport into a regional leader, not just in terms of passenger traffic, but also with regard to cargo and logistics services.

The recession is being felt in all corners of the economy. Do you also see it happening?

Of course. Looking at the figures for the first nine months of 2009, we can see that the number of passengers is down by 15 percent, while the number of take-offs and landings decreased by 7 percent. Cargo traffic, however, has taken the most serious battering, with throughput 24 percent lower than in the same period of the previous year.

We expect that business results in 2009 will be close to those in 2007. Having said that, you have to bear in mind that 2008 was an exceptional year in many ways, especially because of Slovenia’s European Union presidency in the first half of that year.

Do you plan to spend less in the future now that recession is shaping to be more protracted than expected?

In the 2002-2008 period, we invested EUR 86m in the upgrading of the airport’s infrastructure. Of course, we still have ambitious plans, but we have had to postpone some investments because of the economic crisis. The building of a new passenger terminal was supposed to start in 2009, but that didn’t happen. Our investment plans also include a new cargo terminal and a parking garage. We are confident that we can pull off these investments, worth around EUR 120m, in the next six to seven years.

In recent years, quite a few airports have raised their profile in the region. What are Ljubljana’s competitive advantages over Graz, Klagenfurt, Trieste or Zagreb?

Our goal has always been to transform Ljubljana’s airport into a regional leader. Regarding passenger traffic, we certainly have what it takes to become one. With the Slovenian highway network more or less finished and connected to those of neighbouring countries, it does not take more than two hours to reach the airport from anywhere in the country. The upgrade of our technical equipment 52 Economy

allows the provision of undisturbed service under difficult weather conditions. Last, but not least, airlines fly to 30 important destinations every day from Jože Pučnik airport.

What about cargo? How far advanced are the plans to build an intermodal logistics centre at the airport?

Pretty far, I think. Soon, our planning for the logistics centre will be completed; we will then be able to start weighing various options of how to take advantage of our excellent location. There are no state-of-the-art intermodal logistics centres in a radius of 500 km around Ljubljana, so that’s our opportunity.

You have decided to increase the range of services available at the airport with the project of Aeropolis (Airport City), to be completed in 2015.

Yes, we think that the airport should be more than just an entry point to the country; it should be a tourist centre in itself. With the Aeropolis project we are bringing a shopping centre and a high-class hotel to the airport, together with a business zone. In this way, we hope to offer our customers a wide range of services right at the airport, services that are now only available outside our premises.

Company notes Aerodrom Ljubljana, d.d.

Zg. Brnik 130 a 4210 Brnik T: +386 (0)4 206 10 10 info@lju-airport.si www.lju-airport.si

Ydria Motors

Pretty Indispensable When opening a refrigerator or using a microwave oven, one usually does not think about all the little parts that make these home appliances work. Jošt Rupnik, the CEO of Ydria Motors, on the other hand, has them on his mind all the time. The company he leads is namely one of the world leaders in production of electric motors and fans, supplying them to the biggest names in the white goods industry.

Ydria Motors is a parts supplier for home applicances makers all over Europe. In this recession, sales of durables have been suffering. How is your company holding up?

Ydria Motors supplies all white goods-related products for our owner, ebm-papst Landshut GmbH from Germany. Our products are supplied to premium range home appliances producers such as Miele, Bosch Siemens, AEG, Liebherr, and others.

So far we have succeeded in keeping the business running well.

At times, we have been forced to reduce our capacity utilization down to 90%; at the end of the year, however, we even increased the number of our employees. Our focus stays firmly on cost and efficiency management.

Sales of premium range home appliances are holding up very well. Because we are the world leader in development and production of energy efficient motors and fans for these kinds of appliances, we can look confidently into the future.

In 1997, the company was taken over by a German firm, ebm.

What has that brought to Ydria Motors?

Originally, Ydria Motors was established as a joint venture. In 2001, German firm ebm, now ebm-papst, took over the company.

The new owner brought different philosophy and different company culture regarding the handling of investments, approach to customers and suppliers, and also towards employees and environment overall.

The whole group is strongly customer-oriented. This means that new products and new ideas are of the highest importance.

As a privately-owned company, ebm-papst brought valuable experience regarding the right approach to suppliers which focuses on treating them as partners.

Many people feared that foreign companies taking over Slovenian ones would simply relocate R&D-intensive activities to their own countries.

Our experience is very different. We are now in the process of becoming a competence centre for motors and blowers for the white goods industry, for the whole ebm-papst group. To

successfully complete this process and to successfully set up the competence centre, we will have to invest into laboratory equipment, build up a team of engineers and establish proper relations with universities and institutes in Slovenia and also abroad.

All this will allow us to become a reference point within the ebm-papst group not only for industrial engineering but also for some R&D activities.

For me, it was a surprise that, contrary to the popular stereotypes about the ways hardened capitalists are supposedly doing business, in this organization the employee is still the key factor of success.

This has been confirmed on numerous occasions.

One of your biggest investments recently has been the building of an international logistics centre. What was the rationale behind it?

I’d like to point out that the setting up of the new logistics centre which will bring significant cost savings and increase the efficiency of our supply chain is not by far the only thing we have accomplished since ebm-papst took over Ydria Motors. We have also moved to a new location and established our own R&D group, not to mention substantial increases in the number of employees and production capacities.

Of course, alone we wouldn’t have managed to accomplish all this, so we are thankful for the support of Slovenia’s government agencies such as JAPTI which helped us with various incentives.

Company notes Ydria Motors d.o.o.

Proizvodnja elektromotorjev Podskrajnik 16 1380 Cerknica T: +386 (0)1 709 04 50 ym@ydria-motors.si www.ydria-motors.si

Economy 53

Luka Koper

Into Stormy Waters Luka Koper, the operator of Slovenia’s only port in Koper, is the most important pillar of the country’s logistics sector. With world economy flailing, trade volumes have plunged, hurting logistics companies on all continents. Yet Gregor Veselko, president of the management board of the company, says that the Slovenian port will come out of the crisis stronger than ever; investment in new infrastructure is paying off, while things are starting to look better on the economic front.

We have seen the crisis hit international trade pretty hard. How is port of Koper doing?

It is not at all surprising that the port has been feeling the effects of the crisis. We can observe the same trends of falling throughput and revenues in ports all around the world; it’s hard to expect something else in an environment where everybody is suddenly cutting their demand and production.

Where does that leave you compared to your competitors?

What is important here is that we compare quite well to other ports in the region. We have a diversified portfolio of port and logistics services that we can offer our customers; we do not rely on a particular type of cargo for our business, so we have been weathering the crisis relatively well. Our container terminal registered a decline of only six percent in the first nine months of 2009; other ports have experienced much steeper falls. Obviously, we have been exploiting our excellent geostrategic position very well.

You are in the middle of an intensive investment cycle.

That’s correct. In Romania, we have opened two terminals, one for containers, and one for other types of cargo. One of the more remarkable investments, however, has certainly been the setting up of four new post-panamax type of cranes, allowing us to load and unload the biggest ships that sail the seas today. In this case, you can see how the investment has made the port more competitive almost immediately; container throughput in October 2009 was the biggest in the history of the port.

In the future, biofuels will play an increasingly important role in powering transport. Do you see Luka Koper becoming the region’s entry point for biofuels?

As far as liquids are concerned, we have successfully concluded negotiations with our Japanese partner, the Mitsubishi conglomerate, on the supply of industrial alcohols. They will start arriving in 2010, as soon as the reservoirs are ready.

54 Economy

As you may be aware, there has been a lot of talk about Luka Koper being the region’s entry point for Brazilian biofuels.

However, not much came of this, as talks with Brazilians were put on hold. Now we are trying to revive them.

Do you still intend to take over the operation of the fruit terminal in the port of Alexandria?

Egyptian fruit exporters have discovered that they can most efficiently export their wares to the Central European markets through the port of Koper. We hope that in 2010 we will be able to convince Egyptian authorities that Luka Koper has the necessary know-how to run Alexandria’s fruit terminal.

Do you see closer cooperation between the northern Adriatic ports in the future?

With ports of Rijeka and Trieste, we are already working together in an informal grouping, promoting the northern Adriatic as an attractive location for the entry of goods destined not only for the regional market, but also the markets of whe Western Europe. One has to be aware of the fact that even if we take all three ports together, they cannot compare in size to one big port in the north of Europe such as Hamburg or Rotterdam.

So I think we will not have to fight for cargo, there will be enough of it for all northern Adriatic ports.

Company notes Luka Koper, d.d.

Vojkovo nabrežje 38 6501 Koper T: +386 (0)5 665 61 00 portofkoper@luka-kp.si www.luka-kp.si

Real Estate

Survival of the Fittest

As those who hoped to make some easy money flee from the real estate market in droves, seasoned investors are suddenly looking at many projects starved for funds and buyers. With speculators gone or broke, real estate developers have much harder time persuading buyers that their projects merit investors’ attention. However, money will always be found for high-quality real estate at affordable prices.

By Marko Vuković

A

s far as prices for real estate in Slovenia are concerned, they are falling across the board. If in the beginning of 2008 it was the owners of second-hand houses and apartments that experienced the first falls in prices for their property in five years, it is now the developers’ turn to get nervous. In the first quarter of 2009, the value of newly built apartments fell by a tenth, a sobering wake-up call for those who thought the only way for real estate market was up.

Correction, not a bust Although the prices are holding up relatively well compared to Ireland, Spain and the Baltic countries where real estate bubbles have already burst, not everybody is convinced that Slovenian homeowners will avoid the turmoil. The housing booms had similar roots all around Europe: low real interest rates encouraged households and developers to take on increasing amounts of debt, while domestic banks tapped international financial markets to supply the funds needed to build and buy houses and apartment blocks.

Real estate experts, however, do not see lower prices as a big threat to serious developers. True, those that invested into projects on the speculation that the market will boom ahead indefinitely, will be priced out of it; the prudent ones, on the other hand, might see their profit margins squeezed, yet they can still count on finding willing buyers. The crisis, it seems, not Cinderella will be doing the separating of wheat from chaff.

The wall of money In the past few years, home ownership became a reality for an increasing number of Slovenia’s residents. Although house prices 56 Economy

Retreat

Buyers have retreated since then; not only because mortgage loans have become more expensive, but also because the economy has entered into recession. With fear of unemployment becoming palpable, not only supply, but also demand for loans weakened. With fewer willing buyers and sellers still not coming to terms with the new reality of lower prices, the number of real estate transactions and building permits plummeted. This is just a prelude to a more significant downward correction in prices, experts say.

The times when home owners could rest assured that the value of their assets will continue to grow unabated are definitely over.

Hunting for holiday homes on the Slovenian coast, the Karst or in the mountain-ringed Carniola region does not seem to be a favourite pastime of wealthier Slovenes and foreigners any more.

As the housing boom slowly peters out, the coastal region in particular is bound to take a hit.

High-rises The health of the commercial real estate market also depends on the health of the economy as such. Quite a few observers have pointed out that the building boom in the capital might

Photo: Dreamstime

Prices are holding up relatively well compared to Ireland, Spain and the Baltic countries where real estate bubbles already burst.

were rising steeply, people could still think about buying a house or an apartment as banks were very forthcoming with mortgage loans. After all, even if people walk away from their mortgages, their houses and apartments can’t.

This debt-fueled bonanza came to an abrupt end when the sources of foreign funding on which Slovenian banks relied started to dry up in the wake of the international financial crisis in the beginning of 2008. Instead of extending loans to firms and households, banks had to focus on paying back their foreign creditors; loan growth slowed considerably.

depress prices of commercial real estate when all the projects are completed and offices as well as retail units are put on the market.

In the heady days of record economic growth a significant increase in the supply of new offices would not be much of a problem; office stock in Ljubljana is generally old and of low quality, so growing companies would have every reason to move. At the moment, however, employers are laying off rather than hiring workers, not to mention the fact that a lot of them own their offices. Recession is not exactly the best time to be thinking about moving to swankier premises.

Judging by crowded shopping malls, one would be forgiven for thinking that developers can at least depend on consumers to keep them afloat. Yet anecdotal evidence points in the other direction; it has become increasingly hard to sell retail space to retailers, because the latter are not so sure about the willingness of consumers to spend as freely as before.

Sobering up Rising inventories of unsold homes and offices and the unwillingness of banks to roll-over their debts are squeezing companies in the construction sector, which only months ago was one of the main engines of Slovenian economic growth. In the beginning of 2004, construction’s share of GDP stood at 5.5%, rising to 8,5% in the third quarter of 2008.

This may not seem excessive, especially if compared to countries that were once held up as examples Slovenia should follow. In Ireland, for example, the share of residential construction alone in the nation’s GDP stood at 15% in 2007. The fact that Ireland has one of the most severe housing busts in the European Union on its hands has not been lost on policy makers around the world.

Sometimes having the skylines of your cities dotted with cranes can be a curse rather than a sign of a healthy economy.

Economy 57

Crystal Palace

Touching the Sky As the shining surfaces and reflections of a crystal create many images, so does Crystal Palace have many faces. For those who will occupy or spend a day in it, Crystal Palace will symbolize perfection and the focal point of BTC City – a prestigious business district of Ljubljana. For those coming from metropolises it will indicate a modern and lively urban centre, shining as a symbol of global progress.

Crystal Palace will be a business, commercial and community centre, the core of the bold urban planning project Partnerstvo Šmartinka (Šmartinska Road Partnership). It aims to be not just the tallest high-rise office building in Slovenia but also to live up to the expectations and requirements of its occupants – in terms of architectural design, environmental standards, comfort and creativity.

Living up to such expectations required visionary designers, including several renowned architects. Their new definitions of space, urban planning and architecture helped create modern, occupant-friendly ambience enabling the variety of content.

These expectations laid the foundations of a palace whose form and highly specular reflective cladding imitate a crystal – the symbol of a firm and sound structure.

A place to do business The major part of the business and congress centre will be occupied by representative offices of renowned domestic and foreign companies, functioning as a top-quality work place for their staff and visitors. Offices are, therefore, accompanied by other business premises designed to create relaxed and a less formal business setting. A big congress hall together with a fine restaurant and a café with panoramic views on the 20th floor are there as the perfect combination of business convenience, socialising and comfort.

Ecological Awareness Special attention is given to the care for the environment and energy saving. The energy efficient construction complies with the highest environmental protection standards. It will include a solar power station, connection to the remote heating system and a state-ofthe- art cooling system.

Wide range of services Crystal Palace will stand as a place connecting different activities. Its varied interior will enable business and personal activities, catering to the needs of the most demanding users. Thoughtfully defined functions and superior space will provide suitable premises for companies, banks, insurance companies, embassies, law firms, notary public offices and medical surgeries.

Café with a View Have your morning coffee enjoying a view of the sun-lit Kamnik and Savinja Alps or contemplate vibrating city lights from the café on the top floor of Crystal Palace. This will always be a unique magical experience. The assortment of fresh treats – cakes and biscuits baked by renowned pastry chefs – will make life really sweet to many a visitor of Crystal Palace, even if only for the briefest of moments.

Exceptional Location Crystal Palace is growing on the edges of BTC City – the business, shopping, recreational, sports and cultural centre – easily accessible from the Ljubljana ring road, directly linked with the motor way network in Slovenia and only a short distance away from the historic city of Ljubljana.

Company notes CrystalSkai Palace Center, d. o. o.

Modern Icon

Šmartinska 152 1000 Ljubljana T +386 1 585 13 15 info@kristalna-palaca.com www.kristalna-palaca.com

As the shining surfaces and reflections of a crystal create many images, so does Crystal Palace have many faces. For those who will occupy or spend a day in it, Crystal Palace will symbolize perfection and the focal point of BTC City – a prestigious district of Ljubljana.

For those coming from metropolises it will indicate a modern and lively urban centre, shining as a symbol of global progress.

Crystal Palace will be a business, commercial and community centre, the core of the bold urban planning project Partnerstvo Šmartinka (Šmartinska Road Partnership). It aims to be not just the tallest high-rise office building in Slovenia but also to live up to the expectations and requirements of its occupants – in terms of architectural design, environmental standards, comfort and creativity.

Living up to such expectations required visionary designers, including several renowned architects. Their new definitions of space, urban planning and architecture helped create modern, occupant-friendly ambience enabling the variety of content. These expectations laid the foundations of a palace whose form and highly specular reflective cladding imitate a crystal – the symbol of a firm and sound structure.

First class technology and ecological materials, original and modern architecture together with elegant and comfortable interiors contribute to the uniqueness of Crystal Palace – a building made to make its occupants feel comfortable, safe and relaxed – most of all, a building which caters to the businessman of the 21st century.

By 2011 Crystal Palace will have been the tallest high-rise office building in Slovenia, offering the maximum already today: top architecture, maximum environmental compliance, highest living and creative comfort as well as great opportunities for the leasing and purchase of premises.

Central and Europe Emonika andEastern Šmartinska Partnership

Staying on Track In recent years, two massive projects have emerged as the spearhead of Ljubljana’s spatial development plans. The new central train station and urban regeneration of the vast degraded site in north-eastern Ljubljana are the two pillars of the city’s vision to become a modern European capital.

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he earliest plans for a passenger terminal that would unify Ljubljana’s logistical infrastructure into a coherent whole and at the same time double as a bridge between two parts of Ljubljana that have been divided by the railway tracks since 1848, dates back to the 1930s.

After Slovenia declared independence in 1991, the need for creating a modern transport centre could no longer be ignored.

In 2005 the international architectural competition for a new transport centre was concluded. The company chosen for the building of the passenger terminal was Hungarian-Canadian development company TriGranit.

In 2007 TriGranit signed a contract with municipality of Ljubljana for cooperation in the project. In the same year Slovenian railways came on board too and a joint venture Emonika was established under the management of Csaba Toth.

TriGranit will not only build Emonika, but will also manage it after it is completed.

City within the city The project is a mammoth undertaking with a surface area of around 200,000 square metres in the very heart of the city. It will be built at the intersection of one of Ljubljana’s busiest roads and on top of a major railway intersection. The new complex will host large shopping areas, an up-scale business hotel, residential tower with approximately 90 superior apartments, more than 3000 parking spaces, a new railway station with a large spacious passenger hall and a new bus station.

60 Economy

Photo: Emonika

By Roman Oberč

However, the building that will stand out the most, will be a new business tower, standing at the south western corner of the complex on the edge of the largest intersection in the city. With a height of a hundred meters it will be the highest building in the country. The initial price tag for the complex was EUR 250 m. This

Ljubljana lies at the junction of the 5th and 10th pan-European transport corridors; Šmartinka area was once known as the key industrial and logistical center of Slovenia and the western Balkans. figure was overly optimistic as various delays, mostly caused by the insistence of city authorities that the train station be designed for a possible movement of existing rail tracks underground, proved costly and pushed the figure higher.

Emonika is one of the most ambitious real estate projects in Slovenia

covers an area of 228 hectares (5% of the urbanised land in the city) in the north eastern part of Ljubljana. The Slovenian capital lies at the junction of the 5th and 10th pan-European transport corridors, while the area to be developed was once known as the key industrial and logistical center of Slovenia and the western Balkans.

Since the break up of Yugoslavia and the move of industrial facilities outside the city limits, Šmartinska area lost its prominent position as the key strategic transport hub that connects northern Europe with the western Balkans. As a consequence this part of town started to decay rapidly, becoming an alluring target for redevelopment on a large scale.

Let the works begin!

TriGranit was thinking about splitting the project in two phases, with business tower to be built first, while the shopping centre and other buildings would follow a year later. The EUR 55 m investment in the office tower would be relatively simple to pull off, as the construction would not involve complex deliberations and decisions involved in the construction of the new railway station.

The Ljubljana authorities, however, insist that TriGranit completes the whole project in one go. Despite delays, it is clear that Emonika will be built eventually. It is itself part of the bigger plan to rebuild all the decaying surrounding areas around the perimeter of Ljubljana’s transport hub. The long-awaited joining of the city center into an integral whole will no longer be a fantasy.

Šmartinka rising A project that will dwarf even Emonika is in the planning stage, and it is taking the process of urban redevelopment to a higher level. The facts and figures speak for themselves; the site

Is the worst over? second-hand houses and apartment price index, 2005 = 100 180

Solid fuels 19,8 %

142

Source: SURS

Emonika splits

The focal point of the winning proposal for the redevelopment of the area is a large central park as the main compositional element. Stemming from the park would be a series of nodes: a cultural hub in the west, offices around the park, a shopping and leisure area to the east. All nodes would be connected by a green boulevard which is the perception backbone of the whole area running through the area parallel to the main thoroughfare Šmartinska Street.

Miran Gajšek the head of Ljubljana spatial planning department, says that the project did not originate from initiatives of real-estate merchants but from the realization of the City and land owners that something has to be done with this area. “What we want is mixed use, a few central activities but in a relation to the city center. This area cannot compete with the city center, it must compliment it,” Mr Gajšek explains.

The Šmartinska project was presented at MIPIM, the world’s biggest real-estate fair, that took place in Cannes in March. The presentation focused on strong environmental protection goals integrated into the project, including waste management, use of photovoltaic cells and use of heat pumps to draw heat from the ground. The city authorities say it will take 15-20 years for all phases of the project to be realised.

Gas 14,6 %

124 106

Nuclear 19,2 %

88

Oil and derivatives 36,1 %

Ljubljana Rest Total

70 March 2003

September 2009

Economy 61

IMOS

Mitja Majnik

Boštjan Blatnik

The Strong Move On Contrary to what you would expect in the middle of a flurry of news about cooling real estate markets and developers deep in debt, this summer heavy machinery started digging deep holes in the area that once hosted Slovenia’s biggest tobacco factory, Tobačna. Behind this venerable old name, a new city within the city will be built by IMOS, a respected developer, which has been handling the crisis fairly well.

We talked with Mitja Majnik and Boštjan Blatnik, the CEO and Sales Director of the company, respectively.

We have been hearing a lot about the crisis hitting the real estate sector, and that prices are starting to fall. How is IMOS doing?

We have been doing pretty well within our expectations which were set out in the beginning of the year. Of course, the situation on the market has gotten worse in the meantime. However, this does not mean that the real estate industry as a whole will simply sink. What we are observing at the moment is a sort of sifting process; buyers and developers are re-evaluating their investments

62 Economy

and projects. If you want to succeed in such circumstances, you have to offer more for the same price.

Is that what you are striving to do at the moment?

Definitely. We are a specialist firm with specialist know-how with regard to project development; this is certainly our biggest advantage over competition. On the other hand, we can already see some inexperienced companies leaving the market.

Tobačna City, your biggest project, is slowly but surely moving on. When can we expect construction to begin?

This is hard to say. Not because we have financial or some other problems, but because the process of adopting a development plan for the area by the municipality can be a protracted affair.

However, we have come far enough to start with the renovation of the communal infrastructure. Next year, we will apply for the building permits. We cannot say exactly when they will be issued; we believe in three or four years.

Podbreznik

We are talking about one of the most ambitious projects in Ljubljana, the redevelopment of an entire area next to the city centre.

That’s correct. With Tobačna City, we will expand Ljubljana’s city centre and provide a prominent meeting point for business, administrative, cultural and educational activities. The project is split into two equal parts: residential and commercial. What is also very important is that Tobačna City will play an important role in rejuvenating the cultural life of the capital; either theatre halls or multi-purpose halls will be built beneath the square.

With quite a few projects scheduled for completion in the next couple of years, there have been some worries about a possible excess supply of office space in Ljubljana. Could that be a problem for Tobačna City?

I don’t think so. Ljubljana’s office stock is generally old and of low quality, so demand should be there. That’s not all, however.

Tobačna City, with its central location, functional design, ample parking space and proximity to the centres of business and administrative activities, is surely more attractive than some other developments in Ljubljana.

One cannot help but notice that Tobačna City will be close to Ljubljana’s biggest green spaces.

Yes, we think that this is definitely one of the reasons why businesspeople as well as families will seriously consider moving to Tobačna City. Tivoli, Ljubljana’s central park, will be just around the corner, while Rožnik Hill will rise above the highrises of Tobačna. Whether one wants to do business, shop, relax in the green spaces, go jogging or just take a stroll through the romantic old town – all this is only minutes away, if you live in Tobačna City.

With a total surface area of 65,000 square meters and numerous high rises, Tobačna City will redefine Ljubljana’s skyline

Litostroj business area

Tobačna, however, is not your only project. In Novo Mesto, you have recently completed a smaller residential complex.

The development area of Podbreznik encompasses approximately 22 hectares and is located in the northwest part of the municipality of Novo Mesto. It is multifunctional area with multifamily apartment buildings, individual houses, a technology park and enterprise incubator, complete with commercial, service, manufacturing and trade facilities. Podbreznik is known as a very green area, which is one of the reasons the demand for real estate in the area has remained stable. The other great advantages are transport connections, and proximity to the ring road and railway along the Krka River.

Another big development of yours is here in Ljubljana, in an area that was once an industrial zone. What exactly are your plans?

The Litostroj business area is former industrial zone, covering 66 hectares located in the northwestern part of Ljubljana. The area has been under development since 2005; there are already a number of new office blocks and business facilities in its northern part.

Investors for the southern part of the planning zone are currently being sought. The area is appropriate for the development of offices, trade and transport facilities, warehouses and production plants as well as general premises. Litostroj is located just beside the motorway ring, boasting excellent transport connections to all parts of Ljubljana and the country.

Company notes Imos, d.d., Ljubljana Fajfarjeva ulica 33 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 1 473 33 00 info@imos.si www.imos.si

Economy 63

Trimo

Where Innovation and Art Meet It is fair to say that the past year was not exactly the best the construction industry has seen in its long history. However, there are still companies out there who have made it their mission to provide solutions for the future, treading where no one has gone before. Trimo is certainly one of them; with its Qbiss by trimo façade system and ArtMe façade surface treatment technology, the company has created a package that will make every architect’s heart beat a little quicker.

Qbiss by trimo – your smart choice for a building envelope The building envelope together with the architecture it embodies is generally considered evolving, but with the arrival of the Qbiss by trimo façade system, the new bi-modular cladding system from Trimo, a true next-generation product has arrived.

Combining unparalleled aesthetics...

Qbiss by trimo is a technological as well as an innovation breakthrough; a 5-in-1 concept, it brings a system or package approach to the building envelope by uniting all the desired functional advantages of high quality facades with the very best aesthetics.

Developed in response to architectural and design demands, the facade is unique, possessing the only true rounded corner on the market. This aesthetic quality is further enhanced with the ‘Shadow Joint’ where the longitudinal and transverse joints are optically of the same width, which presents a modern minimalistic design with a smooth surface.

…with cost-efficiency However, this innovation does not stop with aesthetics, Qbiss by trimo, is a truly engineered system developed in answer to many of the structural requirements of architects and designers. The highlight is its self-supporting nature; able to carry itself, there is no need for additional substructure with the system requiring fixing only at the edges.

This brings many advantages because unlike other facade systems Qbiss by trimo does not require any additional support, be it concrete wall, brick, wood or secondary substructure, which means cost savings, time savings and less reconciliation of work.

With costs always an issue and the pressures to reduce them throughout the entire building envelope, this “value-engineering” is a genuine and measurable cost-benefit.

Safety first Of course, any modern building envelope system has to be so much more than just cost effective and attractive and the Qbiss by trimo façade system is no exception. With fire protection always a concern, not just from a health and safety perspective but also equally from an insurance cost and liability, it is reassuring to know that Qbiss by trimo has integrated fire protection. Its fire resistance is of the highest standard and confirmed by worldwide certification obtained in all countries in which it is marketed.

64 Economy

makes this possible without the need for any adhesives, additional elements or structural devices.

Anything you want...

Although the design options are limitless, three standard prefabricated ArtMe templates have been created by Trimo – puzzles, lines and bubbles; these can be used alone or in combination to produce exciting individual creations. Trimo will work closely with architects to ensure their creativity comes to life.

… you got it

Greening it up

The true cost of a building is not just down to its construction, but the energy efficiency it has throughout its years of use. The Qbiss by trimo façade system has no thermal bridges as the insulation is already integrated in the vertical joint. Additionally, no moisture can build up during assembly as the thermal insulation is protected with steel sheets and thermal conductivity is not diminished.

Put a face on your façade...

Think for a moment what makes a building truly impressive.

One may stand in awe in front of the latest engineering solutions that seem to dispense with the laws of gravity or wonder at the singleness of purpose behind an architectural extravaganza. Yet it is the uniqueness of a building expressing its individuality that has the power to move us emotionally as it communicates visually with the public.

…with ArtMe ArtMe is a unique façade surface treatment technology that can be applied to the façade, allowing unlimited variety of shapes, patterns and visual effects to be inscribed on them. From designs and pictures, to inscriptions, logos and brand images, ArtMe

Recognising the importance of product performance, the original integrity and characteristics of the façade are all retained after the application of ArtMe. Certification, fire protection, thermal insulation, sound reduction and air and water tightness are all preserved. More importantly, anti-corrosion protection remains unaffected.

Be different. Be You. ArtMe is all about opening up possibilities – the simplest construction can suddenly become a landscape defining creation, when it is adorned with a pattern, or a flowing design that brings the building to life and captures the emotions of the onlooker. A brand or a logo can be defined too, standing out as a functional form for inspiration and motivation. Offices, hospitals, schools, industrial, retail and leisure facilities can all benefit from the use of ArtMe, not to mention more prestigious projects and other architecturally significant constructions.

Company notes Trimo, d.d.

Prijateljeva cesta 12 8210 Trebnje T: +386 (0)7 34 60 200 trimo@trimo.si www.trimo.eu www.qbiss.eu

Economy 65

Riko

Build Me a House Riko, one of the leading Slovenian engineering firms, has again succeeded in joining its technical prowess with world-class design solutions. As its boss Janez Škrabec explains, famous designers such as Phillipe Starck choose Riko as their partner, because the firm can provide them with the best solutions on the market.

You have attracted a lot of attention as a partner in the Lakes by Yoo project where Riko supplied houses for a luxury development near Oxford, UK. How did this project work out?

I am really delighted that Riko has had opportunities to take part in projects like the Lakes by Yoo. Together with a prominent client and design team, we are building a residential area that differs in many ways from our concepts of modern building: it is made of wood, with prefabricated houses that depart from rigidly set standards, thus being adapted to the individual wishes of residents. Riko’s system of wooden construction has proved itself to be ideal in this concept, because it offers high-quality construction.

There will also be a wide range of high-quality services available for the residents.

That’s correct. Apart from neighbourhood and concierge services, future residents will have a wide array of activities at their disposal in the immediate surroundings. The area offers shopping at the local farmers’ market, fishing, horseback riding, hunting, numerous antique shops, and so on. Naturally, all these things provide excellent stimulation for development and growth in the area.

This prestigious wooden complex has drawn a great deal of public attention. However, it must be admitted that the sales have slowed down in the past year because of the financial crisis that has deeply shaken the London upper class. However, the situation has started to improve; the project is rapidly developing again, and soon new houses will join the 40 already built.

You are teaming up again with the renowned designer Philippe Starck, a veritable star in the world of industrial design. What convinced Mr Starck to choose you as a partner for his latest project?

By his own admission, Starck scoured Europe, Russia, even America, but came back to Riko, not remembering our partnership in the above-mentioned housing estate. I am sure that he has not only chosen us due to our commitment to eco- and 66 Economy

low-energy building, our knowledge and experience, but also that his invitation was due to our pro-development orientation as well as the fact that our system of construction builds on the boldest solutions in spatial design.

Starck intends his houses to be environmentally sustainable, offering maximum comfort with lowest impact on the environment. When will the houses be on the market?

Green and eco perspectives are both present in Starck’s exceptional works as well as in his personal beliefs. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of our joint project. “Starckwith-Riko” houses are supposed to hit the markets in the second half of next year.

While cars have been mass produced for decades, the same is not true for houses. Starck wants to change that, with Riko’s help.

How? I greatly appreciate Starck’s viewpoint towards the democratization of design and his endeavours to make topclass design accessible to the broader masses. It is his wish to introduce standards, such as green building, to the general public.

Accordingly, he strives to unite all these concepts into a house.

He is attracted by the idea that also a house, like a car, can be an industry and thus mass produced. In this aspect, Riko provides him with all technical support.

Company notes Riko, d.o.o.

Bizjanova 2 1000 Ljubljana T: +386(1) 581 63 00 riko@riko.si www.rikogroup.com

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Linxair

How to Fly High Linxair is a fast-growing aviation charter company based at Ljubljana’s airport. The latter, an increasingly important regional hub, has recently introduced a new terminal dedicated solely to business aviation, allowing Linxair to seize new opportunities in the markets of Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Niki Musič, the company’s CEO, has every reason to be optimistic despite the economic downturn.

What can you offer your customers?

We operate in Europe, Russia and CIS, and all the way to the Middle East. We charter business aircraft for a variety of customers, who insist on trouble-free business or pleasure travel.

We strive to achieve complete customer satisfaction and take pride in our service from the moment we receive a call, until our customer is safely and comfortably at his or her destination.

Could you describe the fleet today, as well as the aircraft ordered?

Our fleet today consists largely of Cessna aircrafts ranging from the Cj1 to the Citation XLS. We have two Embraer Legacy type airplanes to satisfy even the most demanding customers.

Our fleet is thus quite up-to-date, especially with our most recent purchases, a Cj2+ and a brand new Embraer Legacy.

Why did you choose Cessna and Embraer products?

In building an operation like ours, the choice in aircraft is a critical decision. Cessna has a network of maintenance and customer support services that are second to none, and makes the tough job of managing a company like this a little easier. The same is true for Embraer.

Where do the majority of your customers come from?

Our customers come from everywhere and we take them everywhere. There is probably not a single place we haven’t been to or had a client from. We have flown across the Atlantic, to the Middle East, and on one occasion even to Japan. We are preparing to offer more flights across the Atlantic ocean, opening a whole new market.

You have your base of operations in Ljubljana. What was the impact of the construction of the new base at Ljubljana’s airport, and has it resulted in an increase in your customers?

We are based in Ljubljana and have our hangar and operations there, but we don’t actually own a fixed based of operation (FBO) 68 Economy

that would allow us to provide services to other aircraft visiting Ljubljana. We have been thinking about investing in an FBO, but these ideas are only in the planning stage for now. I don’t think being based in Ljubljana has brought us more customers, but we do have local clients that use our services.

Has the crisis hurt your business?

The market outlook is not exactly rosy for anybody at the moment. It takes a lot of effort, and a dedicated team of professionals working around the clock to keep the business going. The competition is fierce and very few will emerge from the crisis unscathed.

However, we try not to think of the current situation as a crisis, but rather as a challenge. We managed to increase our revenues significantly in the first quarter, and that gives us the strength to move on and to follow our ambitions.

What is the forecast for the market this year?

At least for our industry, I think the most critical time will be over by the third quarter of this year, and whoever makes it past that point has a good chance. Some companies that were on the edge even before the economic slowdown might go belly up, and those that will make it through will be happy to emerge out of the crisis with fewer competitors and – let’s hope – a more vibrant market.

Company notes Linxair, d.d.o.

Bravničarjeva ulica 13 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 583 00 70 info@linxair.si www.linxair.com

Digitel Pristop Group

Setting New Standards The Digitel Pristop Group (DPG) is the largest marketing and communication services group in the region between Vienna and Athens. Combining professional excellence with in-depth knowledge of the region, DPG can help its clients deal efficiently with the increasingly complex challenges they face in these emerging markets. We talked with Aleš Razpet, the president of the board of DPG and a partner of Pristop.

I

n 2005, Digitel Komunikacije, the leading Croatian communications agency, and Pristop, Slovenia’s largest communications and consulting company, formed a strategic partnership through ownership consolidation. In 2009, they formally launched DPG. The group has its main offices in Zagreb and Ljubljana and regional offices located in Belgrade, Brussels, Priština, Sarajevo, Skopje, Vienna and Athens. The Group generated a turnover in excess of EUR 93m in 2008.

With economies around the world in crisis, how can strategic communication help companies navigate in an environment where low economic growth and falling demand are the norm?

During times of crisis, there is no room for any marketing missteps. Companies are trying hard to squeeze maximum effects out of funds invested in market presence, marketing and communication. Every euro invested should be accounted for and linked to quantifiable results. This can be delivered with sound and sharp marketing strategies and with smart strategic communication.

However, at the same time, companies are in even greater need of market success and recognition in challenging economic 70 Economy

periods. Hence, we have to deliver greater results with fewer resources and this is only possible with a new type of thinking and within an agency that is structured in a new way.

The Digitel Pristop Group has established a strong presence in the markets of southeastern Europe. What are your ambitions in the region?

DPG now spans eight countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia), having under its aegis 32 agencies. This makes us the largest and most successful integrated market communications group in the region. Our business operations include PR and advertising, media buying, digital and event management, TV production, media monitoring and media analyses. We are also the

market leader, by a wide margin, in all these services in Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia, while in other countries we are a leading provider of at least one of the above-mentioned services.

Our primary aim is to become the leader in providing marketing and communication solutions in southeastern Europe. Our ambition is to enter markets in SEE where we are not yet present (namely Romania, Bulgaria and Albania), to grow our service lines across the existing network and to become a leading player among agencies in strategic marketing, planning and analytics.

The group has its main offices in Zagreb and Ljubljana and regional offices located in Belgrade, Brussels, Priština, Sarajevo, Skopje, Vienna and Athens.

As companies face increasingly harsh conditions for doing business, have you seen the demand for your services decline?

Companies are very cautious with their resources and we are not immune to changes; the drop in demand has had an impact on our business in some markets. On the other hand, there is an aspect to this crisis that is beneficial to us. The circumstances are currently geared towards the survival of the fittest – only the best service providers will stay in the game, while the weak ones will be driven out. We are clearly gaining market share as a result. This demonstrates our strength.

The internet is far more than just a marketing communication tool; we see it almost as a parallel reality enabling totally new business models, transactions and ways of interacting. In this parallel reality, nobody has found the perfect solution, but enormous shifts are taking place. The internet enables us to prepare new marketing strategies. This is the field where we have to excel.

However, one of the factors hindering faster growth in web-based solutions and services is the low rate of broadband penetration. When it increases, web-based advertising and marketing will become more attractive to companies.

You are the leading provider of communication and other services in the markets that were once part of Yugoslavia. What are your advantages over your competition?

Our main advantage is that we are not just a provider of communication services. We are providers of creative marketing and business solutions. We are doing whatever is needed so that our clients can be more successful in their own markets. We do pride ourselves on being able to provide integrated marketing solutions to our clients region-wide and of the fact that we are “home-grown,” so to speak. We embody a local entrepreneurial spirit, local networking, and local expertise, which we seamlessly integrate with top international expertise.

Your creative solutions have been awarded on more than one occasion. What is the secret of your success?

Over the past few years, the group’s member agencies have won over 350 awards for creativity, communication efficiency and PR project management at various domestic and international festivals, organized by renowned communication associations (Cresta, The New York Festival, EPICA, MIDAS, London International Awards, IABC, IPRA, UN and many others).

However, we have never been overwhelmed by creativity as such, in an “art-for-art’s-sake” manner. The aim of good creativity is to always help the client, not the creative ego of the agency.

The internet is becoming an increasingly important advertising and marketing tool. Do you think companies in the region sufficiently realize that?

Judging by the number of prominent clients, your consulting business is blooming. What are your clients looking for when they come to you?

They need assistance in the region, they need knowledge about the regional markets, and they need integrated services and deep understanding of the challenges faced by their businesses. They need more than a one-stop shop – they need a reliable and stable partnership.

Eventually, the crisis will be over. Will you emerge from it stronger, more able to seize future opportunities?

Even this year, we are behaving as if the crisis is over – in the most difficult environment, we have made acquisitions and have expanded to new markets. We are looking forward to taking new steps toward becoming the regional leader in our field of business.

Company notes Pristop d.o.o.

Trubarjeva 79 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 239 12 00 ales.razpet@pristop.si www.digitelpristopgroup.com

Economy 71

IEDC

Developing Responsible and Creative Leaders If The Independent newspaper says “Bled in Slovenia has the best small business school in Europe” and the Financial Times adds “IEDC has long been a champion of art as a tool in leadership development” then there is little to add. Prof. Danica Purg is not only the founder and president of IEDC but also the mind and soul behind the institution.

Several institutions around the world offer executive education.

What makes IEDC-Bled School of Management different at home and abroad?

First of all, we provide education for existing managers with some experiences under their belt. We are not a typical university institution, but we efficiently combine theory and practice. What makes us different is our innovations to educate managers in a new, more sophisticated way. One of them is learning from the golf metaphor, we try to learn from science and most of all from art. Similarly to artists, we strive to educate reflexive managers – people who reflect on themselves, their existence, life and their organisation. Art can be provoking and shocking, too, and often makes people think twice before making a decision. Through art,

people become more creative and more open to other cultures, ideas, people. In this field, we are world’s leaders, and world’s top authorities in this field acknowledge that.

Our ambition is also to be the hub of changes in Central and Eastern Europe. All sorts of people meet and exchange ideas here.

This is one of the reasons why we set up the European Leadership Centre, where we bring together business leaders, politicians, management professors, representatives of non-governmental organisations and others to discuss the latest trends and challenges in the world.

So your school is not only about management in the business sense?

Not at all. We need managers in all areas of life, such as schools, hospitals, politics, NGOs. That’s why we are school of management, not business. We all agree that management in all areas should make a step forward. But it is true that most people come to our school from the business environment.

How has demand for your programmes changed during the crisis?

The numbers have roughly stayed the same but we have experienced some surprises and changes in the structure of the participants, which we don’t quite understand. In the one-year MBA programme, for example, we have more participants than the average during the previous five years, while there are less people in the traditionally popular two-year programmes. The largest interest we have for the Presidents’ MBA, which allows the participants the biggest flexibility.

What skills do managers acquire at your school to help them face the challenges of leading their organisations during the crisis?

Understanding things has a double effect in critical times and leaders’ characteristics are even more pronounced. What I have in mind is personal characteristics – ethics, personal integrity, the feeling to see things both partially and as a whole, and winning people’s trust. Then there are communication skills and marketing and sales actions, which need even more attention than usually.

At the same time, the leader should have two strategies for his or her organisation – one for today and one for tomorrow. An old Chinese proverb says “When the storm comes some build walls the others build windmills.” People’s entrepreneurial spirit, how to turn a crisis into an opportunity, becomes ever more important in times of crisis.

How much attention do you pay to management ethics?

Nineteen years ago, we were one of the first schools in the world to introduce ethics in our programmes. More than ethics as such we discuss dilemmas that people face – which of the options is ethical. We try to make people think in this direction because very often you have to choose the lesser of two evils or weigh things against each other. Sustainability and care for the environment are the other similar issues that we have incorporated into our philosophy. I am pleased to say that IEDC was recently proclaimed one of the 100 most innovative schools in the world by the Aspen Institute, USA, for having demonstrated significant leadership in integrating social, environmental and ethical issues into its MBA programme.

You have been pioneers in many areas and will probably be again.

What is the vision of the school?

We were pioneers of leadership education in this part of Europe.

Today, we are pioneers in terms of introducing innovations to the leadership development. I would like our school to be one of the most innovative in the world, focused on the development of responsible, ethical and environmentally conscious leaders. Our goal is to be trend setters of developing responsible and creative leaders and potential leaders for a better future.

Company notes IEDC – Bled School of Management Prešernova cesta 33 4260 Bled T: +386 (0)4 57 92 500 www.iedc.si

Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana

Exploring New Horizons Ljubljana’s Faculty of Economics (FELU) is one of the most respected institutes of higher education not just in Slovenia but also in the region.

Professor Dušan Mramor, the dean of the faculty, explains that the latter’s drive for excellence and a vigorously pursued strategy of internationalization has established it as a bridge between the East and the West of Europe.

It is often said that Slovenia has a special relationship with the region of south-east Europe. Does this also hold for the FELU? Certainly. We have signed more than 150 agreements with universities from around the world,yet we have succeeded in keeping our eyes on the region where our competences are undisputed.

We have signed ten agreements with international partners from south-east Europe, from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Bulgaria. FELU also offers several possibilities for the students in this region; they can participate in the consortium master programme in Macedonia or in one of the range of open executive training programmes. Our employees are involved in quite a few consulting projects with 30 companies from the region.

Regional focus has made the FELU an attractive destination for researchers interested in the markets of south-eastern Europe and managers from the region aiming to learn skills needed to make their companies operate successfully on the EU market.

This is interesting for students as well, in year 2009/10 we are hosting almost 500 students from abroad.

Companies often deplore the gap between skills demanded by the market and knowledge students acquire on universities. How are you addressing this issue?

The fact that the Faculty obtained the EQUIS accreditation speaks for itself; the two main criteria are namely internationalization and close cooperation with the business world. All our programmes are screened by a Business Advisory Board and Steering committees, comprising of managers of renowned Slovenian companies. We have tightly integrated businesses in the education process; last year, more than 250 managers held lectures at the faculty.

Furthermore, the Faculty is known as a frontrunner in business research. Our goal is to carry out applied research and 74 Economy

consulting projects to respond to business needs. We strategically focus on providing knowledge that helps create specific abilities and competencies of participating students in educational and managerial training programmes at the faculty.

Competition between universities is fierce. What are you doing to keep your edge?

Beside the highly important EQUIS accreditation which we successfully obtained from management foundation EFMD in 2006, we have also a goal to acquire worldwide AACSB accreditation. We have not only had to prove that our teaching staff is up to the highest academic standards, we also had to set up a complex system allowing for the evaluation and continuous enhancement of programmes offered.

Granted, our task has been made easier as our professors and researchers are really world-class; publications in respected economic journals have been growing at rates approaching 50% in the last couple of years. Companies seem to have recognized the quality of our expertise, as the faculty’s research institutes have cooperated with more than 260 corporate clients since 2004.

The FELU has been among the first to recognize the benefits of opening itself to the world.

This is correct; we offer also undergraduate programme and the majority of Master of Arts programmes and all doctoral programmes in English language. We are not looking only westwards, however; recently we have established Confucius Institute, beefing up our capacities to study Chinese economy and business practices. At a time when Asia is emerging as the engine of world growth, the Institute will help us to follow the latest developments in the region’s economies more closely.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Slovenia Reloaded

By Igor E. Bergant

Getting a second chance

Football in Slovenia was regarded as a dark horse for a very long time. Before independence in 1991, Slovene alpine skiers and ski jumpers enjoyed the status of national heroes. They were so very chic and cool, skiing fast down the slopes and even faster on the roads with their fancy cars.

Slovenians identified themselves as proud skiers. There was nothing more opposite to this ideal image than that of a football player. In the eyes of the skiers, football players were socially lessprivileged people with immigrant backgrounds (mainly from Bosnia). In fact, most of the players representing the only Slovene club in the top Yugoslav football division in the 1980s, Olimpija Ljubljana, were originally from the other republics.

Football resurgent After independence, the prospects of Slovene football seemed doomed. But thanks to a gifted generation of homegrown players who have taken up the challenge of trying their chances in Europe, an unexpected turnaround changed the face of Slovene sports. The national football team, led by the charismatic manager Srečko Katanec, a Ljubljana-born former professional player in Croatia, Serbia, Germany and Italy, sensationally qualified for the final tournament of 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium and added another victory by joining the 31 other teams at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

The members of the national football team suddenly dethroned the skiers from the pedestal of popularity. The fact that the famous Kostelić family from Croatia completely overshadowed the fame of Slovene skiing, did not play a major role at all. It was the global 76 Economy

Photo: BOBO

For almost a decade, Slovenia has hardly been worth mentioning on the global football scene. After the quite surprising qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the hope of joining the big guns has been revived again. Still, there are limitations, of course, especially due to the tiny domestic targets. But this time, Slovene football could do better and learn from the past, when opportunities were frittered away too easily.

status of the game with its mass hysteria and the psychological effect of the experience of dramatic games in the fully packed old Bežigrad stadium in Ljubljana that replaced the somehow rustic atmosphere of skiing events. Added to this was the unity of a team fighting on the world scale and composed of players from different social and ethnic backgrounds providing a more convenient platform for the nation-building process in the early times of independence than skiing individualists desperately trying to break the dominance of the Austrians (and Norwegians).

No stranger to turmoil The first Slovene attempt to reach the top of football failed dramatically, however. The inability to land a single victory at major events was the lesser problem. The 2002 FIFA World Cup experience was overshadowed by a huge row between the team

Slovenia qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa by beating Russia

manager, Srečko Katanec, and his only international star player, Zlatko Zahovič, during the tournament. The team disintegrated completely and left Slovene football in ruins. The bad image of the Katanec-Zahovič showdown outlived the financial benefits of the first golden era for years until the money completely ran out.

Where’s the brand?

One of the problems of the 1999-2002 period was the inability of the Slovene Football Association to develop a long-term trademark for the national football team, which could help them to survive during the hard times of sporting failures. The national team remained one of the few in the world without a commonly accepted nickname.

For the 2002 World Cup, the respected advertising creative manager Igor Arih developed the mascot “Trigi,” a funny football

alluding to Mount Triglav, the highest mountain of Slovenia.

But tricky Trigi also became a collateral victim of the bad taste left after the big mess in Korea, so his reputation and popularity remained short-lived and extremely limited.

So, the national football team started its unexpected return to glory without the support of a brand. It started from scratch, really, with some load from the glorious past ended by the dark clouds of disunity. Here were the dark horses again.

Business is business Financially, the position of football in the country before its new rise was not that bad. According to the Slovene Football Association, nearly 25% of the total income in the year 2009, EUR 5.7 m, came from the funds of UEFA, the Union of the European Football Associations. Around 30% of the budget was Economy 77

Photo: BOBO

Top brass: Prime Minister Borut Pahor and President Danilo Türk enjoy the game in the company of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev

covered by income from media rights, mostly from selling the international TV rights for home matches, based on a long-term contract with the French-German agency SportFive, as well as ticket sales.

Interestingly enough, only 20% of the total budget came from exclusive sponsoring contracts without international and national sponsors, which is a fairly small share. “This is true, but that’s why we haven’t been affected by the global financial crisis in a dramatic way,” Uros Stanič, the Slovene FA’s marketing and PR manager explains.

Leveraging the World Cup

Slovenia will play Algeria, United States and England in the first round of the 2010 World Cup

Photo: BOBO

However, this is also the reason that most of the financial benefit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup will come from international sources, mainly the world’s football governing body.

The current sponsoring contracts of the Slovene FA end in the middle of 2010; the hopes that the improved status of football in Slovenia would encourage potential sponsors to invest more are somewhat doubtful in the present economic situation. The deal with SportFive is of a long-term nature and the possibilities for

improvement are quite limited. Due to the limited capacities of the stadiums in Slovenia and with the new 16,000-seat arena in Ljubljana not to be completed before autumn 2010, a substantial increase in gate receipts is not realistic.

Big money from Zurich However, there is some good news for Slovene football regarding this. The funds that could help to meet the goals will be provided by the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Just before the main draw of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town, which placed Slovenia into an interesting group C together with some famous football countries, the FIFA Executive Committee announced a substantial rise of prize money for the World Cup. All the 32 represented countries, Slovenia included, will be granted USD 1 million for preparation costs.

Even if Slovenia is eliminated in the first stage of the competition, it will still win EUR 5.3 m. In the knockout stages, the prizes are even more dramatic, with EUR 6 m waiting for the losers of the Round of 16, EUR 12 m for those who will end the tournament in the quarter-finals, EUR 13.3 m for the beaten semi-finalists, EUR 16.5 m for the runner-up and a record EUR 20 m for the World Champions. The prize money has been increased by 61% in comparison to the 2006 World Cup that took place in Germany.

Even if Slovenia is eliminated in the first stage of the competition, it will still win EUR 5.3 m. In the knockout stages, the prizes are even more dramatic, with EUR 6 m waiting for the losers of the Round of 16.

The budget of the Slovene FA could be at least doubled in 2010; of course, expenses will also rise. The preparation for the World Cup and the base camp in South Africa won’t be cheap at all. Additionally, a part of the prize money will definitely be distributed among the players and the managing staff. A substantial part of it, however, will definitely remain for future investment.

Hit Group

Not Taking Chances

Drago Podobnik, the president of the management board of Hit Group, Slovenia’s largest gaming company, is not the one to mince words. In times when the industry is facing the challenge of lower revenues and profits, this is certainly an advantage. His ambitious plan to turn the company around by 2012 looks feasible; he says that all options are on the table, emphasizing the need to first make the company profitable before focusing on bigger investment projects.

The current recession is not a particularly happy time for any company, but for those in the gaming industry, which relies on people’s willingness to take risks, it must be especially frustrating.

That’s correct. What is interesting, though, is that we have not registered a marked decline in the number of guests who are visiting our casinos. The reason casino operators are facing dwindling revenues and profits is that guests are not prepared to spend their money as freely as they used to. Hit is not alone in this, however; Las Vegas and Venice, both important gaming centres, are also being battered by the recession.

When you took the helm at Hit last year, you said your goal was to make the company, now in its 25th year of existence, fit again.

What are your plans?

I said that by 2012 Hit should be profitable again. We have three years to achieve this goal; in this time, we want to double our cash flow and halve our liabilities. Of course, this assumes strict cost controls. In the first nine months of 2009, we succeeded in slashing them by 6.6%. Further saving measures, especially with regard to wages, will be necessary, however.

So you are not planning any sizable investments in the near future?

Our plan is very clear: first, we have to make the company fit for competition by making our products and services more attractive; only after that can we think about expansion. Of course, we will make sure that our current infrastructure is maintained at the highest possible standards.

What will have to be done to lure the guests back to your casinos?

Looking back at the second half of the 1990s, we can see that this was Hit’s golden age. At that time, it was fashionable to be

seen at Hit’s gaming tables. If we succeed in making our gaming and entertainment venues in vogue again, we will have a solid basis on which to build. More than 80% of our revenues come from the gaming business, the rest mainly from supporting tourism services. As long as we keep our focus on our core business, we are on the right path.

The government, in framing the regulatory environment for gaming, is an important player in the industry. Is the state holding back the development of companies such as yours?

We wish that the government would take the concerns of the gaming industry more seriously, especially with regard to taxes.

To give just one example, we cannot offset VAT charged on our services against our purchases; this costs us around EUR 10 million a year. We are also facing higher corporate tax rates than companies in other industries.

It is very important that the government finally adopts a strategy for the development of the gaming industry. We have to decide whether we want to have a few big casinos or a number of smaller ones and whether we want to offer guests a full range of gaming services or to focus on the niche segments of the market.

Once we have a clear direction, it will be much easier for casino operators such as Hit to plan their activities.

Company notes Hit, d.d.

Delpinova 7a 5000 Nova Gorica T: +386 (0)5 336 40 00 info@hit.si www.hit.si

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Photo: STO

Life Style

Ljubljana, at the Heart of Europe

There’s No Nicer Place to Meet Ljubljana has registered major growth in the number of visitors over the past ten years, both as a leisure tourism and a convention destination, and is gaining a stronger profile and popularity as a host city for international conferences and corporate events. We discussed Ljubljana’s plans and ambitions with Barbara Vajda, Managing Director of Ljubljana Tourism and Tatjana Radovič, Congress Manager at the Ljubljana Tourism / Convention Bureau.

Ljubljana has seen a major increase in tourism over the past ten years. What is behind this surge in popularity?

We could even say that the first international promoter of Ljubljana was the late Pope John Paul II who visited the city twice in the 1990s. The USA-Russia summit in 2001, which saw the first meeting between the then US president George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was another milestone. President Bush’s predecessor, Bill Clinton, also visited our city. Of course, the introduction of the euro, Slovenia’s entry into the European Union in 2004 and the EU presidency in 2008 all helped to put first Slovenia and then Ljubljana as its capital on the world tourist map.

Speaking of international meetings, they started increasing around 1998. In the years 2001 and 2003, Ljubljana hosted some large scientific congresses with over 1,500 delegates.

One of your goals is to position Ljubljana as Slovenia’s tourist hub for discovering the country.

We realised that if we entice guests to take a look beyond Ljubljana to other tourist destinations in Slovenia, we are able to keep them in the city for a longer period of time. At first glance, this may not sound logical. The average length of stay in Ljubljana is two nights, and our aim is to make guests stay longer. One way to achieve this is by proposing additional destinations within easy reach from Ljubljana – in effect, the whole country.

We cooperate with a number of tour operators and travel agents who offer organized tours out of Ljubljana, regardless of the number of participants. Every day, at least eight daytrips from the city are available. A discovery programme including other towns also enriches our own destination and gives it added value.

It’s a win-win situation.

What about the competition among destinations in Slovenia? Is Ljubljana in a rivalry or in a complementary relationship with Maribor?

They are our colleagues and we don’t view them as rivals. If they are doing well, we will also be doing better. In English, there is

Barbara Vajda (left) and Tatjana Radovič, dedicated promoters of Ljubljana’s tourism. a nice expression for this: co-opetition, meaning cooperating as well as competing with each other. .

This year, Ljubljana is focusing on culture, presenting itself under the slogan “Feel culture.” Our city is proudly bearing the UNESCO title of “World Book Capital 2010.” Our colleagues from Maribor are closely watching what we are doing, as they are in the middle of planning their programme for 2012 when Maribor will be the European Capital of Culture. We expect that people will flock to Maribor, but that Ljubljana will also get its share of visitors because of that. After all, Maribor is only 130 kilometres away.

Your ambition is to make Ljubljana a valid competitor with other European metropolises. What are you doing to achieve this goal?

We are following successful models and looking into best practices employed by established and highly developed destinations. Ljubljana’s mayor, Zoran Janković, has said that he

If Vienna and Prague got married and had a child, it could be Ljubljana. However, you would then have to look under the bed where an Italian lover would be hiding. does not know whether he prefers Barcelona or Vienna; certainly we can learn a lot from both of them.

Once an American journalist observed that if Vienna and Prague had got married and had a baby, it could be Ljubljana.

However, you would then have to look under the bed where an Italian lover would be hiding. Slovenia really is a mixture of Slavic soul, Germanic influence and Italian way of life, especially in the summer.

Our slogan, “Where all of Europe meets,” refers to architecture, culture and culinary art and sums it up pretty well. After all,

you can only find pizza burek (you should try it sometime) in Ljubljana and nowhere else.

You say that your goal is to improve competitiveness through innovation. In what way can tourism be innovative?

Ljubljana – or the entire country in fact – has a comparative advantage in green tourism, which has lately been on the rise. We have great opportunities in this respect, because of the unspoilt nature that surrounds out city.

There are also ethnographic and ethnological programmes that we developed into special activity programmes in the countryside, a step beyond the very popular adrenaline sports. We even have boutique experiences that can be arranged for very small groups, such as baking potica, a traditional Slovenian pastry, at the Grand Hotel Union, as well as bread making workshops.

Of course, we can’t do without the adrenaline classics such as survival trainings, canyoning or skiing and other snow sports.

When presenting our projects at trade shows around the world, our clients are always surprised that so many things are possible.

The problem with Slovenian tourism is that we have many things to offer but are not good at linking them together. This is the innovation – how to ideally combine things.

Lately, Ljubljana has been gaining stature as a convention destination.

Ljubljana is definitely a city suitable for conventions, but many other cities around Europe can also claim so. Even if its competitive advantages are reasonable prices and a very good value for money, we are not a self-selling destination and have to invest a certain effort in convincing organizers that we are their best choice.

For incentive planners, we have created a specific product composed of 66 different programmes that provide a “taster” of activities they can choose from. Half of them focus on Ljubljana, while others can be carried out anywhere; in the remaining programmes, Ljubljana is featured as the base for various activities and different sceneries, which can be changed on a daily basis.

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Ljubljana Tourism was founded in 2001. Before that, tourism promotion for the capital was under the direct competence of the municipality. Today, the organization is much more flexible: it has introduced several tourist information centres open all year round, as well as commercial services, including city tours, sale of souvenirs etc... It has also developed the Ljubljana Tourist Destination trademark.

Which congress events in the recent past do you consider to be high points?

Last year, two events definitely stood out. The largest was the 17th Congress of the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists (WCET) with over 1,300 delegates. HYDRO 2008 registered over 800 participants from 63 countries and brought Slovenia an estimated 1.5 million euros income.

How about political events? Was Slovenia’s EU Presidency in the first half of 2008 a success for Ljubljana as a destination?

That was a very interesting period for Slovenia. Despite our efforts, the former government was not interested in bringing a single noteworthy event to the capital last year.

Nevertheless, several European and other institutions chose Ljubljana for their non-official meetings. In addition, many protocol events and activities off the official agenda took place in Ljubljana, as well as the side programme, social functions and receptions.

We also hosted an important summit: the Africa-CaribbeanPacific/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, held at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre.

What are Ljubljana’s strong points as a meetings and incentive destination?

Ljubljana undoubtedly has all the necessary congress infrastructure; let’s call it the hardware. The prevalent perception points out that it is charming, compact, easily accessible, handy to move around on foot, and well positioned in relation to other regions within the country and the wider area (central and southeast Europe).

The only thing that remains to be tackled is increasing the hotel capacity, as this sometimes limits us in bidding for larger congresses. Regarding venues, the renovation of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre has brought a second larger player to the side of the well-established Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre.

The only thing that remains to be tackled is, building more hotel infrastructure to be able to also draw larger congresses. The situation has improved since the renovation of the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, however.

We are currently working to attract conferences as far in the future as 2015, focusing on events with a maximum of 2,000 delegates. We therefore need an array of accommodations in all categories, from upmarket to budget. Recent investments have really upgraded the standard and quality of the 5- and 4-star hotel segment, about which we are most pleased.

To sum up, what makes Ljubljana the best congress destination?

Its manageability – planners call it a logistically stress-free city. The city is also attractive cost wise. Feedback from a recent banking and insurance conference proved that Ljubljana offered excellent value for money. We are also proud to say it’s a very safe destination. In addition, organizers and participants alike are surprised that we are so open and helpful – putting the personal touch at the forefront. Not to mention the fact that almost everybody speaks several foreign languages.

Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana is one of the biggest and most popular congress and cultural venues in the country

www.visitljubljana.si

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Maribor - European Capital of Culture 2012

Believe the Hype Not long ago, Maribor was only known as Slovenia’s second biggest city. Recently, however, it has stepped out of the shadows; the city will be hosting a number of high-profile cultural events as the European Capital of Culture in 2012. This is a unique opportunity for the whole region to prosper; four million visitors are expected to come and see what exactly Maribor has to offer.

M

aribor is one of the two cities (the other is Guimaraes in Portugal) which have been awarded with the title European Capital of Culture 2012 (ECOC 2012).

This is an opportunity not just for Maribor, but for the entire region of eastern Slovenia to develop its potential and position itself as an investment opportunity for foreign and domestic businesses.

Attracting 900,000 tourists, 700,000 accommodation bookings and almost four million visitors, the European Capital of Culture 2012 title will certainly help increase the visibility of the city and the region as well as unleash the creative power of its economy.

At the crossroads Maribor boasts a three thousand years of cultural tradition; it is a city with numerous cultural monuments and collections as well as with contemporary cultural events and venues. The city lies at the junction of German, Hungarian and Slovenian cultures, the southeastern Alps and the Pannonian plain. This position gives the city its special character, based on its rich cultural tradition.

Unshackling energies The goal of the city authorities is to leverage the European Capital of Culture 2012 title in such a way as to boost the economic and cultural revival of the city and the region (of which Maribor is the most important urban centre). These efforts are running under the slogan “PURE ENERGY!” Franc Kangler, Maribor’s mayor, invited neighbouring municipalities in the region to participate in the project. Six mayors have accepted the challenge, deciding to unite their 86 Life Style

efforts with those of Maribor. Every participating city has agreed to contribute to the ECOC 2012 project, supplying those skills and services it is best at. Maribor, as the holder of the title, will coordinate these efforts.

River Drava, giving the city its character, will be the focal point of development efforts in the run-up to ECOC 2012

Boosting growth, supporting art

The key objectives of the ECOC project in the run-up to the year 2012 are: • encouraging faster development of individual art disciplines and helping them break through on the global cultural market; • raising awareness in Europe and globally of Maribor as a city offering a wide range of products and services in the fields of culture, sports, wellness, commerce, thus boosting the development of tourism; • fostering the renovation and revitalization of the old city centre; • promoting business brands from the Maribor area and the wider region in Europe and globally.

Because the ECOC 2012 project has a clear European dimension, it can bring not just Maribor, but the whole country a number of benefits. To be able to connect with other cities, attract tourists with widely different interests, invite acclaimed domestic

Municipality of Maribor issued an international call for architects, inviting them to submit their plans for the project ECOC 2012 European Capital of Culture - the Drava River in 2012, which is divided in three parts: Embankment of the river Drava, new foot and bicycle bridge, new Art Gallery Maribor.

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State-of-the-art venues for cultural events such as Maribor Opera will host a number of high-profile performances by domestic and foreign artists

and foreign experts on various topics to explain their views before international audiences and give artists an attractive venue to present their work is certainly an important contribution to transEuropean cooperation.

Maribor gets a makeover The ECOC 2012 plan for the city’s development focuses on the Drava River as a defining element of the character of the city. The development of the riverbank, allowing it function as an attractive venue for cultural events, is not its sole aim; the plan also focuses on the idea of uniting the city; this emerged in 2000 based on a award-winning concept of urban development for the city.

The plan does not break radically with what has been done until now, but rather introduces new imperatives of urban development, bringing together some unfulfilled ideas that will serve as starting points for city development activities aiming at strengthening cultural elements and improving the quality of living in the city.

Thinking long-term This urban development scenario will be the foundation for a long-term development plan that will not only allow the city to play its role as the European Capital of Culture in 2012, but will also prepare it for the challenges that it will be facing in the next fifty years.

The city centre will be transformed into an attractive urban centre with well-developed paths and streets. This transformation will also change the flow of traffic in the centre; many streets will be closed for traffic during the ECOC 2012. All around the city, new areas for pedestrians and cyclists will be introduced. A substantial increase in the number of parking spaces is planned on the outskirts of the old city centre.

Meet me on the river

and developments in the river infrastructure. Both the riverbanks and the open areas between the island of Mariborski Otok (on the west of the city) and Melje (on the east of the city) will be extensively redeveloped, giving them a totally new appearance.

The newly acquired public spaces on both sides of the river will be linked by three footbridges, integrating the city’s urban structures, which are presently functionally as well as symbolically separated.

Opening new vistas Maribor’s old town, Lent, will become a state-of-the-art venue for more traditional cultural events, complete with galleries, auditoriums, an open-air stage and puppet theatre. A new art gallery will also be built, In order to improve the functioning of the city and increase its long-term growth potential, a significant amount of infrastructure spending will be allocated to those parts of the city that are not necessarily closely involved in the ECOC project. This includes the transformation and development of open public spaces, motorways entering the city and the city bypass.

Shaping up With ECOC 2012, Maribor strives to change itself and make a transition from a once-booming industrial town to a postindustrial metropolis better able to face new challenges in an increasingly complex world.

The emphasis of the ECOC 2012 project on boosting artistic production is aimed at unleashing the creative energy of the artistic community, with the hope of drawing global attention to Maribor. This would attract visitors from Slovenia and abroad, giving a boost to the local economy and opening opportunities for public-private partnerships in various fields.

The Drava River will be the focal point of the ECOC city development plan, which foresees several changes, improvements

»As the mayor and a citizen of the city of Maribor I am proud that in 2012 the city will be marked by cultural creativity and development. It is a pleasure for me to watch how Maribor, once the biggest industrial city in Slovenia, is changing shape. We will strive to create a project that will meet European expectations and give a boost to the development of our region. The ECOC 2012 is the most important event in Slovenia after the presidency of European Union.”

Franc Kangler, Mayor of the Municipality of Maribor Life Style 89

Wine

While Slovenia’s wine makers may not produce such vast volumes of wine as their counterparts in other European countries, their product is often of a superior quality. This has been recognized by connoisseurs who have awarded Slovenian wines at events such as Decanter World Awards.

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Photo: STO

ecanter wine rating enjoys the ultimate trust among connaiseurs around the globe.

It is based on three principles: Wine is judged by region so the and judges know exactly where wines are coming from. Wine is also judged by regional experts. And finally, wine is judged by price category.

Slovenian makers have always well responded to Decanter World Awards sending more and more samples. It is like a World championship said Primož Lavrenčič from Sutor winery and Marjan Simčič added that everybody knows Decanter and its medal. Which cannot be said for some other competitions.

Photo: The Slovenia Times

Treasure in a Bottle Slovenia is home to some of the best wines in the world

In 2009 Slovenia got for the first time its own panel. I was honoured taking the role and responsibility of regional chairman for Slovenia. Darrel Joseph comes from Vienna, Igor Šotrič is a head sommelier at China Tang restaurant at Dorchester Hotel while Erich Krutzler is an Austrian winemaker at Marof winery from Prekmurje.

Slovenian winemakers embraced the idea of having their own panel submitting a record-breaking 130 samples. The results?

Four gold medals went to sweet wines. Jurij Brumec become a worthy trophy winner beating names such as Prus with his award winning Rumeni muškat Ice wine 2005 PRA-VinO, who regularly produces some world’s top botrytis names and Leonardo 2004, Simčič made from dried Ribolla Gialla grapes.

All 22 silvers went to white wines. Among dry ones we should mention Dveri-Pax winery which send 9 wine and all were awarded. Rieslings 2008, Sauvignon 2008, Riesling M 2007 and Sauvignon Vajgen 2006 got silver. Pullus send five wines, all were awarded. They received silver for Pullus Sauvignon 2008, Pullus Sauvignon G 2008, and gold for a sweet Laški rizling 2008. Sutor send three wines and got silver for Burja 2007 and Chardonnay 2007. Other silvers are Rebula 2008, Erzetič; Gredič 2001, Dolfo; Zelen 2008, Guerilla; Mulit 2006, Prinčič; Chardonnay 2006, Piro; Stara Brajda 2007, Šurek; A+ white, Vinska klet Goriška Brda. There were 44 bronze medals and 22 commendations.

Silver at this competition can be regarded as gold at many other competitions, claims Spurrier.

As Tom Stevenson, top authority on Champagne and sparkling wine, said: DWWA is the ultimate terroir competition. And Slovenia fared very well there, this year.

Source: The Secret of Success by Robert Gorjak, The Slovenia Times, Nov. 2009

The Wine Country Slovenia is a small country of 20,273 square kilometres and just over two million inhabitants, yet it can offer to wine lovers more 20 wine trails, more than 30 different home-grown wines and hundreds of certified wine brands that stand for quality, recognized the world over.

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he vine has been cultivated here since the time of the Illyrians and the Celts. The Romans praised this land for its wines, and in the Middle Ages monks did their level best to spread winemaking far and wide. In the 19th century winemakers formalised their science by publishing the first books about grape cultivation and winemaking. But in the end, wine always belonged to those whose sweat was spilt on the soil of the vineyards. Wine culture is an ambience, a way of life that also embraces traditional food and all the many places where wine is stored and consumed.

There are three wine regions in Slovenia, which are in turn divided into fourteen different districts.

The Primorska Region The famous refošk grapes are made into an acidic, flavoursome red wine, one that goes under the name Teran when produced on the terra rossa of the Karst region. The area adjacent to the Adriatic is also known for its rumeni muškat (muscat blanc) and malvazija (malvasia), the latter a popular wine at restaurants on the coast.

A wide range of grapes are cultivated in the Vipava Valley and in Goriška Brda, among them the indigenous varieties zelen, pinela and rebula, while the tokaj (tocai friulano) and merlot produced there are gaining an international reputation.

The Posavje Region It’s the brown limestone soil of Dolenjska that gives rise to an authentic Slovenian wine, Cvièek, a sharp beverage that some are reluctant to call wine, but others simply adore. Apart from this highly original wine, there are many others produced in the areas south of the River Sava, notably Metliška črnina (a deep, fruity red from Metlika), the white blend Bizeljèan, and a host of wines made from modra frankinja (blaufränkisch).

The Podravje Region

Influenced by the climate of the Hungarian Plain, the range offered by this region includes sparkling wines and special variations achieved by different times and techniques of grapepicking. Podravje is dominated by white wines, blends like Vrištanjèan and Haložan, and varietals such as renski rizling (riesling), sauvignon and sivi pinot (pinot gris), also known here as rulandec. Haloze and Jeruzalem are world-famous for their outstanding sites and locations, and it’s no wonder that some of the best wines in Slovenia come from these vineyards. Other great wines of the region are made from traminec (gewürztraminer), chardonnay, rumeni muškat and laški rizling (welschriesling).

A great variety of soils and vines gives Slovenian wines a wide range of tastes

Vivo Catering

Catering as a Form of Art Vivo Catering is a trendsetter in the industry of catering services in Slovenia. The proof that “cooking with love and serving with heart” which is the company’s motto truly pays off are the numerous important events that have been entrusted to their well-honed team, which has managed to enthuse even the refined tastes of the British Monarchs. We talked to Jerneja Kamnikar, the director, founder and also the driving force of this flourishing company which beginnings date back to 1993.

The concept of Vivo Catering comprises of much more than just food and drinks.

We pay attention to details and aesthetics and try to create true culinary experiences that would satisfy all five senses. We were the first catering house in Slovenia that offered something above the expected standards – our design was different, we had chefs preparing dishes in front of guests, our waiters wore tuxedos and white gloves. Besides that, we believe everything should be carried out professionally. This means that even a glass of water deserves to be served in the same way, with the same attention and care as a glass of the most expensive wine.

Where do you get ideas?

We have a creative head of the kitchen and a person who works with personnel. The latter takes care of the new staff workers but also deals with the ambitions of the current employees. Happiness and satisfaction are the two keys to a good performance which is vital for Vivo. The head of the kitchen is responsible for the overall style, the recipes and the decorations. For larger events with a thousand guests or more, we make whole concepts and we often engage external contractors to help us – designers, architects, people who work in textile industry. With their expert knowledge, they all add their share to the quality of our service.

How do you create harmonious and reliable teams?

We have an educational fund which supports perspective pupils and students from vocational secondary schools and colleges and include them in our projects to gain precious experience. Yet the thing crucial is the human factor. It can add that “something” to a service or it can take it away. This is the reason why our team is based on stability, professionalism, loyalty and the culture of the heart.

92 Life Style

What memories do you hold about the visit of Queen Elisabeth II? It was something we will never forget. It was both, a great honour and a big test. The English protocol is one of the two most demanding protocols in the world, but at that time we did not think of that. We were completely concentrated on the execution of the feast and each and every one of us just wanted to do their best. I remember how serenely we waited for her, there was this overwhelming positive atmosphere that completely filled the room. She truly is a charismatic personality, really warm and courteous. The feast was a success and a confirmation that we are on the right way.

And for the future?

We want to invest in the catering profession and form some sort of an academy that would educate the chosen individuals to perfect their knowledge of handling the most demanding services.

We plan to promote and expand our services to the congress sphere. But above all, the fundamental aim is to stay creative, innovative and enthusiastic about what we do.

Company notes Vivo Catering, d.o.o.

Pot na fužine 2 1000 Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 546 16 57 catering@vivo.si www.vivo.si

tel.: + 386 (0)1 54 61 657

Slovenian Food

A Delicious Mixture For centuries, different cultures have passed through what is now Slovenia, an area at a junction of Alpine, Mediterranean and Pannonian influences. It is no wonder then that contemporary Slovenian cuisine boasts a wide variety of dishes, satisfying almost every taste.

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the traditional value of some gastronomic specialties and even the establishment of food enthusiast societies (e.g. the Society for the Recognition of the Sautéed Potato as an Independent Dish) and various food competitions (such as the contest for the title of best kranjska klobasa, the salami competition etc.).

At present, Slovenia is discovering its gastronomic heritage and gaining recognition in Europe through the adoption of foreign innovations.

This is especially evident from the diverse regional menus offered by various inns and restaurants, which are Slovenia’s most identifiable gastronomic landmark and are typically based on family traditions. A quality gastronomic trail through Slovenia can be drawn from the Slovenian Mediterranean (Istria, Kras, Brkini, the Vipavska Valley, Brda, Goriško, and the Soča Valley) to northeastern Slovenia (Slovenske Gorice, Prlekija, Prekmurje, Haloze, Kozjansko, Štajerska). In the middle of this route lies central Slovenia with Ljubljana and its

Photos by T. Jeseničnik, www.slovenia.info/uzivajmo-brezmeja

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lovenian food is the food of its various regions, each of which has a number of unique dishes, inspired by the national cuisines of neighbouring countries, adapted to the local environment. Regarding food, we can regard Slovenia as the whole of Europe on a plate, according to National Culinary Olympic team member Igor Jagodic.

Contributions to Slovenia’s culinary heritage have come from the towns and the countryside, as well as the nobility and monastic orders.

Numerous innovations were introduced during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and, during the French occupation in the late 18th century, Slovenes saw the first cookbook in their native language.

The development of large tourist resorts in the second half of the 19th century – including Bled, Rogaška Slatina, Dobrna, Portorož, and some existing before these – also greatly contributed to the development of food culture.

Slovenian gastronomy, with its own range of unique and original features, has been part of Central European cuisine for centuries.

Between 1918 and 1945, there were culinary innovations with the introduction of some new foods from the Balkan region. In the 1960s, Italian pizza culture began to spread.

Ethnologist Janez Bogataj sees the 1980s as a time of rediscovering Slovenia’s own culinary and gastronomic heritage, reflected in the increased publication of cookbooks and their use in homes and restaurants.

This led to the protection of geographical heritage and

National cuisine’s digest Prekmurska gibanica – a sumptuous layered cake similar to strudel, with poppy seeds, cottage cheese, walnuts and apples.

Savinjski želodec – filled and smoked pork stomach.

Idrijski žlikrofi – a form of ravioli stuffed with potato, cracklings, and chives.

Potica – a traditional rolled cake with walnut, raisin and cottage cheese filling or, in other varieties, with tarragon or poppy seed filling.

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Kranjska medica – mead.

surrounding region, where food of the highest quality is offered in numerous inns and restaurants.

Unique traditional Slovenian dishes are based on simple ingredients, accessible to its rural population throughout the centuries. However, when it comes to a question of making these traditional delicacies attractive to the demanding clientele of high-end restaurants, the chefs take it as a welcome challenge.

With imaginative approaches, everything is possible.

“We do our best to make our offer based on the Slovenian tradition. Idrija žlikrofi is a ready-made delicacy, while some other dishes need enhancements: ice cream with the flavour of walnut potica, krvavica with fresh water crabs… Sometimes these combinations turn out perfectly, sometimes the traditional component fades a bit,” says Igor Jagodic. He also stresses that apart the A-list dishes such as kremšnita and gibanica, which are always received with enthusiasm by guests from any part of the world, there are many other traditional dishes such as šara, prata, masovnik etc., which are a bit neglected and obviously still await their renaissance.

Source: Gastronomy-The Scent of Holidays by Janez Bogataj, The Slovenia Times Summer Guide

Kranjska klobasa – cooked sausage.

Belokranjska pogača – traditional flat cake, baked on special occasions with a variety of fillings Povitica – a thin savoury filo bread Kočevski med – honey Prleška tünka – cured meat stored in minced cracklings and lard to preserve the meat’s juiciness Life Style 95

L E SA R HOTEL

Angel

ANGEL HOTEL GORNJI TRG 7, 1000 LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA TEL.: 00 386 1 425 50 89, 00 386 1 251 34 75 E: info@angelhotel.si, www.angelhotel.si

Cafe & Restaurant Evropa Former Caffe house Evropa, which saw its heyday back at the beginning of the previous century, is once again becoming a popular meeting place of Ljubljana’s inhabitants. Contemporary concept of the Café and Restaurant Europa doesn’t offer only coffee and pastry. Under the supervision of a chef and a Luka Lesar, the former café is changing into a modern culinary center, divided into two parts.

One part offers a variety of business lunches and simple snacks during the day and changes into an à la carte restaurant in the evening, offering a mix of classical Italian and modern cuisine.

The second part, named Pasta Nona, offers student breakfasts and lunches, sandwiches, soups, salads, pasta and grilled dishes.

Cafe & Restaurant Evropa Slovenska cesta 47, Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 438 24 20, +386 (0)31 683 979 caffe.europa@siol.net Open: Pasta Nona and Lesar a la carte: daily: 08 am-16:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday closed Open: Café: daily: 8 am onwards, Saturday, Sunday, holiday: closed

Pri Vitezu Restaurant People have been wining and dining at the Pri Vitezu (The Knight’s) restaurant for over 300 years. The restaurant, located on 300 square meters is divided into a tavern with a bar and an à la carte restaurant. There are 4 rooms, first Brasserie for 20 people, then is Vinska soba (Wine room) for maximum 8 people, Viteška soba (Knights’ room) with 4 tables for 16 guests and the biggest one named Saloon for 55 guests.

The menu of the restaurant changes seasonally as it is based on fresh produce from Ljubljana’s market. Waiters and sommeliers offer the best local and foreign wines to accompany fish or meat dishes. Beside the owner Luka Lesar, a well-known founder of numerous Ljubljana restaurants, the restaurant is run by Janez Šetina.

Pri Vitezu Restaurant Breg 18-20, Ljubljana T: +386 (0)1 426-60-58 privitezu@siol.net Open: mon - sat: noon – 11pm, Sundays and holidays closed

Lesar Hotel Angel Lesar Hotel Angel is a unique place in Ljubljana’s prestigious quarter, offering its guests superior service, modern interior as well as relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Treating the guests individually and professionally, our hotel offers more than just ordinary hotel accommodation.

The hotel is divided into the Modern Classic Style section boasting 6 high-class large rooms, i.e. suite rooms, and the Trend Style section containing 6 high-class rooms, i.e. double superior and classic rooms. Rooms are equipped with a card system, an LCD TV set, air conditioning, a safe, a phone and the wireless Internet. All the rooms are individually laid out, giving our hotel a unique feature. The building with its architectural appearance combines rich history with contemporary elements that will please even most demanding guests.

An important part of the hotel is a completely refurbished oldest part of the building housing a lounge area, the hotel’s central, multi-functional room that acts as a dining-room in the morning, but evolves into a living room during the day, making possible for our guests to socialise and relax. The lounge is bright and modern, perfectly suitable to hold seminars or small business congresses up to 30 participants.

To provide an authentic experience of the capital, our hotel has arranged a special garden of 500 m2, one of the largest in Ljubljana’s old town. The garden is an ideal relaxation retreat in the very centre of the old town’s numerous activities. Moreover, it offers our guests to leave for a walk on the noted Mačja steza (Cat’s Lane) winding up to Ljubljana Castle.

And that’s not all what Lesar Hotel Angel can offer you. There is also a rich offer of other amenities like a sauna, solarium, and various kinds of massages that deeply relax our guests.

Vila Bled

A Villa With a View Imagine a magical lake embraced by Alpine peaks, touching the azure sky. In the middle of the lake reigns an idyllic island, while high above it broods a mighty medieval castle that is reflected in its crystalline waters... This can only be Bled, a true Slovenian fairytale.

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n a peaceful part of the pearl of the Slovenian Alps lies the charming Vila Bled, a former residence of President Tito of Yugoslavia. Surrounded by a magnificent park leading down to the very shores of Lake Bled, it currently houses a boutique hotel and exquisite restaurant, headed by one of the country’s best chefs. The unique hotel offers a diverse selection of rooms and suites, elegantly furnished in a style reminiscent of the 1950s, and features such extras as a wellness studio and private lakeside beach.

Venue of the most prominent events

Plečnik. This exceptional building, reigning supreme on thirtymetre pillars above Lake Bled, was once used by Tito for relaxed tea parties. It now serves as a summer café and a wonderful venue for events, with Bled Island nestling on the charming lake, almost as if it were in the palm of your hand.

Whatever the reason for your visit to Vila Bled, be it a lunch or dinner in the company of your family or friends, a business event or a short break in Slovenia, you are sure to spend precious moments here, accompanied by delightful cuisine, excellent service and timeless elegance.

Vila Bled has long been the setting of prestigious events: Tito used it for state purposes and hosted a plethora of distinguished political leaders here. Loyal to its rich history, it remains the venue of prominent social events. Business meetings, receptions and gala dinners are held in the distinctive Concert Hall, the walls of which are embellished with a remarkable fresco, painted in 1947

by Slavko Pengov, while the pleasant Conference Hall is designed for smaller gatherings.

Exquisite cuisine to delight the palate Whether the occasion is a formal banquet, a merry wedding celebration or a private lunch or dinner, master chef Igor Jagodic never fails to delight his guests, preparing delicious treats from classic French and Mediterranean cuisines. Igor, a member of the Slovenian National Culinary Team and the winner of some of the most prestigious awards at local and international cooking competitions, also ensures that original Slovenian dishes in modern guise always make it onto the menu. The culinary delights are blended with only the best wine and attentively served in the warm ambience of the villa or on its summer terrace.

Tea party with a view On the lawn of Vila Bled stands the Belvedere Pavilion, an architectural treasure designed by the great Slovene architect Jože 98 Life Style

Company notes Vila Bled Cesta svobode 26 4260 Bled T: +386 (0)4 575 37 10 info@vila-bled.si www.vila-bled.si

Greatest Hits

Slovenia the Wonderful “In the end, he was left with a great handful of beauty; he scattered it to all four directions, from the hills of Štajerska to the steep coast of Trieste and from Triglav to the Gorjanci mountain range.”

This is how Ivan Cankar, the master of Slovenian prose, described the creation of Slovenia or, as he would put it, “heaven beneath Triglav.”

Blessed with stunning natural wonders, a rich culture and a truly remarkable history; a jewel, lying on the crossroads of four completely different landscapes: Alpine in the northwest, Mediterranean in the southwest, Pannonian in the northeast and Dinaric in the southwest.

This tremendous variety, concentrated on a small patch of land, combined with the proverbial warmth and hospitality of its citizens makes Slovenia an irresistible destination where visitors can be sure to find a place they will long to revisit after their first encounter.

By Polona Cimerman, photos by STO

Vibrant Ljubljana Most visitors start the exploration of the “country on the sunny side of the Alps” in its capital, Ljubljana. With its 276,000 inhabitants, it manages to retain the friendliness of a small town and bear the characteristics of a true metropolis. Its lively character is built on its five millennia of history or, if you choose to believe so, perhaps even more: according to the legend, the founder of Ljubljana was the Greek prince Jason with his Argonauts. Here he fought a terrible monster – the famous Dragon, which now dwells on top of the castle tower on the Ljubljana coat of arms.

The castle itself, situated on the Castle Hill, is today the city’s most spectacular sight, offering wonderful views of Ljubljana and the surrounding mountain ranges. The present castle is younger than the one first mentioned in the 12th century; except the Gothic chapel, all the present interior buildings originate from the 16th and 17th century, which was the golden age of the castle.

After a period of gradual decay, when the castle was used as a prison, the restoration began in the 1960s. Now it is a monument that mixes art and culture, as well as a romantic place to get married.

The castle speaks of Ljubljana’s medieval origins; however, the city’s colourful history can be felt on every step you take – you can see the heritage of Roman Emona, take a stroll through the cobblestoned Baroque Old Town, marvel at the Art Nouveau buildings or feel the cosmopolitan vibe thanks to the renowned architect Jože Plečnik whose urban planning is considered to be one of the most important full-scale works of art of the 20th century. Today, Ljubljana is the heart of the political, economic, cultural and scientific life of the Slovenian nation and is considered one of the most charming capitals in Europe with unique, laidback character.

Captivating Alpine Lakes Only an hourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive from Sloveniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bustling capital, the eye meets the wonderful beauty of the unspoilt Julian Alps with breathtaking natural wonders. This area is endowed with two picturesque lakes. Lake Bled in the idyllic setting of the snow-capped mountain peaks and a small island, the only one in Slovenia, has been stirring up the imaginations of visitors for centuries. At times when milkywhite mists swirl above the lake surface, one can easily mistake it for a dreamy vision. The lake is 2,120 metres long and 1,380 metres wide and was created by one of the glaciers. Before a church was built on its picturesque island in the 15th century, an Ancient Slavic temple stood there.

The island occurs in numerous legends, one of them is about the wishing bell, which is still very much alive and attracts large numbers of visitors. Based on a sad love story, it is said that everyone who rings the bell and makes a wish will have the wish granted. Overlooking the lake, there is an imposing medieval castle, offering fairy-tale views of the beautiful alpine surroundings. Besides the dreamers, the one-thousand-year-old town of Bled caters to guests with various needs and interests, ranging from rowing and hiking to golf and organizing important ngressesconventions.

In Bledâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immediate vicinity, another alpine gem is to be found: Lake Bohinj. Less touristy and larger than Bled, it represents a place to find tranquillity in the perfect natural background of the Julian Alps. It lies at the heart of Triglav Natural Park and each season provides or a unique and magical experience. It is a place of myths and legends, including the one of Zlatorog, the magical Alpine ibex with a golden horn, whose blood gave life to the Triglav flower.

Majestic Karst Nature truly was generous in Slovenia. The southern and southeastern parts of the country abound in treasures that findcannot be found anywhere else in the world. The karst region is a unique landscape, and it was the Slovenian Kras that lent the world its name for this curious type of land where water transforms limestone into the most magnificent ways imaginable, such as the intermittent lake in Cerknica or the natural bridges at Rakov Škocjan.

Water carved no less than eight thousand known karst caves and sinkholes, among them the Postojna Cave, which is the most visited cave in Europe with more than 31 million visitors thus far and the Škocjan Caves, listed in the world natural heritage at UNESCO. It is said that the Slovenian karst is the most beautiful part of our planet’s underground world.

The Postojna Cave is the largest cave in the lassic karstarea and comprises a network of 20 kilometres of passages, galleries and chambers of which 5.3 kilometres are open to public. One can admire the size and splendour of the mesmerising subterranean world where the geological past is recorded in a distinctive manner: countless calcite formations, stalactites and stalagmites never fail to enrapture visitors. The Postojna Cave is also home to the olm (Proteus aniguinus), a salamander which is the largest known cave animal in the world, endemic to the Dinaric karst.

The proteus is a symbol of Slovenian natural heritage and the very reason that the Postojna Cave is the cradle of speleobiology, the science of underground animals. This cave also boasts a world record in the number of cave animal species; with its 84 species, it is the liveliest subterranean world on the planet.

The outstanding creation of the Reka River, the Škocjan Caves, hold a significant position among the world’s natural monuments and are among the few which have been listed on UNESCO’s list.

They comprise a network of eleven caves with vast halls and gorges, hollows, swallow holes and natural bridges. What distinguishes the Škocjan Caves from other cave systems is the exceptional volume of their underground canyon. The Reka River, which later disappears under a stunning wall, dissolved the limestone in the most fascinating manner and created an underground channel that at some points expands into huge underground chambers.

The largest of these is Martel’s Chamber with a volume of 2.2 million cubic metres; it is also one of the largest in the world.

Unique Coast Among the extremely scenic parts of Slovenia is also its small (only 46.6 kilometres long) coast on the Adriatic Sea; every kilometre has a new surprise in store. Apart from the attractive towns of Piran, Izola and Koper that draw visitors with their charming medieval centres and mazes of narrow streets, one of the most rewarding stops in the area is the SeÄ?ovlje Saltpans Regional Park where people started to collect salt at the beginning of the 9th century.

Today, with their 650 hectares, the saltpans are the largest coastal marsh wetlands and salt is still produced in the traditional way. At the same time, the area is the most important Slovenian ornithological areas. More than 150 bird species dwell there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than on any other comparable locality of the kind. A stroll between the salt pools, a visit to the salt museum, observing the piles of salt at sunset and smelling it while listening to sounds of flocks of different birds create an unforgettable experience and make SeÄ?ovlje saltpans one of the most important areas of Slovenian natural and cultural heritage.

Charming Maribor The northeastern part of Slovenia is dominated by Maribor, the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second largest city. It lies on the foothills of the Pohorje mountain range, the easternmost part of the Alps, which offers tremendous options for sports enthusiasts throughout the year. It is a vibrant university city with a thriving cultural history and a wine rich tradition.

The old town offers picturesque walks along the banks of the Drava River and the lively streets and squares where history and tradition co-exist in perfect harmony. Lent, the gripping oldest part of the town is home to a famous international summer festival that attracts numerous visitors who leave Maribor enchanted by its unforgettable vista. It boasts the oldest vine in the world, which finds itself in the spotlight each year in the grape-picking season, bearing grapes for the production of the most exquisite wine consumed only at most special occasions. In Maribor, one can also explore the one of the oldest and largest wine cellars in

Europe or climb up to its surrounding wine growing hills to enjoy marvellous views over the green Pohorje and even further.

The area is far from the only one in Slovenia that offers scenic wine roads. Apart from Pohorje, vineyards spread out over the entire region, all the way to the south to Bela Krajina, to the western part of the country and to the Istrian coastal area. Awardwinning top-quality wines of great variety agree well with good food and each region has unique culinary delights to spoil food lovers. Immersing oneself into these pleasures of uncovers the true character of Slovenia and its people and enables the visitor to truly feel the great diversity the country has to offer. Alongside the must-see attractions, Slovenia has numerous hidden treasures in store, just waiting to be discovered. Whichever path you decide to take, you can be sure to find your own remarkable piece of paradise, accompanied with a warm welcome that you will never forget.

Turizem Kras

Immensum, Ad Antrum Aditus *

* Enter, Traveller, Into This Immensity!

Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle and Jamski dvorec (Cave Mansion) represent an adventure package that fascinates family trips as well as business meetings in an outstanding, unrepeatable environment with a top-class offer.

The Mysterious Underground Beauty

A Knight’s Fortress

World-famous Postojna Cave is one of most wonderful underground caves in the world, consisting of almost 22 kilometres of stalagmite and stalactite passages, galleries and chambers, having been formed in thousands of years by the nature. A unique underground train takes you into the well lit and arranged cave’s interior, where experienced guides take care of your well-being.

Visiting the cave is an exciting experience as you encounter up to five hundred thousand year old calcite formations descending from the ceiling, rising from the ground, joining to form columns, making wavy curtains or sequences of imaginary forms.

The Middle Ages experience is nowhere more vividly felt than standing at a high cliff that bears the mighty Predjama Castle.

A 16th-century Renaissance exterior conceals an older core – a genuine cave castle presenting an image of previous centuries and its most famous master Erazem, a bandit knight.

Beneath the castle is a cave with a noted Names Passage, where signatures of visitors from the 16th century onwards have been preserved.

Moreover, there is also a celebrated narrow Erazem’s passage, one of key tools for survival during long-lasting sieges of the castle. A hidden exit climbing from the back of the old castle to the surface, is 37 metres long. It was walled up, but today is open again.

A medieval pulse of Predjama Castle is revived by Erazem’s tournament, an event based on 16th-century records and drawings, with fights between knights, swordsmen and cavalrymen.

Activities: Cave adventures

An Ideal Venue for Events Jamski dvorec is located by the very entrance to Postojna Cave and provides a space for up to 1000 guests at one time. It is characterised by distinctive Italian architecture by Pietro Palumbo from the beginning of the 20th century with impressive halls and a protocol room.

A touch of art, ceiling paintings, period furniture and the attractive decoration are perfectly suitable for exclusive business meetings, press conferences and exquisite gastronomic pleasures.

All these is organised by an experienced and well-functioning expert team, providing guests with an individual approach and highest quality, not hesitating from organising even most demanding events. Namely, Jamski dvorec is frequently used for the needs of the state protocol as well as diplomatic and corporation meetings of the highest level.

Jamski dvorec smells divinely of Slovene cuisine and secrets of Notranjska-Karst regional culinary delights in a modern style, yet prepared in the old way â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in classical pans.

Amusing underground adventures like cave trekking, treasure hunting, labyrinth solving and other underground adventures with a carbide lamp and speleologist equipment are a genuine surprise!

You can embark on a rather more serious and demanding programmes of team forming and leading, namely team building. The cave team building is the one and only of its kind in the world - it involves solving of physical and logical thought tasks under expert leadership of experienced analysts. The aim of this is encouraging team work, rising team motivation and getting to know reactions in unexpected situations.

Company notes Turizem KRAS d.d.

Jamska cesta 30 6230 Postojna T: +386 (0)5 700 01 00 info@turizem-kras.si www.turizem-kras.si

Life Styleâ&#x20AC;&#x192; 107

Health Resorts

The Healing Power of Water Slovenia is a country abounding with thermal waters and has a long spa tradition. Archaeological excavations show that the secret of their positive effects was known in the times of the Roman Empire; the first written documents about Slovenian thermal waters date back to 1147, and Slovenian mineral waters have been appreciated throughout Europe for centuries.

By Polona Cimerman

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lovenia has 87 thermal springs and is, considering its size, comparable to other countries such as Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Italy and the Czech Republic in this aspect.

After locals recognized the beneficial effects the waters possessed, the construction of spa centres began at the springs.

Some spa centres go even further to satisfy the needs of their guests and develop beauty lines that use the medical properties of water, mud and salt in their cosmetic products.

Diversifying

Slovenian spas have brought their medical services to perfection; in addition to wellness, the other trend in spa tourism is returning to its roots i.e. to healing. In the 1970s, spas took over

…and defining trends Wellness is one of the current and hottest trends, and Slovenian spas offer versatile top-quality services. Guests can choose from a variety of services – from aromatherapies and thalassotherapies to numerous variants of saunas and massages. According to Altbauer, “There is an explosion of exotic traditional massages from the Orient, Far East and Africa. These are sometimes modified into special relaxing techniques by the expert staff employed in our health centres who make use of thermal water, mud or salt.”

108 Life Style

Photo: Terme Olimia

In the past, spas built their identity on providing medical services mostly for the elderly and people with health problems, but a turning point came in the mid-1970s.

“Suddenly it became clear that medical services were not enough for spa survival, so they decided to change their services.

This was a time of major investments into the infrastructure and these changes brought new programmes for children and families, involving outdoor pools and accompanying attractions, as well as the development of convention tourism and an emphasis on sports by building sports capacities in the vicinity of the spa centres,” according to Iztok Altbauer, the Secretary of the Slovenian Natural Health Resorts Community and an expert in the field of spa tourism.

Doctor!

rehabilitation programmes from hospitals and clinics. Now these services have been upgraded and some spas, such as the one in Rogaška Slatina, even have operating rooms.

“We can expect that in the future, all our spas will offer medical wellness and, apart from the already well-established detoxification and fat-burning programmes, they will perform minor cosmetics surgeries and even more complicated operations,” Altbauer says.

Pillars of tourism Spas in Slovenia represent the country’s number one tourist product. “It generates over one third of all overnight stays, which is a remarkable fact. Some spa centres have over 90% annual occupancy rates. It truly is a success story,” says Altbauer.

They are a popular destination for increasing numbers of young people, families with children and athletes. The clientele are diverse: spas are visited by Italians, Austrians, Croatians, Germans and Russians, there are also some guests from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; however, most of the guests (60% of the clientele) are locals. Altbauer believes that spas are simply part of Slovenian identity.

Slovenia boasts approximately 25 thermal-spa centres, 15 of which have acquired the status of a natural health resort, all united under a common brand “Slovenian Natural Health Resorts.”

These spread from the northeastern through the southern parts of the country and then all the way to the coast. Altbauer further explains: “They all have received verifications from the state that they have a certain natural factor. This can be healing water (thermal, mineral and thermo mineral), which is the case in all 15 with the exception of Strunjan; its identity is built on the climate, seawater and sea mud.”

Investing and developing Different water temperatures, ranging from 32 to 73°C, and healing properties give each of these resorts an entirely distinctive character. With intensive investments in tourist infrastructure on the one hand and constant service enhancement on the other, Slovenian natural health resorts keep developing and thus strengthening their enviable position in both Slovenian and European tourism contexts.

“In the last five years, we have invested a great deal of money into hotels, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, wellness centres and also in expert medical personnel and equipment,” states Altbauer.

Bang for the buck He goes on to state, “At the first glance, Slovenian spas are similar to those abroad, yet they offer some very special features that are unique to our country.” One of them is the famous black water from Terme 3000 in Moravci, which contains some crude oil elements that have positive effects on skin and lung diseases.

“Another feature is the mineral water Donat Mg from Rogaška Slatina, which contains the highest amount of magnesium of all waters in the world,” asserts Altbauer, adding “In terms of quality, Slovenian natural spas are much above average, but at the same time the prices of their services are 20–30% lower than on the Italian or Austrian markets. Guests really get the greatest value for their money.”

Offering something for everyone, be it restoring health or simply enjoyment in a relaxing atmosphere; Slovenian spas invite you to explore their unique versatility.

Life Style 109

Terme Olimia

A Dream Come True The story of Terme Olimia dates back to 1966 when the first wooden pool was built. Rapid development followed and the success story started to take shape. Nowadays, the health resort has a reputation as being one of the most popular spas in Slovenia and beyond.

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owever, the spaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s management is not resting on its laurels. They are constantly looking for new ways of satisfying their guests; the four-star Wellness Hotel Sotelia and the new luxurious Wellness Orhidelia are now their flagship projects, appealing to the needs of those seeking perfection.

Relax in luxury Wellness Orhidelia, which opened its doors last May, is the newest and most modern part of Terme Olimia, intended for the most demanding guests seeking new dimensions of relaxation and pampering. It represents the most luxurious spa experience in this part of Europe, offering its guests entirely new worlds of thermal indulgences, which will soothe their senses and enable them to re-discover their true relaxed selves.

Flower power

Its name was inspired by orchids, magnificent flowers that traditionally symbolise perfection, love and beauty. Orchids have always been perceived as mysterious and mystical; they fired the imagination of many writers and poets who celebrated them in their creations. In antiquity, people believed in the miraculous powers of orchid roots, which gave rise to many legends and fairy tales. The nearby Kozjanski regional park has over forty varieties of orchids, among which the black one is the most beautiful and precious. Its unique beauty admired by many inspired the new Wellness Orhidelia.

All you need The entire complex covers 13,000 square metres and is divided in two floors. The upper one is occupied by wardrobes, a sauna

youth with Tibetan exercises, rejuvenate yourself with yoga and learn correct breathing with special techniques.

Where it never gets cold Orhidelia offers you another way of experiencing supreme relaxation. Their superb saunas warm your body and heart, making everyday troubles evaporate in the stunning surroundings.

You can circle from steam bath programmes to bio, Finnish and infrared sauna.

Wellness Orhidelia, which opened its doors last May, is the newest and most modern part of Terme Olimia.

Since Orhidelia caters to the most refined wishes, guests can choose from special sauna programmes: algae detox treatment, sweet honey experience, fountain of beauty with sesame oil, mineral and mud therapy, rejuvenation programme, hot chocolate pleasure and a special audio experience.

Nature’s delight

centre and additional resting places while pools and a club can be found on the lower floor. Guests can access outer terraced areas from both floors. The pool section covers 1,000 square metres and lets you immerse yourself in the wonderful water that will make all tension and stress disappear.

Dive in!

Its spa classification describes the thermal water at Terme Olimia as a magnesium-calcium hydrogen carbonate with temperatures from 30 to 37°C with many positive effects of natural healing that have been proven in the form of clinical and pharmacological studies. It represents a constant course of health and youthfulness; the minerals found in the water give it an incredible vitality and render it an exceptional source of energy. Baths in thermal water relax muscle tension and increase blood flow that invigorates and strengthens the body’s immune system.

The pool area in Orhidelia is designed as a flowing space, winding around the open-air atrium. The water surface is shaped in natural curves; guests can enjoy privacy in several “islands,” which ensure a perfect retreat to solitude. They can choose from massage chairs, geysers, whirlpools, a slow river, a light cave, and a music pool.

Take your pick Guests can feel nature in all its grandeur at every step: the entire complex is designed as being part of nature itself. The pool area is characterized by pillars resembling a forest of trees and the rest areas are designed as tree trunks. The inner pool area further extends to the outer atrium and all the way onto the green terraces extending towards the surrounding forest. At the treeshaped relaxation places, you can revive your senses with planetary gong sound therapies, relax to the sounds of crystal bowls, reclaim

Wellness Orhidelia is the most advanced part of Terme Olimia and is based on the idea of using natural materials and ensuring its connection with nature. Its exterior does just that: it is successfully integrated into the park surroundings and its roof is planted with grass.

Its special architecture represents the boldest of all Slovenian tourism complexes, is unique in this part of Europe and perfectly blends in with the neighbouring Wellness Hotel Sotelia.

It is an unusual hotel, characterized by its close bond with nature. Its location, diverse structure, green roofs and large, bright surfaces create a sense of harmonious connection to the surrounding environment, which was one of the main reasons its two architects won the Plečnik Award in 2006 when the hotel was opened. Sotelia also features five auditoriums and conference rooms. This centre is designed as a multi-functional area, appropriate for hosting various types of events.

Come and see!

Wellness Orhidelia and Wellness Hotel Sotelia grant their guests an invigorating break in harmony with nature in inspiring surroundings, designed for those who demand the best. Zdravko Počivalšek, the great visionary behind the successful story of Terme Olimia and the driving force of this ever-developing company, says, “We have upgraded our services for those guests who desire top-notch pampering services with a more personal touch.”

In Terme Olimia, individual guests are the focus and in this stunning environment, paradise can truly be regained.

Company notes Terme Olimia d.d.

Zdraviliška cesta 24 3254 Podčetrtek T: +386 (0)3 829 70 00 info@terme-olimia.com www.terme-olimia.com

Life Style 111

About & Around Slovenia

Basic Knowledge Bank Working Hours Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday

9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

8 a.m.- 12 a.m.

Closed

Store Working Hours Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday

8 a.m.-7 p.m.

8 a.m.-1 p.m.

8 a.m.-12 p.m.

Except special 24hrs shops and shops at 24hrs gas services. Big shopping malls are open Saturdays until 9 p.m. and Sundays until 3 p.m.

Automobile Speed Limits Highway Main Roads Populated areas

130 km/h 90 km/h 50 km/h

Important Emergency Telephone Numbers

Ambulance 112 Police 113 Fire Department 112 Automobile Association of Slovenia

080 1980

Transportation Telephone Numbers Ljubljana Airport T: +386 (0)4 206 10 00 Ljubljana Main Rail Station T: +386 (0)1 291 33 32 Ljubljana Main Bus Station T: +386 (0)1 234 46 00 Maribor Main Rail Station T: +386 (0)2 292 21 64 Maribor Main Bus Station 080 11 16 Koper Main Rail Station T: +386 (0)5 639 52 63 Koper Main Bus Station T: +386 (0)5 662 51 05

Foreign Embassies (in Ljubljana) Embassy of the Republic of Austria Prešernova cesta 23, T: +386 (0)1 479 07 00 Embassy of Belgium Trg republike 3/IX, T: +386 (0)1 200 60 10 112

Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina Kolarjeva 26, T: +386 (0)1 234 32 50 Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria Rožna dolina Cesta XV/18, T: +386 (0)1 425 88 45

Canadian Consulate Trg republike 3, T: +386 (0)1 252 44 44

Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Koblarjeva 3, T: +386 (0)1 420 28 55

Embassy of the Republic of Croatia Gruberjevo nabrežje 6, T: +386 (0)1 425 72 87 Embassy of the Czech Republic Riharjeva 1, T: +386 (0)1 420 24 50

Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark Eurocenter, Tivolska 48, T: +386 (0)1 438 08 00 Embassy of the Republic of Finland Ajdovščina 4/8, T: +386 (0)1 300 21 20 Embassy of the Republic of France Barjanska 1, T: +386 (0)1 479 04 00 Embassy of Germany Prešernova 27, T: +386 (0)1 479 03 00 Embassy of Greece Trnovski pristan 14, T: +386 (0)1 420 14 00

Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See Krekov trg 1, T: +386 (0)1 433 92 04

Embassy of the Republic of Hungary Ulica Konrada Babnika 5, T: +386 (0)1 512 18 82

Embassy of India Maurerjeva ulica 29, www.indianembassy.si T: +386 (0)1 513 31 10, F: +386 (0)1 513 31 16 Embassy of Ireland Poljanski nasip 6, T: +386 (0)1 300 89 70

Embassy of the Republic of Italy Snežniška 8, T: +386 (0)1 426 21 94

Embassy of Japan Trg Republike 3/I, T: +386 (0)1 200 82 81

Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway Ajdovščina 4, T: +386 (0)1 300 21 40

Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia Prešernova 2, T: +386 (0)1 421 00 21 Royal Netherlands Embassy Poljanski nasip 6, T: +386 (0)1 420 14 60

Embassy of the Republic of Poland Bežigrad 10, T: +386 (0)1 436 47 12 Embassy of Portugal Trg republike 3/X, T: +386 (0)1 47 90 540 Embassy of Romania Smrekarjeva 33, T: +386 (0)1 505 82 94

Embassy of the Russian Federation Tomšičeva 9, T: +386 (0)1 425 68 75 Embassy of Serbia Slomškova ulica 1, T: +386 (0)1 438 01 10

Embassy of the Slovak Republic Tivolska cesta 4, T: +386 (0)1 425 54 25

Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain Trnovski pristan 24, T: +386 (0)1 420 23 30 Embassy of Sweden Ajdovščina 4, T: +386 (0)1 300 02 70

Embassy of Switzerland Trg republike 3/VI, T: +386 (0)1 200 86 40

Embassy of the Republic of Turkey Livarska 4, T: +386 (0)1 236 41 50; 236 41 60 Embassy of Ukraine Teslova 23, T: +386 (0)1 421 06 04

Embassy of the United Kingdom Trg republike 3/IV, T: +386 (0)1 200 39 10 Embassy of the USA Prešernova cesta 31, T: +386 (0)1 200 55 00

Transportation

How to Get Around in Slovenia?

Travelling in Slovenia is easy and comfortable. The variety of public transpor makes it possible to discover the country in a relatively short time. There are good connections with European countries and the rest of the world.

The majority of trips within Slovenia start from the capital, Ljubljana. The railway station is the hub and there are regular train connections with all major towns in Slovenia. During high season, additional trains are available from Maribor to Koper, via Ljubljana. When travelling to major towns, take the Eurocity, Intercity or ICS (the fastest) trains, as regional trains stop frequently and take more time. Trains are air-conditioned and comfortable. There are several direct trains a day departing for: Munich, Vienna, Graz, Villach, Salzburg, Venice, Budapest, Sofia, Prague, Thessalonika, Zagreb, Rijeka, Opatija, Pula, Skopje, Belgrade, Zurich and Trieste.

The network of bus stations and stops throughout the country makes travelling by bus easy and convenient. The hub is Ljubljana, from where it is possible to reach almost any part of the country within a couple of hours.

Taxis do not have a daily or night rate, but prices can differ enormously depending on whether you hail one on the street or call by phone. The most expensive ones are in front of the railway station.

The best way to see the country is by car, especially if you want to visit the more remote mountainous regions. Cars can be rented from agencies at Ljubljana Airport and from tourist agents in towns. We highly recommend you to tune in to Radio Slovenia International for updates on traffic jams.

Being a small country, Slovenia does not have internal airlines, but it does have good international flight connections. There are three international airports.

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, is the largest airport, 20 km north of the capital. Ten airlines with more than 30 destinations throughout Europe serve Ljubljana. Two of them are low cost airlines: easyJet flies (Ljubljana-London Stansted) and Wizz Air (Ljubljana-Brussels). Major international airlines like Air France, Swiss Air or Austrian Airlines, the Slovenian carrier, Adria Airways, fly on a daily basis or several times a week to most European capitals and major cities. The most convenient access to the airport is by the E61 Motorway. There are two secure parking areas with 2,200 parking spaces right in front of the passenger terminal. A taxi from Brnik to Ljubljana centre costs around EUR 35. There are also frequent bus connections to Ljubljana.

The journey takes about 45 minutes and tickets are purchased on the bus. You can also travel to or from Kranj by train, from where there are good bus connections to the airport. It is advisable to check for any traffic jams before heading for Brnik due to road closures and road work in the direction of Gorenjska.

Maribor Airport is the second international airport, serving the city of Maribor. It is located a few kilometres south of the city, near Slivnica. The airport currently has numerous seasonal charter flights to coastal destinations especially during the summer holidays.

Portorož Airport is the third international airport, mainly used for private flights.

Grad

Šentilj v Slov. goricah Radlje ob Dravi

Mežica Kranjska Gora Mojstrana

Hrušica

Radenci

Bled

Brezje

Tržič

Naklo Bohinjska Bistrica

Kamniška Bistrica

Železniki

ŠKOFJA LOKA

Cerkno

Ljubno ob Savinji

Vodice

TRBOVLJE

LJUBLJANA

Zagorje ob Savi

Šentjur

Rogatec

Podsreda Brestanica

Grosuplje

Logatec

Borovnica

Stična

Krško Šmarješke Toplice

Žužemberk

NOVO MESTO

Šentjernej

Čatež

Otočec

Dolenjske Toplice

Ribnica

Sežana

Brežice

Trebnje

Ivančna Gorica

Cerknica

Postojna

Pivka Škocjan

Metlika

Kočevje Ilirska Bistrica

Črnomelj Osilnica

Piran/Pirano

Portorož/Portorose

Rogaška Slatina

Podčetrtek

Radeče

Vipava

Ankaran/Ancarano

Središče ob Dravi

Sevnica

Štanjel

KOPER/CAPODISTRIA Izola/Isola

Ormož

Rimske Toplice

Litija

Vrhnika

Lipica

Dornava

Pragersko

CELJE Laško

Hrastnik

Idrija

NOVA GORICA Ajdovščina

Lendava/ Lendva Ljutomer

Poljčane

Slovenske Konjice

Žalec

Mengeš

Slovenska Bistrica

Dobrna

Polzela

DOMŽALE Žiri

Deskle

VELENJE

Mozirje

Kamnik

Tolmin

PTUJ Zreče

Preddvor

KRANJ

Mislinja

Šoštanj

Brdo

Beltinci

Lenart v Slov. goricah

Lovrenc na Pohorju

Topolšica

Logarska Dolina

Bovec

Kobarid

Slovenj Gradec

Črna na Koroškem

JESENICE

MURSKA SOBOTA

MARIBOR

Dravograd Ravne na Koroškem

Moravske Toplice Dobrovnik/ Dobronak

Gornja Radgona

Kostel Hrastovlje Vinica

113

Index of Advertisers 38–39

Abanka

2, 52

Aerodrom Ljubljana

20–21

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia

82–85

City of Ljubljana

86–89

City of Maribor

58–59, 116 Crystal Palace 70–71

Digitel Pristop Group

74–75

Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana

79, 115

Hit Group

72–73

IEDC

62–63

IMOS

48–49

Iskraemeco

23, 26–29 Japti 96–97

Lesar Hotel

68–69

Linxair

54–55

Luka Koper

44–45

NLB

66–67

Riko

37, 43

Si.mobil

13

Slovenian Convention Bureau

110–111

Terme Olimia

64–65

Trimo

106–107

Turizem Kras

98–99

Vila Bled

92–93

Vivo Catering

53

Ydria Motors

114