Slovenia invites you!

SLOvenia www.slo-mag.si

invites you!

How to spend 3 to 48 hours in the City of Dragons “In Slovenia you will find export companies with highly educated employees”

High-speed Embedded Vision Cameras Added value for industrial image processing applications through semi-custom camera solutions Cutting edge technology for production automation and quality assurance • Optical survey • surface inspection • Robot guide

Optomotive Ltd. 2 Словения приглашает Ваc! www.slo-mag.si

Koprska ulica 98 SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU

e: info@optomotive.com w: www.optomotive.com t: +386 (0) 1 4292914

43.55 Republic of Slovenia

billion pounds – gross domestic product in Slovenia in 2019*

Capital: Ljubljana

Population: 2 million Land area: 20,273 km2

21,077 pounds – gross domestic product per capita in 2019*

Coastline length: 46 kilometres Currency: EURO A member of: EU, NATO, OECD

1,560

2,8%

pounds – average net salary in June 2019

– GDP growth in 2019*

5.1% – exports growth in 2019*

1,006 – average net salary in June 2019

6.0% – imports growth in 2019*

1.6% – average inflation in 2019*

7.6

* – latest forecast of economic trends by the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development of the Republic of Slovenia

– registered unemployment rate in 2019*

A Billion More to Go

R

elations between Slovenia and Great Britain are traditionally good. This also applies to the economic cooperation between the two countries, which has strengthened since 2014. The data for 2018 are particularly encouraging – for the first time in history, trade between one of the smallest European countries and the sixth largest economy in the world exceeded the milestone of a billion euros (£890 million), and it reached almost 1.5 billion euros if we count in services (£1.32 billion).

Stimulating trade figures are a fine demonstration that potential barriers created by politics or distances are not an obstacle to cooperation and that talented individuals with a lot of knowledge always find a way to cooperate. Twenty years ago, David McMurtry, Deputy Chief Designer at Rolls-Royce and one of the founders of the British engineering company Renishaw, and the Slovenian entrepreneur Janez Novak, agreed on a partnership in a special niche – the production of advanced movement and rotation sensors, without which today’s modern robots would not exist. The project, which was defined by McMurtry and Novak in 1999, continues today. Cooperation between talented engineers at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Ljubljana and the Renishaw company, which established its research and development centre in Slovenia four years ago, runs smoothly.

An increasing number of Slovenian companies have come to the realisation that only environmentally acceptable, energy efficient and sustainably demanding solutions open the door to new customers.

Technological breakthroughs are crucial for Slovenian companies, since for most of them Slovenia, with its population of two million people, rapidly becomes too small, and the companies are therefore forced to search for new business opportunities in foreign markets by way of exports, which have been growing steadily. The relatively favourable outlook of this year’s 2.8 per cent growth of the Slovenian economy is primarily based on more than the solid achievements of domestic exporters. An increasing number of Slovenian companies have come to the realisation that only environmentally acceptable, energy efficient and sustainably demanding solutions open the door to new customers. To find out how they manage to do so, read more about it in our magazine, in which we ask Slovenian exporters about the direction their product development is taking, and how they hopped onto the train of technological development, without which we can no longer imagine the future of humanity and society in general.

Vanja Tekavec

www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you!

Editor: Vanja Tekavec Writers: Mateja Bertoncelj, Mladen Miković, Aleš Ogorevc

September 2019 On the cover: Butchers’ Bridge, Ljubljana Photography: Shutterstock

Project Manager: Aleš Ogorevc Telephone: +386 1 30 91 597 E-Mail: ales.ogorevc@finance.si

Technical Editor: Maja Volk Translation: PSD, d. o. o. (www.psdtranslation.com/en)

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Publisher: Časnik Finance, d. o. o., Bleiweisova cesta 30, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia www.finance.si Niche Projects Director: Monika Klinar Director and Editor in Chief: Peter Frankl

Advertisement Marketing: Telephone: +386 1 30 91 590 E-Mail: oglasi@finance.si

Circulation: 30.400

Izv zniki.si Slovenia invites you! 3

What kind of

innovations are being designed by Slovenian companies?

C

an you guess which Slovenian glassware manufacturer has been working on a special bottle with an incorporated electronic chip that will connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth? Or, which Slovenian company has replaced petroleum-based plastics with sugar cane and has used it to produce environmentally friendly picnic dishware that is safe for use and dishwasher proof? What is more, do you know which Slovenian provider of equipment, systems, logistics solutions, and automatic identification has convinced more than a hundred British companies to use Time & Space, its mobile solution for tracking work hours with the phone?

These are but a few products with which successful Slovenian exporters are paving their way to foreign markets. To find out how they manage to do it and what kind of solutions they offer their customers, we invite you to have a read of the following pages and delve into brief conversations with the crème de la crème of the Slovenian export economy.

Slovenian engineering company Riko

Špica International Group, Identification and IoT specialist

2-3 weeks,

and does not disturb the idyll for the neighbours.

Rıko

Prefabricated construction enables Riko to construct a house in

The Riko Engineering Company will build another 50 houses, a small hotel and a clubhouse with a restaurant in Lechlade, an enchanting village by the Cotswolds lakes.

4 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

Spica International is leading supplier of workforce management and supply-chain management solutions in

5 European countries.

Steklarna Hrastnik, a Slovenian manufacturer of glass products

Steklarna Hrastnık

Products of Steklarna Hrastnik are present in

55 markets.

Picnic dishes and cups made of sugar cane are completely safe for use and dishwasherproof.

A bottle from the HighGlass Spirits collection of Steklarna Hrastnik

TPV, Development suppliers of automotive industry

The automated guided vehicle, Optimatik 160, saves up to

25,000 kilowatt hours

Plastıka Skaza

of electricity annually.

Plastics processing company Plastika Skaza

TVP developed its own automated guided vehicle (AGV), the Optimatik 160, to supply production sites.

Last year the London Stock Exchange selected Skaza as

one of the 1000 companies that inspired Europe.

Pen Developer and Manufacturer Vivapen

89 per cent

of the company’s production is exported to almost forty foreign markets.

www.slo-mag.

Vıpapen

Špica International

Over 100 British companies already use Time & Space, the mobile solution for tracking your work hours by Špica International.

Last year Vivapen introduced Switch pen, a pen that switches between ink cartridges with different tips and colours.

Aleš Beno

Janez Škrabec, CEO and owner of Riko d.o.o.

J

ust an hour’s drive from London, in the idyllic village of Lechlade by the alluring Cotswolds lakes, the estate agents John Hitchcox and Anton Bilton have designed the Lakes by Yoo project. The showhouses for the project were created by the designers Phillip Starck, Kelly Hoppen, Jade Jagger, and Marcel Wanders. The vast majority of homeowners in this residential area live in houses based on architectural designs by the Riko Engineering Company. We discussed with Janez Škrabec, the CEO and owner of Riko, the characteristics of ecofriendly and low-energy houses that offer homeliness to many of the famous and well-to-do in the United Kingdom.

What convinced the buyers of houses in Lechlade village?

Certainly, the construction concept – wooden, prefabricated and individualised construction down to the last detail suited the residential area for affluent buyers.

Environmental standards ensure health-aware construction and prefabricated building components do not place a burden on the environment. What is more, we do not cause noise pollution and do not disturb the idyll for the neighbours with long construction times.

The building of a house is completed in two to three weeks in almost complete silence. Since we build exclusively custom-made wooden housing, we can realise even the most demanding architectural or design ideas.

These are our major assets, which have persuaded the investors of The Lakes project and other contractors we cooperate with.

According to Wasya Awori, the chief operational architect of the project, your wooden and low-energy houses blend seamlessly into the landscape. Who are the buyers of such houses? Do they prioritise sustainable construction or do they just love wooden construction?

6 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

“British Homebuyers Have a Keen Sense of Aesthetics” In words of the architect Wasya Awori, wood, just like wine, just gets better with age, which is why the houses retain their value.

Certainly, it is partly a matter of ethics and partly aesthetics, or a combination of both. Wood and sustainable concepts in general have entered the domain of our daily lives, which is why we make decisions based on “green” criteria more often. Yet, wood is not only that – it is by all means also a carrier of special aesthetic emphasis. Wasya Awori, the chief architect of The Lakes by Yoo project pointed out that wood, just like wine, just gets better with age. If you take a close at the houses that were built in the area a decade ago, it becomes obvious that they are even more beautiful than before – good news for the owners, as it helps with retaining or increasing the value of real estate.

Riko has been building its houses all across Europe and the P.A.T.H. houses, which you built together with Phillip Starck, are situated in Paris and New York. Do the British distinguish themselves from your other clients in any way?

Soon, we will be able to admire the P.A.T.H. houses in the United Kingdom. The investor was impressed and we will soon align the latest details. I tend to disregard the differences between investors and customers; I try to observe how the British identify with the rest of our customers. Not only do they have a good overview of trends, they are also very educated as far as sustainable construction is concerned. They also have a sharp sense of aesthetics.

The area where the houses rise just above the lakes is particularly attractive, because it is located one hour away from London. What will be its future, or, how many houses are intended to be built?

The Lakes by Yoo project has long since exceeded its scope and continues to expand, and rightly so, as it fulfils the high expectations of its new owners. We estimate that in the future we will construct at least 50 houses, a smaller hotel and a clubhouse with a restaurant.

Jure Makovec

Marko GORJUP, TVP Group President and CEO

T

he TVP Group, a developer and producer of body and chassis components, seat components, and engine gaskets, is facing the future with a very special project – an intelligent car body. “Such a body will work interactively with its users and assist them in running dynamics, safety, and driving comfort,” says Marko Gorjup, TVP Group President and CEO.

By 2025 it is estimated that as much as 7.7 per cent of all cars produced worldwide will be electric. How is the TPV Group preparing for the green mobility era of the future?

As a company operating as a development and pre-development supplier for premium car manufacturers, we are also deeply involved in the development of electrification and using light materials for the vehicles of the future. We are already peeking into the future of vehicles based exclusively on electrical drives, and, consequently, the philosophy of zero CO2 emissions. In general, we try to use materials that can be 100% recycled and can be used ecologically for new generations of vehicles.

You are developing a product called “intelligent car body.” How can intelligent bodies help drivers, and when will they hit the roads?

Intelligent car bodies and chassis are the successors of smart factories, or Industry 4.0, that will shape the car industry in the following decades. They will bring wider applicability of the vehicle, such as autonomous adaptations to road conditions, active vehicle interaction, and safety enhancements in accordance with the environment.

How can the TVP Group use its solutions to help car manufacturers improve their business efficiency?

Through our own production needs, wealth of knowledge, and industry experience, we develop and market smart factory modules based on automation, digitalisation, and 8 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

“Intelligent car bodies will shape the auto industry in the following decades” Last year the TVP Group presented the first integrated stepless door check, which has been named the best Slovene innovation in the opinion of the national audience.

artificial intelligence, thus improving the manufacturing companies’ efficiency. One of the modules, for instance, is in-house logistics automatisation, under which we have also developed an automated guided vehicle (AGV), Optimatik 160, with its own central control system, which can be connected to other digitalisation systems and enables an efficient and reliable production supply. I would also like to draw attention to “bin picking” – a module for robotic sorting of randomly scattered objects with the help of machine vision and robotic placement of the sorted objects into the tool for further manipulation.

Last year you were awarded the Golden Innovation Award by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia for the integrated stepless door check. Which type of problem does it solve?

Unlike a regular door check, which holds the car door in only three positions while the door “bounces” either forward or back in all other positions, our integrated stepless door check holds the door in any position. In this way it considerably facilitates entering and exiting a car and simultaneously reduces the risk of car door damage. It has already been recognised as an outstanding functionality, so we were awarded the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia Innovation Award in addition to the already-mentioned Golden Innovation Award for the best Slovene innovation in the opinion of the national audience.

You recently launched a TPV Innovation Station innovators’ platform. What kind of ideas are you looking for, and who can reach out to you?

We are looking for innovative ideas and solutions in the mobility and electrification fields. Through the platform we plan to connect with innovators, start-ups, research and developmental institutions, and for whom we can enable upgrades and generic development of their ideas through to the final product.

Alenka Leskovšek

Klemen Resman, Sales and Marketing Director at Steklarna Hrastnik

S

teklarna Hrastnik, which boasts a 160-year tradition of glassware manufacturing, has been working on a special bottle with an incorporated electronic chip that will connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. “When you approach the bottle with your phone, the personal story and history of the beverage manufacturer will be revealed all the way to the level of an individual consumer,” as predicted by Klemen Resman, Sales and Marketing Director at Steklarna Hrastnik. This unique innovation has been named the electronic bottle or e-bottle.

What type of opportunities have been presented to you in the British market, the intersection of all the major beverage multinational companies?

The British market has been placed among our strategic markets on the basis of our experience up to now. New prospects are opening up to us for cooperation with important brand owners in the spirits segment or small craft beer and gin manufacturers, since we are flexible about the production quantities and can manufacture small or large batches of bottles.

Customers today prefer personalised products – does that present a window of opportunity for Steklarna Hrastnik?

The entire market has been shifting towards personalisation, and in recent years we have been using it to our advantage, which is reflected in a number of areas of our business. We have the capacity to produce technically demanding glassware from one of the purest glasses in the world. We are also flexible about what we can offer.

For major brand owners we provide full service – from development to manufacturing and to decoration. The customer comes to us with an approximate idea for a bottle and together with our experts, designers and partners we develop, manufacture, and decorate it, as well as providing stoppers and the rest. The customer only has to fill it. Smaller customers can choose among the bottles in our HighGlass Spirits standard collection.

The bottle of the future: the chip inside the bottle will “connect” you with the spirits producer Which trends will shape the glassware industry in the future?

In the near future, Steklarna Hrastnik will also open a sales office in Great Britain.

In the field of manufacturing, the focus on the environment is coming to the fore. At Steklarna Hrastnik we keep up with this trend by transition to industry 4.0, which besides ensuring the highest quality of products enables us to shorten production times and further reduce the impact on the environment.

In the field of design, we have seen the Scandinavian influence that dictates clean lines. In addition, a trend of combining different natural materials with glass is well pronounced. In the field of decoration, combining white ceramics and black bottles is trending. Due to environmental responsibility, the market has been shifting towards the use of lighter bottles and their multiple, diverse uses. After use, a bottle is not discarded, but repurposed – for instance, it is used as a vase.

How do you increase your visibility in the British market?

We cooperate with design agencies in the British market in the field of bottle design. We are also a partner at the annual Gin and Whisky Awards in London. Together with the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, we organise an event for spirits manufacturers in this market. In the near future, we plan to open a sales office in the British market, which will enable us to connect more quickly, to have a better insight into the market and be more responsive and able to adapt or to match the demands of the market. In short, we want to be as close as possible to our customers. www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 9

Skaza

Bart Stegeman, supply chain and IT manager at Plastika Skaza

A

producer of innovative and sustainable products made of human-friendly, nature-friendly, recyclable bioplastic, they have recently received a prestigious Red Dot Award: Product Design 2019 for their Bokashi Organko 2 composter.

“The customers appreciate our innovation and design along with our bold colour selection.�

How do the international awards affect Plastika Skaza?

Our customers are the reason we are in the market. Our greatest reward is the long-lasting and trustworthy relationship we maintain with them. Professional awards, such as the Red Dot Award or the Solutions Award 2019 we received at the Ambiente Fair in Frankfurt, bring exceptional recognition and motivation to those directly involved in creating the product along with our employees. Awards give an added value to our product, building public awareness, trust, and reputation of our company as a whole. The awards reflect the excellence integrated in all our products.

You develop plastic products made from recyclate and bio-based materials. Which type of materials or raw materials are involved, and from where do you obtain them?

We have devoted our mission to the manufacture of products representing a sustainable alternative to classic disposable plastics. Our bio-based materials are mainly produced from sugar cane, which is harvested in a strictly controlled manner and prevents long-term adverse effects on the environment. The products do not contain melamine or BPA (bisphenol A), which have harmful effects on humans and the environment. We wish everyone would be responsible for their little bit of the environment.

How do consumers accept household products, e.g. picnic dishes, cups, and other products, made from natural materials, since the products are used for food?

Our customers are environmentally conscious. They have high expectations of companies. They are responsible 10 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

The company Plastika Skaza has replaced classic petroleumbased plastics with raw materials and natural resources, such as sugar cane.

inhabitants of our planet, who care about disposable plastics polluting our only home. Our products are made of bioplastics, which is based on natural raw materials, so customers are assured they are completely safe for use, reusable, and recyclable into new products after their lifespan expires. The customers appreciate us not only because of the materials we use, but also because of our innovation and design along with our bold colour selection.

Plastika Skaza is also a furniture manufacturer. How much of the plastic used for the production of chairs has already been recycled?

We produce various elements for kitchen fittings, chairs, computer trolleys, and office furniture. The furniture designers and all those involved in the manufacturing take into account what the product will be used for in association with the standard of the materials used. Bio-based or recycled materials have already achieved certain functionalities, but not all of them; therefore, together with our partners, we have set a goal to implement purely biological materials or recyclates.

What kind of innovations have you been working on?

We have just offered our customers an ECOCARE collection with organic products that combine all the aspects that are important to individuals. The collection, which also includes a special ECOCARE CUP, is made of a biomaterial (EcoBib).

Its entire manufacturing process places a minimal burden on the environment. All products from the collection are intended for repeated use and ultimately recycling, which additionally reduces the burden on the environment. We are already preparing a new generation of the Bokashi Organko 2 composter and a variety of other solutions.

Mladen Miković

Andrija Pušić, Product Manager of the Špica International Group

T

he latest great success of Špica International, the leading Slovenian provider of equipment, systems, logistics solutions and automatic identification, is the development of smart cloud access control, the Door Cloud, which allows the door to be opened without readers and based on the location, but also works in combination with readers and cards that are already being used.

Is Door Cloud the only company offering this solution?

If I am not mistaken, it is the only such product available in the region of South-Eastern Europe, and therefore the best. It is competitive on a global scale, as it offers the feature of mobile phone access without any readers on the door, based entirely on the phone’s location. Until recently, we were the only company that offered anything comparable.

How do the customers in Great Britain respond to the product?

After presenting our product in our region and in the Middle East, we also intend to put it on the British market, where we are looking for reliable partners. In part, we have already managed to enter it with the Time & Space system, which allows you to track your work hours with your phone. We are pleased that we have received endorsement of the concept and that it has already been adopted by more than 100 British companies.

What is holding you back from taking an even bigger step?

Partners. At the moment, we have one with whom we cooperate successfully, but we are constantly looking for new partners. Picking the right partner is an impor-

“We created a global product, but being from Slovenia is a considerable hurdle” Špica Interna­tional has developed the feature of mobile phone access without any readers on the door, based entirely on the phone’s location.

tant criterion, that is, it is important to find somebody who carries out a similar activity, or complements its own with our solutions, and has good results from its past performance.

How much of an obstacle to your breakthrough to foreign markets is the fact that Slovenia is not recognised as a technological force in the world?

Indeed, Slovenia is more famous for its tourism and nature, yet a number of people who visit our country are taken aback by how technologically advanced we really are. Regardless of the fact that Slovenia is not recognised as a technological force in the world, many of us are reaping success in exporting and breaking new ground with the common goal of achieving globally acknowledged success. After all, several Slovenian companies, such as Outfit7 with its Talking Tom, Akrapovič with its exhaust systems, and Pipistrel with its small aircraft, have managed to do just that.

www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 11

Arhiv Vivapen

Petra Melanšek, Managing Director at Vivapen d.o.o., Pen Developer and Manufacturer

T

he family business Vivapen has been pursuing the development and production of various types of pens for 52 years. While the company was founded by Petra’s father Jože, the work is now spread across three generations. Innovation, managing the product development process, and retail distribution are key to this company’s success. The tools needed for the manufacturing process are made in the company’s own tool shop. They collaborate as a development supplier with a number of companies and pens are mostly sold under their brand names. The company also manufactures roller ball pens, fountain pens, ink eraser corrector pens, and the list goes on.

Is there still room for innovation in the field of pen development and manufacturing?

We are currently developing our newest pen product NU Pen, and our first piston-fill fountain pen B4 with a built-in piston-filling system, which allows users to pump ink straight from a bottle. There may not be that much room for innovation left with pen design, but there is still plenty of elbow room regarding materials, manufacture, ink feed system, tips made of different materials, printing options, assembly process upgrade options, packaging, etc.

Which innovations are already available to the British market?

We have been cooperating successfully with the British customers, to whom all our products and innovations are available. Last year our major customer in the United Kingdom, Manuscript Pen Company, was the first and only company given the chance to introduce an innovation to the market, Art Pen or Switch Tips, as it is called by the British, which, as the name implies, switches between ink cartridges with different tips and colours.

What is the competitive advantage of your ink feed systems expertise?

It is the pen’s heart or engine, which ensures that the writing runs smoothly, and combines knowledge of 12 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

A Family Business Conquers the Innovative Pens Market The family business Vivapen has been pursuing the develop­ ment and production of various types of pens for 52 years.

physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering. Our pens can successfully withstand temperature differences and air pressure changes. When designing our own ink feed system, we considered the technical characteristics of the ink feed systems of global brands. The main disadvantage of most ink feed systems is that when the fountain pen is filled with ink for the first time, a drop of ink often falls from the pen before the air in the ink channel closes the ink flow path from the ink cartridge. This predominantly happens with ink feed systems whose ink channel is positioned at the opposite side to where the ink enters the feed. The ink channel at the inlet of the ink into the feed channel is very sensitive and allows the ink capillary to be torn and the writing lose to its fluidity when ink is rapidly removed. We decided to position the ink channel right next to the inlet of the ink into the feed channel. This decision was based on the assumption that very low surface tension (approximately 35.0 mN/m) affects the “first drops” of ink when filling the feed channel.

That is the consequence of processing the ink feeder with an accelerator, which allows the ink to flow to the tip of the pen within the shortest possible time.

What is the level of robotisation of manufacturing processes in your company?

In 2016, when we visited the Automatica Fair in Munich, it became clear to us that we would need to shift to a higher gear if we wanted to keep pace with technological development, and in the second half of the year, we established an automation team, which includes experts from all our departments. In less than three years we have built seven fully functional robots and have automated processes to a large extent, although that does not imply that the number of people has been reduced.

The number of our employees increases proportionally to the demands and development of our customers and new products.

Data for Slovenia Economic growth

External trade

Partners of this edition of the magazine

5.1

Exports to the EU

77%

%

2

Share of exports in GDP

www.optomotive.com

80%

of exports

Optomotive d.o.o.

T +386 1 429 29 14

4.4

E: info@optomotive.com

%

7

RIKO, d.o.o. www.riko.si/en T: +386 1 581 63 00

15.90%

3.1 %

41.40%

10.10%

Structure of Slovenian Exports

E: riko@riko.si

2.8

17

www.oromet.si

%

T: +386 5 753 20 12 E: info@oromet.si

27

9.60% 2.70%

Road vehicles Electrical machines and apparatus Medical and pharmaceutical products

T: +386 1 589 18 70

4.80% 3.30%

SPIRIT Slovenia, public agency www.spiritslovenia.si/en

5.20% 3.00%

ORO MET d.o.o.

E: info@spiritslovenia.si

4.00%

Industrial machines for general use

28

Iron and steel

Slovenian Tourist Board

Metal products

Petroleum and petroleum derivatives

www.slovenia.info

Various finished products

Coloured metals

T: + 386 1 589 85 50

Other

E: info@slovenia.info

Life expectancy

Tourist arrivals:

81.2 years

1.4 million tourists in 1991

2016 2017 2018 2019 forecast

5.9 million tourists in 2018

Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development

13 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

Expertise and Quality from Slovenia

These are Slovenian companies that have been conquering the world markets with their

innovations

C

an you guess which Slovenian company has won the Customer Satisfaction Award for the fifth time in a row as judged by British consumers? Which Slovenian company has developed a camera able to process images of the manufacturing process in real time? Whose power transformers have convinced the largest energy giants in Europe? This is only a handful of the products with which Slovenian companies have been paving their way in the global markets. Some of them are presented below.

Our customers want 100% recyclable packaging

Aluminium production, driven primarily by the strong auto industry, has had an average global growth of

Talum

Talum, producer of aluminium and aluminium products, has acquired one fifth of the European market with the production of aluminium slugs.

14 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

about 4 per cent annually in recent years.

This has been advantageous for Talum, a Slovenian producer of aluminium and aluminium products, which has been increasingly shifting towards the production of higher added-value products. They are particularly successful with packaging slugs for the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industry, with which they have already acquired one fifth of the European market. Talum currently produces approximately 40,000 tons of slugs annually, and after a recent investment in slug production amounting to 7 million euros, the company expects to increase its annual capacity to 50,000 tons per year.

In recent years, a lot of attention has also been paid to the sustainable demands of its customers, who want 100% recyclable packaging. With this in mind, they have offered an innovative product – slugs made of waste material that is generated in the production process.

An aerosol that can be made of the recycled slugs was

Optomotive – Conquering the cell phone industry with its intelligent machine vision cameras

Aleš Gorkič

Optomotive develops and manufactures fast intelligent machine vision cameras, without which nowadays we cannot imagine mass production and which is crucial for the automation of production processes. The company was created in mid-2008, and its specialty is cameras that can process the image of the manufacturing process in real time and thereby enable customers to avoid bottlenecks in manufacturing. The cameras contain logic circuits with high computing power. Circuits can be customised to the user’s requirements, programmed to process a large number of images in the camera in real time, and to recognise objects or movement on them.

This is what sets them apart from the competition, which does not ensure the processing of images within the camera, but with a delay.

“Our major customers are mobile phone manufacturers, who use intelligent cameras for quality control at the production lines. In mobile phone manufacturing, they only have a few seconds to scan a product and determine whether something is wrong with it.

The advantage of our quick cameras is that they

Branko Čeak/Adria Mobil

reprocessed by Talum’s buyer, Alltub Italia, and presented under the Eco Light Can brand at the recent annual Aerosol and Dispensing Forum held in Paris, triggering a lot of interest.

With e-mobility and electric cars, the door to aluminium, the material of the future, is being thrown wide open. This year Talum presented HEATRAPLATES (Heat Transfer Plates), a new brand with which they want to increase their visibility in the development and production of highly efficient flat-plate heat exchangers, which are used for cooling batteries in electric vehicles, and also in construction and power-driven vessels. “The projections show that all existing and new car manufacturers will present their electric versions of vehicles on the market.

In the light of trends, in most cases they will require active fluid cooling systems, which will significantly affect the car charging times at the charge stations and extend battery life,” the company points out.

Adria Mobil, a leisure vehicle manufacturer, has been winning British customers with its van from the Twin Supreme series.

Optomotive, a highperformance machine vision camera manufacturer, has developed a camera that processes images of the manufacturing process in real time, therefore enabling manufacturers to avoid bottlenecks in manufacturing.

On photo: Barbara and Aleš Gorkič, Optomotive

can scan products with thousands of images per second at a resolution of three megapixels,” explained Barbara Rakovec Gorkič, the Managing Director of Optomotive.

The person who came up with the idea for the development of fast intelligent cameras with high computing power was her husband, Aleš Gorkič, who, during the research for his doctoral thesis on aluminium laser treating processes, realised that he needed a smart camera to control the processes and to determine results.

Optomotive’s intelligent smart cameras are developed and sold to fit into larger optical 3D systems. Some 90 per cent of their production is sold abroad. Intelligent cameras are not only an indispensable part of production processes, but also have a wide range of applications, adds Barbara Rakovec Gorkič. “Our second largest customer uses cameras to analyse human movement after head injuries, where one has to learn to walk again. With fast cameras, we also help athletes such as football players in endurance and knee stability tests. We also cooperate with a company that uses our cameras to review the quality of railway tracks, and a food company that uses cameras to scan beverage packaging,” she explained.

Adria Mobil: “We are well-known even in Australia and Japan”

Only a few Slovenian companies can boast winning the Customer Satisfaction Award five times in a row as judged by British consumers. One of them is Adria Mobil, a manufacturer of campervans, caravans, vans and mobile living units from Novo mesto, and the Overall Winner of the Gold Customer Satisfaction Award, for which the British market is of fundamental importance. “Travelling still arouses special feelings in people; these are adventures that enrich us, expand our horizons, and change our worldview. At Adria Mobil, we are convinced that leisure vehicles are the best way to travel and discover the world. They offer a special experience of freedom, spontaneity in route planning, and all the comfort, functionality and connectivity that customers expect today,” added Adria Mobil, which ranks among the three largest caravanning brands in Europe according to its market share, and is present more widely – the Adria brand is also known and “driven” in Australia and Japan. www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 15

Kolektor Etra uses artificial intelligence to grow three times faster than the competition

Great Britain is also one of the major markets for Kolektor Etra, a manufacturer of power and generator transformers. Among their major customers are the European energy companies E.on, RWE, Vattenfall, EDF, Statkraft, to name just a few. Their largest single business deal has been the supply of 13 transformers for the largest wind farm on the European continent, built by the Norwegian company Fosen Vind and scheduled to be completed in 2020. Kolektor Etra now has a 2 per cent share in Europe and about 0.5 per cent worldwide.

In the last five years, they have achieved an average annual sales growth of 15 per cent, which is three times faster than the average of the competition. They generate 90 per cent of their revenue abroad, more than half of which comes from the demanding markets of Scandinavia. It is also worth mentioning that they enter foreign markets with their own brand name.

One of their important advantages is the use of artificial intelligence, which they use primarily as a tool

Incom, an ice cream manufacturer, has made its name by manufac­ turing specially designed licensed cartoon character ice cream, including Hello Kitty, Olaf, Peppa Pig, and Minions among many others.

Vojko Opaskar

This is one of the 400-ton transformers with which Kolektor Etra, manufacturer of power transformers, has entered the elite class, where the added value is greater.

16 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

for optimising the individual parameters of the transformer. They are paving their way to the world market with the development and manufacture of power transformers with rated power of up to 500 MVA and a primary voltage of up to 420 kV, which ranks them in the elite class of power transformers.

Incom rocks on Instagram with rainbow cones and mermaid cones

Among all the food businesses operating in Slovenia, Incom, an ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturer, is the most export oriented. Last year, as much as 90 per cent of their total revenue of 55 million was generated on foreign markets. Their ice creams are enjoyed by people in as many as 48 countries, from America to New Zealand, as well as on the British market, where they cooperate with all the major retail chains, which, in addition to Germany and the Scandinavian countries, are among their most demanding markets.

Among their new ice creams, two particularly stand out – rainbow cones and mermaid cones. The ice creams combine several flavours, they are rich in colour, and their rise to stardom on social media, especially Instagram and Twitter, has been anything but slow. “Last year we were successful in presenting new flavours in several markets, including Great Britain and Australia,” said Boštjan Jerončič, Director of Incom.

In addition to manufacturing ice cream for the largest retail chains in Europe and worldwide, which represents the largest part of its business, two years ago the company put its own brand of ice cream, Leone, on the market.

Incom has made its name by manufacturing specially designed licensed cartoon character ice cream, including Hello Kitty, Olaf, Peppa Pig, Minions and many others. It produces between 140 and 150 million ice cream stick bars and almost 200 million ice cream cones.

Door manufacturer wins one design “Oscar” after another in Germany

The family-owned company Pirnar, which ranks among the best manufacturers of prestigious and innovative en-

Jure Makovec

Vans and travel vans are currently the biggest hit in the leisure vehicle industry. Young people are especially fond of them, and they are becoming increasingly popular with older couples who are thrilled both by the level of comfort and easy manageability of the vehicle.

“Certainly, vans are small leisure vehicles, but their ergonomic design, which offers a high degree of comfort for sleeping and living in a small space, is incredibly attractive. British campervan buyers like to choose sleeping in separate beds, and are impressed by glass panoramic roofs that enhance the sense of space,” explained Adria Mobil. In Great Britain, customers prefer to buy the Adria Twin Supreme campervan, which last year impressed the industry media of 16 countries and won the European Innovation Award (EIA). The stars of the British market are the series of Matrix campervans and the Adora caravan.

Pirnar, a door manufacturer, has received two prestigious international awards for the Pirnar Theatrica Entrance Wall – the German Design Award 2019 and the Red Dot Design Award.

Press

trance doors in the world, once again amazed the professional public with its most recent innovation, the Pirnar Theatrica Entrance Wall. At the beginning of the year, the Theatrica impressed the commission of the distinguished German design council. They won a prestigious German design award, German Design Award Winner 2019, 2019, which was the third such accolade for this family-owned company, followed by the Red Dot Design Award in March this year, which ranks among the most prestigious and recognisable design awards in the world.

The company likes to emphasise that the Theatrica Entrance Wall is a technological masterpiece, since it is a contactless and completely automatic entrance door.

The Theatrica, suitable for passive houses, attracted the attention of the professional public with the fact that the owner can open it with just a look. The built-in face recognition opens and closes the door for the owner, automatically and without a touch. “With Theatrica we focus primarily on customers who are innovators at heart and want advanced products, such as those customers who bought their first plasma television and their first advanced phone 15 years ago. We are particularly pleased that we impressed the commission of the German council before the door came to the market,” underlined Gašper Pirnar. The series production of Theatrica is planned in 2020. “The German customers welcomed our OneTouch door, which received the German Design Award 2017”.

ADVERTORIAL: ORO MET d.o.o.

ORO MET D.O.O. - MASTERS OF CUSTOM-ENGINEERED TOOL PLATES, BASED IN SOUTH-WESTERN SLOVENIA Last year, ORO MET mechanically treated 6,700 tonnes of tool steel and manufactured approximately 60,000 tool plates for mainly German toolmakers.

Major buyers of tool plates manufactured at ORO MET are toolmakers, who need the tool plates for manufacturing various types of tools used by manufacturing companies for plastic injection moulding, aluminium pressure die casting, sheet metal folding, for manufacturing cutting and chopping tools, or tools for manufacturing rubber products.

The majority of tool plates are exported to Germany, where approximately half of the total sales are generated. Last year, it increased by almost a fifth.

60,000 tool plates last year The main mechanical treatment operations they perform in manufacturing are milling, flat-surface grinding, deep drilling, CNC milling and five-axis CNC-milling, while they also offer three-dimensional (3D) scanning services.

According to Jernej Pavlin, the company’s

CEO, last year ORO MET mechanically treated 6,700 tonnes of tool steel with just over 80 employees, which is 700 tonnes more than the previous year, and manufactured approximately 60,000 tool plates for toolmakers. A smaller proportion of ORO MET’S customers comes from the field of mechanical engineering.

Two main product lines The company’s two main product lines are the ABC and CNC programmes.

The first involves six-sided milling and grinding tool plates of standard and nonstandard dimensions in width, length, and thickness.

The CNC programme covers the processing of tool plates according to three-dimensional (3D) customer models in fine tolerance.

The quality of tool plates is measured in real-time One of the factors with which ORO MET convinces its customers most strongly is their principal task of manufacturing high-quality tool plates.

Each tool plate is manufactured on four to six different machines, both classic and computer controlled CNC machines.

According to Bojan Srebot, the company’s Quality Manager, the tool plates in the manufacturing process are measured on an ongoing basis and the results are sent to customers so that they can monitor their progress. Real-time communication and responsiveness are greatly appreciated by customers.

www.oromet.si

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18 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

View of the second largest Slovenian city of Maribor from Pohorje, Slovenia’ s largest winter resort

What attracts foreign investors to Slovenia?

In Slovenia you will find with

export companies highly educated employees”

T

he municipality of Komenda with a population of just over 6,000 is situated only a stone’s throw away from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. Last year’s average salary was EUR 1,118, which ranked it eighth among 122 Slovenian municipalities in terms of salary. Also, in terms of registered unemployment, it was among the better-off municipalities. Both of these factors can be attributed to the successful businesses that have their headquarters in the business zone that opened its doors in 2012, according to colleagues at our sister magazine Moje Finance last year.

Komenda is also the place where RLS Merilna Tehnika set up its headquarters. They are a company that caters for a particular product niche – they are, among other things, an exclusive supplier of advanced position sensors for some of the best-selling robots. In layman’s terms, they manufacture sensors which help robots perceive space, control movements, and are one of the most rapidly-growing parts of the “robotics” market. In recent years, the company RLS Merilna Tehnika, employing 196 workers, has been able to

boast double-digit revenue growth. They have also been expanding their portfolio of products and developing smart sensors for use in autonomous vehicles, both cars and aircraft.

RLS Merilna Tehnika is run by its co-owner, Slovenian entrepreneur Janez Novak, who incidentally has one of the most common first names and surnames in Slovenia. Novak owns 50 per cent of the company and the rest is owned by a renowned manufacturer of measuring instruments and medical equipment, the British engineering company Renishaw and its co-founder David McMurtry, who has been proclaimed Ireland’s greatest innovator for this year. Novak and McMurtry met in 1999 and agreed on a partnership – “we also defined a mission that continues today and has remained the same as when we set it nearly 20 years ago. While Renishaw opens the door wide open to our products globally, RLS Merilna Tehnika opens them in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and we work hand-in-hand on the development of new products and technologies,” explains Janez Novak.

www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 19

Aleš Beno

In 1999, David McMurtry, one of the greatest Irish innovators and a co-founder of Renishaw, a British measuring instruments manufacturer, was impressed by Slovenian expertise. In 2000, Renishaw entered the shareholding structure of RLS Merilna Tehnika, a high-tech company, which develops and sells innovative intelligent sensors for ‘collaborative robots’. In the photo; Janez Novak, 50 per cent owner of RLS Merilna Tehnika, the rest of which is owned by Renishaw.

“For Renishaw International, choosing Slovenia for the establishment of a research and development centre was an natural choice, mainly due to the highly talented graduates coming from universities in Ljubljana and Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest city,“ stressed Jon Fuge, Managing Director of Renishaw Tehnični Inženiring.

Slovenia – European robotics hotspot

Slovenia has a number of surprises up its sleeve in various sectors and boasts several companies that are involved in robotics or creating solutions useful in robot construction and production automation processes.

Perhaps the most well-known among them is the Japanese multinational Yaskawa, which opened its new European industrial robot company in April this year in Slovenia’s Kočevje region, near the Slovenian-Croatian border, and chose Slovenia as its European centre for the development of robotics. When Yaskawa began to search for the location of their new factory in Europe four years ago, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia were potential candidates, but in the end, the smallest of the candidates was chosen – Slovenia, with its population of only two million people. Yaskawa started production of six-axis industrial robots this year in Kočevje. Until now, the robots have been transported from Japan to Slovenia, where they have been adapted to the requirements of individual customers – now they are manufacted in Slovenia.

Yaskawa is not the only multinational company to expand to Slovenia. A few months ago, the Austrian-Canadian automotive multinational Magna Steyr started a trial production run at the other end of Slovenia, near the Slovenian-Austrian border. The automotive giant has set up a car refinishing facility in Slovenia, but their plans are much bigger – in the second phase, they plan to set up a car factory. The Swiss company Lonstroff, which is part of the Japanese company Sumitomo Rubber Industry, has also chosen Slovenia to expand their business. Sumitomo is building a medicine elastomers factory In Slovenia, to name just one of the most resounding examples of foreign investments in the last three years.

Stable political and economic environment

Jure Makovec

“In Slovenia, it is not unusual to find companies or employees in the country or atop a hill, cooperating with global players of the industry and creating high value-added products for them,“ emphasised Briton Jon Locke, vice-president of the second largest bank in Slovenia, NKBM.

20 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

Although with its population of two million people, Slovenia is a small consumer market and as such is not a natural influx market for foreign investments, it has attracted a number of important investors in recent years.

According to the analysts of the Bank of Slovenia, this has captured the dynamics of incoming foreign direct investments in the new EU member states, which is a major step forward for Slovenia. This is also reflected in the level of foreign direct investments growth. The latter have been growing since 2014, and according to the Bank of Slovenia, their volume increased from 8.9 billion (£7.9 billion) to just over 13 billion euros (£11.6 billion) from 2013 to the middle of last year.

In addition to the fact that Slovenia is part of the socalled First Speed Europe, a member of the EU, NATO, OECD, Schengen area, and a member of the Eurozone since 2007, its main asset in attracting foreign capital are its workforce, says Jon Locke, chief risk officer and vice-president of the NKMB bank’s management board.

“Slovenia has highly educated employees in strongly specialised niches, either related to engineering, the automotive industry, computer skills, pharmaceutical

technologies, high-tech production, biotechnology, or something completely different. Nearly 80 per cent of Slovenia’s products are exported, with the expertise and skills of the export-oriented Slovenians in the background. In Slovenia, it is not unusual to find companies or employees in the country or atop a hill, cooperating with global players of the industry and creating high value-added products for them,” notes Locke. The banker has a good understanding of the business environment of Central and Eastern Europe, having lived and worked outside Great Britain for almost 25 years.

Before joining the NKMB management team two and half years ago, he worked in Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, and Hungary.

For the British multinational Renishaw, too, the knowledge of its employees is among the most important factors involved in expanding to Slovenia.

Renishaw in Slovenia is not only a co-owner of the company RLS Merilna Tehnika, but in 2015 it also opened Renishaw Tehnični inženiring, its high-tech research and development centre at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana.

“In Renishaw, we decided to establish a new research and development centre in Slovenia on the basis of more than 20 years of very good cooperation with the Laboratory of Microelectronics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Renishaw’s location in Slovenia was a logical choice, thanks largely to highly talented graduates coming from universities in Ljubljana and the second biggest Slovenian city Maribor,” stresses Jon Fuge, Managing Director of Renishaw Tehnični inženiring.

When Renishaw Tehnični inženiring opened four years ago, their team started out with four employees. Today, it consists of 14 members and 6 students, among them 12 engineers.

trade between Slovenia and the United Kingdom has been increasing again since 2014. According to the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, the two countries exchanged goods worth more than a billion euros (£890 million) for the first time last year, nearly 1.5 billion euros (£1.32 billion) together with services.

Slovenia at the intersection of two important European corridors

Among the important advantages of Slovenia, Locke highlights a stable political and economic environment and good connection with European markets. “Slovenia is perfectly connected with Germany, Austria, Italy, where the most Slovenian exports are headed, and it also has good rail and road links,” he explains, adding that quality of life is also excellent. “Although its size is a little over 20,000 square kilometres, Slovenia offers opportunities galore. One will find hills and mountains, and bump into a hidden castle or homestead and rich culture in literally every little town. Very quickly, in just a few hours, you can reach Milan, Venice, Vienna or Dubrovnik by car,” he points out. Foreign companies in Slovenia also appreciate the multilingualism, the ability to work in a multicultural environment, and digital literacy.

An important advantage in attracting foreign investment is Slovenia’s geostrategic position between Western and South-Eastern Europe and excellent logistical connections with regional and European markets. Luka Koper, a Slovenian port that boasts the largest container terminal on the Adriatic, plays an important part in this.

Two important transport corridors intersect in Slovenia –

the fifth, linking Lisbon with Kiev, and the tenth, linking Munich to the Greek port of Thessaloniki. In the vicinity of Ljubljana,around Brnik Airport, owned by the German Fraport, a central storage and distribution centre for the Central and Eastern region is being created.

A new record in trade between Slovenia and Great Britain

For Slovenia, which is a highly export-oriented economy, every million generated in foreign markets counts, and the importance of trade cooperation with Great Britain is already indicated by the fact that Slovenians exported about the same amount of goods there last year as to the United States of America. Trade between Slovenia and Great Britain has been growing since 2014. Last year, for the first time in history, it surpassed one billion euros (£902 million) and it reached almost 1.5 billion euros (£1.35 billion) if we include services. Last year, Slovenia’s exports to Great Britain rose by 11 per cent and in comparison to the year before, by 14 per cent, according to the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce. www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 21

A Quick Guide to Slovenia’s Capital – Ljubljana

How to spend

3 to 48 hours

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in the City of Dragons

22 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

W

hen you visit Slovenia do not miss its capital, Ljubljana, which is considered one of the most beautiful, and at the same time smallest, European capitals with only 280,000 inhabitants. Its hidden gems have been uncovered by an increasing number of tourists from far and wide, who like to describe Ljubljana as “green, peaceful, and cosy.”

Years ago a fellow journalist, Jaka Lucu, eloquently painted the picture as to why Ljubljana is a touristic treasure trove. Let us borrow his words for the introduction: “Ljubljana does not have the high-gear energy of Manhattan in New York, yet New York does not have the breezy comfort of Ljubljana. This breezy comfort can be a sign of a lack of ambition, but it can also be a sign of a high quality of life. Gross free time in New York equals net free time in Ljubljana.”

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The Slovenian capital boasts 138% growth of tourist arrivals generated in the last 8 years.

How many virgins are left in Ljubljana?

If you plan to spend just a few hours in Ljubljana, it is best to have a stroll around the charming old town and feel the pulse of the city, as residents of Ljubljana like to describe the medieval part of the capital. Ljubljana Old Town is in fact a long street, crammed between Castle Hill and the Ljubljanica River, crossed by picturesque bridges. Two bridges stand out – the much-celebrated Triple Bridge, designed by the greatest Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, and the much-loved Dragon www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 23

Aleš Beno

If you want to spend the weekend like a Ljubljana local, be sure to drop by the food market with a catchy name, “Open Kitchen.”

Jure Makovec

You cannot say you have visited Ljubljana without seeing the old city centre and Ljubljana Castle.

Most of the top attractions can be explored on foot, since they are only a short distance apart.

Bridge, adorned with dragon statues, which have been a huge hit on Instagram. Legend has it that when a virgin crosses the bridge the dragons will wag their tails.

Tour guides love to share this legend and claim that apparently there is not a single virgin left in Ljubljana.

A dragon, the symbol of Ljubljana, is depicted on the municipal flag of Ljubljana and the coats of arms. Dragons can also be found on the Ljubljana municipality’s registration plates and on the bottle labels of Union, the oldest brewery in Ljubljana.

Ljubljana Old Town will enchant you with its narrow cobblestone streets, almost unchanged from medieval times, but it was the Baroque era that contributed most significantly to the appearance of the historic centre.

You can reach Ljubljana Castle, only a stone’s throw from the old town, by using the funicular or one of the many pathways leading up the hill.

The castle’s Viewing Tower is the real feather in its cap. It offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the city 24 Slovenia invites you! www.slo-mag.si

stretching below. In the castle you can also peek at the Museum of Puppetry or explore the fate of the prisoners who were held in the castle dungeon. Foodies will be catered to inside the castle walls, while thrill-seekers will love the escape room, where their knightly skills, including fighting a dragon guarding the city, will be put to the test. It takes about twenty minutes to walk up Castle Hill. The castle can be reached from all directions, but paths leading up from the Old Town are the most popular.

Ljubljana is described as “The City with the Green Soul.” Slovenia’s capital boasts a collective 542 square metres of green space. Some of those green spaces can be found in the historic part of the city, which has been closed to traffic by the city authorities for more than a decade. Ljubljana has transformed the streets into a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly oasis. It was well worth it, since Ljubljana won the title of European Green Capital 2016. However, it does not end there – Ljubljana has won numerous international sustainable tourism awards, including the Best of Cities award at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism trade fair. You can rent a bike for a few euros per day or become a user of Bicikelj, a bicycle-sharing system (bicikelj.si). The first hour is free, and the second hour costs one euro.

Another freebie in Ljubljana is its refreshing summer rain. Ljubljana-based artist, Zmago Modic, created an installation of artificial rain, which cools off the passersby in Prešernov Trg Square, named after Slovenia’s national poet, France Prešeren. Tourists were so delighted by the artificial rain that the city authorities decided to make it “The area with Ljubljana’s own weather,” as Modic named his brainchild.

If you are planning a longer stay in Ljubljana, you might want to see the charms of the city from a different perspective by joining a boat cruise on the Ljubljanica River.

The façades of the Baroque and Secessionist buildings in the Old Town reflect on the river’s surface, glowing in an entirely new light, while the boat takes you under the bridges, some of the town’s most impressive features. Allot an hour for a boat tour – the round trip lasts approximately 50 minutes. In summertime, adventure seekers can paddle on the lazy, green river through the very heart of town.

Spend Saturday like a true local and head out early to Ljubljana’s Central Market. There you will find numerous Slovenian farms offering their own products. Then treat yourself to a cup of coffee at one of the many cafés along the banks of the Ljubljanica River. Only a ten-minute walk from the city centre brings you to a renovated Ljubljanica River embankment, called “Špica.” It used to be a town beach, and not much has changed – now it is a place attracting numerous locals and visitors wanting to bask in the sun when the weather agrees. There you can also join organised dance nights in the summer. If you are fond of plants, cross the Špica Footbridge, and you will find yourself in front of the Ljubljana Botanic Garden.

Lunch on the go

Do not pass up the opportunity to see an abundance of open-air cultural and musical events and festivals. Before you travel to Slovenia, look up the Ljubljana Festival lineup, which marks every summer with its rich programme of opera, concert and ballet events. In addition to the Ljubljana Festival, which lasts from the end of June to the end of September, a number of other exciting festivals take place around Slovenia.

If you are an art lover, visit the National Gallery, a museum of historical art, which holds the country’s largest collection of fine art from the High Middle Ages to the 20th century. The Museum of Modern Art, MG+, houses a permanent collection of 20th century Slovene art. The main pedestrian entrance to Tivoli, Ljubljana’s largest and most beautiful park, is only a stone’s throw away.

Do not fear being hungry in Ljubljana. Lose yourself in countless restaurants and pubs that can be found at literally every step, along with a bounty of authentic traditional Slovenian food.

Slovenian cuisine is colourful and diverse, influenced not only by the tastes of the Balkans, but also permeated by the culinary traditions of Italy, Austria, and Hungary.

Every self-respecting capital has a local street food market. This, of course, holds true for Ljubljana, which proudly advertises its own, Open Kitchen, at which top chefs gather to present passers-by with mouth-watering Slovenian culinary delights, exquisite wines, and local craft beer.

Visiting Open Kitchen on Friday afternoons in the summer is a must, but do not forget to arm yourself with patience while waiting to get your order. Ljubljana Old Town, now open only to pedestrians and cyclists, is a

haven for passionate shoppers, teeming with eye-catching boutiques and avant-garde design shop windows.

Fashion aficionados would be well-advised to stop by Galerija Emporium, a shoe and accessories Mecca, or the Maxi and Nama department stores.

Hostel Celica – one of the most remarkable hostels in the world

Poke into hidden nooks and crannies with points of interest and spots for hanging out dotted around Ljubljana, all within walking distance from each other. Most hotels are situated in the very heart of, or only a few steps away, from the city centre. In the last few years, Ljubljana has become richer by way of a host of new boutique hotels, as well as an ever-increasing offer of Airbnb accommodation.

If you like quirky and unique buildings, top off your short trip around the capital at Metelkova Mesto Alternative Culture Centre, home to the cult Celica Art Hostel. Once a military prison, today it’s one of the most intriguing youth hostels in the world. What makes it stand out are the 20 former prison cells, which have been transformed into unique artistic hostel rooms with the original prison bars on windows and doors. It is one of Ljubljana’s most distinctive tourist attractions, and the 81 per cent occupancy in the second half of the year illustrates its popularity best. The voguish hostel has been honoured with multiple international awards and was included in the “Top 25 Ultimate Experiences – Places to Stay” by Rough Guides.

In Ljubljana you can paddle through the city centre on a SUP board.

Jure Makovec

Paddle through the city centre on an SUP board or canoe

If you crave adventure you can spend the night behind bars! Celica Art Hostel in Ljubljana is a former military prison with a cult following.

Twenty former prison cells have been transformed into unique artistic hostel rooms with the original prison bars on windows and doors. www.slo-mag.si Slovenia invites you! 25

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ideas for a day trip from Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana

Bled: an alpine lake that boasts the only Slovenian island

If you only have time for a single day trip from Ljubljana, we recommend that you visit Bled and its lake, surrounded by the Alps and close to the Slovenian-Austrian border. Lake Bled was formed after the glacial retreat and is one of the most visited and photographed sights in Slovenia. The lake boasts the only island in Slovenia and a huge steep cliff 139 metres above the lake with a medieval castle perched on top, from which you can look at the lake surface mirroring the surrounding mountains. In addition to walking in unspoiled nature, Bled offers bathing in the thermal springs, which are part of the swimming pool complex in Bled. The drive from Ljubljana to Bled takes around 40 minutes. Slovenians, who are committed to sustainable and green tourism, have banned motorboats on Lake Bled.

Piran – the most beautiful city of Mediterranean Slovenia is a mini-Venice

The old Mediterranean and port town of Piran is one of the most colourful places on the Slovenian coast. Slovenians proudly call it mini-Venice, because the town has preserved the medieval layout of streets with their tightly packed houses that give the place a special charm. It is also worth climbing the town walls, which offer a magnificent view of the town, the sea, and Italy in the distance. St. George’s Parish Church sits high on a hill above the town and dominates Piran with its bell tower, which was completed during a period of Venetian influence in the 17th century and is a smaller scale copy of the San Marco Campanile in Venice. In Piran, you can also indulge yourself with a diverse array of seafood in the restaurants along the seashore, although many visit Piran for its saltpans. The drive from Ljubljana to Piran lasts about 90 minutes.

Podčetrtek - wellness tourism, the deer farm, pharmacy and monastery...

Nature has blessed Slovenia with thermal water, which is why medical and spa tourism is very prominent here. Last year, the town of Podčetrtek near the Slovenian-Croatian border with its inviting spa Terme Olimia was named the greenest sustainable destination in Europe, and this year it has earned the title of European Destination of Excellence. Close to Podčetrtek and Terme Olimia Spa lies the tiny village of Olimje with its Minorite monastery and one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe. Tourists love to visit Jelenov Greben homestead, known for its 100-head free-roaming herd of deer and mouflons, which can be fed with corn and seen close-up. The drive from Ljubljana to Podčetrtek takes almost two hours.

Goriška Brda – Slovenian Tuscany for wine enthusiasts

Just a short distance from the Slovenian-Italian border, you will find the Goriška Brda region, and there is a reason why it is called Slovenian Tuscany. This wonderful landscape captivates you with its medieval villages and hills sprawling with vineyards, fruit trees, and centuries-old dark green cypresses. In addition to breathtaking views, it also offers numerous opportunities for wine tasting and enjoying local delicacies such as dry-cured ham, pancetta, goat’s cheese, asparagus, polenta, and many others.

In the heart of Goriška Brda there are numerous villages, such as Dobrovo, Vipolže and Šmartno, which is considered to be one of the most beautifully preserved villages in Slovenia. When the sky is clear, you can enjoy the stunning view of the Slovenian Alps, Italian Dolomites, and the Gulf of Trieste from the nearby 23-metre-high Gonjače lookout tower with its 144 stairs.

Lipica – the cradle of white dancing Lipizzaner Horses

Lipica Stud Farm, home to the famous white Lipizzaner horses, is only an hour’s drive from Ljubljana. The stud farm was established in 1580 and is the oldest and largest stud farm in the world to breed the same horses without interruption. You can visit the stables at Lipica Stud Farm and see the Lipizzaner horses, while several times a week from April until October you can marvel at the famous dancing figures of the elegant horses in shows presented by the Lipica Classical Riding School. Today, Lipica is home to almost 400 purebred Lipizzaner horses and one of the most beautiful and popular tourist destinations in Slovenia. On guided tours, experienced guides will tell you about the special features of Lipica and the Lipizzaner horses.

However, you can also tour the estate by yourself, and the Lipica Guide mobile application is there to help you. There is a playground in the park as well.

The Škocjan Caves – karst world from UNESCO’s list of natural and cultural world heritage sites

About 70 kilometres from Ljubljana, the wonderful underground kingdom that is Škocjan Caves is hiding. It is a nearly six-kilometre-long cave system, a true maze of unusual dripstones and burbling waterfalls, underground gorges, chasms, narrow passageways and giant halls that the Reka River has created over many thousands of years. The largest of the halls is the stunning Martel Hall, 314 metres long and up to 158 metres high. The Škocjan Caves were included in UNESCO’s list in 1986 and the members of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee were most impressed by the Šumec Cave, from which one can hear the load roaring of the underground Reka River and where as many as 25 river waterfalls can be seen in the summer. The quiet cave boasts mighty dripstone formations, the most famous being the 15-metre-high stalagmites «Giant» and «Organ».

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