LIFESTYLE: Valentine’s Romantic Picks
The Slovenia Times, Slovenian magazine in English Language, volume 8, number 136/137, EUR 4,80
February 2011
Logistics has IT Information technology is revolutionising the Slovenian logistics sector. Can operational reorganisation make it a global success?
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CONTENTS 3
February 2011
POLITICS
6
A troublesome year of independence anniversaries
ECONOMY 10 SCT begins receivership proceedings
FDI
Business Partners
13 Knauf Insulations’ reasons behind investing in Slovenia 14 New law to allow foreign investment in gaming industry 16 Embassy diaries 17 Healthcare focus - Interview: Cvetka Dragoš Jančar, Barsos medical centre
ICT special 18 Overview of ICT industry in Slovenia in 2010 20 Adapting content to sophisticated gadgets 21 Android applications – making the use of phones more interesting 22 Small Slovenian firms have misconceptions about IT security 24 T-2 in serious trouble 25 Slovenia too slow in upgrading its healthcare system 26 Print media still popular in Slovenia 29 IT support for logistics
Logistics special 30 34 36 38
42 44 46 Slo times avgust 230x95 mm 11. junij 2009 10:43:56
Overview of Slovenia’s logistics sector Interview: Klemen Boštjančič and Robert Vuga, Adria Airways Slovenia remains divided over Logistics Holding Interview: Miran Gajšek, head city planner, Municipality of Ljubljana
LIFESTYLE
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Here comes Valentine’s Day All good reasons for a wedding in Slovenia Dine with style: Bled Castle Restaurant’s Valentine menu Getting checked, fit and healthy at Šmarješke Toplice A fabulous Ladies’s Ski Weekend The capital: the Dragon and other sculptures New Guest Stars lighting up
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The event guide
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Every picture tells a story February 2011
PANORAMA
Celje District Court Judge Milko Škoberne was arrested on suspicion of bribery along with a businessman and another man, both of them suspected of aiding and abating in the bribery. Media reports suggest the man, Esad Čehajić, was in custody and had given Skoberne EUR 9,000 to await trial at home and to have his international warrant suspended. But the judge wanted more money so he only suspended the arrest warrant for Bosnia and Croatia in order to allow Čehajić to get more money before the warrant for the EU was suspended as well. This follows from an email message that Čehajić had sent in November to media outlets as well as the police, prosecution and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, because the judge was not happy with how much money he got and wanted more. Čehajić is not among those arrested even though giving bribe is a crime as well, which suggests he may have cooperated with the police in the sting. Škoberne is the first judge in Slovenian history to be remanded in custody, but proceedings against two other judges suspected of corruption are under way at the present. Škoberne was stripped of his constitutionally-guaranteed immunity from prosecution by the parliamentary Privileges and Credentials Commission based on an opinion of the Judicial Council.
Millions of Debt with God’s Help
National Security or Public Interest?
Following declarations of insolvency by two major financial firms indirectly owned by the Maribor Archdiocese, a report published by Italian weekly L’ Espresso suggests that the archdiocese’s debt stands at EUR 800m. The archdiocese said in its response that L’ Espresso’s figures were misleading.The paper quotes a classified report by apostolic visitor Gianluca Piredda and “reputable Slovenian sources”, which describe the situation in the Maribor Archdiocese, Slovenia’s second biggest, as disastrous. The Holy See is said to have first found out about the financial problems of the archdiocese at the end of 2007 after extensive media reports on the decision on telecommunications company T-2 (which is indirectly owed by the Archdiocese and filed for court-mandated debt restructuring) to also provide pornographic content. Financial firms Zvon Ena Holding and Zvon Dva Holding, which are majority owned by the archdiocese through its company Gospodarstvo Rast, declared insolvency due to inability to repay loans. Gospodarstvo Rast followed suit. The Archdiocese stated it did not wish to comment on L’ Espresso’s article labelling the figures and claims as exaggerated and misleading.
The parliamentary Intelligence Services Oversight Commission decided to file a criminal complaint and dismissal request for the head of the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) Sebastjan Selan and the director of the national archives Dragan Martič for their part in restricting access to old intelligence documents. The decision comes after the opposition-controlled commission called on Selan to reverse his decision from October last year to label archive documents of the SDV, the predecessor to SOVA, as classified. The head of the commission, SDS MP Zvonko Černač, argued that the documents - to which a journalist was denied access - included some older than 40 years and thus by law declassified and belonging to the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia. While pointing out that the documents at stake have not been transfered to the national archives despite efforts to this end in 2007 by the SDS-led government, Černac is arguing that the documents would disclose sensitive information on persons who hold important posts today and that Selan had political cover for his decision, while saying the documents were accessible under Selan’s predecessor and also accessed by a young researcher last autumn. PM Borut Pahor told that he wanted “this important matter” cleared up, but arguing that Selan had acted with the intention of safeguarding national interest. The PM said that disclosing certain information could imperil national interest and security, since it could hurt individuals who had worked to the benefit of Slovenia outside of its borders, emphasizing that he was not defending anyone “from the previous regime” and that the issue at stake was not ideological.
Franc Kramberger - a good archbishop, a bad manager
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Dirty Judge
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UNDER THE PRESS 5 Family law
To Start a Family The Ministry of Labour, the Family and Social Affairs decided to adjust some of the most controversial elements in new family law bill and thus make it acceptable to the centre-right opposition. Gay couples would be allowed to adopt a child only if one of the partners is the child’s biological parent. The move came after debate on the controversial bill, facing strong opposition from centre-right parties for equalising same-sex unions with traditional families and allowing for gay adoption, got stuck at the parliamentary committee last year. Under the new proposal, marriage would be defined as a union of a man and a woman, while same-sex unions would have the status of a civil partnership, which applies to the same rights and duties, save for the child adoption. “The lengthy procedure and the stalemate in which the bill has found itself led us to think about possible compromises in order to ensure the adoption of the document as soon as possible,” State Secretary Anja Kopač Mrak told. According to her, the rights stemming from the status of a civil partnership are equal to the rights of married couples. There are no differences, except for child adoption, she added. The controversial definition of family meanwhile remains unchanged compared to the original version of the bill. A family comprises a child or children with one or two parents, which means that a civil partnership of two homosexual persons with a child is a family, which SDS still finds unacceptable.
Gender Policy
Active as a Slovenian Woman Eurostat shows Slovenia had the lowest inactivity rate for women aged between 25 and 54 in the EU in 2009, with its rate of 12.1 percent comparing to an EU average of 22.1 percent. Slovenia is followed by Sweden (12.9 percent) and Denmark (13 percent) and also forms with them the trio with the lowest share of women referring to family responsibilities as reason for their absence from the labour market. The survey established that the labour market participation of women in the EU continued to increase between 2008 and 2009 in spite of the economic crisis. Inactivity rate between 2000 and 2009 dropped by 4.2 percentage points in the EU and from 37.1 percent to 32.1 percent in Slovenia.
Recently, I confessed to my mother that I am a prime minister in difficult times. She said, “Son, now is not the time to change jobs. Can’t you see how many unemployed are out there?” Prime Minister Borut Pahor, on labour flexibility (Večer, interview)
It was an important life experience: 95 per cent of my colleagues studied corporate law and similar things; the remaining five per cent of us took interest in the problems of law enforcement and international human rights. This is reflected in modern society and the (in)capability of its elite education institutions to address real problems and to not merely “follow the money”. Head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Goran Klemenčič, on his Harvard experience. (MMC RTV Slovenia, online chat)
They keep making fun of me, saying I am populist, a clown, for my pronunciation of the letter “r” and other things. But it doesn’t affect me, because I got used to such kind of discrimination in my childhood. Living as a foreigner with Turks, Moroccans, with people who see you as a Balkan person makes you less sensitive about such things. But socially I am very sensitive, that’s why I claim that DeSUS is not just a party of pensioners, but the only true social party. We are not interested in capital and political positions. Pensioners’ Party leader Karel Erjavec, on his social sensitivity. (Objektiv, interview)
People
Boxer the Most Popular Slovene
Photo: Mediaspeed
The readers of the most widely read Slovenian weekly newspaper, Nedeljski dnevnik, have selected boxer Dejan Zavec as the most popular Slovenian of last year in a weeks-long poll. The IBF welterweight champion, was selected ahead of two-time winner of the award, President Danilo Tuerk, as well as host of other famous names, including PM Borut Pahor, entrepreneur Ivo Boscarol, leader of the coalition Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) Karl Erjavec, manager of Slovenia’s football team Matjaž Kek, and athlete Petra Majdic, who won the award last year. Meanwhile, the editors of Nedeljski dnevnik conferred a special achievements award for last year on Slovenia’s volunteer firefighters for their hard work and dedication. The paper said that many of Slovenia’s 133,000 firefighters had been involved in the rescue and clean-up operations after the massive September floods. The award was received on behalf of all volunteer firefighters by the Smarje Sap brigade, who were the first to respond to a 38-car pile-up on a motorway.
Slovenes are an infantile, non-reflective nation of the anal kind and a hillbilly character, with a self-destructive schizophrenic combination of superior inferiority: a nation that has easily abandoned self-management as a system too utopian and now perceives their democracy as a miraculous system of salvation, working exclusively as passing the responsibility to someone else. For these characteristics, Slovenes have never truly emancipated themselves from their desire for a master of a benevolent, but rigorous paternal type with a twisted, bushy, or square mustache. Even more so, this premature nation gasps for the sweet warm milk of an authoritarian mother. That’s why it would be politically ideal for Slovenes to adopt the enlightened absolutism of monarchy or single-party type, which would relieve the citizens of any responsibility and which would be headed by a big mother (octopus) or a queen bee with a moustache. Laibach, on what kind of political authority Slovenia needs. (Dnevnik)
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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
POLITICS
Independence Anniversary
Media matters By Maja Dragović Like many of its inhabitants, the Slovenian state seemed to decide that January was a time to dedicate to self-improvement. The past month saw a range of efforts dedicating to discussing and confronting some of the state’s biggest problems. It is a move that is long overdue. Disregard for the rule of law, lack of honesty in business, and corruption both politically and professionally remain significant problems in this country. Slovenia has to make serious changes politically, morally and professionally – and it needs to make them now. There have been promising moves by both politicians and law enforcement bodies when it comes ridding the country of corruption. And last month there were three high profile meetings held within a two week period, all devoted to discussing how to reduce corruption and strengthen the rule of law. The American Chamber of Commerce’s monthly breakfast meeting – with the topic of the rule of law and transparency in business – drew high profile speakers in the shape of Anton Zalar, the minister of justice, and Goran Klemenčič, the head of anticorruption commission. The general agreement seems to be that Slovenia has the right laws to ensure opportunities for all, whether businesses or individuals. The problem lies in the implementation of these laws and, furthermore, in the speed of making legislative changes when they prove necessary. Klemenčič cites an example from another country – the UK scandal over MPs’ expenses – to highlight how far Slovenia still has to go. When it was revealed that UK MPs were using the flexible expenses system to pay for everything from their chimney sweeps to their kitchen equipment, there was a national outcry. The legislation was more or less immediately changed and the courts quickly swung into action and prosecuted some of the worst offenders. It is difficult to imagine such a speedy response in Slovenia. It is interesting and important to note that the expenses scandal came to light after intensive investigation by the British media. This is another area in which Slovenia is lacking: this is a nation without a powerful and forceful media to hold the country’s leaders to account. A foreign diplomat here in Slovenia sums it up perfectly when he says that: “Luckily for politicians, the media in Slovenia suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder”. Quite true. Look at the Gregor Golobič affair. Or the many Katarina Kresal affairs. Both individuals have been allowed to pursue their political careers without being forced to fully deal with the consequences of their conduct (in the case of Golobič) or to satisfactorily answer to allegations of corruption (Kresal). Had such cases occurred in Britain, the media would not have rested until every possible angle had been investigated. In Slovenia, respected daily publications simply let such matters drop – and that’s the reason why we have a national media which is not taken seriously. It is both reassuring and somewhat depressing to realise that it wasn’t always this way. To a great extent, it was thanks to the media in Slovenia – Mladina in particular – that corruption in the Yugoslav army was exposed at the end of eighties. That was a revelation which ultimately led to Slovenia gaining independence. But it seems that the media too might have made a new year’s resolution. In the past couple of months, there have been some triumphs – Simona Dimic resigned as Borut Pahor’s chief of cabinet after the media started poking into her “private” affairs; Petrol boss Aleksander Svetelšek did the same when his group’s handling of its exposure to insolvent builder SCT was revealed; and then there was the case of the local government and regional development minister Henrik Gjerkes who stood down after the press revealed his arrest for drunk driving. All this is encouraging and shows the media is not totally without influence. But the rule of media must be the same as the rule of law – the press must apply the same principles to the investigation and reporting of every story, regardless of who is involved. January has seen a new-found dedication to these two key rules of civil society. Let us now hope it is not merely a passing new year’s fad. maja.dragovic@sloveniatimes.com
Two Decades Later
The end of last year saw the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Slovene Plebiscite, an act unparalleled in modern Slovenian history, in which an overwhelming majority of the nation decided to claim their right to self-determination. The result was a sovereign and independent Slovene state, but has the time come to take stock of the past two decades and throw some light on the growing pains of the new democracy? By David Aleksander
A
lt houg h Slove n e h i s tory can be traced back as early as 7th century, Slovenes never really lived in an independent society. Throughout history the current territory of Slovenia was part of many different states, including the Roman Empire, the Frankish Kingdom, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The notion of “Slovenia” first emerged in the 19th century when the idea of “United Slovenia” took form in the minds of Slovene intellectuals; the programme demanded that all Slovene lands be united into one single kingdom under the rule of the Austrian Empire and that equal rights of the Slovene lan-
guage in public be enforced. The concept became a reality only after the dissolution of the AustroHungarian Empire in 1918 when Slovenes became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs as a self-governing entity, though Slovene autonomy was later abolished with the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. After WWII Slovenia became an autonomous political entity as a full-fledged republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Once united, twice divided
The end of WWII did not only reshuffle the political landscape
Photo: BOBO
POLITICS 7 France Bučar: Slovenes still regard the state as something foreign, which to a certain degree is understandable since Slovenes had always lived as part of multinational political entities in which they had been seen as foreigners or at least a minority; this has led to the creation of a deeply-rooted defence mechanism directed against the state that cannot not be reversed overnight.
to the creation of a deeply-rooted defence mechanism directed against the state that cannot not be reversed overnight. This mistrust of the state and treating it as something that is us, but is not us, coupled with an opposition that in Bučar’s view does not behave like a productive member of the country’s politics, since rather than calling the government out on its mistakes it rather goes on spiteful rants and opposes everything the government does just because it is supposed to do so. This is a sign of political immaturity that is not a far cry from the general sentiment among the people who view Slovenia as stuck with a feeble government that lacks credibility and a sense of direction, and is on top of all way too preoccupied with itself. Thus we are faced not only with a political crisis but also an economic and social crisis with rising unemployment that will have to be dealt with one way or the other in the coming months, lest the many planned state celebrations pass with a bitter lingering aftertaste.
2011 – the year of celebration
The evening when dreams met reality: Declaration of independence, June 25, 1991
but also profoundly cut through the social fabric of the Slovene nation, leaving in its wake a deeply divided society. For decades the one-party Communist system kept a tight lid over the opposition and anyone who did not toe the party line was cast aside. Nevertheless in the months preceding “The Decision” on 23 December 1990 the Slovene nation managed to come together at the crucial moment in time and present a united front, with all political currents calling for a positive vote on the plebiscite to form an independent state. The country was united when it mattered the most, resulting in the highestever turnout in Slovene history with 95% of votes in favour of an independent and sovereign Slovene state. With the creation of the new state the perceived unity, however, was short-lived and the ghost of the past was finally released out of the bottle, making it patently obvious that the old differences stemming from WWII and post-WWII events had not been resolved and reconciled. This became evident once more when last month three prominent Slov-
ene politicians Janez Janša, Lojze Peterle and Andrej Bajuk, all three Slovene Prime Ministers in the past, refused to take part in the proceedings of the honorary committee that will be presiding over the organisation of various celebrations tied to the events of Slovene Independence in the coming year. The crux of the dispute was the poster of the Ministry of Education which apparently linked the 20th anniversary of the Slovene Plebiscite with the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Liberation Front under the slogan Stisni roko v pest (Make your hand into a fist!). The opposition was critical of the insinuation that in their view represented a continuation of the old ideological struggle and accused the government of abusing the educational system for harbouring old political resentments in what was perceived as a display of the “fist” to the “old adversary”. The position responded by saying that it condemned all forms of boycott and expressed its view that a certain part of Slovene politicians still saw Independence as their own exclusive project, which in their opinion was an indication
of the immaturity of present-day Slovene politics. Another thing that managed to raise a few eyebrows was the fact that two separate celebrations were held to honour the 20th anniversary of the Slovene Plebiscite; first the Veterans of Slovene Independence held their own ceremony, consisting of prominent opposition leaders and other members, on 23 December 2010 and later that same day the government held its separate state celebration as well.
Growing pains of a new democracy
In one of his recent interviews one of the main authors of the current Slovene Constitution and President of the Slovene Assembly during emancipation, Dr France Bučar, lamented over the fact that Slovenes had not yet managed to accept their state as their own. In his opinion Slovenes still regard the state as something foreign, which to a certain degree is understandable since Slovenes had always lived as part of multinational political entities in which they had been seen as foreigners or at least a minority; this has led
The honorary committee will supervise the state celebrations centred round the 20th anniversary of Slovene Independence, the bulk of which will be held in 2011. In this way Slovenia will mark a host of 20th anniversaries, all of which represent pieces in the puzzle that led to the creation of an independent and sovereign state; thus on 26 June 2011 we will commemorate the date when Slovenia declared its Independence; on 27 June 2011 and 8 October 2011 Police Day and Customs Day will be celebrated respectively marking the date when 20 years ago the Slovene police clashed with the Yugoslav Army at Holmec and the Slovene Customs took control over the whole territory of Slovenia; 26 October 2011 will mark the date when the last soldier of the Yugoslav army left Slovenia and 23 December 2011 will mark the two decades of the Slovene Constitution. One may only hope that the upcoming celebrations supervised by the honorary committee – which sent out invitations for participation to highly esteemed individuals, including key figures during the independence movement as well as today’s most prominent politicians – will pass more smoothly and in a more pacifying tone than the one held at the end of last year honouring the 20th anniversary of the Slovene Plebiscite. February 2011
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Economy
FACTS AND FIGURES
source: STA, Slovenian Press Agency
Franc Križanič is to stay on as Slovenia’s finance minister despite calls from the Court of Audit for his dismissal. Prime Minister Borut Pahor announced his decision to retain Križanič last month. He argues that the minister has done the work assigned to him by the court and more, even though he was the government minister under the most pressure during the economic downturn. The Court of Audit had proposed the minister’s dismissal due to what it termed grave violation of due care and diligence. The court blames Križanič for failing to implement remedial measures requested in a 2010 audit of transactions involving a state stake in shipping company Splošna plovba. The audit took place before Križanič was minister. In announcing the decision, Pahor said he was not being “disrespectful of the function of the Court of Audit”, arguing he had the discretion to decide on the matter himself. He says he did not
Photo: BOBO
Križanič Stays on as Finance Minister
reject the court’s call offhand, explaining he had demanded explanations from the Finance Ministry which came in the form a 141 page document on how it had responded to the court’s demands. Pahor says he also consulted several independent experts on the matter. Most agreed Križanič was fixing some of the irregularities from the past, while at the Cautious: Borut Pahor consulted external experts before deciding to keep Franc Križanič same time dealing with topical as the Finance Minister problems. They all maintained ate can and will judge the decision. the finance minister’s approach to amending irThe political reaction to Pahor’s declaration has regularities was right. been mixed. Some parties, like DeSuS, have welThe decision has been accepted by the Court’s comed the decision while others such as Zares president Igor Soltes, who agreed that it was and LDS have been more reserved. Some fear ultimately up to Pahor to decide on the matter. that Pahor’s determination to keep Križanič as He acknowledges the Court has no legal right to the finance minister will further intensify tensions judge Pahor’s choice, but points out the electorin the government.
Boat industry
Home appliances
Bonds
Paints and coating
European Yacht of the Year
Gorenje Plans Fresh Investment
Slovenia Issues EUR 1.5bn Ten-Year Bond
Helios Inaugurates EUR 14M Investment
Household appliance maker Gorenje has announced plans for a EUR 2.9m investment in Serbia. Under the proposal, Gorenje will continue to produce washing machines and driers in its main location in Velenje but assembly will be carried out in Zaječar, eastern Serbia. The firm says the decision is a bid to take advantage of Serbia’s free trade agreements. It is in line with company strategy that calls for relocation of low-value production to cheaper locations and the preservation of high-value production in Slovenia. Gorenje already has two production sites in Serbia: a refrigeration appliance plant in Valjevo, and a water heater plant in Stara Pazova.
Slovenia has completed a EUR 1.5bn ten-year benchmark bond issue. The finance ministry says the bond was completed on 10 January. The interest rate is 4.375 percent, 25 basis points higher than the last ten-year issue conducted a year ago. The issue was managed by Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC and Slovenia’s NLB bank. It was carried out in line with the government’s programme of financing the national budget, which envisaged a single bond issue of at least EUR 1bn this year. Slovenia completed two bond issues, with a maturity of ten and five years respectively, worth a total of EUR 2.5bn in 2010. The interest rate for the ten-year bond issued on 26 January 2010 was 4.125 percent.
A ship manufactured by a Slovenian firm has won a prestigious European award. The Elan 350 sailing yacht was named European Yacht of the Year 2011 in the performance cruiser category (3040ft) at the 2011 Duesseldorf Boat Show held last month. The “Water Sports Oscar” winners were chosen by representatives of 18 leading yachting and powerboat magazines in Europe. Widely known as a ski manufacturer, Elan has also earned acclaim in the nautical field, most recently with Elan 350, the first 35 foot-long sailing boat with twin helm design.
Paints and coatings group Helios has opened two new production and sales centres and a production plant in an attempt to boost competitiveness. The group has invested EUR 4m into the new 2,400 square metre car paints centre and EUR 7.5m into a 3,500 square metre water-based coatings plant near Domžale. The company hopes the new investments will help place it among the top ten European coatings manufacturers. In 2010, the group increased its sales by 14 percent over the year before and a 10 percent growth in revenues is projected for 2011.
Law
Maximum Payment Term of 60 Days The Finance Ministry has drawn up a new bill in a bid to stem the surge in payment defaults that are hampering liquidity. The bill sets 60 days as the maximum payment term and introduces mandatory multilateral set-off. While the specific payment term will be negotiable by contractual parties, 60 days will be the maximum if the parties do not set the term themselves. Public bodies will meanwhile have to observe 30-day payment terms. The bill will now be put to the government and forwarded to parliament for fasttrack passage. The Slovenia Times
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Dec 10
The number of companies in Slovenia defaulting on their liabilities is on the increase, new data from the Agency for Public Legal Records and Related Services (AJPES) has shown. A total of 6,102 companies defaulted in December 2010, meaning that the number of companies whose accounts were blocked for at least five days has increased by 16 percent year-onyear. Also continuing to rise is the average daily amount of defaults. In December it stood at EUR 378m, a 16 percent increase over a year ago. The highest figure, EUR 113.8m, was recorded in construction, followed by retail, finance and insurance, and expert, science and technology
Logistics
Railways Operator Halves Operating Loss Slovenia Railways halved its operating losses in 2010 according to initial estimates. Early figures show the company’s operating loss last year was EUR 10.5m, while overall loss stood at EUR 20m. In the first eleven months of 2010, the company made an operating loss of EUR 2.14m and an overall loss of EUR 8.13m, while operating revenues were 3.2 percent better than planned. According to the stateowned operator’s general manager Goran Brankovič, the 2010 loss was strongly affected by EUR 8.5m in currency differences between the euro and the Swiss franc, and by EUR 9m in loan interests paid. Plans for 2011 envisage an operating loss of EUR 4.9m, but the management now hopes to break even this year rather than next.
tion to its products on the Chinese market. The brewer has sent a first shipment of around a quarter of a million bottles of beer of several brands in order to test the response in the Eastern country. Pivovarna Laško is to test consumers’ response to Laško Light, Laško Club, Laško Zlatorog and Laško Dark in the city of Wenzhou. The seaside city has 7.6 million inhabitants and is the economic centre of the province with a long tradition of trade with Europe. As the world’s most populous country and with high economic growth, China is very interesting for Slovenian export-oriented companies and the brewery says it is happy to have found partners in the Zhejiang province.
Pharmaceuticals
Krka Sales Top One Billion Euros Pharmaceutical company Krka increased its sales revenues by six percent last year, new figures have shown. The core company’s revenues were up 10 percent to EUR 932m, with as estimated net profit of EUR 165m. Foreign markets accounted for 90 percent of overall revenue. Krka’s biggest market is Central Europe, where sales rose by a tenth to EUR 293.7m, with Poland alone accounting for EUR 130.3m in revenue. Eastern Europe accounted for just over a quarter of overall sales and saw growth of 17 percent. Russia was the single biggest market, generating EUR 191.7m in sales, up 13 percent year-on-year. Krka’s chairman Jože Colarič says that the figures not only met expectations but surpassed them. He is upbeat about the prospects for further growth, believing that the golden era of generic drugs will last for many more years as many drugs go off-patent. Biggest sales in Central Europe
Western Europe and overseas 21%
Central Europe 29%
Slovenia 10 % South East Europe 14%
East Europe 26%
Source: Krka d.d.
Sharp increase Average daily amount of oustanding liabilities (in ‘000 000 EUR)
Source: AJPES
Companies with Laško Testing Blocked Accounts on Chinese Market Pivovarna Laško is to test reacthe Rise
Food industry
Insurance
Price Increase for Food Products
Raising Premiums to Stay Afloat
On the rise Average prices of basic food products (in EUR) 4
Fresh whole chicken , per kg
3 2 1 Fresh milk, 3.5% fat, 1 litre
0
Jan 07
Dec 10
Bread, meat and milk prices in Slovenia are set to increase. The prices of bread is likely to rise by between four and twelve percent, meat will go up by five percent to 10 percent, while the prices of milk products will be dearer by an average of 3.5 percent. The prices of some of the products will rise after 1 February, while others are expected to increase gradually over a period of three years. According to the Agriculture, Food and Forestry Ministry, the higher prices of food produce could be foreseen as in many cases existing prices did not even cover the costs of production. The Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) forecast in its response that a five percent rise in the prices of all foods would add 0.7 percentage points to annual inflation.
Tourism
Spa Operators Satisfied with 2010 Results
The Association of Natural Spas, which brings together 15 resorts in Slovenia, says 2010 was a solid one for the wellness industry. Director Iztok Altbauer says the year was level to 2009 in terms of guests (654,050), while there was 0.5 percent less overnight stays (2.753 million). Slovenian guests generated 53.9 percent of total overnight stays. The high share of foreign guests (46.1 percent) was a result of the high number of patients referred to treatment in spas, who usually stay 14 days or longer. The head of the Slovenian Tourism Board (STO) Maja Pak says that changing trends in tourism could benefit Slovenia’s spas. He points out that the facilities can fully satisfy consumers who want to spend environmentally-friendly holidays.
Two insurance companies offering supplementary health insurance are to raise premiums. Adriatic Slovenica has announced it will raise monthly premiums as of 1 March from EUR 24.59 to EUR 26.49. Mutual health insurer Vzajemna is to follow suit, with an increase from EUR 23.25 to EUR 24.62. Adriatic Slovenica has blamed the increase on growing costs of health services and a negative result from supplementary health insurance. Vzajemna, meanwhile, says it has to raise premiums to preserve capital adequacy in light of last year’s expenditure on health services and drugs and the projected costs for this year.
Economic freedom
Slovenia Loses Five Spots After two years of progress, Slovenia has this year fallen five places in the Index of Economic Freedom. The country now ranks 66th among the 183 countries surveyed by Washington think tank Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. The overall score of 64.6 points out of 100 puts the country on the lower end of the “moderately free” scale. This is 0.1 point lower than in the 2010 report which studied 179 countries. The score, gathered by combining ten economic freedoms, places Slovenia 29th among the 43 European countries and below the regional average of 66.8 points. Slovenia also lags behind the “economically free” countries, whose average score is 84.1 points, but exceeds the world average of 59.7 points. The list is topped by Hong Kong with 98.7 points, which is followed by Singapore (87.2 points) and Australia (82.5 points). Significant drop Slovenia’s ranking on the Economic Freedom Index 66 64
Source: www.heritage.org
Drinks industry
Source: SURS
Defaults
62
60 58
2007
2011
February 2011
10 ECONOMY
Construction
SCT: Slovenian Construction’s Turmoil SCT, the largest construction company in Slovenia, has filed documents to begin receivership proceedings. The company will be going through a process of serious debt restructuring, stating it will pay its creditors up to 40 percent of claims in the next ten years. This would allow the company to continue operating, dodging the bankruptcy seen at Vegrad. SCT’s sister companies may not be quite so lucky, however: two have already filed for bankruptcy.
Photo: BOBO
By Aleš Šinkovec
Looking for a way out: Ivan Zidar, boss and majority owner of troubled SCT, is embroiled in multiple investigations regarding corruption allegations
S
lovenia’s largest construction firm has been a company on the brink for some time. By the end of 2010, SCT had 64 open building sites across Slovenia and various unfinished projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania and Kosovo. Its debts surpassed EUR 200m. Even though the construction projects – such as Sarajevo’s ring road and accompanying bridges and tunnels – weren’t seeing any progress, the firm continued in its efforts to secure more contracts. A real possibility was found in Libya. Reports now suggest that is a prospect which has fallen through. Then there was optimism about a project in Russia to build part of the road network linked to the Olympic Games in Sochi. That too seems to have fallen through: the Slovenian government has rejected a law that
The Slovenia Times
would allow it to give the guarantees that SCT needs. The failures have left the firm forced to start debt restructuring. “For the future of the company, it is important to complete procedures as soon as possible to appropriately restructure the company as much as possible,” says the government. “It can [then] restart its business on a new, healthy, and socially responsible basis”.
Tough times
It won’t be easy. Some of the firm’s sister companies have already gone under – SCT Obrati and SCT Gem have both filed for bankruptcy. Collectively the two companies employ 645 people. And it is not as if the construction industry in general is in a healthy state. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) has noted that up until
October 2010 construction activity had dropped by 48.5 percent compared the peak of September 2008. The latest report from the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development’s (UMAR), published in September 2010, lists three main reasons for the large drop off and minimal gains: the super-saturation of residential buildings; the diminishing public works; and the drying up of credit markets. On a positive note, the Institute forecasts growth for the next two years, roughly three percent for 2011 and 3.5 percent for 2012. The Ministry of Economy has stated that it expects this growth to come from “a new cycle of residential and non-residential construction and renovation in the direction of greater energy efficiency and weatherisation, flood and seismic protection.”
Allegations and investigations
There is little mention of public works – the sort of projects which might help struggling construction companies. One reason the state may not be willing to bail out troubled firms in this way is the numerous allegations of corruption that swirl around the industry. SCT is no exception in this regard. Chief executive Ivan Zidar is embroiled in multiple investigations, ranging from corruption allegations relating to the construction of Slovenian motorways to money laundering. He has already been found guilty of bribery and given a one year suspended sentence in Munich, after having paid a EUR one million fine. The end of last month saw a further flurry of activity relating to Zidar, most of it suggesting he is far from giving up on SCT. Newspaper Dnevnik reported on his plan to channel part of SCT’s business to a newly-established company, SCT Skupina. The paper concluded that while Zidar is looking for a way out, he wants to retain control of debt restructuring at SCT. A court ruling seems likely to put pay to some of these plans. On January 27, the Cerknica District Court froze Zidar’s assets at the request of Liko Liboje, a firm owed some EUR 1.8m by SCT. The decision – assuming Zidar doesn’t successfully challenge it – means he will no longer be able to freely dispose of his real estate and his stake SCT Holding. Zidar may be trying to hang on but the situation for his firm is clearly a desperate one. Once again, corruption allegations coupled with the troubles of the industry are spelling serious trouble for a Slovenian construction firm. But this time it’s the largest firm that might fall.
14 Days 11
23rd and 24th March 2011, 10 a.m.−7 p.m.
Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (Gospodarsko razstavišËe), Slovenia www.proprio.si Contact: info@proprio.si, +386 1 300 26 94
The fair which gatheres all relevant information on real estate buying, selling, renting and restoring.
Organizer:
Event partner:
February 2011
12 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FDI
NEWS IN BRIEF
source: STA, Slovenian Press Agency
Construction
Industrial robots
Automotive industry
Banking
Austrian Builder to Complete Tunnel
Robot Construction in Ribnica
TVM in Potential Deal with Saudis
The world’s largest producer of industrial robots is to develop a new production centre in Slovenia. Yaskawa Electric is in the midst of planning a factory in the town of Ribnica, 35 kilometres south of Ljubljana. The Ribnica plant will become a strategic supplier for all subsidiaries of the Japanese group in Europe. The new plant is an upgrade of the existing activities at Yaskawa’s Slovenian operations, Motoman Robotec and Yaskawa Ristro. Director of the two companies Hubert Kosler said that that the firms were expected to finish the financial year ending in February with revenues of EUR 3.2m and EUR 7m respectively. As part of the expansion, revenues at the latter should rise to EUR 1215m in the next financial year. The two companies currently employ 62 staff, with that number expected to rise by 30 in the next financial year as a result of the expansion drive. The new appointments will include areas of planning, IT development and project management. As part of the development drive, Yaskawa’s operations in Slovenia will be merged into one firm, called Yaskawa Slovenija.
Maribor-based bus maker TVM has a potential deal with a partner from Saudi Arabia. Workers at the firm, who have been on strike since 3 January over unpaid wages, were told by the company’s owner on 19 January that a partner from Saudi Arabia is interested in acquiring a stake in the firm. Zdenko Pavček, the boss of Viator&Vektor, the logistics group owning TVM, said the company has signed a letter of intent in which a Saudi partner, Al Amad, expressed interest in investing in the company. Al Amad signed
Govt Open to Strategic Partners for NKBM GRAF
An Austrian subcontractor is to take over construction of a key tunnel on the Slovenian coast after the main contractor stopped works late last year in the midst of debt restructuring. Faced with delays due to CPM’s inability to complete the EUR 64.5m project, Slovenia motorway company DARS had rescinded the contract and asked Alpine Bau to finish the works on the key tunnel between Koper and Izola. Construction work started in January 2010 and the two-kilometre two-tube tunnel is scheduled for completion in March 2013.
Donations
Winter wonderland
a contract on the purchase of 100 airport buses from the company in 2009, but the order has not been completed due to lack of working capital. It has been estimated that TVM currently owes close to EUR 1m in back pay to workers, but the debt increased on 19 January, the payday for December wages. The firm employs 136 people.
Manufacturing
New Owner for Compressors Maker BSH Hišni aparati helped make the Christmas season brighter and whiter for a group of children. Instead of spending money on business gifts, the company decided to donate the funds to the Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth (Zveza prijateljev mladine Slovenije). This allowed 40 children to spend a week in a white winter environment at Srednji Vrh (Gozd Martuljek). Chief executive Rudolf Klötscher and his wife also dedicated a day of their holidays to visit the children and bring them gifts.
Danfoss Compressors, which employs 1,100 people in the southeastern town of Črnomelj, has a new owner. The firm has been operating as part of the German holding Aurelius under the name Secop since November. Aurelius took over Danfoss Household Compressors business in Germany, China, Slovakia and Slovenia. The Slovenian company contributes about 40 percent of revenues and a third of the headcount of Danfoss Household Compressors. Last year it produced and sold 4.5 million of compressors, generating an estimated revenue of EUR 154m and a pre-tax profit of EUR 8m.
JAPTI (Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investment) is a business facilitator providing free information and advising services for foreign investors: • • • •
Information on business opportunities, legislation, taxes and incentive Information on industrial sites and local suppliers Links with industry and local authorities Arranging visiting programmes to the most suitable locations The Slovenia Times
Source: Ljubljana Stock Exchange
Value of NKBM shares fluctuate Value per share (in EUR) 14 12,5 11 9,5 8
2007
20011
The government is allowing foreign partners to participate in a planned capital increase at Slovenia’s second largest bank. Foreign partners will be allowed to take part in the increase at NKBM provided the state preserves a majority stake and certain privileges. Presenting this view, which was issued as an opinion for the State Asset Management Agency, Finance Minister Franc Križanič said that several investors had expressed interest. Any partner would need to agree to a 51 percent stake staying with the government and sign a shareholders’ agreement that would give the government preemptive rights to purchase shares should the investor withdraws. NKBM announced in December it would seek a capital increase in 2011 with the issue of up to 13 million new shares that will be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Demographics
Almost 15% of Active Population are Foreigners Close to 15 percent of Slovenia’s active population was born abroad, new data from the Statistics Office shows. At the beginning of 2009, 14.6 percent of Slovenia’s active population started life overseas. Overall, the percentage of foreigners living in Slovenia at the beginning of 2009 stood at 12 percent. Over the course of 2009, 30,296 people moved to Slovenia, 27,393 of who were foreign citizens. Over 65 percent of the people who moved into the country relocated for work reasons while 19 percent came to Slovenia following other family members. Around a half of foreigners working in Slovenia in 2009 were born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, followed by those from Croatia (18 percent). Nearly 27 percent of foreigners working in Slovenia in 2009 were employed in construction, followed by 24 percent in processing industries.
Division for FDI Verovškova 60 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia tel.: +386 1 5891 870 fax: +386 1 5891 877 e-mail: fdi@japti.si www.investslovenia.org
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT 13
Good practice example
The Insulation Experts With 30 years’ worth of experience in the industry, Knauf Insulation is one of the most respected names in insulation worldwide. It is also one of the fastest growing companies in the field, committed to meeting the increasing demand for energy efficiency in new and existing homes, non-residential buildings and industrial settings.
K
nauf Insulation employs nearly 5,000 people in more than 35 countries and operates more than 30 manufacturing sites. It is part of the Knauf group, a family-owned multinational manufacturer of building materials and construction systems. The group was established in 1932, had a turnover of more than EUR 5.6 billion in 2009 and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide with more than 150 factories in more than 40 countries. So how strategic is the company’s presence in Slovenia? “Slovenia is of minor importance as a market due its size,” says Barbara Hafner, the company’s marketing manager. “But we have found a very strong base of technical and sales experts here. Within the group they now play a crucial role in the development of our rock mineral wool insulation products and sales worldwide.”
On the right track
Knauf Insulation entered the Slovenian market in 2007 through the acquisition of the Austrian company Heraklith which had several rock mineral wool plants in Central and Eastern Europe. “The Termo plant in Škofja Loka was one of the jewels within the Heraklith company both from a technological and business point of view,” says Hafner. The company’s financial performance is strong and steady with a turnover of over EUR 1.2 billion in 2009 and its initial plans since the takeover in Slovenia are coming to fruition.
Notable asset: Knauf states Slovenia’s educated workforce and its proximity to big industrial markets such as Italy and Germany are its key advantages
“The first year was mainly dedicated to the rationalisation and optimisation of the business and the manufacturing plant,” explains Hafner. “The sales of insulation in the construction sector in Slovenia were hit very hard by the economic crisis. However, we have managed to develop and even further internationalise our sales to industrial customers across all of Europe and, through that, achieve what was initially planned. “Investments in technology, capacity and capabilities as well as the restructuring of the organisation has paid off and this can also be seen in our profit and loss statement. The profitability of Škofja Loka plant is getting closer to the
expected level of profitability for rock mineral wool plants.”
Meeting customer needs
In order for Knauf Insulation to improve services for its industrial customers, a special business unit Knauf Insulation OEM Solutions (KI OEM) was created. Its core purpose is to provide industrial customers with insulation products and solutions that meet their specific needs. To achieve that, the KI OEM unit drives its own innovative development and design of new products. The KI OEM team is focused on large and medium sized industrial companies which use different insulation products and integrate them into their finished products or systems. Products and services are tailored to meet customers’ requirements so as to optimise the performance of their products. Since the required properties vary by application, KI OEM has developed a wide range of insulation products. Some of the key areas on which KI OEM focuses are sandwich panels, fire protection doors, domestic appliances, chimney and fire place systems, flat thermal solar collectors, cars and other vehicles and horticulture. The KI OEM headquarters for European and Commonwealth
of Independent States countries is based in Škofja Loka, Slovenia, where the main OEM manufacturing plant is located as well as the global research and development (R&D) centre for the development of rock mineral wool products and technologies for its production. The proximity of the R&D centre enables the KI OEM team to offer its customers the newest and most advanced insulation products in a relatively short time. The company says that although Slovenia is not a low labour cost country, significant investments in new production lines and technologies carried out in recent years enable it to produce products with higher added value and to be more efficient in the production of insulation products of even higher quality. The company is also running a big optimisation initiative, which touches all areas of the business. By doing this the company was able to compensate for the significant price increases of raw materials and energy in 2010. Proof that the company is on the right track came with the prize for best foreign direct investment company in Slovenia for 2010. The award was presented to Knauf Insulation in October by The Slovenia Times and the Agency for Direct Foreign Investments sponsored by the President of Slovenia Danilo Türk. February 2011
14 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Gaming industry
A Big Gamble In early December, Minister of Finance Franc Križanič revealed a new strategy aimed at revitalising Slovenia’s gaming industry. The plan quickly drew criticism, not least from Economy Minister Darja Radić. Is the strategy really a sensible blueprint for the future of the industry? Or is it a move primarily aimed at securing speedy investment in Slovenia’s largest gaming company? Martina Budal enian firm HIT. It all began back in 2007, when the American giant planned to work with HIT to create a EUR 750 million mega entertainment centre near Nova Gorica. The deal went sour, however, when the government did not change gaming legislation. In November 2010, the media reported that the US firm had once again approached the Slovenian government with an offer for cooperation. The Ministry of Finance is remaining tight-lipped on the matter: “As the ministry in charge of the gaming industry we follow different offers about and interest in potential investment in the industry,” says a spokesperson. “According to our legal powers the ministry will present its opinion about any investment when such initiative will be ready for public debate”.
T
here can be little argument that Franc Križanič’s strategy for Slovenia’s gambling industry is a comprehensive one. The Finance Minister’s plan introduces fundamental changes including different taxation as well as the abolition of some ownership restrictions. It states that the gaming industry should further develop in Nova Gorica, Portorož, Sežana-Lipica, Kranjska Gora, Ljubljana, Maribor, Bled and health resorts. It also proposes new categories of gaming facilities – namely mega entertainment centre, gaming and entertainment centre, grand casino and casino, with the existing gaming salon category continuing. Since analysis has shown that bigger casinos have less profit on slot machines the strategy proposes reducing taxes for bigger casinos, while merging tax and concession duty into single tax. State and local communities will remain the major stakeholders in the gaming industry, with a 51 percent share in all casinos except salons.
with universal praise. None other than Economy Minister Darja Radić has expressed opposition to the strategy, saying at a business breakfast hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia that it lacks goals and that there is no need for state ownership in the industry. Ownership is a prickly issue. The new strategy also proposes dropping certain current restrictions on ownership of gaming firms. Currently, one business entity or person can only own 20 percent of a gaming company while the state owns at least 51 percent. Under the new plan, that requirement would be abolished. Furthermore, in the case of shared investments in mega entertainment centres, it would be possible for the 51 percent public share to be diminished.
The new strategy proposes dropping certain current restrictions on ownership of gaming firms. Currently, one business entity or person Are the Americans can only own 20 percent back? of a gaming company Such proposals have led some while the state owns to argue that the new strategy at least 51 percent. has been written for Caesars Entertainment. The world’s biggest Under the new plan, that Controversy gaming company has long exrequirement would be A detailed plan it may be, but pressed interest in buying Slovabolished. the new strategy has not been met The Slovenia Times
HIT still hit
It is clear that HIT, Slovenia’s largest gaming company, could do with some investment. It has been deeply in the red for some time, with the first unofficial records showing its loss for 2010 will amount to EUR 6.4 million. The firm is putting an optimistic spin on the results. “Most of the loss, namely EUR 5.4 million, is a consequence of severances given to 300 employees that left company last year,” says company spokesperson Katja Peršolja. “This cost will not burden the company in 2011 and operational costs in 2010 were 22 percent lower than in 2009. We expect to finish this year with minimal profit.” Nonetheless, the firm will clearly be keeping a close key on the gaming strategy. They describe the plan as “appropriate” and agree that the market is jaded. They also argue that the only way to ensure further development of the industry is to attract new guests from distant markets and develop accompanying facilities. One can’t help but think that a collaboration with Caesars Entertainment would help on that front.
ECONOMY 15 The all-new BMW X3
www.a-cosmos.si
Sheer Driving Pleasure
JOY WANTS YOU TO HAVE IT ALL.
Joy is as versatile as you. Joy doesn’t like to sacrifice one pleasure for another. That’s why the all-new BMW X3 unites top of the line engines, a stunning driving performance and a variable interior under a perfectly sculpted aerodynamic silhouette. For example the best-in-segment trunk room, with a 40:20:40 divisible rear seat bench and flexible luggage compartment makes Joy the perfect companion for any activity. Experience it yourself at the BMW xDrive Live! Register now at www.bmw.si.
THE ALL-NEW BMW X3. BMW DIPLOMATIC AND CORPORATE SALES A-Cosmos d. d. Celovška cesta 182 1000 Ljubljana Tel.: 01 58 33 540 bmw@a-cosmos.si CO2 emissions for BMW X3 2.0d: 149 g/km.
2.0d
5,6l/100 km 184 KM (135 kW)
February 2011
16 DIPLOMATIC SOCIETY
EMBASSY DIARIES Greek embassy
Hungarian embassy
Indian embassy
Protecting Products
Concert Marks Start of Hungarian EU Presidency
Republic Day of India
The start of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union has been marked in Slovenia with a special concert. The concert of the works of Hungarian composter Frank Liszt, held last month at the Slovenian Philharmonic, featured Spanish tenor Jose Antonio Campo Edesa and pianist Severino Manuel Ortiz Rey. The pieces played were all composted when Liszt lived in Spain, and were chosen to underline the complexity and diversity of Europe’s cultural heritage. A gala evening in Cankarjev Dom also helped to celebrate the start of the presidency. Guests were treated to the sounds of the popular group Kisha, folk dance group Kerka, etno music band Kontrabant, Tobor Kerekes, and modern dance group Trixy. The musical treats were followed by food and drink delights that included both local and Hungarian delicacies.
The Indian embassy in Ljubljana celebrated the Republic Day of India with a special reception. Guests at the event were treated to traditional Indian food, as well as some Slovenian delicacies.
The Greek embassy in Ljubljana has organised a conference to discuss protecting origin products. Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin Products within the European Union – Good practices included presentations by Mira Kos Skubic from the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food; Pavlos Dimitrou from the European Commission, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development; and Christos Pappas and Panagiotis Tasis from AGROCERT. At the end of the conference, the Greek-Slovenian group Pegasos interpreted pieces of artistic songs by Greek composers Hatzidakis and Theodorakis.
French embassy
Boris Pahor gets French Recognition Slovenian novelist Boris Pahor has been presented with France’s highest cultural honour. The author was last month bestowed the rank of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres of France by French Ambassador Nicole Michelangeli. The 97-year-old was recognised for his literary talent and his ties to France, its language, and its culture.
Spanish embassy
Bulgarian embassy
Norwegian embassy
Jaki Decorated by Spain
A Special Link
Seafood Seminar
National Gallery director Barbara Jaki has been honoured by Spain for her contribution to SpanishSlovenian relations. Jaki last month accepted the Officer’s Cross Order of Isabella the Catholic from Ambassador Anunciada Fernandez de Cordova. Culture represents the most peaceful and sustainable bond between countries, the ambassador said, praising Jaki for giving her an insight into Slovenian culture.
American Chamber of Commerce and US embassy
The Rule of Law Academics, politicians and businessmen once again gathered last month for the latest AmCham breakfast event. The January event discussed the respect of the rule of law in Slovenia and featured guest speeches from Minister of Justice Aleš Zalar and Goran Klemenčič, President of the Corruption Prevention Commission. Among the influential guests who attended were US ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli; Žiga Debeljak, chief executive of Mercator; and chief executive of Si.mobil Dejan Turk.
The Slovenia Times
The Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences has officially presented a new book entitled Bagrjana and Slovenia. The publication covers an almost unknown period in the life and poetry of Bulgaria’s most famous poet, Elisaveta Bagrjana – a time closely associated with Slovenia and its society in the first half of the 20th century. According to Bulgaria’s ambassador Philip Bok, the book about Bagrjana depicts the close spiritual and cultural links which existed at that time between Slovenians and Bulgarians.
The Norwegian embassy in Ljubljana has organised a highly successful seafood seminar. The seminar, which was organised in cooperation with a Norwegian business partner, was aimed at potential importers of Norwegian seafood in Slovenia and Croatia and attracted 35 visitors. Visitors could select from a wide range of delicious sample dishes including salmon, cod, halibut, crab and haddock, all prepared by local chefs.
Japanese embassy
“Wind in the Pines” Receives Uchimura Prize The Slovenian staging of a Japanese play has received a prestigious prize. The Uchimura Prize, designed to promote Japanese theatre outside Japan, was awarded to the Maribor-based national theatre house production of Noh play “Wind in the Pines”. The prize is conferred annually to pay tribute to playwright Naoya Uchimura, a former president of the Japanese International Theatre Institute Centre who dedicated his life to promoting knowledge and understanding of theatre around the world.
HEALTHCARE FOCUS 17
Interview: Cvetka Dragoš Jančar, Barsos medical centre
The Challenge of Prevention In 1993, Slovenia’s first private health clinic was established. In the 18 years since, Barsos has steadily grown and today offers a variety of healthcare services to a wide range of patients. According to director Cvetka Dragoš Jančar, taking a traditional socialist approach to healthcare and modifying it for the modern era was the foundation of the clinic’s success. But she says that further challenges lie ahead for healthcare, not least in Slovenia. By Maja Dragović
A lot of your patients are foreigners. How did that come about? In 1990, Slovenia started opening up suddenly, many foreigners came here. Both our doctors and our nurses know foreign languages, and of course we were located in the capital, and so that’s how it started. Foreigners were used to more flexible hours, to counselling over the telephone and we offered all of this. Perhaps the most important thing is this individual approach – large national institutions need longer to treat you, while we work more quickly. How do foreign patients compare to Slovenian ones? Foreigners are, in general, very enlightened when it comes to health. When they have a problem, they first try to solve it themselves, whereas Slovenians run to the doctor at the first sneeze. In terms of saving money, the foreign approach is better. I think in the future you will have to do more by yourself before coming to the doctor. Would you say that patients nowadays are more knowledgeable about their possible illnesses? Yes. Doctors want patients to know much more about their illnesses – to know the cause and how the illness starts. In addition, medicine is slowly changing from a paternalistic, authoritative prac-
Photo: Maja Kaplan
Barsos was the first private clinic in Slovenia. What was the thinking behind its foundation? When we first set up the clinic in 1993, the idea was to start with the basics and have only paediatricians and general doctors. Then later on, we would hire other specialists that might be needed by these two branches – orthopaedics, cardiology and so on. They had the same idea in the old socialist system. In a way we followed this idea, but in a friendlier, more accessible way, with perhaps more emphasis on an individual approach.
tice where Latin is spoken and the patients do not understand, to a practice where the patient’s understanding is crucial and where he or she helps you treat the condition. This is a critical new step in the approach to treating a patient. The patient is now my assistant. Does the increased knowledge of patients help you as a doctor or does it make matters more difficult? This helps doctors because knowledgeable patients compel doctors to educate themselves even more, to follow new scientific achievements. A knowledgeable patient is a challenge to you. It would be stupid for a doctor to say “I know everything”, because there are many specialist branches and they are all developing very quickly. What do you think will be the focus of healthcare in the coming years? And is Slovenia prepared for this future? The future all over the world lies in preventive care, includ-
ing public education. Nowadays, Slovenia has preventive procedures for colorectal cancer, mammograms, prevention of breast cancer, regular gynaecological examinations, etc. I have to say that, when compared to the rest of the world, Slovenia is very strong in prevention in paediatrics. We are very conscientious in this respect. We did a great thing with the law against smoking in public places. We take great care of diabetes patients – all of their expenses are covered. Oncological patients also have all of their expenses covered. It is, however, unfortunate that the economic crisis is responsible for people not going to preventive checkups as much as they used to. And I think the economic situation is not favourable for a healthy way of life. People smoke more, they eat more unhealthy food. The amount of stress in people’s lives is enormous, and stress always has a negative effect on health. Nowadays, patients often go to doctors like they used to go to priests.
Foreigners are, in general, very enlightened when it comes to health. When they have a problem, they first try to solve it themselves, whereas Slovenians run to the doctor at the first sneeze. February 2011
18
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL
Photo: Dreamstime
Yet Another Challenging Year The Slovenian ICT industry may have weathered the economic storm better than most, but that doesn’t mean that 2010 has been pain-free. Spending on ICT has once again fallen, leaving firms facing the challenge of customers with flat budgets. But there is optimism that better days lie ahead. By Miran Varga
T
his time last year, leading market intelligence firm IDC Adriatics reported that the ICT market in Slovenia had shrunk by 10.3 percent. One year later and their latest analysis is good news only in the sense that matters haven’t got much worse. By half way through 2010, ICT spending was already down 1.3 percent on last year’s numbers. That has left IDC Adriatics pre-
The Slovenia Times
dicting that the total spend in Slovenia in 2010 will eventually amount to USD 2,033m – essentially the same level as last year. “We expect Slovenian IT spending to remain flat year-on-year in 2010,” explains Darja Jama, country manager at the market intelligence firm. “Over the five-year forecast period, the country’s IT market is [expected] to expand at a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 4.4 percent to reach USD 1.13 billion in 2014 and the total ICT market at a CAGR of 1.9 percent to reach USD 2.26 billion in 2014.”
Fighting the decline
Spending may have remained largely flat, but Slovenia’s ICT companies managed to stay afloat and generate revenue. Naturally, some sectors of the industry fared
better than others. Telecommunication services contracted by 1.4 percent and there was a one per cent decline in combined IT spending (hardware, software and IT services). Last year’s biggest losers were businesses selling hardware, mainly server equipment and printers. It is likely that there is another tough year ahead as companies stick with their equipment as long as
ICT special 19 changed playing field,” explains Jama of IDC Adriatics. “Not even two years ago they had more say in, and more impact on, the conditions of how IT projects will be run and financed. Now they simply have to satisfy the customer’s every wish in order to get the contract. Flexibility of companies is playing a key role and, as it is not very likely that all companies can change in time, we believe that the future will bring additional consolidation in this sector, mainly through mergers and acquisitions.”
Numbers don’t lie
Change is good
No wonder that there was a 7.7 percent year-on-year decline in IT services spending in 2009, and a further 0.9 percent drop predicted for 2010. At least the forecast for 2011 brings back hope with predictions of one digit growth. A similar fate was experienced by packaged software license and maintenance which dropped 7.3 percent in 2009 and will be happy to hit the expected flat growth in 2010. The ICT work horse that is telecommunications services declined 7.5 percent year on year in 2009. By the end of the year another 1.4 percent fall in spending in this area is expected, while in 2011 IDC analysts predict flat growth. And it is no fun to be hardware reseller these days. After a one fifth drop in income in 2009, the fight for customers was on this year. Despite great efforts hardware sales are still expected to have declined by 1.7 percent in 2010. The forecast for 2011 is better, though – the big winners are expected to enjoy double digit growth. That said, the current downturn has already felled some large companies which were unable to change their business model, had payment liquidity issues, or faced customers changing previously agreed projects. “IT solution providers find it hard to do business on this
Amidst this change and instability there is hope. The ICT sector may be struggling all around the globe but it has proved in the past that this is an industry that can adapt rather quickly and this leads to the expectation of better times ahead. Many new developments will rely on new technologies such as cloud computing and the workforce itself which is becoming more mobile and interconnected. Work to ensure Slovenia is at the front of these developments is progressing well. In September 2009, the University of Maribor joined with various partners to establish the first Slovenian Cloud Computing Centre. The Centre provides state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure and comprehensive knowledge and experience. The aim is to increase awareness of this important new IT development. It is already having some success. “We have observed the most interest for infrastructure (IaaS) and software (SaaS) part, and a little less for platform (PaaS),” explains Professor Matjaž B. Jurič, who runs the Centre. “The important message is that companies have understood that cloud computing is much more than using virtual servers remotely.” Jurič is confident that the interest will increase further. Source: IDC Black Book, Q2 2010
Moderate growth Telecom services in % 20
15
10
“We expect that the interest will grow further in the coming months,” he says. “It seems that the prediction that the impact of cloud computing will be even bigger than the impact of e-business holds true.” Still, business leaders have to adapt companies’ business models and manage businesses more effectively. The general opinion in the ICT sector is that the recession ends with 2010. But things will never be the same again as the new economic reality sets it. Faced with multiple budget cuts, the corporate and public sectors will still be delaying their ICT spending. The demand side will also change in nature while companies will see increased demand for services with reduced resources. “While technologies are transitioning from ‘heavy’ owner-operated solutions to ‘lighter-weight’ services, chief information officers (CIOs) are, in turn, transitioning IT beyond merely managing resources to taking responsibility for managing results,” says Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartner EXP. The first signs of these changes can be seen in business priorities which lead companies to greater cost-based efficiencies. The largest productivity gains nowadays come from collaborative and innovative solutions which include cloud and so-called social computing. By now CIOs should have a clear view of the new challenges – the biggest one being the transition of IT from a support function to strategic contributor. When companies realise what the digital era is all about, they will eventually seek for innovation and competitive advantage in the ICT field where they should have looked in the first place. That promises better days ahead for Slovenia’s ICT industry.
Companies in Slovenia with ten or more employees spent EUR 644.4m – excluding VAT – on purchases of information and communication technologies in 2009, accounting for 1.35 percent of their overall purchasing
Investments in IT gear were small last year as the trend of limited and stricter investment policies continued. Projects are still being broken into smaller pieces or even revoked entirely. In practice this means that very few investments are taking place and the ICT sector is, for the time being, mainly focused on the maintenance of existing infrastructure.
The general opinion in the ICT sector is that the recession ends with 2010. But things will never be the same again as the new economic reality sets it. Faced with multiple budget cuts, the corporate and public sectors will still be delaying their ICT spending.
Better prospects for the future
Source: IDC Black Book, Q2 2010
it works given there is no fresh money to be had for upgrades. Investments in IT gear were small last year as the trend of limited and stricter investment policies continued. Projects are still being broken into smaller pieces or even revoked entirely. In practice this means that very few investments are taking place and the ICT sector is, for the time being, mainly focused on the maintenance of existing infrastructure. The only investments that are realised are those with clear cost cutting elements in place.
in % 20 15 10 5 0
5
-5
0
Hardware total Total IT Services total Packaged software tool
-10 -5
-15
-10
-20 2007/06
2014/13
2007/06
2014/13
February 2011
20 ICT special Technologically-savvy people the world over have one key topic of discussion when it comes to smartphones: does Apple’s iPhone offer the best user experience, or is that title belonging to devices with the Android operating system? Many believe the battle will ultimately be won by the system with the best content. And so while Slovenia may not yet be on the battle maps of smartphone developers, many companies are already developing content for mobile devices.
Smartphones
Content is King
By Miran Varga
T
the system doesn’t only operate on phones but also on increasingly popular tablet computers. iPhone fans say this means Android programmers have to take into account many platforms and screen sizes so the development cycles can sometimes be prolonged because of compatibility issues. They point out that with Apple devices the user experience is recognisable and consistent – if you have handled one, you can master all of them.
New technology, new content
For users the considerations are simpler but just as numerPhoto: Calypsocrystal
he goal is the same – to provide a phone which is easy to use, elegant, and packed full of content. But the approaches taken by Android and the Apple iPhone to meeting this goal could barely be more different. The Android operating system, created by search engine pioneers Google, focuses on open source and cross-platform solutions. Apple, meanwhile, is building and supporting a closed and strictly controlled system of devices and applications. Which approach will ultimately win out is a matter for intense debate among technology experts. Android fans argue the system’s multitasking abilities and its strong integration with Google services make it significantly better than Apple’s phone operating system. They also sing the praises of the openness of Android; the freedom anyone has to develop for the system. And they point out
The Slovenia Times
ous: design, form factor, features, user friendliness, applications, price and – last but by no means least – content. Mobile phones are no longer merely devices on which to make and receive calls or text messages. They now also represent ever yth i ng f rom a games machine in your pocket to a constantly updated news source. In Slovenia many daily newspapers have realised the power of this sort of technology. Daily newspapers such as Delo, Dnevnik, Finance and Večer all now offer content for mobile devices. Many of them are boosting sales with the help of mobile operators who are subsidising mobile devices for content delivery, particularly tablet PCs. The business model is very simple – a user pays a monthly subscription fee which gives him or her mobile internet access and newspaper content. This money is later shared between mobile operators and content providers. With printed media in decline, content delivery models are very much in favour of digital mobile devices. But users must be educated first and the digital approach is still very much in the early stages. The first versions of Slovenian digital newspaper content applications clearly show that they are
low budget solutions as they are nowhere near the quality of some other applications for mobile phones. They lack in functionality, user friendliness and refinement, but still offer a good basis for further development.
Local focus
Nonetheless, there are quite a few Slovenian mobile applications on the market. Localised applications and applications that were built from the ground up with Slovenian users in mind have a clear advantage on the home market. Mobile operators are keen to encourage these sorts of developments by offering awards to developers creating useful applications for frequent use. Among these are applications such as Odpiralni časi, Toshl, Talking Tom, Vreme SLO and different solutions which deliver traffic and bus information, news and weather directly to mobile phones. It is not yet clear when Apple and Android devices will become widely available and widely owned in Slovenia – nor which of the two systems will prove most popular. But it is clear that local companies are following the mobile trend with interest, ready to capitalise on the many opportunities it offers.
ICT special 21
Smartphones
The World in your Pocket The increasingly sophisticated abilities of smartphones mean goodies for users and opportunities for innovative software designers. By Jaka Terpinc
A
ny gadget freak knows the joy that can be derived by using a smartphone; the way these small, internet-enabled devices can bring the world into the pockets of their owners. While there has been disappointment that the Apple iPhone has not yet appeared on subscription packages in Slovenia – allegedly because the market is so small that no sensible deal can be agreed with Apple – gadget fans in this Balkan nation are not without options. Many users have opted for devices running the Android operating system, which is now the fastest-growing mobile platform. The most recent statistics show
that 14 percent of the Slovenian population now uses a mobile phone to access the internet. Add in users of laptops, netbooks and tablets and the figure for those who regularly go online through mobile networks grows to 20 percent. E-mail, web browsing, and picture transfers are the most frequent activities and the most regular users are between 16 and 24 years old. According to Si.mobil, last year in particular saw an expansion of smartphones, netbooks and tablets, which demand fast mobile internet. The firm has realised that mobile applications represent a significant added value to their
services. Platforms such as Android, which offer easy programming options, make the use of phones more interesting, easier and solve particular user problems. That’s why Si.mobil decided to run competition for the best Slovenian Android applications, with a stimulating prize fund. 32 applications were entered with ten of them receiving awards. The overall winning application was “Odpiralni časi” (Opening hours) which can at any time point you to the nearest shops, pharmacies, cashpoints and so on. Most of the applications that received prizes were navigation-based in
this way, joining with existing databases which help you get around and find curiosities, party or even contribute information about illegal garbage deposits. The prizewinning applications have been downloading up to 5,000 times in a matter of months and there are no doubts that the future will bring even more interest in this fast-developing field.
IBM Forum
6th and 7th April 2011 Grand hotel Bernardin, Portorož Get more information: ibm.com/si/ibmforum
100 years for a Smarter Planet
February 2011
22 ICT special
IT security
Small doesn’t Mean Invincible As information technology has grown to be central to the operation of most businesses, so too has the fear of IT security breaches. Traditionally, Slovenian firms have believed that their relatively small size reduces the risk of such problems. It is a belief that experts in the IT security field are eager to change, emphasising that small does not mean without risk.
Photo: Dreamstime
By Miran Varga software, but new threats mean there is a need for constant vigilance. In recent years attackers have achieved great success with social engineering techniques which allow them to trick users into revealing sensitive information. Soon after the attackers take over the victim’s identity and steal data and/or money. A lot of security vulnerabilities are also caused by incautious computer programmers. Many of them are self-taught and seriously lacking in knowledge of safe programming. Therefore the applications they write wind up with several holes through which hackers can enter company network and data silos.
Worrying results
I
A lot of security vulnerabilities are caused by incautious computer programmers. Many of them are self-taught and seriously lacking in knowledge of safe programming. Therefore the applications they write wind up with several holes through which hackers can enter company network and data silos. The Slovenia Times
t seems logical: “We’re a small company. Why would anyone bother to attack our information technology?” It’s true that small companies with relatively small turnovers are not likely to become the victims of the sort of targeted attacks that large, multinational firms fear. But that does not mean there is no danger. Mass attacks such as viruses, spyware and other type of malware can enter an organisation via e-mail or even during web browsing sessions and they mean no company should feel completely invulnerable to IT security threats. Slovenia may be a small country with small companies, but it’s still of interest to the bad guys – not least since its entry into the European Monetary Union. The biggest IT security issue for Slovenian companies is quite simply a lack of experts in the field. Even if firms employ specialist IT personnel these people mostly take care of software upgrades, put access control in place, and install modern firewalls. But true information security goes far beyond that. It addresses companies’ critical need to minimise the risk
to their business operation from external and internal threats thus protecting IT infrastructure, applications and data. The key to success is to minimise the vulnerabilities that enable attacks. To do this, companies have to look at protection strategies, talk to technology and service providers, and deploy best practices in the field. Adding to the difficulties is the fact that the threat environment is constantly changing. This means security professionals must improve protection against increasingly sophisticated and damaging targeted attacks. And IT security implementations differ between industries due to somewhere complex regulatory compliance requirements.
Weak spots: programmers and unaware users
Users will always be the weakest link in the IT security chain and that means that IT solutions have to prevent major threats from reaching the user level. This can be achieved through costly investment in IT security hardware and
In industries where IT security is regulated, one of the major requirements is periodical security audits. They often have concerning outcomes. “Many times we see even complex business applications that are severely lack when it comes to properly securing the users and data,” says Nejc Škoberne, security analyst at Viris, a Slovenian company specialising in security audits and penetration tests. “When we come across simple web applications the situation is even worse, sometimes there are no security features put in place whatsoever.” That is something which has to change, experts say. Programmers must learn the basics of secure programming. Companies must put more emphasis on getting all of their data entry points as secure as possible. And Slovenian companies must stop thinking that small means invulnerable. After all, recent studies show that only six per cent of companies which have lost business critical data managed to recover. Get IT security wrong and it could be a case of going from small business to non-existent business.
Halcom d.d.
Making Banking Mobile
Participants of the round table discussion at the annual bank conference in Serbia (December 2010) from the left: Matjaž Čadež, Halcom, Dejan Đorđević, Telenor, Aleksandar Blagojević, Raiffeisen banka, Branko Čelarević, Komercijalna banka Beograd, Nikola Mamuzić, Giesecke&Devrient (G&D), Bogdan Dačević, Elektrovojvodina in Milan Kostić, Erste banka. Round table was moderated by Ivan Lacković, Halcom Bg.
E-banking has grown massively in recent years, and now it’s moving from desktop computers to mobile devices. It’s a development which Slovenian e-banking firm Halcom is ready to capitalise on. Already present in nine markets – and with its systems used by 70 commercial banks, four central banks and clearing houses, and more than 140,000 companies – the firm is optimistic that 2011 will bring yet more success.
N
o longer just an e-service for transactions, e-banking is evolving into a channel bringing clients added value by deriving information from existing data. At the same time it gives banks a chance to engage in targeted, non-aggressive bank product marketing. In corporative e-banking, which has shown very good results in Slovenia compared to the rest of the European Union, the short term trend is quite distinctly heading toward providing e-invoicing services.
Successful collaborations
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At Slovenian e-banking firm Halcom, the belief is that the technology itself is not as important as the service that the banks and clients get in the end. At present the main trend is towards upgrading e-banking in terms of establishing a persuasive, yet unimposing sales and marketing channel. Another crucial trend in e-banking is the use of other communications devices (smartphones, tablet computers and so on). In 2010, Halcom succeeded in increasing the number of partner banks using Hal E-Bank by two, bringing the total number to 70. In Serbia,
the firm now collaborates with Greek bank Piraeus and in Albania with an Italian bank group member Veneto Bank. In 2011 the firm predicts further growth, albeit not in foreign markets rather than the domestic one.
Mobile payments Halcom has devoted significant energy to developing mobile payment technology. In the last quarter of 2010, the company successfully finished the safe mobile payment 123 PAY! project in Serbia which was run jointly with Telenor mobile service provider and four banks (Raiffeisen Bank, Erste Bank, Credit Agricole and Komercijalna banka). The 123 PAY! system, marketed as PlatiMo, ensures the highest safety standard in SIM-based qualified digital signatures. In this way, Halcom managed to implement e-banking safety standards on mobile devices, which puts 123 PAY! and its additional functionalities way ahead of the global competition. Apart from buying products and services, users can also pay monthly bills, transfer funds between private accounts, and use their mobile phone as a point of sale termi-
At a press conference in November last year in Belgrade, Telenor, Serbian provider of mobile network, together with Halcom, presented a new service PlatiMo
Halcom d.d. Tržaška 118, 1000 Ljubljana Tel: +386 (0)1 200 33 40 info@halcom.si, www.halcom.si
“We believe 2011 will be even better than 2010.” Matjaž Čadež, executive manager
nal. The system enables easy top-up of pay-asyou-go accounts and virtual wallets, and easy overview of balance and finished transactions.
Plans for 2011 and beyond Halcom believes that the successful project with Telenor will open the door to the global market in the field of mobile business solutions. In line with its global penetration strategy, the firm has signed a partner agreement with German company Giesecke & Devrient, the second largest SIM cards manufacturer. In addition to existing markets, Halcom will thus be able to enter markets where G&D already has its affiliates. Halcom is now intensively engaged in developing the Hal M-Bank mobile bank which is based on the new generation infrastructure for e-banking. The system enables users to safely e-bank via their mobile phones, anytime and anywhere. Halcom’s senior staff are optimistic that this and other projects will lead to another successful year. “We believe 2011 will be even better than 2010,” says Matjaž Čadež, executive manager. In 2011 the firm predicts further growth, albeit not in the domestic market but in foreign markets. “This year, the years-long investments into products and new markets are expected to come to fruition. Without doubt, the main challenges are in the field of mobile payment technology and the successful penetration of Middle Eastern markets, particularly Iran, where we have already achieved excellent results.”
Halcom operates in nine markets and its solutions are used by 70 commercial banks, four central banks and clearing houses, and more than 140,000 companies.
24 ICT special
Telecommunications
Trouble for T-2 One of Slovenia’s newest and fastest growing telecommunications companies has started 2011 in serious trouble. T-2, which has won hundreds of thousands of customers through its commitment to delivering true high speed internet, commenced the new year by opening debt restructuring proceedings. Yet ironically, just as the firm is struggling to stay afloat, the Slovenian government is preparing a programme which commits to extending the very services T-2 has been offering its customers. By Aleš Šinkovec
T
he telecommunications sector in Slovenia used to be dominated by one company: Telekom Slovenije. While the company is still dominant in its field, it no longer holds the monopoly it once did with various new companies having entered the fray. One of the most aggressive has been T-2. With a focus on true broadband and high-speed internet, the firm has secured a spot as the second largest telecoms provider in Slovenia with just over a hundred thousand customers. The story of T-2 took a bleak turn last month, however. On 13 January, the court in Maribor authorised the company’s plans to go through a process of debt restructuring. The telecommunications company is facing serious hardships, with debts amounting to approximately EUR 238m. Most of the accrued debt comes from the construction and installation of the large fibre-optic network which enabled the firm to offer true broadband.
Range of creditors
T-2’s two largest creditors are the construction company Gratel (to which the telecoms firm owes EUR 80m), and state bank NLB to which it is in debt to the tune of EUR 125m. Other creditors include investment and consultancy firms and, interestingly, Telekom Slovenije. Herein lies another source of T-2’s current woes. Telekom claims that it is owed around EUR 13m for unpaid network usage fees. Meanwhile T-2 claims EUR 120m in damages for Telekom abusing its dominant market position. In a court case filed last year, T-2 asserts that almost all of its requests to use Telekom’s network infrastructure were denied. Irrespective of the outcome of the Telekom case, T-2 has announced plans to reduce its debt by EUR 100m, paying 34.6 percent of the amount owed over the next eight years. It seems certain that ownership will change: the current largest stakeholder, Zvon Ena holding, has filed for bankruptcy. The Slovenia Times
Broadband for all
Ironically, T-2 made a profit of EUR 3.3m in the last three quarters of 2010, only remaining in the red because of its financial obligations. Even more ironically, the Slovenian government is now preparing a new programme and further legislation to expand highspeed internet access – just the sort of service T-2 has offered its customers.
Competition in a digital age
The new programme, entitled Digital Slovenia, aims to implement European Union directives to expand broadband internet into every home. The belief is that such a move will lead to significant economic expansion. Significantly, Europe is still lagging behind South Korea and Japan in fibre-optic penetration: one percent versus
15 and 12 percent respectively. It is estimated that around another EUR 500m will be needed to complete the high-speed network in Slovenia. Alongside the expanded grid and implementation of the latest internet protocol, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology is preparing a new law governing electronic communication (ZEKom-2). The government says it will increase personal privacy, data protection, and safety. But perhaps most importantly it aims to increase regulatory powers to enable greater competition in the telecoms field. “Telecommunications operators have noted a lack of state guidance for development that [they say] makes it difficult for them to decide on an investment,” says a ministry spokesperson. “In principle, the strategy can contribute
to creating a climate which would allow more systematic and coordinated development of broadband networks on a national level.”
The future
By completing the high speed network and adding regulatory powers, Slovenia will finally have the groundwork for a fair and competitive electronic communications market. T-2 seems to feel it’s long overdue. “T-2 has always been vying for competitive conditions in the Slovenian telecommunications market,” says company representative Nada Majdič. “Up until now, this wasn’t the case, so we welcome all efforts to improve market conditions. How successful they’ll be depends largely on their implementation in the legislation and its future execution.” But will it all be too late for struggling T-2?
ICT SPECIAL 25
e-Health
Slow Progress Most Slovenian hospitals are still drowning in paperwork while those few dedicated to IT progress are hindered by a rigid central information system. Where now for e-health in Slovenia? By Lucija B. Petavs
I
Photo: Dreamstime
n general, Slovenia’s hospitals have good information support. However, there is a problem: these systems are neither standardised nor interconnected or compatible with each other. That means that Slovenian healthcare’s current level of computerisation does not actually aid doctors and their patients but instead is often as a time-wasting burden. Some time ago, the government announced a healthcare computerisation project worth EUR 130 million. eZdravje (eHealth) was supposed to introduce modern and user-friendly IT to the healthcare system. It did not bring the desired effect. Criticised heavily in both medical and technological circles, the health minister Dorjan Marušič recently put a stop to it and started a major overhaul of the project.
Misguided
C r it ic i sm of t he or ig i n a l eZdravje project had been swirling for some time. A multidisciplinary group of five experts from various IT fields was the first to publicly express concerns that the direction of the scheme was misguided. In a piece published in Medicina danes, the group argued the project neglected the true needs of patients and doctors, focusing instead on the implementation and construction of a frame to control financial flows. The fact is that Slovenia already has systems which provide doctors with information about their patient’s health insurance and the like – zzzsNET, for instance, which is the computer system of the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia. Most point out that there is therefore no need to assign money to such systems again. Instead, the state could use funds for content development or the so-called knowledge base which would support qualitative healing and from which the doctor and the patient would benefit.
An open system
Those working within hospitals have also been describing the changes they feel are necessary. Vasja Rebec, the deputy director for administrative and business line of Bolnišnica Golnik KOPA
hospital, says every hospital or medical centre should have an open information system that would enable the inclusion of all other development subsystems. Golnik Hospital is an example of one of the most qualitative IT supported hospitals in Slovenia and was the first facility in the country to have an electronic system of patient appointments. Many hospitals still do not have such a facility. What Slovenian healthcare informatics lack most are rivals and this competitive edge should be established as soon as possible, says Rebec. Every alteration or upgrade of the information systems means extra costs for healthcare centres where the largest problem is not money but the long-lasting process that accompanies these changes.
Renewed focus
The current health minister is clearly focusing on e-health to a greater extent than his predecessors. Dorjan Marušič took part in the creation of the eZdravje concept while the former minister Borut Miklavčič did not take interest in computerisation and eZdravje but assigned these projects to his colleagues.
Last summer Marušič expressed concern about the shortage of progress on eZdravje in the last three years. He added that the project is in a critical phase and expressed fears it will not reach users by the end of his mandate. “I wish to end my mandate with at least one paperless hospital,” said the minister back then. Whether this is merely a pipedream remains to be seen. Lucija B. Petavs is the editor of Medicina Danes (Medicine Today), a byweekly publication by Finance daily newspaper
eZdravje (e-health) The eZdravje project would see Slovenians get to get a national waiting list, e-doctor appointment system and access to their medical records. Until now the project has more or less been a collection of documents and action plans. It is supposed to be finished by 2023 but is already running late for its mid-term deadlines. The current minister decided to fundamentally review the project and has therefore put a temporary halt to it.
eZdravje (eHealth) was supposed to introduce modern and user-friendly IT to the healthcare system. It did not bring the desired effect. Criticised heavily in both medical and technological circles, the health minister Dorjan Marušič recently put a stop to it and started a major overhaul of the project. February 2011
Internet media
The Electronic Issue It is fair to say that the rise of the internet from minority tech tool to ubiquitous part of daily life has affected every business sector. It is also fair to say that few sectors have been quite as affected as the media. Printed publications have suddenly found themselves vying with regularly updated websites for readers – websites that are increasingly accessed on the go using smartphones and tablet computers. For Slovenia’s printed publications, it’s a case of adapting to the need to provide electronic content while operating in a market where print is far from dead. By Claire Read
I
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Tel.: +386 59 045 003 marketing@sloveniatimes.com www.sloveniatimes.com
t sometimes feels that, in the past ten years or so, newspapers have featured more articles proclaiming the death of printed media at the hands of the internet than they have actual obituaries. After years of doom, most now agree that electronic and printed media are not in fact mutually exclusive. But it is also agreed that an online presence is a necessity for any media outlet wanting to prosper in the early twenty first century. Just ten years ago that reality would surely have been greeted with concern and revulsion in most newsrooms. Now, however, there is an understanding that the internet presents opportunities alongside the risks.
Plenty of advantages
“The internet gives us the opportunity to spread our scoops immediately,” says Uroš Urbas, editor of the daily newspaper Finance. “We were the first daily in Slovenia to put the whole newspaper on the web the evening before publication. That has given us the opportunity for more loyal readers who appreciate that decision – they get our scoops the day before they appear in the paper.” For Slovenia’s newest and most widely read daily, the internet has always been at the very heart of the publication’s strategy. When daily newspaper Žurnal24 launched in 2007 – a sister publication to the free weekly publication Žurnal – its website was launched simultaneously.
Goran Novković, president of the board of Žurnal Media and editor-in-chief of Žurnal, appreciates the potential the web has to unite readers: “Creating an online community has always been our main aim [with our web content],” he says. “We want to do more than just publish news – we particularly want to interact with our readers/users and encourage interaction among them.”
Going mobile
Žurnal is now keen to make the most of the new ways in which people are accessing online material, having launched a mobilefriendly website and enabled iPad accessibility. It is not the only Slovenian publication looking to extend its online presence to mobile devices. In November, Delo and
Uroš Urbas, editor of the daily newspaper Finance
Profil d.o.o. Parmova 53, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Phone: +386 01 280 54 00 Fax: +386 01 280 54 09 E-mail: profil@profil-group.com www.profil-group.com
By Primož Klemen, Profil d.o.o.
Consultancy
Why Measure Employee and Customer Satisfaction? Research as well as everyday experience shows that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction – it is impossible to maintain a loyal customer base without a base of loyal employees. Consequentially, it has become virtually imperative for modern companies to monitor these two elements, which influence business performance crucially. When observing those factors, we stumble upon inevitable differences on two levels of perception: within the organisation itself (corporate vision versus employee perception) and organisation in relation to the market (desired corporate image versus actual image). In order to detect these differences and avoid uncomfortable and expensive mistakes we must look inwards by asking relevant people, i.e. customers/business partners and employees.
Dvenik both launched applications for tablet computers – Delo for the iPad, and Dvenik for the Androidbased Samsung Galaxy Tab. Over at Finance, they are taking a more cautious line: “We are waiting to see which mobile trend will be the leading one,” explains Urbas. “Right now the investment is too big and too risky.”
Print’s not dead
After all, media companies still have their traditional printed pub-
Goran Novković, president of the board of Žurnal Media and editor-in-chief of Žurnal
lications to think about. Urbas points out that the Finance hard copy newspaper still has more readers than its website –between 50,000 and 60,000 people read the traditional newspaper each day compared to the 45,000 to 50,000 unique visits daily at finance.si. Indeed in 2010, after several years of decline, there was actually a five percent increase in the popularity of printed media in Slovenia. Those sorts of figures leave Urbas and Novković confident that print is far from dead. “The Žurnal24 readership [it has regularly increased year-on-year] is proof that newspapers will not die as long as their content and business model are adapted to readers,” says Novković. Urbas agrees that it is all about being sensitive to what readers are looking for: “Web readers demand shorter, more attractive articles,” he says. “Newspaper readers want more analysis, stories that go into greater depth, better infographics and so on.” In 2011 print and internet, once considered mortal enemies, are cohabiting. The challenge now for media outlets is to make that partnership a happy one.
Measurement of employee satisfaction, qualitative or quantitative, provides us with an essential insight into the “pulse” of an organisation, its climate and culture. Areas which must be covered in this context are, for instance, satisfaction with work, rewarding and promoting system, work organisation, satisfaction with management, etc. The results we gather offer an opportunity to re-evaluate policies, procedures and management style and align them more carefully with the corporate vision. Before taking any steps in this direction it is wise to record opinions from outside of the organisation as well – from the market directly. This applies to the incoming as well as outgoing side of the business; i.e. from purchase to distribution channel and finally end consumers/users. Whether you are a service provider or a manufacturer, it is vitally important to know what aspects of the relationship/service are the most important to the client and how well the firm is performing on those aspects. Accurate and timely feedback in this area enables organisations to better understand and address requirements from partners and customers. The least “contaminated” results in both types of satisfactionmeasuring can be expected when the measurement is provided by an independent consultant company specialising in such services. Furthermore, this type of research must be done over a regular time period (once a year, for instance). Customer satisfaction analysis results must be checked by the mystery shopping method which indicates possible discrepancies between verbal declaration of attitude and actual behaviour. By working on this basis, we are rewarded with an in-depth knowledge of where we excel and – more importantly in terms of growth – where we fail to meet the expectations of customers and, equally important, of employees. The combined results of both kinds of surveys could arm us with enough relevant data to implement the right changes both internally and externally to guarantee competitive advantage on the market. PROFIL is an independent human resources management consultancy, established as a limited company with private capital in 1989. It was the first consulting company in Slovenia and in SE Europe to provide executive search and selection services. They operate in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. The logo says it all: Three smiling faces, representing happy Client, happy Appointee and happy Consultant.
February 2011
28 ICT special
Bled Forum
Coping with Fear, Promoting Prosperity Next month, information society experts from around the region will again gather in Bled. They will be attending the twelfth annual Bled Forum on Europe, spending two days grap-pling once more with the most important issues relating to the future of the information society.
Addressing current issues
Influential speakers: Dr Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia, gave the welcome note at last year’s Bled Forum
H
owever, this event is so much more than a brief meeting of minds. Past experience shows the Bled Forum has a lasting impact, not only for those who attend it but for society in general. »The Bled Forum on Europe provides unique opportunities for participants to go beyond the daily agenda of their respective institutions, corporations and non-governmental organisations,” explains Blaž Golob, the director of the Centre for eGovernance Development (CeGD). “They can bring about the common denominator for making life better with a future, long-term oriented view«.
Long-term impact
A quick review of past events shows the impact these discussions have on governmental policy. In 2010, the focus of the event was the future of the information society and challenges for good governance. The objectives included contributing to the advancement of future-oriented and knowledge-based good governance around Europe. It was a misThe Slovenia Times
sion that was accomplished: the event included development of policy concepts and providing inputs for various European Union policies. This sort of influence is not uncommon. In 2008, the event had an impact on the debate about climate change. In 2002, the forum influenced the enlargement process in the European Union, and in 1998 the Bled Forum showed support for the formation of the International Criminal Court. Golob says that the key challenges facing the information society are constantly changing – and that the strength of the Forum is that it evolves to reflect these changes. »In 1996 towards 2000 it was a great motivation that governments would take serious considerations regarding global challenges and realisation of global goals such as millennium development goals«, he explains. »The real issue today is how governments could deliver what they declare that they will do in cooperation with corporate sector and civil society. In many areas and many parts of the world
challenges are ignored but on the other hand in the Western economies there is still a lot of work to be done and some of the existing development models to be reshaped.«
The topic at the 2011 Forum will be governance of fear and prosperity. The topic for this year’s event was, as is traditional, decided on at the end of last year’s. The aim was to ensure that, in the middle of the financial crisis, the forum looked at how governments, companies and individuals are coping with fear. At the same time, the aim is to uncover how they provide opportunities and conditions for prosperity. As always, a number of influential speakers will be on hand to debate the issues. Among them will be Jerome C. Glenn, the world-leading futurologist; Mohamed Al Qaed, chief executive of the eGovernance Authority of Bahrain; Professor Dr Aleš Debeljak of the University of Ljubljana; Dr Barbara Haering of the European Research Area Board of the European Commission; and Tanja Fajon of the European Parliament. Together they will offer insight into the complex issue up for discussion at this year’s Forum and, with their fellow participants, no doubt ensure the ongoing influence of this important event.
Why is e-governance important? E-governance is a set of technology-mediated processes that are changing both the delivery of public services and the broader interactions between citizens and government. E-governance could bring about more efficient, transparent and inclusive governance of public affairs. Blaž Golob, director of Centre for eGovernance Development
ICT special 29
Logistics
Logistics gets IT Managing the flow of products from manufacturer to customer, and ensuring that flow is smooth and consistent, is a significant challenge for any business. It is also a challenge which is crucial to meet if a business is to flourish. Hardly surprising, then, that the majority of firms have turned to information technology to help them manage their logistics. By Miran Varga
Keeping it local
In general, Slovenian companies have kept it local when it comes to their choice of WMS. Among the most frequently used systems are AtlasWMS (by Epilog), e-logis (by Oria), Hydra@Warehouse (by 3R.tim), Skladko SVS (by Espro inženiring), MOBOS (by LEOSS) – all developed locally. Many of these providers are present on regional markets as well, particular-
Photo: Luka Koper
L
ogistics has evolved as a business concept over the last 50 years. Business logistics has come a long way from simple materials supply and shipping the products. In today’s globalised world, companies hire experts to arrange every detail in the supply chain as speed and accuracy of business processes are of the utmost importance. Today’s logistics aim to deliver “the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer according to the contract”. Since these items pass many stages before they reach the customer, there is great complexity in managing everything to the last detail. This is where modern IT solutions come into play, helping business logistics across practically all industry sectors. The most f requently used type of IT logistics system is the warehouse management system (WMS). With the exception of small businesses, pretty much every modern firm has a WMS implementation. Such systems give information support to warehousing with its control of movement and storage of materials. But a WMS isn’t just of importance when it comes to warehousing. It also plays an important role in all associated processes and transactions, including receiving, storage, picking to order and shipping. These systems rely on technology which delivers real-time information and offers a high degree of automation. WMS solutions enable paperless business practice as data is only entered once and its accuracy is way higher than that of paper-based logistic processes.
The right solution: getting adequate IT support can vastly improve the logistics processes of a business
ly in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The reason is simple: in the past many Slovenian companies moved their production facilities to these countries, and the logistics solutions moved with them. Local solutions have some important advantages over foreign logistics software. The most notable are detailed adaptation to individual company needs and quick response time when a change or fix is needed. IT solutions also come into play when it comes to automation of warehousing, or manufacturing where tracking the goods and finished products during different stages is very important. Tracking is often solved by implementing a barcode system with labels and scanners as it fully meets the requirement for materials tracking. More advanced productions are already experimenting or using radio frequency identification technology (RFID). In certain areas of production and warehousing RFID offers a speed increase but is associated with higher implementation costs. Companies must therefore perform a careful cost/benefit analysis when it comes to the technology.
A variety of systems
Warehouse IT isn’t just about scan ning tech nologies. Some modern warehouses now have systems which pick up products by voice or by light. These technologies don’t require scanning of labels or pushing buttons, thereby freeing warehouse workers as they can use both arms at all times. Studies show that these implementations can speed up the warehouse operations by 10 to 15 percent, but require a very good organisation of the floor with great accuracy. If these conditions aren’t met, companies fail to deliver and consequently see only the increase in costs. And of course costs are always foremost in the minds of those considering the purchase of an IT logistics solution. According to Dr Tomaž Perme – an independent researcher and consultant in the field of production, logistics and automation – it is not a simple consideration.
The need for clarity
“It is hard to comment how much average IT logistics support
solutions cost, as these systems are all made to order,” explains Perme. “There are no off-the-shelf solutions because global competition pushes companies to get all IT solutions tailored to their business. Luckily information technology is very adaptive.” In comparison to Western Europe, Slovenian companies fall behind in terms of organisation and clearness of demands for such systems. IT solution providers are often presented with foggy ideas which are hard to put into practice without any real data support. Some of them see this as a challenge and try really hard to clear up the situation and find solutions for the company that placed the fuzzy order. Others simply sell the most expensive solutions possible and overcharge. In any case advanced analysis and simulations should be performed as non-optimised processes are likely to cost a lot more in the long run. But as the experience of numerous companies has shown, getting the right solution can vastly improve the logistics processes of a business. February 2011
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LOGISTICS SPECIAL
Capitalising on Potential The idea of Slovenia as a logistics platform is one which has dominated the Ministry of Transport’s thinking in 2010. Patrick Vlačič, the department’s minister, has repeatedly expressed his desire to greatly improve the nation’s logistics infrastructure, both in terms of quality and quantity. But just when will this vision become a reality?
T
Photo: Luka Koper
By Aleš Šinkovec
he theory is a simple one and it goes something like this. Firstly, Slovenia has an excellent geographical position for logistics, lying as it does in the heart of Europe and with European corridors five and ten intersecting and crossing the country. Secondly, making Slovenia a logistics hub would bring greater added value, increase trade, and thereby increase all economic activity. Thirdly: Slovenia should be turned into a logistics hub.
The Slovenia Times
LOGISTICS SPECIAL 31
Holding hold-ups
The idea has heav y weight support. It is backed by Patrick Vlačič’s Ministry of Transport and was shaped by Hartmut Mehdorn, former chief executive of German national railway company Deutsche Bahn. It is worth noting that Mehdorn is largely credited with turning the company around and bringing it back to profitability. But others strongly oppose the plan for a holdings company, seeing it as an unnecessary structure that would only add to the risk of a possible future takeover by a foreign company or individual. Managers at Luka Koper are especially opposed to the plan, pointing out that the firm is increasingly recognised as a forward moving company, meeting market demands, and expanding for the future. The government has organised two conferences to try to persuade the public and the main stakeholders of the idea’s merits. Although some of the issues that were raised during the first conference held in September 2010 were resolved at the second event in January this year, many questions remain unanswered. Nevertheless, the government has announced it will
make a definite decision on the issue at some point in spring this year.
Come fly with me
Outside of the debate over the holding and its constituent parts, logistics in recent months saw some focus on Slovenian airports and the national carrier. Adria Airways has seen a change in management and much hope is placed on the new managerial duo - Klemen Boštjančič, Adria Airways’ new chief executive and Robert Vuga, the new executive director - to turn the fortunes of the flailing airline. The new management has been given some breathing space, however. Last month, airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana signed a deal to acquire a 47.67 percent stake in Adria Airways’ maintenance firm Adria Airways Tehnika in return for writing off EUR 2.4m in claims to the ailing carrier. The deal is part of a broader liquidity package for the carrier involving the state-owned PDP asset management firm. Apart from converting its claim into an ownership stake in Adria Airways Tehnika, Aerodrom Ljubljana, which is majority owned by the state, also lifted a claim to regular shares in the maintenance firm as collateral for Adria’s debt. This allows Adria to sell those shares to PDP in return for a EUR 5m liquidity injection needed to keep the struggling company afloat. Adria Airways explained that while the deal with Aerodrom Ljubljana did not include an injection of cash, it eliminated the airport operator’s claims to Adria and thereby improved its liquidity situation.
The forgotten one
Th roughout 2010, attempts were made to try and reinvigorate the Maribor area. One of the Source: Ljubljana Stock Exchange
Port of Koper’s share price (in EUR per share) 20
major initiatives was the leasing of its international airport, Edvard Rusjan – the lease becoming available because of bankruptcy proceedings for previous owner Prevent Global. Although a call for proposals was extended, and even specific parties approached, no offers were received. Nonetheless, the airport has recently received a facelift with a new passenger terminal set for final completion some time in 2011. The airport has been touted as a great location for charter, low fares, and cargo transportation. The Maribor airport remains, however, worlds apart from Ljubljana’s Jože Pučnik airport. The Ljubljana Airport has seen its revenue and profits drop because of the crisis but still remains in the black. It too is going through a major transformation – hoping to create a centre for logistics. It is a plan which has been put on hold because of the recession.
Back on the rails
For the first time in many years, 2010 saw more government focus on Slovenia’s railways than its airports or roads. Towards the very end of 2010, an agreement was finally drawn up that lays the foundations for progress to be made in the railway system. A new organisation is to be created to deal with the planning and implementation of the necessary upgrades and expansion to the system. The projected cost is EUR 9 billion, most of which will be collected from highway tolls through cross-financing. The organisation will be able to select specific construction companies or have a public call for offers. While the initiative has the potential to reinvigorate the economy in the coming year, there are worries. The major one is that the project has no clear timeline. And so even though the foundation
seems to be in place, upgrading or expanding the network could be delayed for years, as it has been in the past. On the positive note, Slovenian railways operator Slovenske železnice is continuing to cut down its losses. The company halved its operating loss in 2010 to EUR 10.5m, while overall loss stood at EUR 20m, according to first estimates. Plans for 2011 envisage an operating loss of EUR 4.9m, but the management hopes to break even already this year, although this is projected for 2012.
In the pursuit of progress
Over at Luka Koper, plans are afoot for expansion and the construction of a third pier, which the firm argues is necessary for the port to stay competitive. The major setback is that spatial planning hasn’t yet been confirmed. Suggestions have been made that the plan will be accepted in 2011, but any delay is detrimental to the economy. In the meantime, Luka Koper has seen an increase in volumes and revenues. The port handled 15.37 million tonnes of cargo in 2010, a rise of 17 percent over the year before while operating revenues topped EUR 119m according to preliminary estimates, up 10 percent year-on-year. There is no doubt that as the world moves out of recession, Luka Koper is strategically placed to handle the increase in trade. But if it cannot expand to capture the uptake in container traffic, then clients will simply shift their focus elsewhere. And so as 2011 begins, the question is much the same as in 2010: will this finally be the year in which Slovenia confirms its promise and becomes a true transports and logistics hub? We’ll know the answer in twelve months.
Ljubljana airport’s share price (in EUR per share)
Source: Ljubljana Stock Exchange
The theory may be simple, but making it a reality is still proving challenging. Progress in 2010 – or lack thereof – has largely focused on the idea of a logistics holding company which would unite the Port of Koper, Intereuropa, and Slovenian Railways. The idea is to merge the administrative elements of the various forms and phases of the logistics chain. Proponents of the plan argue it would mean customers would only have to deal with one company rather than various different players. In this way, they suggest, Slovenia’s potential as a logistics platform would at last be realised.
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28th Jan 2011
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February 2011
MIPIM 2011 CONFERENCES AND EVENTS PROGRAMME Geographical focuses
TUESDAY 8 MARCH
Sustainable cities
Hotel, Tourism & Leisure
WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH A.M.
A.M.
10.00-10.45
11.30-12.30
Keynote address by Gilberto Kassab, São Paulo City Mayor (Brazil)
China: reward versus risk
ASIA DAY
Between shock and profit: the global perspectives of German investors
Co-org: REIDIN.com
Capital requirements: understanding what sovereign wealth funds are looking for when investing in property
P.M.
Asia Lunch
Co-org: IPD
ASIA DAY
HTL Presentations - Projects for a better life: Tourism & Leisure destinations 15.00-16.00
Poland: best investment products in 2011 & 2012 Co-org : Eurobuild CEE
15.00-16.00
Towards a better investment marketplace: reporting, regulation & risk Co-org: IPD
15.00-16.00
Asian capital flow
ASIA DAY
Co-org: ANREV
11.00-13.00
MAYORS’ DAY
Mayors’ Think Tank - Building the city together: urban strategies and integrated solutions’ implementation Sponsored by GDF Suez By invitation only
Russia: The time is now! Co-org: Vedomosti
16.30-17.30
Dense cities: For better or for worse? Co-org: RICS
16.30-17.30
Central Europe: Not too hot, not too cold advantage or handicap? Co-org : Warsaw Business Journal
16.30-17.30
Panel on France Co-org : Les Echos Conferences
19.30
MIPIM 2011 Opening Cocktail
Conferences sponsors
11.30-12.45
Co-org: IPD
Investment Lab - Brazil: the present and future of investments Making green buildings pay - sustainability for occupiers Co-org: International Sustainability Alliance
11.30-12.30
P.M.
Hotel & Tourism Lunch By invitation only Sponsored by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels
15.00-16.00
A global challenge: how to make resort hotels profitable?
P.M.
13.15-14.30
Co-org: SAPOA
13.00 - 14.30
11.30-12.30
Co-org: PKF hotelexperts
MAYORS’ DAY
Mayors Lunch: Political leaders meet End-Users Sponsored by GDF Suez and Hines By invitation only
14.00-17.00
HTL Presentations - Islands in the urban jungle: City hotels 14.30-15.30
Making regeneration happen in the UK
15.00-16.00
US property markets: where are the opportunities?
Co-org: NAREIM
15.00-16.00
Participating in a meaningful response to the global housing shortage Co-org: Global Housing Foundation
16.30-17.30
Hotel & Tourism panel
Co-org: UK Regeneration
Co-org: Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels
15.00-16.00
16.30-17.45
Keynote panel on economics - Real estate as an asset class: setting out the road map of future prospects
Co-org: BPF
15.00-16.00
Retail: the customer is always right Co-org: IPD
16.30-17.30
Keynote by top architects Co-org: Lord Culture
16.30-17.30
Healthcare real estate: a diversification opportunity? Co-org : Your Care Consult
16.30-17.45 Access to MIPIM 2011 conferences is free of charge for all registered delegates, within the limit of space available.
Co-org: Assoimmobiliare and Chiomenti Studio Legale
11.30-12.45
Distressed investing or distressing investments?
15.00-16.00
Green topics are marked by the Reed MIDEM Going Green® Logo
11.30-12.30
Real Estate Investment in Italy - a new season
Co-org: IP Real Estate
From stimulus to austerity assessing the outlook for UK property
Common cause, common measures
: UK Country of Honour
11.30-12.30
The new city scale
Investment Lab: South Africa - The case of emerging markets
Co-org: IPD
Co-org: Co-organiser
Investors' Power Meetings
11.30-12.30
Co-org: ADIT
16.30-17.30
HTL Presentations Good, better, best: Luxury hotels (part 1) Cheap chic: Budget hotels (part 2) 11.15-12.15
10.00-13.00
HTL presentations - The art of relaxation: Resorts and Resort hotels
By invitation only
14.00-17.00
10.00-11.00
Keynote address by Dr. Nouriel Roubini 10.00-13.00
10.00-11.00
Co-org: Immobilien Manager
8.30-9.30
MIPIM Leaders Breakfast Private talks with Dr. Nouriel Roubini By invitation only
Investment Lab: Egypt, urbanisation of a sleeping giant
11.30-12.30
13.00-14.30
MAYORS’ DAY
10.00-11.15
Co-org: DTZ
THURSDAY 10 MARCH A.M.
11.30-12.45
Investment Lab: Africa
Events
Investment Lab: Latin America 16.30-17.30
Investor Quest
All information contained in this programme may be subject to change. Programme as of 20 January 2011.
Follow our updates on www.mipim.com, programme section.
Investment Lab Turkey: Too good to be true? Co-org: REIDIN.com
16.30-17.30
Updating to create value: renovating & greening property Co-org: IPD
16.30-17.30
Real Estate Roulette, Winners & Losers Emerging Trends 2011 Co-org: PriceWaterhouseCoopers & ULI
18.00-18.30
HTL Power Meetings 19.00
MIPIM Awards Ceremony
FRIDAY 11 MARCH 10.00-11.00
Wrap-up Keynote In association with Wisconsin School of Business
MIPIM® is a registered trademark of Reed MIDEM - All rights reserved.
Finance : Beyond the credit crisis
34 LOGISTICS SPECIAL
Interview: Klemen Boštjančič and Robert Vuga, Adria Airways
Aiming High It is all change in senior management at Slovenia’s flag carrier airline. Last month, Klemen Boštjančič took up the post of chief executive at Adria Airways with Robert Vuga taking up the role of executive director. All eyes are on them as they undertake a mission to save the company. It is a mission in which they believe they can succeed – but not everyone seems to share their level of confidence. By Maja Dragović and Claire Read
Wheel of fortune: Adria Airways hopes its luck will change with the appointment of the new management team
You both took up your posts at the beginning of 2011. Have you yet had a chance to outline the company’s strategic operating plan? We started in our positions as executive directors on January 17 2011 and immediately presented the basic outline of the strategic business plan. What are your priorities right now? Generally, our priority is to sort out the day-to-day business operation of the company. After we have managed to secure liquidity issues, the next step is to radically cut down costs, increase sales activities and income, and redefine internal company processes. How do you plan to restructure the company? Considering the present state of affairs and business results at Adria Airways, the ongoing financial recovery has to be accompanied by a thorough redesign. That means updating the business model, restructuring human The Slovenia Times
resources, renovating business processes and, not least, implementing an efficient cost monitoring system. Do you have an indication as to which are Adria Airways’ strongest and most profitable destinations? The profitability of destinations varies over the year. Generally, the most profitable are Western European destinations. Is there any room for cost cutting without abandoning flight destinations? After a week at work at Adria Airways it became clear that costcutting is one of the essential measures. From what we have learned so far we believe there is enough room for manoeuvre in all of the company’s segments. Primarily, we have to cut down the costs and we believe that eventually many lines which are today making losses will prove to be profitable. The previous management estimated that Adria Airways need-
ed EUR 4m in the form of a bridging loan. What are your thoughts on this? Our business is season-dependent and we are currently in the midst of the low season. That left the company in grave need of a fresh financial influx. Instead of a short-term bridging loan, the company ultimately decided to sell its share in Adria Airways Tehnika. There are those who believe Adria Airways, with its estimated EUR 130m debt, is beyond saving. Some in the media also wonder whether the planned state aid for the air carrier makes sense. What is your response to that? Adria Airways is a Slovenian national carrier whose activities have repercussions for both the Slovenian economy and for those who live in Slovenia. Should the company collapse the damage would therefore be much greater than that caused by a mere interruption in operation. In addition, the data demonstrates that the measures we are planning can
help re-establish the company as an efficient economic factor, which in the end is the basic condition for long-term survival in the market. The government is keen to find a strategic partner for Adria Airways. Is this the right time to be talking about strategic partners given that you say the company needs to be restructured? Understanding the role of a strategic partner in terms of proprietary changes is the domain of the owner. The questions of strategic partners and re-structuring are not mutually exclusive. The management’s task is to ensure successful operation and development; to build a sound foundation. In this way the company will be much more interesting for potential strategic partners. Much hope is being put in the new management to overhaul Adria Airways’ fortunes. Does this put additional pressure on you? Certainly not. It is just additional motivation.
LOGISTICS SPECIAL 35
MIPIM 2011
The Biggest Property Show on Earth In many ways MIPIM needs no introduction. The real estate show, established in 1990, is the biggest in the world and is often referred to as the “Davos of the property industry”. The exhibition draws upon this unique international reputation to bring together the most influential decision makers in the market, offering them access to the largest available showcase of development projects.
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011 marks the twenty-second edition of MIPIM and it will once again be housed in the prestigious Palais des Festivals in glorious Cannes. High level property-decision makers, politicians and mayors will all be heading to France for the event. So too will 1,900 companies from 80 countries, all ready to exhibit their potential. Seminars and presentations will again be in abundance, with top professional and political leaders ready to share their views on various topics relating to the real estate market. One of the keynote speakers this year is Dr Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Roubini is well known for his now-vindicated predictions of the current financial crisis and is sure to provide a fascinating insight into the global economic outlook and its likely implications for the real estate agency.
An important location
Naturally, Slovenia will be strongly represented at Cannes. After all, it has numerous qualities which make it of interest to the real estate market – not least its location at the crossroads of major European transport links corridor V and corridor X, making it an important piece of the European transport jigsaw. In terms
Looking after the future: at last year’s MIPIM, the municipality of Ljubljana presented its plans for the sustainable development of the city
of capitalisation, geographic and economic position, Slovenia is also at the crossroads of four European macro regions: the Alpine region, the Adriatic, Central Europe, and South East Europe. As such, the country is of interest to partners in Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, who could get involved in the implementation of central tasks in the field of development of infrastructure that will be adequate at national, regional and local levels. There is also the chance to co-design a system of sustainable mobility, with emphasis on
the planning of railway lines for speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour; the development of intermodal centres for freight and passenger traffic; building development opportunities for urban regeneration; and the establishment of different economic zones. At the exhibition, Ljubljana – which lies at the crossroads of both corridors V and X – will present three of the many projects currently taking place in Slovenia’s capital: • Municipality administration in one place
• New bus stations • New railway station The city has adopted a new spatial plan in 2010 and the enormous opportunities presented by the plan will also be detailed at MIPIM. Slovenia’s potential at MIPIM 2011 will be jointly presented by the Ministry of Transport, Municipality of Ljubljana and Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign investments (JAPTI). As always, there is only one place to be in March if you are involved in real estate – and that’s MIPIM.
Specialized warehouse with offices FOR RENT - GROSUPLJE
On corridor 10, only 19 km from Ljubljana this newly built warehouse incorporates the latest logistics technology and is ideally suited for storing smaller pallet sized goods including pharmaceutical, medical, dentist and veterinary supplies. The warehouse offers the complete logistics service (loading/unloading, manipulation and tracking). Other services can be arranged individually. Up to 900 m2 of net warehouse space.
There is also 318 m2 of premium new office space available. Parking spaces are available in front of the building and in the underground garage. 14EUR/m2/month including logistics service. First two months rent free of charge! Please note we do not charge commission to tenants.
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w w w . s l o v e n i a i n vFebruary e s t . e2011 u
36 LOGISTICS SPECIAL
Logistics Holding
Still Divided A second conference on the plans to form a logistics holding around the Slovenian railways operator was held last month. At the event, the architect of the project – German businessman Hartmut Mehdorn – joined with government officials in the hope of answering the questions raised at the first conference last year. Many saw the latest event as the last chance to secure an agreement on the project. But all sides remain deeply divided and it seems the future of Slovenia’s logistics sector is just as unclear now as it was before the gathering.
Photo: Alenka Slavinec
By Maja Dragović and STA
An opportunity not to be missed: Hartmut Mehdorn and Transport Minister Patrick Vlačič argue that logistics companies will lose out if they don’t tie up
T
he latest event in the lengthy and ongoing discussion on a tie-up between Slovenia Railways, port operator Luka Koper and freight company Intereuropa felt like the last chance saloon. Prime Minister Borut Pahor seemed to acknowledge as much, saying before the January conference that: “If we don’t have the understanding of the managements, supervisory boards and the unions, the idea will probably be hard to realise by means of coercion.”
The project would first entail an immediate restructuring of the railways operator, supply of additional liquidity to Intereuropa and improving the operation of Luka Koper (Port of Koper) . The next step would be to create an integrated company, which would first need endorsement from the government. All three units would be 100 percent owned by the Slovenian logistics holding, with the government as the majority owner that would get to keep at least a 51 percent stake. Aside from a shareholders board, oversight would be secured through the supervisory board; the executive board would comprise directors of the three units. Monopoly would be prevented by a regulator to be appointed by the government.
The project would first entail an immediate restructuring of the For… The arguments for the tie-up are railways operator, supply clear and oft-stated. Hartmut Meof additional liquidity to hdorn, who was hired last April Intereuropa and improving to advise the indebted Slovenske the operation of Luka Železnice (Slovenian Railways) restructuring, believes that the Koper (Port of Koper) . on companies will lose their markets The next step would be unless they tie up. He anticipates …and against But Mehdorn’s ideas have been to create an integrated many benefits from the holding, company, which would the immediate one being EUR received coolly, with many stake20m a year and later EUR 40m a holders claiming that the plan first need endorsement year plus EUR 50m in annual cost would merely create a handy from the government savings. back door for his former employer The Slovenia Times
Deutche Bahn, Europe’s biggest rail operator, to gain control of the lucrative Koper port. Predictably, January’s conference raised several concerns and questions about the planned tieup. It also showed that the opinions of the three companies that would form the holding have not changed much since the last faceto-face discussion. While general manager of Slovenske Železnice Goran Brankovič believes it would make sense to start moving towards a holding, the managers of Luka Koper and Intereuropa remain doubtful that it would bring benefits to their companies. Intereuropa chairman Ernest Gortan and Luka Koper chairman Gregor Veselko said that while they still opposed the idea in principle, they were yet to examine the study about the economic and legal aspects of the tie-up since the documents were delivered to them on the day of the conference.
Decision time
One of the authors of the study, economist Janez Šušteršič, says that several questions must still be answered before a decision can be taken on whether to push ahead with the creation of the holding. Šušteršič argues these questions include how to provide for competition in the event that a holding is formed, how to convince the management of the two smaller partners to enter the project, and how to settle relations between the partners. And then there are those who believe the holding should be widened to include Adria Airways, Ljubljana airport and Splošna plovba, the shipping company. At the end of the January conference, it did not seem that the concerned parties were much closer to an answer – even though, ironically, all are in agreement that a decision needs to be made quickly. It seems likely that the government will make the final call at some point in the Spring. But which stance is likely to prevail is as difficult to predict as ever.
Luka Koper
Significant Increase in Volumes A total of 15.37 million tonnes of cargo passed through the Port of Koper in 2010, up 17 percent on 2009. The largest increase was recorded at the Container Terminal, which handled 476,731 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) – an absolute record in the history of the Port of Koper. This can mainly be attributed to new direct container line services with the Far East. Established in May 2009, the eight-vessel Adriatic Express service accounted for thirteen percent of total container freight throughput in 2010. Car Terminal volumes recorded a twenty-percent increase on the previous year – the 379,250 unit throughput is evidence of the slow, but nevertheless steady, recovery of Europe’s automotive sector. The trend of increased volumes pertaining to the Mediterranean basin has also been observed, and can be at-
tributed to increasing numbers of Asian vehicle manufacturers opening assembly plants in Europe. Consequently, however, there has been a decline in car imports from the Far East. In the category of bulk and break bulk cargos, both iron ore and coal have recorded upturns. For the most part this has been a consequence of the recovery of Austria’s steel industry and the economy as a whole. Coal destined for the domestic market was within anticipated volumes, whereas coal imports for Italy fell. This fall can be attributed to the recession, the decreased consumption of electricity, and the resultant reduced generation by thermal power plants. Larger volumes of soya, scrap iron and minerals were handled by the Bulk Cargo
Terminal, whereas there was a decrease in volumes of cereals. This was particularly due to a poor harvest in Hungary and the increased use of the cheaper Danube river route via the Port of Constanţa (Romania). Increases were recorded with regard to cellulose and steel manufactures. In the general cargos category, meanwhile, volumes of paper and aluminium remained at about the same level as last year. 2010 also saw an increase in project cargo which is, due to its complexity and resultant added value, considered valuable and regarded as strategic. Three fundamental pillars were established during 2010 for a future Liquid Cargo Terminal, encompassing jet fuel, as well as other liquid fuels and chemicals.
When all petroleum derivatives are taken into consideration, liquid cargos were up by two percent. Luka Koper d.d. anticipates handling 16.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2011, which is seven percent ahead of 2010. Growth in container freight is also anticipated, although at a lower rate than in 2010. Despite uncertainty with regard to the automotive sector, moderate growth is foreseen in relation to increased production of existing plants as well as the opening of new assembly plants in the Central European hinterland. A gradual recovery of the hinterland economies is also predicted, as is a commensurate growth in demand, production and overseas trade. More information: www.luka-kp.si
February 2011
38 LOGISTICS SPECIAL
Interview: Miran Gajšek
Leading Position The strength of Slovenia’s strategic position is a frequent topic of conversation amongst both business and political leaders. Ljubljana’s head city planner Miran Gajšek says the capital city is making the most of the nation’s position at the crossroads of important European transport routes, but he fears other regions aren’t doing the same. By Maja Dragović
European macro regions will be the tool, the instrument for economic cohesion, social cohesion and for territorial cohesion. And Slovenia has a substantial impact on four of those regions.
What makes Slovenia’s geographic position so important strategically? The territory and aquatory (water territory) of the Republic of Slovenia is at the crossroads of two very important trans-European networks – corridor TEN-T V and corridor TEN-T X. Corridor TEN-T V goes from Venice and from the Port of Koper through Ljubljana and Budapest, to Ukraine. The main line of corridor TEN-T X goes from Salzburg through Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Skopje and Thessaloniki. So Slovenia – and Ljubljana – is directly on the crossroads of the main lines of these two corridors. In addition, the country and its capital fall within four European macro regions: the Alpine space; the Adriatic space; the Central European space; and South East Europe. How significant are these regions?
The European Commission believes that future planning of the continent has to happen inside the European macro regions. It has approved an official document for the Baltic region which is now the first official European macro region. This means that the European Union has developed a specific strategy for the Baltic region. The second region to become official in March this year is the Danube region which is almost the same as the South East European region and Slovenia is part of that region – two thirds of Slovenian territory falls within the Danube space. European macro regions will be very important for the common planning, forecasting, and foresight of the future of the European continent. Those macro regions will be the tool, the instrument for economic cohesion, social cohesion and for territorial cohesion. And Slovenia has a substantial impact on four of those regions.
BUDAPEST
SALZBURG
MARIBOR
MURSKA SOBOTA
JESENICE
CELJE
LJUBLJANA NOVA GORICA
Corridor TEN-T X
VENEZIA
ZAGREB NOVO MESTO
Corridor TEN-T V TRIESTE KOPER KOPER/CAPODISTRIA
The Slovenia Times
Photo: Alenka Slavinec
LOGISTICS SPECIAL 39
Is Slovenia taking enough advantage of its geographical location? At the moment I don’t think Slovenia has a good development policy regarding its geographical position. However, the municipality of Ljubljana is doing a lot in that direction and has already prepared some very important documents that include the strategic spatial development plan and the land use plan. One of very important projects is Partnership Šmartinska, which is a publicprivate partnership. It is an urban regeneration project, it is very sustainable, and it is brownfield development. Also, last year, Ljubljana city finalised and adopted new strategic and land use plans. So some parts of Slovenia are making the most of their strategic position, but most aren’t – including the state as a whole. The state needs to develop its own strategy in line with the Danube strategy, which is based on environmental sustainability; economic prosper-
ity; geographical accessibility and attractiveness; and making the area safe and secure. How is Ljubljana planning to exploit Slovenia’s geographical position in the future? During mayor Zoran Janković’s first term we finished relevant strategic documents – namely the strategic plan and the land use planning document. In the next four years we would like, with our government and with the European Commission, to start some very important projects. The first of the projects is Ljubljana as the crossroads of the TEN-T V and TEN-T X corridors. We would like to finish the state-detailed plan for the Ljubljana railways connection as soon as possible. From the municipality of Ljubljana’s point of view, we would like to put railways underground; both for freight and passenger transport. The cost of this is estimated at EUR 2-3 billion. This is the most important project not only for Ljubljana but for Slovenia and the region as a whole – Europe wants to put the freight onto trains, we have here corridors TEN-T V and TEN-T X, and we have traffic flows between these four very important macro regions. The construction of the railways, which means upgrading the speed to 160km per hour, is the second very important Slovenian project. We have very good motorways, we now have to start with railways – we have already lost 10 years. In 2010 the municipality of Ljubljana passed a new city plan. To what extent does the plan take into account sustainable development of the city?
From the point of view of town planning, this new plan is sustainable. But what is really sustainable is a good question. For instance, a lot of people are working in Ljubljana and this is not very sustainable because most are using cars. We have to change that. As I said, the town planning document is sustainable, but we are now working on programmes which will work in a sustainable way to solve some problems. So we are currently working on the synchronisation of the timetables of all public transport providers. We are also thinking about introducing a congestion charge for the city of Ljubljana. Recently there has been a lot of discussion about uniting the Port of Koper, Intereuropa and Slovenian Railways into one holding. What are your thoughts on the idea? I understand the idea of the logistics holding as a tool to unite the main stakeholders in Slovenia which do business in transport. The Port of Koper is well organised and has a long tradition and there is a potential for future development. Intereuropa is another good logistics company, as well as Slovenian Railways. The idea is a good one. How to join them is the question. In my opinion, the companies that should be joined are Port of Koper, Intereuropa, Slovenian Railways, Splošna plovba, Adria Airways and Ljubljana airport. I do believe we have to find the answer of how to put together all those stakeholders because if we do not do that we will lose the possibility to manage the transport which is here on our territory.
We would like to finish the state-detailed plan for the Ljubljana railways connection as soon as possible. This is the most important project not only for Ljubljana but for Slovenia and the region as a whole – Europe wants to put the freight onto trains, we have here corridors TEN-T V and TEN-T X, and we have traffic flows between four very important macro regions.
Sustainable traffic: Ljubljana’s new spatial plan envisages a lot of traffic-free area for its inhabitants February 2011
Photo: Dreamstime
Valentine’s Day & Weddings
A country to say I do! Bled Castle Restaurant Dine with Style
Experience
Ladies’ ski Weekend
Pho t
o: D r
e am
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For the Love of Spring
For quite some time now, you have probably been seeing suspiciously large quantities of red hearts and fluffy teddy bears wherever you go. There is no doubt that it is that time of the year again– St. Valentine’s Day, when everything supposedlyrevolves around love (also in Slovenia). But has it always been like that? By Polona Cimerman Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is perceived as a holiday of lovers and those one has affection for, be it members of the family, friends or co-workers.It is a holiday with roots in pagan times. The English were the ones who took to the legend of a saint called Valentine who was believed to perform secret weddings between young lovebirds. People thus started to connect him with matters of the heart and regarded him as the patron saint of lovers. Nearly 500 years ago, the English started the traditions of sending cards to their
Valentine’s at the Vila Bled
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If you wish to spend some romantic moments with your loved one, Vila Bled might be just right for you. Its special Valentine’s package, available on all weekends in February and March, includes an overnight stay, the use of its wellness studio and a gourmet dinner for two, thus enabling you to sample the exquisite cuisine for which the villa is renowned. Costs of the package: from EUR 149 per night for two; additional information: www.vila-bled.com.
The Slovenia Times
loved one sand giving each other presents to show theirfeelings.
Can’t buy me love?
The English launched the idea of the saint to the USA where the holiday was secularised and later commercialised. In this new, transformed shape it returned to Europe and, since the 19th century, Valentine’s Day has had a distinctnotion of profit and is often considered a merchants’ paradise. Before that,the meaning of the holiday for Europeanswas prone to change; theycelebrated the name day for Valentineon 14th February and one variant was expressing their prayers. Nowadays,St. Valentine’s Day is extremely popular all around the world, proved by an estimated141 million Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually. This makes 14th February the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas. Slovenia is no exception to this craze and it seems that each year peopleobserve the Western-style Valentine’s Day to an everlarger extent.
Slovenians celebrated spring, not love
However, Slovenians did not celebrate that day in such fashion until late 1980s
and early ‘90s, when Valentine’s Day was introduced by the media and marketers. Before that, the holiday had a different meaning and its roots go well back into the past. It has been part of the Slovene folklore and traditions for centuries, but just until recently the Slovenians did not ever have a specific day to celebrate love. In the past, Slovenians recognized Valentine’s Day as one of the three spring holidays. Together with St. Vincent’s and St. Gregory’s, it was regarded as a holiday of the awakening spring. Symbolically, 14th February was the day when spring came to the country and there are many proverbs and sayings linked to this occasion. One of them states that “St. Valentine brings the keys to the roots” (Valentin prinese ključ do korenin), which used to be a sign for the farmers to open the working season in gardens, fields and vineyards. In some parts of the country, including Bela Krajina, this day marked the beginning of spring. Valentine’s Day was supposed to be the most popular in Primorska region. In Goriško, that day marks the season of village holidays and festivities, including the traditional rolled dumplings (štruklji) holiday. Valentine’s Day in Slovenia was seen as the day when birds started with their courting ritual, which later on ended with
43 marriage on St. Gregory’s Day on 12th March. Those who wanted to see the birds had to walk barefoot to the bushes, despite the often icy cold weather. These were usually children who visited the houses in their village, wishing good harvest and plenty of health to the households. In return they were given a present – bread cakes in shape of birds which they had to find in the branches of trees and bushes where the housewives put them. Later on they brought them home as small treats. Slovene ethnologists say it is a pity that Slovenians did not keep this bread-bird gift tradition alive, since it is truly unique and as such cannot be matched to any other in the world.
Gifts to show love
Despite the fact that the Slovenians did not recognize Valentine’s or any other day as a specific holiday of love, they showed their feelings in in the form of gifts on other occasions. Lovers exchanged presents on Epiphany when girls gave their boyfriends small bread rolls bearing their names. For Easter,they wrote love messages on egg shells. From the 19th century onwards, boys traditionally gave their loved ones silken kerchiefs and small decorated wooden chests. Also popular were spindles on which the boys carved their names. However, these types of presents belong to the past. In Slovenia, the first to start with the newly adopted tradition of
giving“Western” gifts for Valentine’s Day were the florists who offered tulips to their customers in the late 1980s. Now Slovenian lovers follow global trendsand buy chocolate hearts, candies and lingerie, as well as concert and theatre tickets. According to previous experience and the demand, the largest Slovenian retailer Mercator puts marketing emphasis on candy at the beginning of January. They offer around 100 items, including heartshaped boxes of chocolate, chocolates in red wrapping and also smaller candy teddy bears as their greatest hits. They sell also many orchids and decorative candles. “We don’t notice a rise of demand in the audio-video department, but people do buy a few more body care products such as hairdryers, shavers and epilators,” says Tanja Durin from Mercator’s public relations. She adds that they sell slightly more perfumes and underwear, but these sales are not exceptional. “Judging from our figures, we could even say that every year there is less and less interest in this holiday,” claims Durin. However, they always prepare special offers in all their sales departments, including trips to Venice and Paris for lovers. The spirit of consumer-oriented Valentine’s Day persists and perhaps it is hard to remain unaffected by it. But maybe this year you will decide to revive some old customs from the treasury of Slovene folklore and blend the old with the new. Maybe you can make a little bird tell something...
Lots of people clicking The first thorough investigation of internet dating among Slovenians has revealed a vibrant online dating scene as well as an important piece of wisdom – don’t believe everything you read in personal profiles. The research – conducted by Ljubljana University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Studies in cooperation with the Peace Institute – studied 1,334 current or former users of internet dating sites. Around 69.66 percent of those who responded said they were heterosexual, 13.7 percent identified themselves as gay or lesbian, and the rest were bisexual or unsure. Around 40 percent of those surveyed said they had posted pictures to their profiles with men apparently finding it more important to be able to see their potential date than women. The females surveyed said they paid more attention to the words their potential date posted than to pictures. This may be a mistake given that 29 percent of respondents admitted they had provided false information about themselves online. Women and gay men were most likely to lie about their weight, while heterosexual men seem most likely to tell untruths about their drinking and smoking habits. Men, unlike women, also lie about their marital status. Among those who wound up meeting their online companions in the real world, 24 percent organised such a meeting within a week. Homosexuals and bisexuals were the quickest to switch from the virtual to the real world. Perhaps unsurprisingly, men seemed to be less patient when awaiting sexual contact – 22 percent of men claimed to have “got lucky” on the first date compared to only nine percent of women. Most respondents said the main reason they had decided to seek partners online was the ease of making contact and the ability to still retain a relatively high degree of anonymity. The most important information when choosing between possible dates was the person’s age and appearance in their profile picture.
Magical moments At the Grand Hotel Toplice, right on the shore of Lake Bled, your wedding photographer will find thousands of unique ways to capture the unforgettable moments of your dream wedding. The traditional elegance, first-class cuisine and attention to detail will make your day truly magical. You will love to return year after year as we will make sure, each anniversary is a collection of beautiful memories of your most important day.
February 2011 Grand Hotel Toplice, Bled, Phone: 04 579 1142, 04 579 1000, e-mail: ghtoplice@hotelibled.com, www.hotel-toplice.com
44 Photo: Dreamstime
Weddings
One of the most exciting options is to get married high above ground in a hot air balloon, something which is possible in Ljubljana’s Barje Balloon Centre. Another is quite the opposite; exchanging vows underground in the Postojna cave or in Pekel (the Hell cave). Recently a couple got hitched in the Mining Museum of Slovenia, 160 metres underground. Also popular are weddings where everything is arranged according to a specific theme, for example an African, Spanish or Greek wedding. An additional option is to tie the knot on a boat in the middle of Lake Bled or Lake Bohinj. Under Slovenian law it is not possible to get married on the Adriatic Sea but it is possible to get married on a river. That experience can be had on the River Drava where a registrar will unite you and your beloved for life while slowly floating down the river on a wooden raft along with all your wedding guests. Some decide to get married in a lighthouse and others on a ski slope or on the top of Mount Triglav. No matter what kind of wedding you choose, it is becoming extremely popular to rent classic old cars or even carriages for transportation of all wedding guests. It is not only newlyweds who opt for these unusual ceremonies. People who have already been married for years often decide to celebrate their anniversaries in an unusual way. When they were young, they perhaps entered into an arranged union and fell in love later or they could not afford the wedding they wished for. Anniversary celebrations give a chance to make up for that loss and to properly honour long lasting marriage and love. Better late than never, after all.
Old Meets New
A Wedding for Every Taste Wedding in Slovenia is definitely a good value for money. It is a land of good wine, fine food, and a wide range of magnificent scenarios for wedding ceremonies - from glamorous to totally unconventional. By Vesna Paradiž More and more people want to tie the knot in a unique way. According to Vida Trenz, Hotel Otočec’s Head of Sales, people like to choose weddings outside, under the sky, in castles lit by torches and candlelight. Slovenia can satisfy all such wishes. Want a wedThe Slovenia Times
ding in the open air? There are plenty of beautiful sites to choose from – whether you prefer hills, valleys, meadows or an ocean view, your desires can be met.
pecial sorts of ceremonies include socalled medieval weddings, chivalrous weddings and old Roman weddings. They combine old traditions with modern ones and offer a unique experience of history. Medieval weddings are held in Žička Kartuzija (a Carthusian monastery in Žiče), at Stari grad Celje (Old Celje Castle), in Škofja Loka and at Predjama Castle. At the beginning, guests usually get a “potion of eternal life” and then enjoy a ceremony with court ladies, knights, swordsmen, medieval music, dancers and a large crowd of costumed viewers. It all ends with a big medieval feast at a select location. Chivalrous weddings start with arriving carriages and fanfares and the “potion of rebirth.” The bride and groom have to cleanse their souls by washing their hands in wine and undergo three tests before entering marriage. These weddings as well as similar weddings are held at castles such as Mokrice, Celje, Bled, Bogenšperk and Otočec. A novelty is an old Roman wedding in Ptuj where they try to imitate the symbolism of ancient Rome. The bride and groom wear togas and are said to be married in front of Roman gods. The ceremony is followed by a real Roman feast and celebration.
45
Lovebirds
More romantic, less expensive
Bled and Otočec seem to be the two most attractive picks for weddings in Slovenia. According to Petra Čuk, the hotel manager of Vila Bled, most couples who opt for a wedding there are foreigners or mixed couples, meaning one of them is Slovenian. Foreigners are generally impressed by the romantic landscape, which can be explored by carriage or boat, the food, the legends behind the setting of Bled and some historic facts. Čuk estimates that the very favourable price/performance ratio attracts many to choose a wedding in Slovenia, adding that choosing a remote wedding can also be a way to avoid greater number of guests. She says that it is pleasure to arrange different specifics, such as decorations, music and certain procedures, which different nations are consider essential to the wedding.
Slovenian expats tell the story of their romantic experiences in this country; revealing the places of which they have unforgettable memories. There are several amazing romantic spots and so it’s hard to pick just one. The Soča valley is stunning with its extreme purity of nature. Goriška Brda is another favourite of mine. I love it for its wine and food. It has a strong Italian feel to it but retains Slovenian charm. I should mention the Hotel Pule estate. I spent a weekend there with my husband and it was amazing: a wonderful dinner and the next morning we had an amazing horse ride with famous Slovenian Lipizzaners. Very romantic! On a more rustic note: Pristava Lepena in the Soča Valley. The food is not that great but the scenery and the accommodation more than make up for it. Jade Van Barren, professional chef
Bureaucracy
To get married in Slovenia you have to To get married in Slovenia you have to meet some marriage license requirements. A local registry office needs to be contacted at least 12 days before the wedding. Full names, professions, dates of birth, nationalities of witnesses, a photocopy of valid passports and legally attested copies of documents have to be presented. Then, eight days before the wedding, both partners have to come to the registry office together with their passports, an extract from the birth register and a certificate of no impediment from their native country (or countries). It is necessary to get a certified sworn statement that you are free to marry and proof of termination of any previous marriages or a certified copy of the death certificate if you are widowed. One day before the wedding, witnesses have to present their passports at the registry office. All documentation must be translated into the Slovene language and certified by a notary. Many people discovered the attractions of Slovenia when lowcost airlines started to fly to Ljubljana. For a time, bachelor parties were very popular among young English grooms-to-be, mostly due to the fact that Slovenian beer was just as good as British but cheaper. In recent times, quite a few tourists have returned to get married. Wedding agencies seem to cost less than in other countries of the European Union, and while this little nation has a substantial wedding tradition of its own, it is also receptive to modern and unconventional ceremonies and – quite honestly – to almost any whim the betrothed might have.
There is nothing as romantic for me as the many trips I made to Slovenia to see my future wife Pia when we were both very young and I still lived in England (and her parents didn’t know about me so it was all very secret). Even though I got married at Bled, and the lake is extremely romantic, I think it is bit too obvious and a bit too touristy maybe. Ljubljana old town and Piran are lovely places for a romantic city break if you are not from Slovenia. I would definitely recommend Slovenia for a romantic break as it is very unspoilt and uncommercialised. Dan Bendall, real estate agent
A Secret Place for Perfect Moments
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On a wildly romantic plain, amid beech and oak forests lies Posestvo Pule (“Pule Estate”). The unique combination of luxury, gastronomy and wellbeing complement the beauty of nature, making the Pule Estate unique and unparalleled. Experience the elegance of its timelessness yourself. The joyous moments when two hearts unite forever deserve unforgettable memories. We devote particular attention to each wedding event. The lush natural scenery and the exclusive character of the Pule Estate guarantee perfect moments caught between the present and eternity. Experienced staff, a refined sense of detail and our superior level of service are the guarantees that this day will never be forgotten, while your time can be devoted to your nearest and dearest.
The most romantic place in Slovenia is Pristava Lepena. Having travelled the length and breadth of the country in 2000 looking for a suitable wedding venue, we’d given up on castles, vineyards and restaurants. My wife-to-be, Darinka, called a colleague who works for a TV station and asked if he had any ideas. He suggested we check out Pristava Lepena. So we drove and drove and drove up the Soča Valley, further and further into the mountains, further away from my beloved Adriatic, wines and olives. I was getting unhappier by the minute. When we arrived, we didn’t want to drive up the nasty incline to the place itself, so we started walking up the hill. After taking a few breathers – and the time to consider rolling back down again – we eventually stumbled into the most gorgeous place I’d ever seen. I couldn’t figure out why it was so lovely: just a bunch of mountains, surrounding a typical alpine meadow. But we both said, “This is it, we’ll be married here”. We were married in the meadow in the middle of Pristava Lepena in September 2001, and had the most beautiful day, along with about fifty guests from the UK and Slovenia. Milan and Silvia, the owners of the place, became our very good friends. Our best man and his girlfriend asked if we could arrange the ‘same’ wedding for them the next year, which we did for 80 guests from UK stage and screen (my best man is an actor). There’s something deeply magical about this place. If you haven’t been, you should – you just might fall in love. Following that wedding, our friends Milan and Silvia said that maybe we should start up a tourist or wedding agency. And eventually, in 2005, we did. Bob Burgher, founder of travel website Slovene Dream February 2011
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Dine
wit h St yle Bled Castle Restaurant Grajska cesta 6, 4260 Bled Tel: +386 (0)4 579 44 24 restaurant@vgs-bled.si www.hotelastoria-bled.com/castle restaurant Open: Every day, 10am –10pm Selected Castle Wedding Menu 2011 ~ Marinated smoked tuna glased with chestnut honey ~ Clear lobster soup with vegetables and lobster tail ~ Cheese tortellini with goose liver and saffron sauce ~ Cutlet of lamb with white wine sauce and mashed carrots ~ Fillet of beef in pumpkin seeds on white polenta with truffels ~ Chocolate suffle with home made orange ice cream
Bled Castle Restaurant Love is in the Air The place of finest culinary above the iconic Lake Bled introduces their special offer for lovers.
Valentine’s menu (12 and 13 February) ~ Smoked breast of duck on corn salad, sour cream with herbs ~ Vegetable soup ~ Lamb chops sautéed vegetables with pan-fried potatoes and carrot purée ~ Chocolate soufflé, strawberry ice-cream Menu price with aperitif (a glas with every course), wine and live music: 38 EUR
The lake with an island and a castle on the cliff towering above it is undoubtedly one of Slovenia’s most famous sights. Beside it offers one of the best view you could possibly get in this country. Now, if you combine this idyllic panorama with a top culinary experience, you are just a bit closer to heaven. Yes, the place is romantic in any way you see it.
The restaurant staff combine youthful energy with curiosity in cooking and experience in serving. Chef Peter Dovžan describes his kitchen as “unlimited,” meaning they are ready to please almost any request by guests. This is a necessity since the restaurant hosts many foreign groups, but many peculiar guests who insist on their common dishes actually don’t know what they’re missing. The restaurant offers a variety of dishes à la carte and a set of extra daily specialties. We don’t want to suggest that carefully crafted composition compensates for any deficiency in taste; we should state it loud and clear - the food tasted great, and the occasionally difficult transition from the traditional to the exotic goes down smoothly and pleasantly in this case. What we have in mind are unfamiliar combinations, such as fruit with meat – something Slovenians could find strange. The wine list comprises an elegant choice of bottles from all Slovenian regions, including the best sparkling wines, rare predicates and the so-called Castle Reserve. For a common humble glass of wine along with the meal, sticking with the house’s open Sauvignon is not a bad idea either. While Bled enjoys the fame around the world for kremšnita, its famous cream cake, which sold its ten millionth piece this autumn, the castle recommends its own no less special dessert called Castle Pile, along with a list of other entirely attractive sweet conclusions to your meal.
For Lovers and Sinners
It is safe to say that Bled castle is one of the top three Slovenian places for weddings. The reasons are obvious: beautiful ambience and scenery, culinary service and the entire Bled area,
Top choice
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JB Restaurant
Miklošičeva 17, Ljubljana Tel: +386 (0)1 430 70 70 restavracija.jb@siol.net, www.jb-slo.com Open: Mon – Fri, noon – 10pm Sat, 5pm–11pm In Issue 127
City Restaurant - BTC CITY Ljubljana Poslovna stolpnica, 13th floor, Šmartinska 140, Ljubljana Tel: +386 (0)1 585 19 97 www.btc-city.com Restaurant open: Mon-Fri, 11am – 4pm Bar open: Mon-Fri, 7.30am – 6pm
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In Issue 128
Castle Otočec Restaurant
Grajska cesta 2, Otočec Tel: + 386 (0)7 384 89 00 booking.otocec@terme-krka.si www.terme-krka.si www.castle-otocec.com Open: Every day until midnight In Issue 129
Barka Restaurant - St.Bernardin - Portorož Obala 2, Portorož Tel: +386 (0)5 695 30 08 restavracija.barka@h-bernardin.si www.h-bernardin.si Restaurant with selected fish dishes Open: 11am – 11pm
In Issue 130
Vila Prešeren
Veslaška promenada 14, Bled Tel: +386 (0)4 575 25 10 vilapreseren@sportinaresorts.si Open: 11am – 11pm In Issue 131
The Castle Life
where you can find an abundance of options for accommodation, recreation or even a panoramic flight over the Alps from an airstrip only few kilometres away. No wonder it has become increasingly popular among foreigners, as the ceremony can be extended into discovering Slovenia’s beauty at its best. As for the culinary part, the Bled Castle Restaurant will make sure that newlyweds and their guests will remember it for the delicious food as well. Since Bled Castle is so important in binding the couples in love, Valentine’s Day is also a dedicated moment when the restaurant does its best to make the day a memorable one. The four-course Valentine’s menu is also available on 12 and 13 February. It is an ideal dinner with the finest selection of wine included in the price (see the sidebar). After all, these couples might be ideal candidates for a wedding there at some point in the future.
On weekends – or on request – you can be greeted by the castle lord or enjoy a show by medieval performers. Within the castle complex, two special characters assure another unique experience. The wine master offers a select choice of quality wines. You can even learn to bottle your own. In another workshop, guests can learn the skills of the first printers and create their own greeting card using the replica of the original Guttenberg press. Apart from the natural setting, Bled boasts a couple of other elements worth mentioning. Firstly, the castle as a venue for group events, most commonly weddings, is well supported by abundance of accommodation options and ways to enjoy the rest of the time spent there. Secondly, Bled is at the centre of higher education in tourist services, since it hosts the College for Tourism; their ambitious students gain experience at places such as Castle Restaurant Bled. Finally Bled is ideal for its location – you are very close to the national capital, no more than half hour away from the international airport, the borders of Italy and Austria, great ski slopes, exciting alpine tours… Don’t miss it!
Pule Estate
Drečji vrh 16, Trebelno Tel: +386 (0)7 34 99 700, (0)51 373 662 marketing@pule.si, www.pule.si Open: Wed-Sat: 12am-10pm, Sun: 11am-8pm; Pule Estate is also available for rental Traditional Slovene cuisine with other culinary delights
In Issue 132
Cafe Central
Grand Hotel Portorož ***** Obala 33, Portorož Tel: +386 (0) 5 692 1050 info@lifeclass.net, www.lifeclass.net Open: Every day, 8am – 9pm In Issue 133
Promenada Gourmet Restaurant Cesta svobode 15, Bled Tel: +386 (0)4 579 18 39 restavracija.promenada@hotelibled.com www.sava-hotels-resorts.com Open: Tuesday to Sunday: 12pm–10pm In Issue 134
Bled Castle Restaurant Grajska cesta 6, 4260 Bled Tel: +386 (0)4 579 44 24 restaurant@vgs-bled.si www.hotelastoria-bled.com/castle restaurant Open: Every day, 10am –10pm In Issue 136/137
Accessories
The Road
Wellness
Travel
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The Slovenia Times
Lodging
Fashion
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February 2011
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The Right Time to Change Bad Habits
Terme Šmarješke Toplice
With a massive publication to get to the printers and the traditional social obligations of December, the senior editorial team at The Slovenia Times had a stressful last month of 2010. So who better than editor-in-chief Jaka Terpinc and business editor Maja Dragović to evaluate special spa programmes aimed specifically at managers?
Trust us when we say that media editors truly and deeply understand the health concerns of managers. Sure, we may not command the salaries of high-flying business executives. And we certainly have a more relaxed dress code. But we are all too familiar with unpredictable but full schedules, little time to eat, strange sleeping hours, and all-too-numerous deadlines. They are the hallmark of editorial work as much as they are of traditional business. For us, The Slovenia Times’ senior editorial duo, it is no exaggeration to say that December was a nightmare of a month. We were finalising Business & Investment Slovenia, an ambitious and massive publication due to be printed in early January. At the same time, we didn’t want to miss out on our social lives – the chance to catch up with friends and dear relatives as 2010 drew to a close. Yes, juggling such a heavy workload with such a packed social calendar is unsustainable in the long run. But in the short run it’s often inevitable, whether you work as a journalist or as a senior manager in a business.
experience
Special care for managers
The Slovenia Times
Matters might have settled down by January but our frayed nerves hadn’t. And so when we heard about a Slovenian spa specialising in programmes for managers we couldn’t wait to find out more. We aren’t the only ones who are intrigued by the services offered at Šmarješke Toplice Spa. Their “medical wellness” approach has become firmly anchored not only on the Slovenian but also on the global map of preventative services. It is not merely stressed journalists from The Slovenia Times who head to Šmarješke Toplice: people from all over Europe go to the facility. According to Alenka Babič, the deputy head of the Spa, there are a variety of reasons for the resort’s popularity. One is that,
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Recommended programmes • Mini Vita-Detox - unique detoxification programme. Special price in February: 5 days for EUR 539.00
In the middle: Tomislav Majić and Nusret Čobo, MD, Internal Specialist – Cardiologists
in her words: “We are not cheap but we represent value for money”. Another is that they strictly follow European guidelines for preventative treatments. And it doesn’t hurt that their well equipped diagnostic centre is superior to those at many hospitals, or that the Spa’s staff are recruited from the higher ranks of medical experts. Even doctors from Ljubljana and Zagreb clinics frequently take advantage of Šmarješke’s capacities.
Holistic care
Amongst all this technology and knowledge, the most important person in the process – the client – is not forgotten. The process of preventive managerial examination starts and ends with the same doctor, who is always willing to take “as much time as needed” for a thorough review of all conditions that could influence the state of your health. Since stressful lifestyles often lead to cardiovascular and Altitude training
gastrointestinal problems, particular focus is dedicated to these areas. But the overall picture of a person’s health is made from many pieces, not merely from the result of scans and measurements. All habits and routines are closely examined for any impact they may have on a person’s health. Cardiovascular specialist Nusret Čobo, Head of Medical Team, explains that depression is, for instance, a common condition amongst managers who tend to be surrounded by people yet have few real friends. He points out that psychological problems such as these can have a serious impact on a person’s physical health. An encounter with healthcare services can be associated with unpleasant feelings and pain but Šmarješke staff are well aware of the importance of making the whole experience gentle and friendly. At the same time they know all too well that time is rarely on a manager’s side. “We can adapt to last-
Metod Prašnikar, MD, Internal Specialist – Cardiologist
• Preventive medical examination with a cardiologist and diagnostic services - EUR 545.50 Additional: personalised physical exercise regimen, consultation with a fitness instructor, individual stress diagnostics, consultation with a nutritionist, anti-stress massages and baths... Price of the full programme: EUR 869.50
Terme Šmarješke Toplice T: +386 (0)7 384 34 00 booking.smarjeske@terme-krka.si www.terme-smarjeske.si minute changes in person’s schedules meaning an individual can get an appointment instantly, but for groups a two-week advanced reservation is still necessary,”says Alenka Babič.
Eat right, exercise well
Šmajerske may have a strong focus on medical checkups but it also offers ways to treat any problems uncovered. Apart from the usual provisions such as regular exercise – you can choose between pilates, aerobics, gym work, swimming or have your own personal trainer – Šmarješke looks after your appearance with regular peels and appropriate creams being applied daily to follow the changes in your skin. Exercise of course has to go hand in hand with eating well. Let’s face it, February is an ideal month in which to talk about healthy eating and detox – most of us are recovering from overindulging on food and alcohol during the party month of December, and already starting to worry about looking good on the beach when Summer finally rolls round. So we were both fascinated when we spoke to Šmajerske’s nutritionist Janja Strašek. After only a few minutes with her, it became clear that Janja really knows her food. Learning which food contains which vitamins, the advantages of having veggies cooked to a certain level, and how to combine your meals to get the perfect energy intake was not just fascinating but was a revelation for two people who work in the media business and tend to live off fast food, often without considering the implications for our bodies. By the end of our time with Janja we had come to terms with just how bad our eating habits are, and how they help leave us feeling tired, moody, and occasionally lacking in concentration. As she sent us off with personalised menus – just as she does for all clients in the spa – we resolved to make a fresh start. And maybe that’s the best way to sum up the services at Šmajerke Toplice Spa: the chance to make a fresh start. It’s all about being kind to yourself and being healthy; about taking the time to look good, feel good, and change bad habits. For two stressed-out Slovenia Times journalists, this was an ideal time to do that. But, let’s be honest, the time is always right to take better care of yourself and Šmajerke Toplice Spa is always ready to welcome you as you do just that. February 2011
experience
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Ladies Ski Weekend
Kranjska Gora
It Sure is Great to be a Woman!
Despite being a born-and-raised Slovenian, I’ve never identified with the idea of spending long hours somewhere in the chilling cold for the sole purpose of struggling for balance on two narrow pieces of plastic in order to have a few runs down a slope, perpetually risking the chance of falling and hurting myself. However, at the beginning of December, I got a chance to alter my not-so-favourable stance on the number one Slovene winter sport and to rediscover the hidden skier who is supposed to dwell deep inside every Slovene. The Ladies Ski Weekend programme looked more than promising, so I decided to give it a go. By Polona Cimerman The first ever Ladies Ski Weekend officially started on a cold and snowy Friday afternoon in December; however, for me it all began much earlier than that. I did ski as a child, but then stopped and (apart from one skiing week I attended later on in primary school) I’ve never got even close to ski resorts. So the ski weekend in
Kranjska Gora was a major challenge for me, after years of wondering what all the fuss around skiing was really about. Let the games begin! That Friday, filled with enthusiasm and equipped with skiing necessities along with heaps of tips from the devoted skiing fans (and believe me, there are plenty of
those around here), I reached the headquarters of the Avto Aktiv Volvo Center in Trzin to meet the girls and start my skiing adventure. And the beginning was more than nice; the atmosphere was warm and uplifting, the gift bags full of nice surprises, while the new Volvo cars XC60, XC70, S60 and S90 we got to use for the weekend were shining and ready to take us to Kranjska Gora in style. And off we went! After check-in at the Larix Hotel, the eight of us attending the weekend gathered for dinner; I already had a feeling that this was a start of a really great time. We clicked almost instantly and the getting-to-know-each-other conversations were full of laughter and positive energy. Later on, the three ski instructors from Zavod 2010, an institute for the promotion of sport, joined us with a bottle of wine and a plan for the days ahead; we jubilantly toasted to our premiere ski weekend and headed out for a dance at the nearby club. I was feeling great, but at that point I still somehow could not really believe that the next day I was actually going to put skis on.
Getting serious about it
Ladies ski The Slovenia Times
Weekend
Saturday morning was the day for me. I woke up all excited, knowing that for the first time in many years I was going to feel the snow under my skis again. And not just any skis, mind you. Elan took good care of us and offered us the use of four of their newest models, especially designed for women in terms of both the shape and design – more than a perfect start. The very skilled skiers chose the Speed Magic and Pure Magic models, while the others opted for Mystic Magic and Wave Magic. Obviously I was a beginner, so I chose the white Wave Magic ones, which are the softest and most appropriate for my level of
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skiing knowledge. Or – better said – the lack of it. All the other girls were experienced skiers and had no problems hitting the slopes on their own, with Aleš and Rok helping them brush up their already-established skills, while on the other hand I was in quite desperate need of an instructor’s care and attention. Luckily for me, I was privileged to have private skiing lessons with the instructor Samo, and so we got down to business. We started – at the beginning. Before he took me to the ski lift, he showed me some basic moves and highlighted the most important things. Before I knew it, I was faced with the real thing – confronting the slopes; first the easier one and later the hard-core ones. During the lessons, Samo patiently demonstrated how things should be done, encouraged me to follow his lead and then repeated the entire procedure over and over. At times, my knees felt wobbly, and watching other skiers smoothly passing by I felt totally silly and out of place; nonetheless, I was greatly motivated and eager to learn, so I ended the day with the feeling that I was getting somewhere after all. In the afternoon, I indulged myself in a well-deserved sauna treatment, where I was able to relax my aching muscles and forget about all my worries. I returned to my room invigorated and full of energy, ready to go out for a dinner to the inn, Pri Martinu, which served us traditional Slovenian dishes in rustic rooms. It was time for presents – again – and the sponsors of our delightful weekend provided us with gift bags. Some other girls and I wound the night up rather early due to the eventful, exciting, yet tiring day. I wanted to regain some strength for Sunday to be able to seize the last day and practice skiing as much as possible.
out there and see if I could manage on my own. I spent the entire morning trying out various slopes and struggling to remember all the things Samo told me the day before. I was aware that I was making tons of mistakes, but still I felt good, and the day – with its sun-bathed mountain peaks in the background – was simply perfect. In the afternoon, I hung out with the girls, and we were chatting in front of the fireplace like good old friends, laughing and exchanging views on a wide range of topics. I must say it was this “girl power” that added that extra special something to the entire weekend and perfectly enhanced the unforgettable skiing experience. I came to appreciate all the joys of this great winter sport and re-gained confidence and motivation to continue with skiing. The entire group is already making plans to meet up and let the good times roll once more. Next year’s first anniversary Ladies Ski Weekend might just as well see all of us.
April 2011 - Bovec Kanin End the season in the most relaxing way possible – with a high spring sun along with your best friends and first-class pampering. Applications and further information: ski@zavod2010.com and www.zavod2010.com organisor
partners
Avto Aktiv
Institute for promotion of Sport
A small step for mankind, a giant leap for me
Which I did – completely on my own this time. I woke up with this urge to just go February 2011
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The Capital
A Dragon Who has not Gone Extinct
The dragon is not only the symbol of strength, courage and greatness; it is also the symbol of Ljubljana’s history, both mythical and actual. Over the years, he has made his appearance in many aspects of life in this bustling capital. By Vesna Paradiž
According to legend, Ljubljana was founded by the Greek mythological figures of Jason and the Argonauts, who had stolen the Golden Fleece from King Aetes. While returning home across the Black Sea and up the Danube, Sava and Ljubljanica Rivers, they stopped at a large lake in the marshes near what would become Ljubljana. The lake was the dwelling place of a monster, later Ljubljana’s dragon, which Jason fought and killed. There are two other, slightly more realistic versions of the dragon’s origins. The patron of the Ljubljana Castle’s chapel is Saint George. He is often portrayed killing a dragon with a spear. The dragon in this legend symbolises paganism, the older religions that had to submit to Christianity. In Slavic mythology, the animal is an illustration of the god Veles. The dragon symbol could also have evolved from the decoration on the medieval city coat of arms, The Slovenia Times
which had initially represented only the city walls or gates. The Baroque movement moved the tiny animal, made as a decoration above the coat of arms, into the emblem, where it eventually overgrew the tower and the other symbols.
From History to Pop Culture
While the dragon remains, a prominent figure on Ljubljana’s coat of arms, it also adorns the top of the Castle tower and has been depicted as part of the emblem in a number of buildings owned by the city. Furthermore, it has its own bridge, built across the Ljubljanica River between 1900 and 1901. Dragons guard the four corners of Zmajski most (Dragon Bridge), one of Ljubljana’s better examples of Art Nouveau architecture. Since the Second World War, the symbol has grown into a something
of a pop cultural and corporate image. It has been used widely in different ways and by different companies: on the labels for bottles of Union beer, as the name of a battery factory or as the prize for fashion achievements. It was even depicted on the pack of the famous Filter 57 cigarettes. Its name is used for many sports clubs, a kindergarten, a dry cleaner and a well-known confectioner, Zmajčkov butik (The Little Dragon Boutique). On the banks of the Ljubljanica River, you can embark on the boat bearing the name Ljubljanski Zmaj (Ljubljana Dragon) which will take you on a ride from the centre of Ljubljana to the spring of Ljubljanica near Vrhnika.
The Mascot and the Secret Code
Ljubljana also uses the dragon as a means of city promotion. A visitor to the city can take part in The
Dragon’s Secret or The Dragon Code adventure. These programmes are great opportunities to explore the city step by step, interact with locals and decipher different puzzles (depending on the programme) one by one. These adventures are great for both smaller groups as well as for larger ones practising teambuilding. Last but not least, the dragon is the official mascot of the Union Olimpija basketball team, entertaining and encouraging every home game they play. The giant green dragon, played by Miha Kiselak, a member of the Dunking Devils acrobatic basketball team, is a great attraction especially in the new hall in the recently built sports park Stožice. People cheer and dance and take pictures with him, and generally find satisfaction in visiting even if the game itself was not to their liking. “Green Dragons” is, incidentally, also the name of the supporters of the Olimpija branch of sport clubs in Ljubljana.
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The People who are Always There
In 2010, Ljubljana was enrichedwith a few remarkable statues.
oglas LJ- KARTICA - 113x155 mm 6/24/10 15:12 Page 1
The statue of mayor Hribar
On 8th February, the Slovenian National Day of Culture, Slovenes turn to their greatest romantic poet France Prešeren, who is credited for his revolutionary contribution in turning Slovenes from half-literate peasants to a self-aware nation. As a central figure to the nation’sidentity, Prešeren’s statue on “his” square is one of the central sights of Ljubljana. This iconic landmark, created by Ivan Zajec in 1905 under Mayor Ivan Hribar, portrays the poet with hismuse. At the time, the statue wasa matter of some controversy as Bishop Jeglič was disturbedby the topless musein the vicinity of the cathedral. In the 20th century, Ljubljana wasdecorated by a series of sculptures, many of them with themesthe WWII resistance and socialism. In 2010, Ljubljana saw a renaissance in sculpture. Many new statues appeared in busy places. One is the one of the already-mentioned Mayor Hribar, situated at Breg. Hribar is recognized as one of the most prominent people in Ljubljana’s history. A liberal politician, credited for the reconstruction of the city after the earthquake in 1895,he was denied his last
mayoral term by Kaiser Franz Joseph II, because of his support ofanti-German protests in 1908. He continued hisbrilliant political and diplomat career until his suicide in 1941, as a protest to the Italian occupation. The Fascist occupation, which took many of Ljubljana’s people to the labour camps, resulted in women’sprotests, which were violently broken up. At one such gathering,women rallied in front of the Diocese, begging the Bishop to intervene with the occupiers to release their relatives. Apillar was raised in 1953, with an engraved finger pointing at the Diocese, was essentially anti-clerical and was removed in 1991. In 2010, a new statue of “the women” was installed to commemorate the historical event, this time without shaming references to the church. Another set of statues,which you will probably encounterare those on the new Mesarski most (Butcher’s Bridge), leading to the central market. It is a sculptural opus by Jakov Brdar, featuring Adam and Eve, a Satyr and Prometheus, as the characters in a story of the life of butchers.
Ljubljana tourist card
• free admission to the main sights • free public transport, boat ride, funicular, tourist train • other attractive free services 24 hours: € 23.00 • 48 hours: € 30.00 • 72 hours: € 35.00 Sales outlets: • Tourist Information Centres and major hotels
www.visitljubljana.si
February 2011
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Wanted: Guest Guest Stars 2010 CULTURE
Hannah Mancini Singer/Songwriter, American
The Guest Star Awards is an annual campaign presented by The Slovenia Times and Radio Slovenia International. The event was first launched in 2004 andwas created with the purpose of honouring the Slovenia’s expat community, by identifying the most notable and exceptional individuals influencing Slovenian society. This year, the organizers are proud to announce the seventh edition of the popular and esteemed event, which will take place in April. Before that – get ready to vote! By Polona Cimerman
Mancini moved to Slovenia four years ago from Los Angeles where she had pursued a successful decade-long career in entertainment, appearing in glamorous LA venues and performing alongside famous names such as Luis Miguel. Her Slovenian band XEQUTIFZ, which has performed at many big name events in Slovenia and Croatia, continually rides high on the music charts. Lasanthi Manaranjanie Kalinga Dona Musician, Sri Lankan
Winners of the 2009 campaing
The campaign primarily aims to present those people who have decided to live and work in Slovenia, but are not of Slovene descent. Their talent and personality are the key factors that directly contribute to the building of a multicultural and closely-knit society with the consequent development and openness of Slovenia. Moreover, they contribute to creating prejudice- and stereotype-free cooperation between various nations. The Guest Star team considers expatriates to be an essential element in building a modern cosmopolitan society on the sunny side of the Alps. Globalisation and internationalisation have shrunken the world,and international relations are gaining ever more importance. The challenges of blending the cultural heritage of one’s own country with external influences have thus become a part of everyday life; the keys to overcoming such challenges and making a success storylie in opening up and mutual collaboration. In this respect, expatriate communities are nothing less than vital for both their host nations and their The Slovenia Times
motherlands as well, and Guest Star strives to promote this.
Variety is the spice of stars
Since expats are active in many different yet equally important fields, the future stars are in four categories: Culture, Diplomacy, Business and Sports. The factor qualifying the candidates for nomination is being active in Slovenia for more than half a year. Until this year, the winners were selected by a popular vote on the internet and Radio SI phone-inprogrammes. This year, for the first time,the final results are going to consist of two parts: 40% from the readers and 60% from an expert jury composed of authorities from each category; the jury willhave the final word in short-listing the candidates. Guest Star is an eagerly anticipated event every year, and has been a tremendous successsince its first launch. Despite the fact that there are only four awards, there is most definitely a much greater number of stars twinkling on the sky that night.This unique event has always been an opportunity to meet friends
and spend a wonderful evening enjoying exquisite company, impressive performances, delicious culinary delicacies and some the best Slovene wines. As the initial idea behind these marvellous evenings is booming, sois the atmosphere since the true essence of the events is deeper and nobler than merely winning the awards. The Guest Star campaign and ceremony attract increasing media attention every year, bestowing even more recognition and prominence on them. Apart from uniting outstanding foreigners, it also brings together the most prominent Slovenian guests from business, art and diplomatic circles, as well as the highest representatives of the state. This year’s Guest Star willbe no exception in achieving excellence. The organizers’ goals remain true to the now well-established tradition: emphasising the significance of friendship and the sense of equality between Slovenians and people from other cultural environments. You can contribute to a yet another joyous evening by voting for the selected candidates in March.
An ethnomusicologist by education, Lasanthi came to Slovenia in 2007 and lectures at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. Her expertise extends from North Indian classical and Sri Lankan music to healing rituals and music therapy. As a musician she has performed all over Slovenia as well as in several other central Europe countries. Uve Laysiepen Visual Artist, Dutch
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Star 2010 Candidates Laysiepen has been exploring new media since 1969: performance, photography, film, video and installation art. His contributions to post-World War II art – made over four decades and from six continents – place him among the 30 most influential contemporary artists above 50 years according to Art Now magazine.
Picasso; concert of Paco de Lucía; concert of the Spanish tenor José Carreras and the friendly match between Slovenian and Spanish Basketball Selections, which opened the Stozice Studium.
Andrew Page Ambassador of the United Kingdom
Nicole Michelangeli Ambassador of France
Carlos Yoder Musician, Argentine
Yoder describes himself as part-tabliya (a player of the tabla, the percussion instrument typical of North Indian music), part web builder, part writer, part educator, part cultural promoter, part tourist guide, and part compulsive commentator on all of the above. After playing classical piano for 15 years, he switched to Indian classical music and “has never looked back.”
A life-time diplomat, Michelangeli has gained experience in many countries from the Netherlands and Germany to Senegal and Ivory Coast. Her diplomatic activity in Slovenia has already borne fruit as she has negotiated the strategic partnership between Slovenia and France that will be signed soon. Beside, she is encouraging cultural exchange, visiting companies and giving lectures at universities. She says she particularly enjoys the variety of Slovenia.
Page is a career diplomat with over 20 years’ worth of experience. He was appointed to Slovenia in 2009 having previously served as Deputy Head of the Russia, South Caucasus and Central Asia Directorship at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is devoted to supporting bilateral economic projects, encouraging cultural links and promoting the image of the UK while encouraging support for its policies.
Klemens Nowotny Chief executive of Raiffeisen Bank, Austrian
ECONOMY Ayhan Öztürk Turkish Airlines General Manager for Slovenia, Turkish
Ahmed Farouk Ambassador of Egypt
DIPLOMACY Anunciada Fernández de Córdova Ambassador of Spain
A career diplomat, who has devoted much of her professional activity to Culture: she has organized writers meetings, theater forums, publications, exhibitions. She has also published three novels and two collections of poems. She has cooperated with events such as the exhibition of the Spanish painters Clave and
received many international awards, among them the FDI Award Slovenia 2010. Droste is also active in many industrial associations including the Automotive Cluster of Slovenia and the German-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Since the beginning of Farouk’s term in Slovenia in September 2007, he has put great effort into routing investments from Egypt to Slovenia and vice versa. The extensive list of his achievements is not limited to enhancing economic ties, but involves a great deal of cultural cooperation as well. Many remember the Pharaonic Renaissance exhibition and the concerts of the renowned Omar Kairat Group. These are just a few of Mr Farouk’s many cultural contributions.
Turkish Airlines’ rapidly expanding network is helping to connect Slovenia with the world while offering good prices and schedules: a daily flight to Istanbul is expected in the near future. Mr Öztürk has been working at Turkish Airlines for 21 years. Apart from expanding the travel options provided by his company, Mr Öztürk is actively involved in the promotion of Slovenia as a destination. Christof Johannes Droste Managing director of Hella Saturnus, German Since his arrival in Slovenia in 2003, Johannes Droste has helped make Hella Saturnus a real success story in the car lightning sector. Under his leadership, the firm has
Banker Klemens Nowotny has spent many years in Slovenia and held a variety of different posts in the industry. Recently, he has led the transformation and repositioning of the acquired local Krekova Banka into a modern internationalised bank well linked to Central and EasternEuropean markets. He is also licensed dog trainer and a guide of rescue dogs. Louise Chatwood KD Skladi, Member of the Board, Australian Throughout her rich career, Ms Chatwood has focussed on process and scope for improvement both within the business and the broader industry. Such was the implementation of investment management software, which she initiated and sponsored to optimise the trading and decision making process. She was also actively involved in
continued on page 58 February 2011
58 Massi is a trainer who is constantly determined to meet and surpass expectations. In the recent Olympic season he did this perfectly with the success of his protégé Tina Maze speaking for itself.
Hannu Järvenpää Head coach of Olimpija Ljubljana, Finnish
Kevin Pinkney Basketball player, American
As a hockey coach every day is a new challenge for Järvenpää. Naturally most of his time and energy is devoted to helping Olimpija Ljubljana achieve success but when he doesn’t have a whistle around his neck, his favourite passions become downhill skiing, cycling, and climbing mountains.
Pinkney started his basketball career at Nevada-Reno University’s NCAA league, coming to Europe in 2005. After stints in France, Italy, Poland and Israel he came to Slovenia and now plays for Olimpija Ljubljana. In January, he was named the Most Valuable Player during the Slovenian All Star game.
Chris Booker Basketball player, American
socially responsible actions including ‘Očistimo Slovenijo”, the large Slovenian cleaning action where KD Skladi was the major sponsor.
SPORTS Andrea Massi Ski coach, Head of Team to A-Maze, Italian
Booker has been collecting awards for his talent and hard work since his junior years. He is currently one of the star players for Slovenia’s Krka Telekom, with his size and strength proving a great asset to the team.
www.gueststar.org The new dimension of football
Business Club of the Football Association of Slovenia The Football Association (FA) of Slovenia presented their Business Club premium offer for the first time at the Celje football stadium in 2007. Afterwards, the Slovenian national football team games were moved to Lukna, the new stadium in Maribor that regularly hosted distinguished guests offering exclusive comfort while watching football matches. The Business Club premium offer includes the best VIP seating at the stadium, food and beverage before and after the match and parking in the vicinity of the stadium. The Business Club has upgraded their offer in August 2010, when all the hospitality activities moved to the brand new 16.000 seated football stadium Stozice in Ljubljana. The new Business Club enables to experience the new dimension of football by enjoying the football games together with your business partners which you can offer the comfort they have not experienced yet. The brand new stadium offers private executive boxes, your own restourant with a view on the football pitch offering private dining experience teamed with state-ofthe-art facilities, LCD screens and excellent food and beverage service of the renowned Jezersek House Catering. A relaxed atmosphere of the VIP area at the stadium is the place where business meets sport and entertainment and thus turning into a perfect place for business meetings, reinforcement of the partnerships or simply a place to strengthen the employee motivation. Even though the result of the football match is not known until the last seconds, those who invite important business guests (partners, clients, colleagues etc.) into the Business Club of FA Slovenia will be sure to achieve the victory long before that.
YOUR RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW ON THE FOOTBALL PITCH The Slovenia Times
The Business Club of FA Slovenia is developed in partnership with a S.V. – RSA agency, which deals with the development and activation of hospitality activities and other needs for the promotion of the company or its brands.
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Elan Waveflex Series 1011
60 EVENTS Photography
Plečnik’s Architectural Panoramas Mon 3 Jan–Wed 2 Mar, Krakovski nasip embankment, Ljubljana, no admission Ljubljana’s new Krakovski Nasip Outdoor Gallery presents an exhibition of fine art photographs by the renowned photographers Stane Jeršič and Barbara Jakše Jeršič. The photographs depict works created by the famous architect Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana. Jože left an indelible stamp on the architecture of Ljubljana. Vienna and Prague, where he lived and worked for many years, perhaps inspired some of his best and most original works, but it was only upon his return to Ljubljana, his birthplace, that he truly rounded off his oeuvre by combining into a whole his architectural ideas from the past and those which were far in advance of his time.
Punk
Pennywise Mon 7 Feb, 8pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 16–22
Pennywise are one of the most legendary punk rock bands from USA. They were formed in 1988 and have thus far released 9 studio records (all on the Epitaph Records label). Their last effort came out in 2008 and was called Reason to Believe. Recently, the band has gone through a major change, as frontman Jim Lindberg left and was replaced by Ignite singer Zoli Téglás, who has proved to be a more than adequate replacement.
despair.This is a dynamic and wellstructured musical combination. The line-up: Robert Belšak, drums; Marjan Bone, vocals, accordion; Dejan Bračko, guitar, violin; Boštjan Koren, guitar, tambourine; Igor Mešič, guitar; Goran Podgorelec, double bass
World music
Kvinton Tue 8 Feb, 8.30pm, Klub Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
Their sound and arrangements draw from topical world music trends by adopting folk-rock as well as the harder, “slashing” blues-rock. They astound with their harmonious interplay and the brilliantly devised combination of electronica and acoustic instruments, anger and melancholy, determination and
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World music
Sekou Kaoyate Experience
Thu 10 Feb–Fri 11 Feb, 7.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 10–33
Tue 8 Feb, 8pm, Štuk, Maribor, EUR 5
The rather short and turbulent cooperation between Kurt Weil and Bertolt Brecht left a distinct mark on musical history. The Seven Deadly Sins, a satirical “ballet with singing”, was the last major project of this partnership and was composed in 1933 on a commission from Boris Kochno and Edward James. Few works are more controversial than Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony. On first view it is a wonderful musical description of a day in the mountains, but if we search more deeply we find a story about life and everything that life can bring – joy, fear, fame, and a beginning and end in darkness…
This acoustic musical project, which got off the ground in Autumn 2009, brings together an African virtuoso and Slovenian musicians who have been involved with West African music for a number of years. Sekou Kaoyate is a virtuoso of the kora and is often called “the African Jimi Hendrix.” The line-up includes some well-known Slovenian musicians: Sekou Kouyate: kora, acoustic guitar, vocals, Igor Leonardi: acoustic guitar, Damir Mazrek: percussion, Tina Sovič: percussion
Photography
Emzin Photography Competition
Electronic
Thu 10 Feb–Sun 6 Mar, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission
Fri 11 Feb, 11pm, K4, Ljubljana, EUR 7–10
CM
MY
Industrial
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The Young Gods
CMY
Thu 10 Feb, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 16–19
K
This time, we will be honoured by a visit from Swiss gods of industrial rock, the mighty The Young Gods. The excellent new record Everybody Knows, which was officially released in November, 2010, and the great live performances these still young gods put on are a guarantee for another complete concert experience. After being on the scene for 20 years, The Young Gods still sound as fresh and The Slovenia Times
Classical
Philharmonic Orchestra & Chamber Choir
An annual pan-Slovenian photo project establishing photography as one of the key elements of contemporary visual communication, encouraging the development of original and press photography, and introducing new Slovenian photographers. An expert jury will award three prizes for original photography and a photo journalism award. Alongside the awarded photos, the works of finalists will also be exhibited.
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original as in the beginning. Going on before them will be Hemendex from Croatia.
Astrodisco For the start of the year, K4 kicks off with a pioneer of the Berlin techno scene, who, using various nicknames, still writes the history of the most electronic city in the world. DJ Pete is most respected among the techno geeks as the official successor of dub techno godfathers Basic Channel because of his involvement with the label Chain Reaction and the duo Scion. Peter Kuschnereit (his real name) is still a techno classicist and performs in the biggest clubs in the world.
Classical
Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra Sat 12 Feb, 8pm, Stožice Sports Park Arena, Ljubljana, EUR 35–55 The Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra is one of the most unusual among the top class ensembles performing classical music. The orchestra’s repertoire includes works by Johannes Brahms, Frantz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet and the composers of the Strauss family, as
EASY STAR ALL-STARS (USA/Jamaica)
Kino Šiška, Friday, 18. February 2011 at 21:00
62 EVENTS well as csardases and folk music arrangements. In any case, this is not a usual classical concert, but a show with many virtuoso performers, personifying the true gypsy spirit.
Metal
Sodom Sat 12 Feb, 8pm, Štuk, Maribor, EUR 19–25 Sodom is a German heavy metal trio from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. Along with the bands Kreator and Destruction, Sodom is considered one of the “big three” of Teutonic thrash metal. While the other two bands created a sound that would influence death metal, Sodom’s music style would greatly influence many late-1980s and early-1990s black metal bands, among others. In their career, they have released 13 albums, the last one in 2010 – In War and Pieces.
Jazz
Imer Traja Brizani & Amala Sat 12 Feb, 9pm, Hotel Mons, Ljubljana, EUR 20
Imer Traja Brizani is one of the most creative Romani musicians in Slovenia. Thus far, he has released more than ten albums of original music and has collaborated with many world-class musicians. He has already performed at Jazz Club Mons a few years ago, when he set the stage alight together with Peter Erskine (ex Weather Report). This time, he will present his project Amala, for which he is perhaps best known. The music includes elements of traditional Romani music, jazz and classical.
Pop
Robin Gibb Mon 14 Feb, 8pm, Stožice Sports Park Arena, Ljubljana, EUR 30–60
In his upcoming Ljubljana concert, Robin Gibb of the famous pop group the Bee Gees will perform a mixed repertoire of Bee Gees hits and songs of his own, written over his long career. Gibb’s ethereal voice is the trademark of many Bee Gees hits. Apart from that, Gibb has forged his own musical identity and released several solo albums. The Bee Gees are one of popmusic’s all-time most successful groups. Trying their hand at many different styles of pop music, they topped music charts in various periods of their career. The Bee Gees greatest hits include songs such as To Love Somebody, How Deep Is Your Love, Staying Alive, Tragedy, You Win Again, and Secret Love.
Architecture
ArchitectureStocktaking Mon 14 Feb–Fri 11 Mar, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission An overview exhibition of the members of the Association of Architects Ljubljana 2009 – 2011. Without a doubt, architecture does not enjoy the status it deserves among artists. Although it is omnipresent in human life: we are born in it, live in it, and ultimately receive a tombstone– another architectural work, we seem to look on it as invisible. As if we are somehow indifferent to our environment, which nevertheless markedly influences the quality of our lives. An overview exhibition of the members of the Association of Architects Ljubljana presents an opportunity to introduce the work of people striving to enhance the quality of our milieu.
Exhibition
Andro Fini Skaleras: Overview No. 2. Tue 15 Feb–Sun 13 Mar, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission A publicist, but in essence an author who focuses on artistic selfexpression – a poet, screenwriter and director. A fine artist who has been expressing himself through several techniques, from intaglio printing to watercolour, but mostly photography. In this media, as well, he continually employs diverse genres, surpassing the documentary to a great extent. The exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of his photographic themes of the last The Slovenia Times
twenty years: from portrait, human figure, landscape and architecture to technical culture. The exhibition is an accompanying event to the author’s newly published monograph.
Pop
Jopisa Lisac: A Love Concert Tue 15 Feb, 8pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 16–32
Josipa Lisac is the true diva of ex Yugoslavian music. She exploded onto the scene with her Dnevnik jedne ljubavi album in the 1970s and has always remained highly popular in all the countries of former Yugoslavia. This time, she will be performing immortally celebrated songs and pieces from the Živim po svome album, her last effort. Her backup band includes: Davor Ivelič, bass guitar; Robert Vnuk, guitar; Josip Grah, trumpet, accordion; Gojko Tomljanovič, keyboards; Borna Šercar, drums
Jazz
Jason Stein Locksmith Isidore Tue 15 Feb, 8.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 11–14 Originally from Long Island, New York, Stein has performed throughout the US and Europe, including performances at festivals in Lisbon, Cracow, Barcelona, Debrecen and Ljubljana. He has had the opportunity to perform with a number of exciting local and international musicians including: Michael Moore, Jeff Parker, Ken Vandermark, Rob Mazurek, Jeb Bishop, Michiel Braam, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, Pandelis Karayorgis, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Tony Buck, Kent Kessler, Tobias Delius, Nate McBride, Jack Wright, Michael Zerang, Peter Brotzman, Wilbert DeJoode, and Havard Wiik.
Classical
Andreas Scholl & Accademia Bizantina Wed 16 Feb, 8pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 19–53
EVENTS 63 Andreas Scholl, one of the leading European countertenors, studied ancient music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under Richard Levitt and René Jacobs, and soon embarked on an illustrious artistic pursuit. He has been laurelled with a number of the most notable accolades: two ECHO awards, Prix de l’Union de la Presse Musicale Belge, the Edison Award, and in 2006 he received the Classical Brit Award for Singer of the Year. Today, Scholl is one of the most sought-after and renowned singers, boasting engagements such as a concert with Cecilia Bartoli in Paris, numerous recitals, and resounding international tours.
Reggae
Easy Star All-Stars Fri 18 Feb, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 12–17 This is a unique musical sensation, which became famous for reggae covers of the most important albums in rock music (Dark Side of The Moon, OK Computer and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band). It brings together fans of reggae, classic rock, dub and indie rock. They are coming to Slovenia hard on the heels of the release of their last effort – Dubber Side Of The Moon, which came out in October 2010 and which is a remake of the classic Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon.
Electronic
Petar Dundov Fri 18 Feb, 9pm, Cvetličarna, Ljubljana
What is techno? Scientists and philosophers have long since pondered the concept of its musical definition since it burst out of Detroit in the mid-‘80s. Is it that notion of the “ghost in the machine’, of soul from electronics that its inventors elicited? Or is it more the repetitive throb and thump of 4/4 beats and slow-burning momentum that the Berghain generation are proponents of? Croatian producer Petar Dundov’s stunning music manages to marry both ideals in the most explosive of fashions.
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The Art in Motion
Gibanica is a biennial cross-section of the Slovene contemporary dance scene. Selectors Blaž Lukan, Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik and Virve Sutinen have chosen 15 performances to be featured on stages of Ljubljana. This is the conclusion of this festival. Pure Performance questions the form as a basic tool of artistic expression – Jaka Lah puts himself and the viewer into the position of being trapped in form. We find ourselves in an absurd situation of silence and indefinite exact arranging of toilet paper onto a round surface on the ground. But because no thought exists until it is expressed through a form, no thought exists in its pure form, and it can swiftly turn into its own opposition – or in the performance discourse – into plain shit. The way in which Jaka is trying to catch hold of this short circuit between the thought, the uttered and the understood, is a negation. In his solo performance Sad sam /almost 6/ Matija Ferlin wants to investigate the mind of a child who is not conditioned by anything, not even by his own existence. While growing up, the conscience of the existence creates numerous “terror-
izing” facts that are results of social conditions and constraints. All fictitious childhood characters become enemies. The fact that we have to grow up results in imperfections that make our lives and modes of existence specific and individual.
Sun 27 Feb, 6pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana To Dundov, techno is music that precedes movement. It is dance music, solid enough to carry emotions through the dance floor and abstract enough to be a template for ever.
Rap
Plan B Sat 19 Feb, 8pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 25–39 Ben Drew, better known as Plan B, proved to the world that he’s not just an angry rapper, who, after the release of his critically acclaimed debut Who Needs Actions When You Got Words from2006, was crowned as the British Eminem, not just a soul singer, which he proved to be with his latest album The Defamation of Strickland Banks, and not just a successful actor, who has played alongside Michael Caine in Harry Brown, and not just a director, who has just finished his film debut. But he is all that… and much more.
Disco
Jessica 6 Sun 20 Feb, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 8–10 If anything was missing from last year’s performances of Hercules
& Love Affair in Šiška, you’ll be able to make it up at the same place. The sensuality and energy of the new diva of the New York disco underground Nomi Ruiz and the solid dance groove supplied by Raposo and Wiley from the band Automato make for an amazing combination. Some of the descriptions of this project: Nu disco, P-Funk, “the spiritual child of Andy Warhol and Grace Jones”, “Sade meets RZA/ Wu-Tang Clan”, “...disco for fans of The Strokes,” etc.
Metal
Apocalyptica Tue 22 Feb, 9pm, Cvetličarna, Ljubljana Apocalyptiva started out with the idea of fusing classical music and metal. For their first album, they decided to play Metallica songs on string instruments. Soon, they became a hit all over the world, as it still remains today. Many artists have tried copying Apocalyptica’s style, but there’s only one Apocalyptica and they are the true masters of this genre. Last year, they released already their seventh album, which they will be presenting in Slovenia as well, along with some of their other hits. February 2011
64 EVENTS World music
11 Songs Tue 22 Feb, 8.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 9–18 Co-produced by several Belgian cultural centres, the project is a cooperation between European improvisers and traditional musicians from Morocco and Burkina Faso. In December 2010, the artists made an album of traditional gnaoua and mandingo rhythms as well as contemporary improvised wind music. The project incorporates one of the most prominent European saxophonists, Trevor Watts, a group of Belgian and Moroccan musicians, Marockin’ Brass, headed by Luc Mishalle, and the Foliba ensemble from Burkina Faso led by Adama Dramé.
Exhibition
Laibach Kunst. Perspectives. 1980-2011 Thu 24 Feb – 17 Apr, Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor, The Laibach retrospective exhibition presents 30 years of Laibach’s art work and focuses
on the visual phenomenon of the group. Laibach has become a part of the Slovene cultural history, above all the history of music and performance. What many do not know, however, is that Laibach in fact began its career as a visual art group. Laibach has always been a multidimensional and multimedia project demolishing traditional boundaries between diverse areas. This retrospective presents a new aspect of the visual creativity and production of the group in the framework of Laibach Gesamtkunstwerk.
Metal
Sonata Arctica Sat 26 Feb, 7pm, Cvetličarna, Ljubljana, EUR Sonata Arctica hail from the cold land of Finland and it is there that they developed their vision of
precise, almost cold (arctic) power metal. In more than ten years, they have released a number of critically acclaimed albums, the last one being released in 2009. Be ready for fast guitar parts and lots of keyboards. For this show, they will be supported by Labyrinth.
Experimental
Chip Shop Music Mon 28 Feb, 10pm, Menza, Ljubljana The Irish-Swedish electroacoustic quartet is yet another band to involve Martin Küchen, the Swedish saxophone player who has made quite a name for himself in the last years. This band has a concept of mixing woodwinds, percussion instruments and electronics. It has been active since 2007 and thus far put out two albums for the label Homefront Recordings, the debut “Chip Shop Music” (2008) and last year’s “You can shop around but you won’t find any cheaper.”
Metal
Bonecrusher Fest Tue 1 Mar, 8pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 22–27 This is the second edition of the metal festival Bonecrusher Fest. The headliner for this festival will be a band well known to Slovenian fans, Dying Fetus, which has made its way under the skin of listeners with technically complete music and socially and politically critical lyrics. These death metal giants will be supported by the American death core band Carnifex, Norvegian youngsters Keep Of Kalessin and the Spanish thrash metal band Angelus Apatrida.
Blues
Boubacar Traore Tue 1 Mar, 8.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 15–18 Considered a bluesman in the western countries, Boubacar Traore, a.k.a. Kar Kar, is above all a passionate artist whose music distils emotions and dreams with simplicity and precision. His powerful
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and warm voice sings his country’s history, the hope and despair of the Malian people, their love and expectations, the world surrounding them – striking melodies, all inspired from the Kassonke Malian tradition in which he has always bathed. This will be his second appearance in Slovenia after a dreamlike concert at the Druga godba Festival ‘97. Apart from his old hits, he will also play songs from his latest album, Mali Denhou.
Classical
Prague Symphony Orchestra Wed 2 Mar, 7.30pm, Dvorana Union, Maribor, EUR 20
The Prague Symphony Orchestra was created in 1934. At first it functioned in a variety of areas (film, opera, concerts), but the orchestra soon became independent and became only a first-class symphony orchestra. As seems fitting, the orchestra will be presenting two works by the giants of Czech classical music, Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. The orchestra will be conducted by Jiří Kout.
Classical
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Thu 3 Mar–Fri 4 Mar, 7.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 8–26 The Golden Spinning Wheel is one of four tone poems that Dvořák wrote in 1896 on themes from the poetry of Karel Jaromír Erben. On the 120th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the music of Bohuslav Martinů will finally gain more space on numerous musical stages. After its initial emergence in 1933, the composer returned to the First Cello Concerto twice –to orchestrate it for a larger ensemble and to give it its final form. Although it sounds incredible, until now Schubert’s Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major has not appeared on the programme of our subscription concerts. Barely 18 years old at the time, Schubert wrote the work in boarding school and never lived to hear its premiere performance.
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EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY
Carmina Slovenica choir in Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Skiing diva Tina Maze giving autographs to her fans after finding out that the Goldne Fox slalom race was cancelled. (Photo: Mediaspeed)
Memorial event at Osankarica: in respect of the Pohorje partisan batallion’s last battle. (Photo: Mediaspeed) A traditional New Year’s jump into the sea, Portorož. (Photo: Mediaspeed)
Opera singer Saša Čano at Rusalka premiere at Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana. (Photo: Mediaspeed)
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HOMECOMING SLOVENIA 2011 Republika Slovenija v letu 2011 praznuje 20 let od razglasitve samostojnosti lastne države. Ponos nad dosežki samostojne Slovenije bo v letu 2011 zaznamoval tudi turistična dogajanja. In 2011 the Republic of Slovenia will be celebrating 20 years since its declaration of national independence. Pride in the achievements of independent Slovenia will also be reflected during 2011 in the tourism sector.
Come and take a closer look: Ljubljana.
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