The Slovenia Times Spring Edition 2014

The Slovenia Times Slovenian Magazine in English Language Spring Edition 2014, Volume 11, EUR 4.90

www.sloveniatimes.com

Springtime for the Slovenian Economy Interview: Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Privatisation and attracting fresh capital from outside investors is crucial Interview: Franci Petek, Ski jumping World Champion; Ambassador, World Ski Championship 2019 in Planica

“We Deserve It�

Sochi Winter Olympic Games 2014: The Team of History

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Editorial

In the vein of the »Bad Bank«,

Slovenia needs a »Bad State« to clean up the political sector

As »quietly« expected for the last few months, economically Slovenia seems to have finally hit the bottom. It is not yet clear if we are back to growth but there are positive signs coming with the warmer spring temperatures. There is still, however, a large obstacle in the way of a long term sustainable recovery the largely incompetent and corrupt political structure.

After a long time, some optimism can be detected on the sunny side of the Alps. Following the severe winter ice storm, the sun is back and the country is cleaning up the mess left behind.

The cleaning in the banking system and the economy is also slowly, but surely, progressing. In addition to the very solid and consistent exports, domestic consumption is picking up, the construction sector is again showing some signs of life, the bad bank has started to work after the initial organisational and credibility problems, the banks are continuing to clean their portfolios, stable companies are again able to source finance and last but not least, Slovenia´s international financial rating has improved significantly and the story of a bailout is no longer on the agenda. For now!

But there are, in fact, two really large obstacles preventing Slovenia´s quick return to success: first is the cowardly, short-term oriented and self-absorbed current ruling structure which thinks that the first signs of economic recovery allow Slovenia to avoid further radical reforms in pension, health and the general public sector; and second, even more dangerous, largely incompetent, embittered, visionless and in many cases a corrupt political and economic elite. So if we draw parallels with the concept of cleaning up the banking sector with the establishment of the Bank Assets Management Company - BAMC or the »Bad Bank«, the

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

solution for the political sector is clear - we need in parallel a »Bad State« institution or »Bad Political Practices Management Company« - BPPMC which will be separated from the »core« management of the Slovenian state and managed by independent managers, maybe from Sweden, Australia, China or potentially Russia…., to get urgently needed efficiency.

In the new BPPMC institution we could throw all the political dirt that has accumulated in the last two decades in Slovenia. All those politicians who are stuck in the past and still talk all the time about the Second World War and sickly analyse who was on the right side; politicians who think that the country is their property and they can play their custom made monopoly game; politicians who think that money grows in cash machines and who pushed Slovenia to the edge of financial dependence by excessive borrowing; politicians who think that taking, for example, 20% fee of public procurement business is normal business practice; ministers who think that ministries are their private family companies; agencies, public institutions, bureaucrats who don't understand that their job is to help people and companies in daily operation and not to invent millions of ways to justify their existence, privileges and status in society.

And you never know, this could be Slovenia´s breakthrough strategic project. If successful, Slovenia could even patent the whole concept and export it to other countries. Demand in international markets for such a service is certainly strong and constant. 

Spring Edition 2014 www.sloveniatimes.com Published quarterly by Domus, založba in trgovina d.o.o.

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Business Partners

Contents SPRING SEMAPHORE

4 Cleaning up after historical winter ice storm 5 Will economic performance in spring confirm the end of the recession?

5 Saving the Reputation of the Anti-Corruption Commission

ECONOMY

6 GDP: The end of recession?

7 Public Finances: Budget deficit still not completely “under control” 8 Banking sector: NLB breakeven in 2014?

8 Retail: Takeover torture of Mercator continues 10 Interview: Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

14 Interview: Wolfram von Ohain, Managing Director, BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje 16 Interview: Dr France Arhar, Managing Director of the Bank Association of

Slovenia, President of the Supervisory Board of NLB, d. d.

20 Commentary: Slovenian Banks - A Foreigners Perspective 22 Quality of Hella Saturnus development convinces Porsche and Jaguar 24 GREET Vienna on 19-20 May 2014 26 Opportunities in the Pokolpje region - quality labour force and high quality of life 29 Interview: Professor Aleš Vahčič, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana 31 Amrop: Leadership Insight

POLITICS

32 Government: PM finally ”finds” new ministers 33 New Left: Dreamers or Real Political Force?

EUROPEAN UNION

34 European Commission: Don´t get too excited over weak signs of recovery 35 Ukraine Crisis: Slovenia - EU membership or friendship with Russia?

EXPERIENCE&LIFESTYLE SLOVENIA

36 Adrenaline rush in Slovenia’s most popular attraction 38 Let spring awake the adventurer in you 40 Before Ljubljana there was Emona - The Roman colony of Emona turns 2,000 in 2014 41 British School: To be the best possible

SPORTS

42 Sochi Olympic Games: The Team of History 44 Interview: Franci Petek, Ski jumping World Champion; Ambassador, World Ski Championship 2019 in Planica

culture&EVENTS

46 Interview: Mirsad Purivatra, Sarajevo Film Festival Director 49 BBC Philharmonic: Traditional orchestra with percussion wizardry 50 Centenary of WWI - catastrophe of 20th Century history 52 Interview: Dr Mel Gill, Hermetic Philosopher, Spiritual Counsellor,

Psychotherapist, Film Maker, producer of the movie, “The Meta Secret” and the author of “Uncommon Sense” and 12 other best-selling books 54 Event Guide Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Spring Semaphore

Repair work and urgent infrastructure investment following the natural disaster may have a positive effect on economic activity in 2014; Photo: sl.wikipedia.org

Natural Disaster

Cleaning up after historical winter ice storm Spring in Slovenia will be marked by the cleaning up process following an unforseen ice storm during the winter. The National Assembly passed three pieces of legislation to facilitate the cleanup and repair the damage. The ice storm destroyed large swathes of forest around the country and heavily damaged infrastructure. The damage, caused by the freezing rain and sleet, is estimated at around EUR 500m. A special emergency law will provide a total of EUR 15m in emergency funding which will also cover the damage from the floods that followed the ice storm in south western Slovenia.

Planning requirements are being relaxed in a bid to speed up repairs to the power grid when hundreds of towers collapsed under the weight of the ice.

More broadly, the law creates the legal basis for compensating companies and individuals affected by the ice storm and the attendant power outages from public funds. The latest figures presented by the government suggest 142,000 electricity users had been victims of blackouts and over 3,000 kilometres of power

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

lines were damaged or collapsed. Based on the emergency law, the various network fees attached to monthly electricity bills will be waived for the duration of the power outages.

Additionally, companies that had to employ generators to continue operating will be able to claim a 50% refund for the petrol excise.

Furthermore, owners whose forests were completely destroyed by the ice will be exempt from paying cadastral income tax. The emergency bill enjoyed cross-party support although the opposition wanted the government to secure more funding. Deputies also endorsed changes to the Natural Disaster Relief Act to add ice storms to the list of natural disasters as a means to allow the government to allocate budget funds for relief expenditure.

Parliament also passed changes to the Forest Act to simplify procedures for the removal of an estimated seven million cubic metres of wood downed by the ice.

Recently introduced wood provenance certificates, originally intended to curb illegal logging, will be waived for private forest owners until April 2015. Thereafter, no certificate will be needed for the transport of up to six cubic metres of wood for personal use. During the period when provenance certificates are suspended, the owners will still be required to fill in a form to keep the records to ensure traceability of wood. The motion also provides the legal basis for the distribution of funds for the maintenance of forest roads from the tax collected from forest land. 

Spring Semaphore Economy

Politics

Will economic performance in spring confirm the end of the recession?

Saving the Reputation of the Anti-Corruption Commission

After surprising growth data in the last quarter of 2013, Slovenia will closely watch the data for the first quarter of 2014. Businessmen and economists warned politicians not to get overexcited too soon because a large part of the Slovenian economy is still overindebted and on the border of existence, not able to obtain basic financial assets for production.

Additionally, the public sector is still spending way too much and consequently suffocating the private sector. Still, the overall situation is much better than last year.

Exports are growing constantly, construction hit the bottom in the middle of last year and is now growing solidly, domestic consumption is no longer falling. If the government is able to redirect some of the excessive public sector consumption into investment, Slovenia could be back on the long term growth track. A lot will depend on situation in Slovenia´s main trading partners, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and the ability of Slovenian companies to penetrate new markets. Good results in the tourism sector could also bring additional optimism for the summer. 

Spring will also show if the Slovenian political elite is capable of solving the fiasco of the controversial appointment of the Anti-Corruption Commission boss. The President surprisingly appointed totally unknown lawyer, Boris Štefanec, despite doubtful references and following Štefanec’s stepping out of the ruling Positive Slovenia party just one day before the President announced his decision based on the ”professional” nomination.

Despite huge pressure from the public and from political parties, Štefanec doesn´t want to resign as his deputies did when they discovered that the whole nomination process was not transparent. More and more the situation looks like a bad tragicomedy. Nobody wants to take the blame, the President insists that he “just” appointed the only guy proposed by nomination commission, which was working within it´s legal framework. Štefanec was legally named the boss and this is obviously his dream job such that he doesn´t want to quit and on top of all this, the leading representatives of the ruling Positive Slovenija presumably didn´t know that Štefanec was their member, the PM believes he deserves a chance to prove himself.

Understand this if you can!

In fact Štefanec “set the mirror” for Slovenian politicians. It is obvious that they are a group of political apprentices and bureaucrats without basic common sense and credibility.

They implicitly knew that Štefanec was a poor candidate but somehow he was in the current bureaucratic legal framework and they just picked the easy way for themselves and the worst option for the country. In the process they completely destroyed the image and reputation of one of the most respected institutions in Slovenia. Maybe this was in fact the goal of the whole political charade. If Štefanec will not resign we can expect a change to the legislation which will enable his replacement.  Boris Štefanec – New “comedian” in Slovenian politics?

President Borut Pahor signing order of nomination for new Anti Corruption Commission; Source: UPRS

Slovenian export is very stable.

Photo: Hella Saturnus Slovenija d.o.o.

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Economy GDP

The end of recession?

Slovenia has technically pulled out of recession as the country’s GDP expanded by 2.1% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2013 after eight quarters of negative growth. The country’s economy shrank by 1.1% in real terms in 2013.

By T. M., SORS

Exports rose 3.7%, a slowdown from the 4% growth of the previous quarter, while imports increased 4.9%, mainly on account of imports

3,00% 2,00%

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

2,10%

1,00% 0

-0,50&

-1,00%

-1,40%

-2,00% -3,00% -4,00%

-4,60%

-5,00%

Gross capital formation contributed 3.3 percentage points to economic growth

1st quarter

2nd quarter

3rd quarter

4th quarter (Source: SORS)

EU28, euro area and Member States GDP growth rates in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Percentage change over the previous quarter

Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Luxembourg and Malta: data not available for the fourth quarter of 2013.

Sweden

Czech Republic

Slovenia

Romania

Lithuania

Netherlands

United Kingdom

Latvia

Poland

Portugal

Hungary

Belgium

Slovakia

EU28

Germany

France

Austria

EA17

Bulgaria

Italy

Spain

1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.0 -1.2 Cyprus

The economic growth in the final quarter was boosted by investment. Gross fixed capital formation expanded by 5.9% y/y as investment in construction surged by 11.1%, mostly due to the construction of civil engineering structures. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment rose by 2.9%.

The statisticians also recorded a recovery in private consumption, which was boosted by 3%. Private final consumption remained flat compared to the final quarter of 2012, although consumption of durable products again fell by 4.5%. Contraction in government spending slowed to 1.9%. The drop was mainly due to savings in health and social care. External demand continued to reflect positively on GDP growth, but due to a strong growth in

of fuels and lubricants and motor vehicles as well as construction and consultancy services.

“This is a consequence of imports in energy products and vehicles on the goods side, and... construction services and consultancy services on the services side,” said Podnar.

Value added increased in most activities, especially in construction, where it soared by 7.7%. “This is the first time since 2008 that

Gross domestic product, constant prices, growth rates 2013 (%), non-seasonally adjusted

Estonia

“In the last quarter of 2013, Slovenia exceeded the average economic growth rate of the EU,” Anže Podnar of the Statistics Office said. He warned, however, that this was not a guarantee for lasting growth.

“We cannot say for certain that the crisis is over...all we can say is that there is a short-term break in the slowing of economic activity,” Podnar added, saying that for a definite end of the crisis, the majority of economic indicators will have to return to levels seen prior to the crisis. The latest seasonally and working days adjusted data also shows that Slovenia recorded quarter-on-quarter growth in economic activity throughout last year. In the first quarter, GDP grew 0.1% from the previous quarter and then expanded by a further 0.2% in Q2, by 0.4% in Q3 and by 1.2% in Q4.

Continuous solid growth in exports

Finlanad

On the way to sustainable growth or triple dip recession?

imports the external trade balance had a negative impact on growth (-0.7 percentage points).

Denmark

Seasonally and working days adjusted, (the gauge used by the EU statistics office, Eurostat), GDP grew 1.2% from the third quarter of 2013 and rose 1.9% compared to the final quarter of 2012.

(Source: Eurostat)

Economy investment in buildings increased. We are now at 47% of those levels,” he said. In manufacturing, value added increased by 2.1% after eight consecutive quarters of decline. In accommodation and food services, value added increased less than in the previous quarter, by 1.4%.

Slovenia s fourth by growth in the EU Amongst Member States for which data is available for the fourth quarter of 2013, Sweden (+1.7%), the Czech Republic (+1.6%), Romania (+1.5%), Lithuania and Slovenia (both +1.2%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter. Cyprus (-1.0%), Denmark (-0.5%), Finland (-0.3%) and Estonia (-0.1%) registered decreases. 

Public Finances

Budget deficit still not completely “under control” Slovenia’s budget was EUR 223m in deficit in the first month of 2014 which is more than 20% of the annual deficit planned for 2014, according to the Finance Ministry. The government’s aim is to keep the deficit at EUR 1bn this year, down from last year’s figure of EUR 1.535bn.

This rate previously applied only to owner or renter occupied housing, while buildings without registered residents, such as second homes, were taxed at a higher, 0.5% tax rate.

Finance Minister Uroš Čufer acknowledged that the status of residential buildings and undeveloped building land accounted for the bulk of people’s complaints with the Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS).

Growth forecast upgraded from -0.8% to 0.5 % The government’s economic think-tank, IMAD, upgraded its forecast for the Slovenian economy for 2014 to 0.5% growth from a contraction of 0.8% as envisaged in its previous forecast. In its autumn forecast, the Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development did not anticipate Slovenia return to yearly growth until 2015, but the latest spring forecast pushed this forward to this year. The upgrade comes hot on the heels of data from the Statistics Office which found that the Slovenian economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the final quarter of 2013. Head of IMAD, Boštjan Vasle said the improvement noted in the most recent figures was better than anticipated. Exports are expected to contribute most to the expansion of the economy in 2014, while IMAD anticipates domestic consumption to continue shrinking, albeit at a slower pace. Vasle highlighted that Slovenia’s economic competitiveness has improved of late, which has enabled a quicker growth in exports. Exports are forecast by IMAD to grow by 4.2% this year and 4.8% in 2015, up significantly from the 2.9% growth registered in 2013. Businesses responded to the forecast by warning that there are still significant downside risks. A key priority for the government must be to overcome the freeze on EU funds which the European Commission imposed last week after finding irregularities dating back to 2012, Alenka Avberšek of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) said. IMAD expects the economy to keep expanding in 2015 when the growth rate will edge up slightly to 0.7%, before nearly doubling to 1.3% in 2016.

Higher VAT instead of real estate tax?

Finance Minister Aleš Čufer (on the left): “Additional measures will definitely be needed to secure [fiscal] balancing.

The deficit generated in January 2014 was EUR 13m below that of January 2013. On a monthly level there was a EUR 300m swing from the EUR 81m surplus in December. Budget revenues amounted to EUR 661m in January, down by more than EUR 300m over December, when Slovenia received EUR 287m in EU funds (EUR 27m in January 2014). The revenues were however EUR 42m higher than in January 2013. The amount of taxes collected in January was EUR 36m lower than in December 2013 and EUR 71m higher than in November. The figure was also EUR 54m higher than in January 2013. Compared to last year, the amount of taxes collected this January was exceeded only in October and December of last year. Budget expenditure amounted to EUR 884m in January which is on par with the same month a year ago and EUR 9m less that December.

The real estate was expected to net the government EUR 200m in fresh tax receipts this year and is considered a key part of the fiscal consolidation drive. The changes to the real estate tax legislation are not the only factor affecting planned budget revenues. Real estate tax legislation is also reviewed by Constitutional Court and it could easily happen that the government will have to completely replace planned revenues from real estate tax with other sources.

In response to suggestions that the government would try to offset any shortfall in tax receipts with a crisis tax or higher VAT, Finance Minister Čufer rejected the speculation. “We’ve made the pledge to stabilise taxation...The focus is on implementing the real estate tax.”

Nevertheless, he said that “additional measures will definitely be needed to secure [fiscal] balancing.” 

Additional budget problem: real estate tax fiasco The government decided to change several key provisions of the real estate tax act in a bid to stem the rising tide of criticism that led to tens of thousands of complaints due to wrong data and incomplete records. Most notably, all residential housing will be taxed with a 0.15% rate, a move that addresses one of the main complaints of property owners.

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Economy Banking sector

NLB breakeven in 2014?

NLB, Slovenia’s biggest bank, expects to breakeven in 2014, according to Chairman Janko Medja only days after NLB Group reported a recordbreaking loss of EUR 1.44bn in 2013. “We plan a profit of around EUR 110m to EUR 120m before impairments, while impairments are expected at EUR 100m.”

Online banking is closing offices “So we will be left with EUR 10m - EUR 20m and if there are no negative events, we expect to breakeven,” Medja told the press. The bank will close 22 offices across the country in April as part of a restructuring process. Currently, the bank has 143 offices in Slovenia. “More clients have started to use online banking...and it can be expected that even more offices will be closed,” said management board member, Blaž Brodnjak.

Additional job cuts By the end of the year, the bank will cut the number of jobs by 20% compared to mid 2013, when the restructuring process was launched.

By the end of the year, NLB will have 2,800 employees. It will also remove 100 cash machines.

“This year will be hard but we believe we will be successful in pursuing our goals,” Medja

told the press. The group plans to see growth in strategic fields and to sell its non-strategic segments.

There is no credit crunch Touching on the transfer of toxic loans to the Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC), bank officials said that about 20% of bad loans still remain in the bank, as the bad bank did not take on the bad the loans of NLB’s subsidiaries in the Balkans. The bank estimates it has 70% in provisions for existing bad loans. NLB approved EUR 429m in new loans to companies in 2013, EUR 78m went for completely new projects.

“There is no credit crunch. Every company with sustainable debt and a good project gets a loan,” board member Brodnjak underlined.

The management moreover said the bank has restored the trust of citizens, as deposits generated in January and February reached EUR 90m. 

Retail

Takeover torture of Mercator continues The consortium selling a 53% stake in retailer Mercator and Croatian buyer Agrokor amended the sales agreement to extend the deadline for the execution of the deal to 30 June and lower the price to EUR 86 per share, brewery Pivovarna Laško, one of the sellers, confirmed.

Before Laško’s official confirmation of these figures, media reports said that the agreement tasks conglomerate Agrokor with providing a EUR 225m capital increase for Mercator, of which EUR 200m is to go directly to creditor banks. The rest would be earmarked for working capital, while the banks would contribute an additional EUR 100m in loans meant to help manage Mercator’s EUR 1bn debt.

The deadline was extended prior to a restructuring of Mercator’s debt due for expiry on 28 Is the takeover of Mercator still normal business operations or is it the personal whim of Agrokor owner, Todorić?

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

NLB regional office Janko Medja; Photo: Aljaž Hafner

February. It was linked to the validity of the sales agreement which was penned in June last year and in which Agrokor offered EUR 120 per share in what is Slovenia’s biggest employer.

In line with the original agreement, the debt restructuring was a condition for entering the phase of the deal in which Agrokor, alone or with partners, would need to secure the funds - estimated at slightly over EUR 500bn - for the 53% stake and later also for the remainder. If the conditions had not been changed, Agrokor would have been allowed to withdraw from the deal without paying any penalties.

Creditor banks should have already said in January what kind of debt restructuring they would accept, a deal, however, was not reached and Agrokor proposed an extension of the deadline twice.

Media reported that the sellers wished to secure a price as close as possible to EUR 120, while creditor banks wanted Agrokor to provide as large a capital increase for Mercator as possible with a view to getting back their loans. The situation is additionally complicated by the sellers which also includes some of the banks. 

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Economy Interview: Jean-Marc Peterschmitt, Managing Director for Central and South Eastern Europe, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Privatisation and attracting fresh capital from outside investors is crucial Jean-Marc Peterschmitt is a seasoned banker with extensive sector and country experience. He joined the bank in London headquarters in 1992 and has held various geographic and sector management roles within the EBRD’s Banking department, including Director for Bulgaria, Director for the Western Balkans and Director for Financial Institutions in EU countries. He is today responsible for the EBRD’s activities in 16 countries of Central and South Eastern Europe.

By Tilen Majnardi, M.Sc. Jean-Marc Peterschmitt; Photo: EBRD

Q You participated in the last FDI Summit in- tainability of the debt. Of course, the number vestment & development conference at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana where the main focus was restoring the credibility of Slovenia.

Do you see any progress in this area in the last few months - is Slovenia a more credible partner today than in September 2013?

A There has certainly been progress since then. At the time, the government was rightly pre-occupied with the asset quality review and stress tests in the banking sector. Once this was announced in December, we could all see how much work had been devoted to this exercise and the international market and investors generally give Slovenia credit for this. It was a serious and thorough exercise. But there has been progress in other areas as well – just take the new insolvency legislation or the draft law on the sovereign holding which was submitted to parliament. Things are definitely moving in the right direction, but this momentum of course needs to be sustained.

you mentioned is before the costs for bank recapitalisation this year, which will be very substantial. So far investors in capital markets have given the government credit for reforms and the fiscal strategy, as underlined by two successful bond issues, one privately placed in December and another even more substantial in February this year. While the government has hence met nearly all refinancing requirements, gross debt is now around 75% of GDP. That is very close to the eurozone average, but the second highest of the countries in the central Europe region. So the room for manoeuvre is definitely more limited now.

Q The planned stabilisation of public finances and lowering of the deficit will be achieved primarily by higher budget revenues, higher VAT, a new real estate tax, some other new taxes etc... Do you think that the government is doing

Q Your message about Slovenia´s priorities for Last year the focus was on avoiding 2014 at the FDI Summit was very clear: 1. further stabilisation of public finances; 2. clean up the banking sector; 3. a transparent privatisation process.

Let´s start with public finances, the government adopted the budget for 2014 with a planned deficit of 2.9% of GDP, a number in accordance with EU recommendations, but do you see credibility and reality in planning, an awareness that we can spend only as much as we collect in the state budget?

A I think the coalition is committed to observing fiscal limits, and not just because this is prescribed by the EU Deficit Procedure, but because this must be done to preserve sus-

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

a crisis and the need to find resources to deal with the immediate issues in the banking sector. Now that a lot of reforms have been put in place the focus can shift to growth. We are confident that Slovenia is on the right track and that growth will eventually be regained. But it has to be private sector led growth.

Economy enough on the cost side of the budget, on structural reforms, efficiency of the public sector…..?

A There seems to have been a very conservative management, for instance, of state salaries.

Also the budget foresees fairly deep across-theboard cuts in expenditures by ministries and in subsidies. We think that the structural reforms to which the government is committed will, over time, be very beneficial for the state budget – in terms of the net debt once privatisations are moving ahead and in terms of stemming the need for many further state capital injections in the corporate and banking sectors.

Q If we move to the main short term problem of the Slovenian economy, the banking sector, the process of cleaning up the toxic assets of the banks has started, the so called Bad Bank is now operational, do you think that the process is transparent and fast enough?

A We have been encouraged by the establishment of BAMC, its governance and the international expertise it has been able to mobilise for its board. They have a big challenge on their hands and will have to build up capacity quickly, but from many conversations with their management, I know they are working as hard as they can to deliver on their mandate – which is to relieve banks from the deadweight of a part of their non-performing assets and to maximise the value recovered for taxpayers.

We also hope that BAMC, together with the banks, can play a role in the restructuring of some of the still viable businesses and hence stimulate the recovery of the real economy. It is important that all parties - banks, BAMC, state - work closely together and pull in the same direction. And let’s not forget that some non-performing loans remain with the banks, which on their side will have to continue focusing on managing and resolving them. So from all sides, addressing NPLs is certainly one of the biggest challenge in the sector.

Q As a third, short term, urgent step you always mention privatisation. Do you really think that this moment is the right one, with the ongoing crisis in Slovenia and low market prices?

A Privatisation and attracting fresh capital from outside investors is crucial, and this year will not only be important for establishing credibility but also to get many of the companies on a new growth path. Therefore I don’t think we should wait. Of course value matters, but at the same time there is the often larger benefit of fresh capital, expertise, access to new markets as well as operational restructuring that new investors bring to companies and to the country. Our experience has shown us time and again that waiting, in the hope of higher valuations, often only compounds the problem and risks damaging value further.

Q One important issue connected to privatisa- enterprises. It simplifies the decision making tion and corporate governance in the public sector, is establishing a clear and transparent system of management of state owned companies. We are still waiting for an operational State Sovereign Holding which will be the single centralised entity for management of state owned assets.

Why do you think that this process is taking so long and how is this affecting the privatisation process and the image of Slovenia among potential investors?

A As you know this has always been a very contentious process, ever since it was first announced around the OECD accession in 2010 and then temporarily implemented with AUKN. What is needed is a well-run single state holding that can operate independently and commercially. These two principles are key. So strong governance arrangements for that institution itself are a definite pre-requisite. Once this is in place, the State Holding will be able to: first impose good governance standards on the companies that remain in state ownership, secondly take sound decisions faster, and thirdly effectively implement the privatisation agenda.

This should bring transparency and accountability for ownership decisions of state owned

in what is today sometimes a complex ownership structure, although it often goes back to the same owner: the state. By having a unified and centralised view, it is likely that issues can be addressed in a much clearer and effective way, with sounder and faster decision making, which benefits the enterprises in question and the investment climate in general.

Q We cannot avoid the very pessimistic forecast by the EBRD for growth/contraction of GDP in 2014, you still a predict 2.5% contraction versus the OECD of 0.9% and domestic institutions around 0.8%. What is the main reason for your pessimism?

A Much has been accomplished in terms of reforms and gaining fresh access to international bond markets. But I think there is agreement among the international institutions that the recession will continue this year. The parallel debt restructuring in the corporate sector and deleveraging in the banking sector, coupled with a very tight budget are very strong temporary headwinds. There has been some recovery in the export sector late last year, in line with the rest of the eurozone, and this now allows a

EBRD Reopen in Slovenia and Adopt New Country Strategy The Board Of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have adopted a four year strategy for Slovenia, marking the start of a more active role for the bank in the country just weeks after it reopened its Slovenia office after an eight year absence.

The bank will focus on three priorities: corporate sector restructuring, including expanding the role of the private sector and promoting good corporate governance; financial sector stabilisation; and support for sustainable energy.

The goal of the 2014-2017 strategy, which was created in close cooperation with the Slovenian authorities, is to recognise where Slovenia has achieved headway and define the areas where the EBRD can play a role.

The bank stated it would step up activity at the request of the government but rejected recent opinions that its return proved Slovenia had regressed economically. Some commentators in recent weeks suggested that the EBRD is returning to facilitate privatisation, which the bank itself confirmed by saying in a press release that it will “participate in the privatisation of key enterprises currently under state control either through debt or equity financing.” In the financial sector it plans to “support the privatisation of state-controlled banks” as well as “support healthy banks” with funding for the real sector.

Furthermore, the bank will “explore energy efficiency investment opportunities” and “ac-

tively seek opportunities to identify and finance investments that would increase the capacity to generate renewable energy.”

The Finance Ministry welcomed the EBRD’s new strategy, saying the document addressed Slovenia’s key development priorities appropriately. “We are convinced that the bank will be able to endorse the planned reform in the private and financial sectors with the implementation [of the strategy].” The ministry also welcomed the EBRD’s decision to reopen a local office in Ljubljana.

The EBRD, which has been active in Slovenia since 1993, has so far signed a total of 68 projects with a net cumulative business volume of EUR 789m, allocating 33% in the corporate sector, 33% in the financial sector, 20% in the energy sector and 13% for infrastructure.

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Economy slightly more positive outlook. Yet, experience from other emerging markets underlines that working out excess debt in the corporate sector and reviving the banks at the same time can be a lengthy process.

Q Don´t you think that everyone, international institutions etc and consequently the Slovenian government, focus too much on the stabilisation of public finances, the banking sector etc….. There is just not enough focus on growth and putting together efficient development strategies?

A Last year the focus was on avoiding a crisis and the need to find resources to deal with the immediate issues in the banking sector. Now that a lot of reforms have been put in place the focus can shift to growth. We are confident that

Privatisation and attracting fresh capital from outside investors is crucial. Our experience has shown us time and again that waiting, in the hope of higher valuations, often only compounds the problem and risks damaging value further.

Jean-Marc Peterschmitt at FDI Summit 2013; Photo: Aljaž Hafner

Slovenia is on the right track and that growth will eventually be regained. But it has to be private sector led growth. The country’s fiscal headroom is tight, particularly if the longer term challenges from ageing and healthcare are taken into account. There simply is no room for state-led economic demand. This is why we advocate a growth strategy that is very much focused on allowing the private sector to find its feet. Only private sector led growth will re-

vive investment and employment over the long term. This is very much in line with the policy and reforms introduced by the current government and we stand fully ready to support these efforts. Indeed, the EBRD recently approved a new country strategy for Slovenia that calls for investment in the financial, corporate and energy sector and we hope we can be part of a number of good projects in the months to come. 

Your Daily Source of Information www.sloveniatimes.com

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h BSH Hišni aparati d.o.o. Nazarje

Tradition. Quality.

Innovation. Nazarje.

BOSCH AND SIEMENS HOME APPLIANCES GROUP

www.bosch-home.si www.bsh-group.si

Economy Interview: Wolfram von Ohain, Managing Director, BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje

Recipe for success:

producing high tech products for the world market Wolfram von Ohain took over the management of BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje in September 2013. He has been part of the BSH “family” for 25 years, serving in different posts around the world - Germany, the United States, Spain and Mexico. BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje is one of the gems of the Slovenian economy and was not affected by the domestic crisis. The new manager, a great fan of classical automobiles, sees Slovenia’s potential for growth will come primarily from its qualified workforce, stable environment, very good logistics and excellent supplier base.

By G. M. Q In Slovenia we talk a lot about foreign investment, the obstacles, our strengths, advantages etc… in comparison to other countries in the region. As a newcomer and someone who has worked all around the world, where do you see the biggest problems and advantages of Slovenia at the moment?

A Let´s start with the obstacles first: Slovenia is a very small market therefore it can only serve as a bridge to other markets, especially those of the former Yugoslavia. Labour costs are the highest in the region and also quite high compared to other countries which are strategically better situated. Therefore, I think it is not an easy task to attract new foreign investment, at least not in manufacturing. On the positive side I see that Slovenia has a very well qualified workforce, a very stable environment, very good logistics and an excellent supplier base (at least in our case).

Q BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje is one of the com-

Wolfram von Ohain

Q You have now been in Slovenia about six months, German-Slovene Chamber of Commerce was what are your impressions and general feeling about the business environment, particularly in relation to BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje production?

A I arrived at the beginning of September and I received a very warm welcome from my new colleagues as well as from the business community. I attended the FDI Summit in September where I got a good overview of the main issues such as the privatisation of Slovene companies and the efforts by the Slovene government to attract foreign investment. The

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also very helpful for me in getting to know the management of other German companies in Slovenia. In general, my impression is that there are great concerns about the competitiveness of the Slovene economy but for me it is not quite clear how the government can and will help companies to invest in Slovenia. As far as our production is concerned, there are no worries at all, we have a very motivated and well qualified workforce that has achieved a new record for production and turnover in 2013.

panies which was not directly affected by the ongoing economic crisis in Slovenia, in fact your results in recent years were excellent. What is your recipe?

A Our recipe for success is that in Slovenia we produce high tech products for the world market. Our export share easily surpasses 90% and fortunately our main foreign markets are running very well. Nevertheless, the quality, the design and the cost of the products has to be appropriate for those markets, and this is the case. Our factory is very competitive and the products have won numerous design awards in Europe.

Q BSH Group produces in 40 factories in 13 countries, what is the position of BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje inside the group? What is the level of competitiveness, value added, quality of product, innovation level…?

Economy A Our factory in Slovenia is the largest factory for small domestic appliances within the BSH Group – almost eight million units were produced in 2013, or in other words, roughly 35,000 – 40,000 small appliances per day. But we not only produce in Slovenia, BSH also has its R&D centre for motor driven appliances (e.g. kitchen machines, hand blenders, mixers, etc.) in Nazarje; meaning that almost all products produced in Slovenia are also developed here. Our engineers constantly submit new patents to keep up the competitive edge and as we speak, Bosch, for example, is launching a new hand blender developed in Slovenia with a cube cutter function. You mentioned also the quality of our products; there we cannot fail as quality is at the core of Bosch´s brand philosophy, which means we have implemented in Slovenia the same high standards for production and development as in Germany.

Q I believe that your business plan for 2013 was to remain at the same level of revenue as 2012, around EUR 315m or even to realise growth of 2.3%. Did you meet your goal, also in terms of profit which stood around EUR 30m?

A 2013 was a very successful year for our operations in Slovenia, we grew our production output to almost eight million pieces, the revenue developed accordingly and we were also successful in marketing our appliances not only in Slovenia but in the entire South East European region. As a result, our revenues grew to 343 million Euros, plus 10% compared to 2012 and our profit was up to 32.2 million Euros.

Wolfram von Ohain

Q Is the company affected by the crisis in the lines to satisfy the demand coming from the BSH for example, and foster start-up compaSlovenian banking sector or do you have your own channels for financing current production?

A Fortunately our company is not directly affected by the crisis in the Slovene banking sector as our operations are financed via the BSH Group, but we are indirectly affected as our Slovene suppliers find it more difficult to finance themselves, thus securing their operations.

The same holds true for some of our business partners in retail.

Q BSH Hišni aparati Nazarje celebrated 20 years as part of the BSH Group in 2013. The level of revenue is now almost 14 times larger than in 1993, not to mention the range and quality of products. What are your plans for the medium term and do you plan any large investment in Slovenia?

A As I said before, Slovenia houses our biggest and most competitive factory for motor driven small appliances as well as for fully automatic coffee machines – this will remain so in the near future and we plan to invest further into our current factory improving the quality of production and adding some more production

international growth philosophy of our group.

Q Finally, as a company you cannot be removed from the general macroeconomic conditions in Slovenia. How do you see the current situation in Slovenia, the government initiatives to generate growth etc? What additional measures do you expect from the government in 2014 to improve the business environment?

A In reference to the general macroeconomic conditions in Slovenia I think it is paramount that the Slovene government stabilises the financial sector and makes sure that the budget deficit is reduced as quickly as possible. This will send the right message to international markets and will inspire confidence. Having said this, I am aware that it is not an easy task for the Slovene government to pull the country out of stagnation, as it is not as cost competitive as it used to be, especially compared to some neighbouring countries. Green field investments for big factories are no longer realistic and therefore the Slovene government should concentrate on promoting investments by companies which are already here, such as

nies/young entrepreneurs with grants and other financial support so they can create new employment out of their creative and innovative product or service ideas. 

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Economy

Dr France Arhar; Photos: Aljaž Hafner

Interview: Dr France Arhar, Managing Director of the Bank Association of Slovenia, President of the Supervisory Board of NLB, d. d.

We Can’t Expect Miracles France Arhar is a “legendary” former Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, famous for his efforts to establish a stable monetary system. As the governor, he taught Slovenians about the importance of saving money and the need for sound banks in order to have a strong country. Using his own picturesque phrase, he also taught them that “money is as shy as a deer”. In 2001, at the end of his term of office at the Bank of Slovenia, Dr Arhar continued his career in the private sector, at UniCredit Bank, which he managed successfully for nine years. Today, he is the Managing Director of the Bank Association of Slovenia and the President of the Supervisory Board of NLB.

By Tilen Majnardi, M. Sc. 16

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Q Dr Arhar, let’s start with the most pressing issue: the bad bank is operational, the transfer of assets from banks is underway – are these processes being carried out with effectiveness and transparency?

A Considering the situation in which we find ourselves, speed is an important issue – we always want things to move faster and to see results sooner. We do know that some people had wanted the transfer to start as early as last spring. It is important to note, however, that the regulation establishing the legal basis for the transfer of assets to the Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC), or the so-called Bad Bank, was not adopted until 13 March 2013. Things came to a standstill for a while due to certain demands made by the EU. The transfer, in December 2013, is more or less finished on paper and is affecting balance sheets and economic outturn accounts. From a physical standpoint, the transfer will continue for some time; there is a multitude of contracts that need to be reviewed. To be honest, it is difficult to predict when these processes will be completed and even more difficult to assess the future processes in the context of the bad bank. For the most part, we are talking about

Economy amounts owed by companies under receivership or undergoing status changes in the form of compulsory composition; a very minor part concerns the companies that are still operating but have found themselves in grave difficulties.

We can’t expect miracles, although we all want to see them. This group of receivables has its own laws and characteristics. Receivership involves lengthy procedures, there is the question of the creditor’s – the bank’s position - does the creditor have the right of exclusion, etc.

There is no doubt that transparency is extremely important. We all know what kind of companies are involved in these processes, the large number of different financial holding companies, the doubts about whether the current owners will one day suddenly appear again in a new role… Another reason why this is a sensitive issue is because the assets were transferred at a considerable discount rate.

Company ownership is highly interconnected, which is typical of any small economy. All of this creates the need for additional requirements, greater transparency and clean processes. We know that a large share of the so-called bad credit loans came about as a result of our privatisation model. Slovenia is a small country where virtually everyone knows each other, which leads to doubts and misgivings about certain people. Accordingly, the warnings are completely reasonable and we will need to establish some kind of process control. We should also be aware that these processes will probably take several years. Looking at the construction industry, for instance, where debts are the highest and capital is the lowest, it is difficult to assess just how much time it will take. The BAMC should take care not to cause market conditions to deteriorate and to provide a realistic evaluation of the current price level. By creating additional offers, market prices could be brought down further; in the long term, it is in the national interest to establish normal prices. Considering the high discount rate on the transfer of receivables, it would be easy for the BAMC to generate profit very quickly in specific cases, but in reality, these operations would cause damage to the whole economy in the long term.

Q When the bad bank became operational, we immediately faced some controversial operational processes within the institution: first there was the issue of executive salaries, now we are hearing information about the risk of corruption in the management… Why is it that we seem to be unable to carry out these processes in a transparent manner and set clear rules for the management of these types of institutions?

A I completely agree with you. I have to say that personally I would be very disappointed if the information we are hearing is true, particularly where consulting agreements are

concerned. I also wonder why, for instance, I haven’t seen how these people were recruited to their positions published anywhere. This is certainly an area where an immediate response is required to prevent any anomalies.

The salaries are another issue. The so-called Lahovnik Act places strict limitations on salaries in state-owned enterprises. To be honest, if we are not able to modify the overly restrictive salary model in an enterprise such as the BAMC, I think it will be difficult for it to operate well. If we do decide to limit salaries in line with the existing model, we will have to find another way to provide incentives for the executives. The fact is that the BAMC is not just another state-owned enterprise – it is one of a kind and, looking at it this way, it has a monopoly. When it comes to attracting the best international human resources from countries where the GDP is considerably higher than in Slovenia, the system that we have is completely unsuitable. Our main goal should be to recruit the best and most honest human resources from around the world. Nobody is going to act as a good Samaritan and join the enterprise out of charity. To reiterate, I am not familiar with the specific procedures and criteria involved in recruiting executives for the BAMC. I assume that some general criteria – professionalism, morality – were taken into consideration. On the other hand, the employment contracts should provide enough incentive to ensure that these people will maximise their efforts, give the job their best and make the most of their knowledge and connections.

The main problem is that, for reasons unknown, these issues are not defined clearly in Slovenia. I took part in several discussions during the process to adopt the act on transferring the receivables of banks to the BAMC at the meeting of the Committee for Credit and Monetary Policy. We talked about a lot of things but I don’t remember any of these issues being addressed – how the management of the new enterprise would be formed, how people would be recruited, what to do about bonuses, payments, defining responsibility, etc. We are seeing a similar situation right now with the Slovenian Sovereign Holding Act. In any case, it always comes down to – or, better yet, starts with – people, the “living capital”. Unfortunately, we only tend to start talking about that after problems and deviations have already occurred.

A We have been generalising the issue of the so-called credit crunch for some years now. At the onset of the crisis, we blamed the banks for giving too many loans, for growth that was too fast. The credit growth culminated in 2007, when it reached the rate of 42% per year.

Then we reached another extreme – in 2011, to implement a radical reduction in loans, the government adopted the Bank Balance Sheet Assets Tax Act. To simplify: the act introduced a tax for banks that did not give loans to the economy. I made several clear, public statements at the time, stressing that an Act of this kind was complete nonsense for a true banker.

Banks that give loans simply to avoid paying more tax are not proper banks and are not being run by proper, responsible bankers. These

This is what we are particularly guilty of in Slovenia: lengthy, agonising negotiations between creditors and debtors, reproaches and attempts to blame each other for the crisis – all of this contributed to a state of acute mutual distrust.

This is one of the main issues in the Slovenian business world at the moment.

Q It also seems that, thanks to the populist nature of the public debates, the general public now sees the bad bank as a miracle cure for the problem. Obviously, the reality is different – banks are not simply going to start throwing money at various projects and companies. What do you see as the key steps in rebuilding a healthy banking industry?

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Economy bankers should be replaced immediately. The most interesting thing is that the Act is still in force today. It is, in essence, another administrative measure that attempts to affect the loan policy and risk policy in banks. It goes contrary to good business sense.

The data on the beginnings of the crisis in Slovenia is inescapable. If the country didn’t have such an extraordinary credit growth, it would never have reached GDP growth of over 6%; the Ljubljana Stock Exchange would not have reached 78% growth – a European record in 2007; and the property market would not have seen the boom that it did. The capital market and the property market are closely connected to loans. It is clear that the positive expectations and the credit boom served to offer extraordinary credit support for companies, which then made a number of investments. In that period, the debt-to-capital ratio was still at a normal level thanks to the high value of property, but after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008 – the formal beginning of the crisis – the value of property went into a rapid decline. Since the face value

Our fear of “the foreigner” coming in and taking everything or trying to cheat us is slowing down our development. I spent nine years working for a foreign owner (UniCredit Bank). We made a profit and we reinvested all of it, keeping every cent in the country; the bank grew organically.

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of loans and the interest rates remained at the same level, the debt-to-capital ratio declined dramatically; today, it is 1.35:1.

Q This “bank cleansing” has highlighted the main problem of a large part of the Slovenian economy – debts and a critical lack of capital.

Even a clean bank will not give a loan to these companies. What is your opinion on how we are dealing with this issue?

A Obviously, the companies that are still in operation but have critical levels of debt are the main problem at this point. The first step in saving these companies is to extend the maturity of their loans. If you look at the share of short-term loans approved in the past, for instance in 2008 and 2009, it is as high as 38%, while the EU average is around 25%.

The primary purpose of short-term loans is to provide liquidity and working capital; they are not intended for financing long-term projects.

With this in mind, solving the debt problem in Slovenia started with extending the maturity of loans – like it or not, the banks often had no other choice. The share of short-term loans in the country has now dropped to a more acceptable 27%.

In the long term, the only way to solve excessive company debt is with equity capital.

This is the most acute problem in the Slovenian economy, particularly when it comes to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. It has been estimated that we need some EUR 5bn of equity capital to allow companies to obtain new loans. In theory, the solution is simple: debtors should convert their receivables into capital; but in reality, things are more complicated. I have attended several negotiations of this sort with company owners; for instance, when I represented a group of 20 banks at

negotiations with a large debtor. The owner proposed that the three biggest banks convert 25% of their receivables into capital to improve the debt-to-capital ratio. One of the owners was opposed to the suggestion. Creditors are not entitled to ownership rights, since owners are protected by the Corporations Act. This means nothing can be done unless the owners agree to it. Another issue worth noting when it comes to converting bank receivables into equity capital is that any receivable converted into a capital share must be deducted from the bank’s equity capital, which can be a problem for some banks. In the last year, we reached an agreement with the Bank of Slovenia – when it comes to conversions based on a clear understanding that the company will be sold in the near future and the bank’s contribution of capital will be repaid, the central bank will tolerate the temporary decrease in the capital of individual banks. That is an important step in the right direction.

Q The general public often wonders where all the money and the company loans actually went and whether they simply evaporated during the crisis, while politicians are making the most of popular issues such as individuals using the crisis for personal gain, money disappearing into the pockets of connected people, lobbies, etc. In your opinion, how much money was lost because of bad decisions and incompetent managers and how much of it actually disappeared through illegal activities?

A This is the general situation: in most cases, the core activities of companies are still viable, lucrative and able to compete in foreign markets, as evidenced by the surplus in the balance of payments; this means that our exports are competitive. When we look at the loan use structure to determine what companies spent their loans on, we can pinpoint the problem: the “secondary activities” connected to the capital and property markets. To simplify: looking for a quick and easy profit, companies would take out loans and use them to buy securities and property. They also got involved in financing building projects and derivatives. These are the three main elements that led companies to take out more loans. In many cases, we could liken their activities to gambling. On the other hand, the banks saw these transactions as acceptable and continued to approve the loans.

It takes two consenting parties to conclude a contract.

When it comes to saving a company, the first thing for the creditors to do is to determine whether the debtor has a competitive product that is worth saving. Only then can you start finding a solution for the “secondary activity”, the investments. To do this, you need to assess the actual value of these investments and determine what kind of returns and losses

Economy you are going to get from them. It should be mentioned that these processes are currently underway in Slovenia.

Aside from everything else, there is a specific problem we have here in Slovenia when it comes to doing business. As you know, any major investment project in a European country is financed through what is known as a banking syndicate. Take the TEŠ 6 power plant project or the second track to the Port of Koper for example. These projects are worth billions and the first problem you come up against is that you have to get X number of parties under the same contract. But in case of disputes, you only have one contracting party on the other side – a party composed of a large number of banks. In Slovenia, the cases that adhered to this system can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In most cases, a bilateral approach was taken; this means that large debtors are faced with a multitude of banks, each of which has different views on the margins, security and purpose of the financing. You can imagine how difficult it would be to get so many entities on the same page and conclude a clear, transparent contract.

Another problem is that short-term loans were used to finance long-term investment projects, which makes no sense. Some people claim that debtors demanded lower interest rates, while others say that banks wanted to have short-term receivables, since this would help them meet the liquidity scale criteria set by the central bank. The third fact is that all interbank financing – including foreign banks – was short-term. Another thing to remember is that the three largest banks in Slovenia are practically involved in all cases, so there are physical limitations to keep in mind as well.

There is no way to force a solution – people need to be convinced that a transaction makes sense. We deviated from established practices in each of these segments. I hope that this crisis and the rehabilitation of the banking system will bring about new business practices.

Q We seem to have considerable problems that are taking much longer to solve than in other, comparable countries. Is this largely a consequence of acting too late, of failing to identify the problem and underestimating it, or of the experts and the political elite unable to reach an agreement? We have wasted the last few years looking for a scapegoat instead of finding and implementing a solution. Meanwhile, some countries were able to pinpoint and solve the problem very quickly, sometimes within a matter of months.

A You are correct. But in these debates, we tend to forget an important factor that has contributed to the delay in solving the banking problems: the structure of the banking system balance sheet. Looking at Slovenian banks in 2009, you can see that as much as 73% of all loans – all bank assets – went to

the non-banking sector, to individual and corporate clients, while the average share of such loans in European banks was under 50%.

This means that European banks kept most of their assets in the form of various securities. When the crisis started, the banks with a large share of assets in the form of securities (such as Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, UBS and some U.S. banks) lost a good deal of their property virtually in an instant, forcing these countries to react quickly. In Slovenian banks, whose assets were tied up in countless companies, the process was slower. The impact of the crisis and decreasing demand, production and sales meant that companies gradually found themselves in serious trouble, which led to problems with liquidity and loan repayments.

This is what we are particularly guilty of in Slovenia: lengthy, agonising negotiations between creditors and debtors, reproaches and attempts to blame each other for the crisis – all of this contributed to a state of acute mutual distrust.

This is one of the main issues in the Slovenian business world at the moment.

In 2009, the first year of the crisis, we had as little as 3.6% of bad loans in Slovenia; the banks were still generating profit. In the years that followed, we saw an erosion of business, particularly in the largest companies, such as those in the construction industry. The problem is that large companies have a considerable impact on their subcontractors. As you know, Slovenia spent 15 years making large investments in infrastructure; the construction of the motorway system led to the development of several construction giants. The first bankruptcy among them, that of SCT, had a domino effect on its business partners, causing a number of companies to fold, leading to problems in the banking sector.

Q Finally, let’s take a look at our largest bank, NLB. Being the President of the Supervisory Board, you must have a good overview of the current situation. Would you say that its operations are improving? Is the bank in a competitive position and in control of costs? Is there any fear that a third rehabilitation might be required?

A This has to be discussed honestly. Of course we want things to move quickly, but we have to be patient. When it comes to state-owned banks, the most important thing is to bring about a change of the business culture and that takes time. I should stress, however, that the process is definitely underway. The transformation is happening, but there is a lot of fear about making a wrong move. The loan criteria are becoming stricter and investors are changing their way of thinking in light of the changes in domestic and foreign markets.

Of course there are new loans that are being approved as well, but under different, stricter conditions. You see, it is not true that banks

have stopped giving loans. The biggest problem today is finding a good, trustworthy partner who will keep to the agreement. Trust is a very human category and when new people come in, they pose a considerable operational risk. You can commission as many studies as you like about a project – at the end of the day, it always comes down to the individual, the person, the business partner. If the partner takes care of his side of the agreement and if I have good experience with you, if I trust you, I won’t need any security. Our agreement is law.

In my opinion, there are several key issues that Slovenia should address if we want to end the crisis. Firstly, there is our attitude to property, foreign owners and foreign capital.

Our fear of “the foreigner” coming in and taking everything or trying to cheat us is slowing down our development. I spent nine years working for a foreign owner (UniCredit Bank).

We made a profit and we reinvested all of it, keeping every cent in the country; the bank grew organically. Why fear such an owner? Secondly, the state as the company owner has no strategy or development policy. There are cases, for instance, where there are three government or quasi-government owners whose representatives sit on the Supervisory Boards but don’t even know each other. Another example is the lengthy, agonising process of setting up a sovereign holding; it’s not getting us anywhere.

The third issue is how incredibly easy it is to go into debt. It has to be stopped. We are not the USA, they can go into debt while the US dollar still enjoys unlimited global trust, but we have very clear limitations.  Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Economy tors rather than what a customer needs. Many customers are not financially sophisticated.

Have the banks considered bundling services and instead of charging a per transaction fee what about an annual fee which includes the bank account, credit card, mortgage/loan and online trading?

Reduce occupancy costs

Commentary

Slovenian Banks A Foreigners Perspective It is common knowledge that the Slovenian banking sector has been in crisis for some time now and there has been a lot of talk about what needs to be done with a particular focus on the corporate sector but the banks must consider the retail customer which can be the fixed revenue base for the bank.

The question I would like to ask is why is it so hard! Banks like all companies must be profitable and efficient and my observation is that there should be a customer centric focus and a smarter allocation of financial resources in Slovenian banks.

By Louise Chatwhood

Reduce the number of banks The cost base of a bank is high and so a critical mass of customers is required to be profitable.

Currently in Slovenia there are around 15-20 banks servicing a population of 2 million people. Compare this to Australia where there are around 4-8 banking institutions servicing 24 million people. How can any bank be profitable when they are not in a position to operate efficiently. The closure of Factor banka

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and Probanka is hopefully the start of further rationalision whether it be through takeover or closure.

Product offering – bundle services The banks are so busy copying each other that they are more concerned about how their product offerings compares to their competi-

Walking into one of the many banks in Ljubljana a customer is greeted by a lot of open space. Why is it that the bank clerks or should I say “personal bankers”, seem to have offices the size of which you may find occupied only by the CEO in an Anglo Saxon bank. In some banks the bankomats have their own room. Floor space costs money and whilst it is important that customers can have conversations in private, a meeting room with a computer should suffice.

These “personal bankers” seem reluctant to see customers, they seem to be always fully booked but with no customers in their offices. Gone are the days of old school banking where the bank manager knew each customer personally and over a cup of tea asked about the family before launching into the unsavory topic of money.

Time is money and with the right technology there is no need for a customer to visit their bank unless it is to open or close and account.

Technology however is key to ensure a scalable efficient banking system, perhaps the money saved by reducing occupancy costs should be directed toward enhancing the systems and customer facing technology offerings.

Technology Why, when Slovenia is so technologically advanced in many sectors is the banking technology circa 1990? In this era of plastic cards for everything, why do I need a card for each function, why not just one card? Why do I get a new PIN every time I get a new card? Why do I have to pay for a new PIN when I didnt receive the first one? Why cant I change my PIN so that I can have standard PIN numbers and actually remember them? Why do I need to show my ID document when I wish to withdraw money, surely the idea of having a card means that all these ID issues have been sorted when the account is opened. Surely it is in the interest of the bank that I use online banking and bankomat machines rather than a teller as the transaction cost to the bank is considerably lower if I manage the transacton myself.

The banks need to stop focussing inwardly, look beyond their non-performing loan book and start thinking about the long term and focus on the customer and their needs whether they are retail, a small business or a large corporate. 

Bis, bis,

Business!

Best investment ever!

Audi A4 Business.

www.audi.si

Audi A4 2.0 TDI Business (110 kW/150 hp).

Fuel consumption (l/100 km), combined: 4,5 to 5,3. CO2 emissions (g/km), combined: 119 - 138.

Further information on specific fuel consumption and specific CO2 emissions of new cars can be found in the manual on fuel economy and CO2 emissions, which you can obtain for free at your nearest Audi dealer and on the website www.audi.si. The image is symbolic.

Economy

Porsche Macan Turbo; Photo: Porsche

Quality of Hella Saturnus development convinces Porsche and Jaguar

Like the parent company, Hella Saturnus is also a global player. Despite occasionally unpredictable market conditions, its diversified portfolio of products and customers allows the company to lead a stable business.

The three automobile giants, Volkswagen Group, GM Group and Renault-Nissan Alliance, dominate the range of customers, which also includes BMW, Ford, PSA, Toyota and the aforementioned prestigious Lamborghini, Porsche and Jaguar.

Hella Saturnus headlamps will decorate the sport-oriented Lamborghini Huracán, the prestigious Porsche Cayenne, the Edison launched by Revoz, the Renault Traffic, GM’s Vivaro, the Opel Corsa and Nissan’s X12K electric van.

The media has just revealed a new image for the Renault “Twingo” Edison whose distinctive Porsche Macan Turbo

Renault Edison Twingo; Photo: Renault

Hella Saturnus Slovenija, whose core business is the development and manufacturing of automotive lighting, has developed into a pervasive development company. Three competence centres for auxiliary headlamps, single-function lamps and a sports cars lighting program, confirm that the Slovenian subsidiary, just like the Hella Group, draws its élan from technology and innovation.

At the same time the company has been transferring its extensive knowledge and experience in the automotive industry into useful and effective applications in other industries, such as LED street lighting, building and airport lighting and a people counting system.

Due to the knowledge of Slovenian engineers and the expansion of business development competencies within the Hella Group, the development department, which today employs more than 250 professionals in mechanical engineering, physics and electronics as well as specialists in the field of construction, optics and electronics, has been ambitiously expanding.

Large scale investment Hella Saturnus is optimistic about the future due to last year’s massive investments in new series production development programs

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

which promise a 30% increase in sales in the coming business year (June 2014 - May 2015).

The company is focused on acquiring hightech projects with higher added value and bets on products with medium and high use of technological innovations, such as adaptive xenon headlamps, LED headlamps and adaptive LED headlamps. The latter are typical for prestigious car brands such as Lamborghini, Porsche and Jaguar. Lamborghini has been the company’s customer for a great many years, while Porsche and Jaguar are fairly new acquisitions and a huge confirmation of the company’s quality and development capabilities. This year alone, the development department will transfer more than 20 products to the manufacturing department. Most will be manufactured in the factory in Ljubljana which will face big challenges this year – the successful launch of six headlamps, ten fog lamps and three single-function lamps.

Renault Edison Twingo

Lamborghini Huracan

Economy and cute front is also the result of round headlamps and fog lamps from Ljubljana.

The company has traditionally furnished almost all Volkswagen cars with fog lamps.

This year, Volkswagen is preparing many innovations and “facelifts” – which also means a lot of new projects for the Slovenian company.

The new Passat and the Golf Plus, the renewed Polo, Schirocco and Touareg all have one thing in common – “Saturnus” fog lamps which also decorate Audis and the refreshed Škoda Superb.

In addition to the nine million fog lamps and three million headlamps, the factory will also launch production of three single-function lamps, such as LED position lamps and a direction indicator lamp for the Porsche Cayenne and the Jaguar models L550 and 760. Many more from the company’s competence centre

will be produced in other markets, in Hella’s specialised factories in Slovakia, China and Mexico.

The decision by the automotive group to use new technologies in automotive lighting is usually influenced by the price range of vehicles.

Full LED headlamps provide character to the latest Lamborghini model, the Huracán, and the Porsche Cayenne; while the headlamps for the middle class, such as “smart headlamps” for the Opel Insignia sedan, are growing development challenges.

With its first Insignia, Opel as early as 2008 set new milestones in headlamps as it was the first middle-class car with “smart” headlamps, previously reserved for luxury vehicles.

Development in the field of “smart” headlamps has been rapidly progressing – the latest example is the matrix LED headlamps of the new Audi A8, which was developed by the Hella Group. Audi reinforces its reputation of being one of the most innovative brands in the luxury car segment on account of Hella’s “smart headlamps”. The new headlamps set new standards in design and technology and dictate the development trend in headlamps.

Hella Saturnus intends to strengthen its position, both within the Hella Group and globally, therefore, investments in development projects and human resources and in new production technologies shall continue in the future. 

Volkswagen Touareg

Volkswagen Golf Plus

Volkswagen Polo

Full LED headlamp for Lamborghini and Porsche, “smart” headlamp for Opel Insignia

HELLA INDUSTRIES Technology with Vision LED STREET LIGHTING

LED INDUSTRIAL LIGHTING

LED SMART LAMP

LED AMBIENT LIGHTING

LED AIRPORT LIGHTING

PEOPLE COUNTER

HELLA Saturnus Slovenija d.o.o.

Letališka c. 17, 1000 Ljubljana/Slovenia Tel.: +386 (0)1 520 32 58 hss-industries@hella.com www.hella-saturnus.si Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Economy in CEE/SEE the problem is still worse because banks are afraid of taking the (supposed higher) risk or ask for higher risk margins.

At this point again, Austria is a step ahead: Austrian banks have a nearly region-wide net of subsidiaries in Central, East and Southeast Europe and these banks have a long-time experience in financing, in evaluating the risks and opportunities in the respective countries and therefore they are often more disposed than others to finance investments in CEE/SEE. That’s the reason why in this year the „finvienna“ was launched and will take place in the course of GREET. It is dedicated to classical and alternative debt financing. Which projects are most likely to receive financing? Which kinds of financing to choose from and which ones to choose? finvienna has all the answers and will also scrutinise individual models, such as large-volume and infrastructure projects, as well as hotels.

GREET Vienna

on 19-20 May 2014 Global Real Estate & Economy Talks – the international platform for commercial real estate and investments in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe Since long the Austrian capital has been the ‘right’ place for meetings of people from East and West. Already in times when the Iron Curtain was a nearly insuperable border Vienna played a special role in moderating the contrasts during the Cold War era. And when the former communist countries started to transform their state-directed economy into a market economy, it was mainly Austrian companies and investors who were among the first movers to Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

But GREET Vienna (Global Real Estate & Economy Talks) does not want to be an “Austrian” event, but emphasizes the ‘G’ for ‘global’.

Although the main focus of topics is on Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe including Russia, CIS and Turkey, the main goal of GREET Vienna is to bring together players from the real estate industry as well as from other business segments from all over the world and to offer a platform to establish contacts, to meet each other and to compare information and experiences, in short: to offer the possibility to establish long-term business relationships.

GREET Vienna takes place on 19-20 May in

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

the historic Palais Niederoesterreich in the city centre of Vienna.

Networking is one of the two pillars GREET Vienna is based on. There will be a special networking area in the so-called Landtagssaal (the hall of Lower Austria’s state parliament), where companies will present themselves and their projects. But as well the evening event will offer the opportunity to meet and to talk to each other. Furthermore there will be many special networking formats and areas for individual talks during the two days of the event. And by experience at the latest after the first two panel discussions, people will be warmed up with each other and immersed in talks. With ‘panel discussions’ there is the already mentioned GREET Vienna’s second pillar: the conference programme that will take place in the different halls and rooms of Palais Niederoesterreich. It covers a wide range of real estate topics in terms of the various segments as well as in terms of the different investment markets in CEE/SEE. A burning issue to investors and developers is the question of financing. With investments

A further innovation at GREET 2014 is „healthvienna“ which is dedicated to real estate in the health and welfare sector. Demographic changes have a considerable impact on the real estate market. There is a great demand for barrier-free residential real estate and health care buildings - but not only by retirees but also by investors and insurance companies. The hotels also follow this trend and already many of them offer healthcare services.

In every respect GREET Vienna is to become an interesting and informative event. All ways are cleared for lively discussions and fruitful talks among the participants. And perhaps one or the other will return home from Vienna not only full of impressions and information but as well with a clutch of useful contacts that will pay off in the near future. 

CEE &SEE

GLOBAL REAL ESTATE & ECONOMY TALKS

19 & 20 May 2014 Palais Niederรถsterreich Herrengasse 13 1010 Vienna

www.greetvienna.com

Economy

Opportunities in the Pokolpje region quality labour force and high quality of life The Pokolpje region has many opportunities and development benefits for potential investors, among them are a skilled workforce and an excellent quality of life.

The quality of the labour force is the main driving force behind the development in each company. Typical and traditional industries in the Pokolpje region are wood, metalwork, textiles, chemical, mechanical and electromechanical.

Of the registered unemployed, 75% are industrial workers or potential industrial workers and a high percentage are skilled at performing various technical tasks. By the end of 2014 there will be another 400 employees in the labour market with various professional profiles and experienced at working in an international environment. The labour force in Pokolpje is

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

reputedly hard-working, reliable and loyal. Due to the significant number of unemployed in the region (4,374 at December 2013), a qualified and competitive labour force is available to investors.

The region has extremely well-preserved natural and cultural heritage and the tourism industry is evolving. The natural environment offers relaxation and stimulating creativity.

Unspoilt nature and well-preserved cultural landscapes are typical features of the Kolpa River valley. The area was recognised as a European Destination of Excellence (EDEN 2010) by the European Commission in 2010. It is a perfect destination for tourists searching for active holidays. The variegated landscape is intertwined by marked hiking and bicycle trails winding among the villages and vineyards. The warmest Slovenian river, the Kolpa, enables visitors to bathe, lie on the riverbanks or enjoy recreational sports such as kayaking, canoeing, rafting and fishing. Paragliding, skiing and

hunting present further possibilities for spending time actively. While the region of Bela krajina is a wine-growing region known for its top-quality wines, the area of Kočevsko features a mainly wooded landscape noted for the production of Kočevje forest honey. Kočevje, where 90% of the landscape is forested, is especially proud of the primary forest remains; boasting six of the twelve such remains in Slovenia. The area also has a wealth of renewable energy sources such as wood biomass, solar, water and geothermal energy.

Pokolpje has a large number of plots fully equipped with infrastructure intended for economic activity. Business zones in the region have all the necessary infrastructure in place (water, sewerage, power, telecommunications and public lighting). The advantage is the attractive price of the plots that vary from €9 - €25/m2. The biggest zone of 106 ha is TRIS Kanižarica and the others are Pri Pildu Metlika, PSC Vrtača Semič, LIK I, LIK II Kočevje

Economy and Predgrad. The Pokolpje region is situated on the border with the Republic of Croatia which became a full member of the European Union in 2013 and thus provides companies in the region with increased and easier trade with Croatia.

A further advantage is to the access to important European markets, international airports and ports important for Central and Eastern Europe, as well as quality transport and communication connections with regional administrative, commercial and industrial centres. The Pokolpje region is situated in the vicinity of the A2 motorway Austria (Karavanka)–Ljubljana–Zagreb (30 km) and the Croatian motorways Zagreb–Rijeka and Zagreb–Split (20 km). There are three international border crossings in the area and two regional railways connecting the region with Ljubljana and Croatia. The towns of Črnomelj and Kočevje have a freight railway station. The distance to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia and Zagreb, the capital of Croatia or Rijeka is about the same (120 km), each of which has an international airport and in Rijeka there is also an international port. The construction of the development axis 3 and 3a for additional connections of the Pokolpje region with Ljubljana, Austria and Croatia is planned in the near future.  Information and support to potential investors is available from the Development and Information Centre Bela Krajina and Development Centre Kočevje Ribnica d.o.o.

Invest in the Pokolpje region!

DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION CENTRE BELA KRAJINA Trg svobode 3, 8340 Črnomelj Peter Črnič, director e-mail: info@ric-belakrajina.si phone: +386 7 30 56 530

DEVELOPMENT CENTRE KOČEVJE RIBNICA, D.O.O. Trata XIV 6a, 1330 Kočevje Milena Glavač, director e-mail: info@rc-kocevjeribnica.si phone: +386 1 89 50 610 Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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In 2011, the government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the programme Pokolpje with development measures for strengthening and developing entrepreneurship. In addition to these measures, Pokolpje region is the priority area of Slovenian development policies in the period 2011–2016.

1. Public tenders for the Pokolpje region: 4th public tender is expected to be published at the end of 2014 and will apply for investments planned in 2015 -2016. It´s objective is to reduce initial costs for investors whose investment will have favourable effects on employment, technological development programmes or on promoting development of entrepreneurship or tourism. The public tender is open to foreign companies, however, the recipient of funds can only be a company registered in the Republic of Slovenia. The amount of co-financing cannot exceed 50 % of the value of eligible costs for small enterprises, 40 % of the value of eligible costs for medium-sized enterprises and 30 % of the value of eligible costs for big enterprises. Max. subsidy per company is 500,000 €, min. subsidy per company is 15,000 €.

2. Reimbursement of employer's social security contributions: In Pokolpje region, an employer who employs an unemployed person from vulnerable groups shall receive an one-off aid in the form of the reimbursement of social security contributions paid for this worker for a period of one year. An employer who employs a disabled worker shall receive the reimbursement of social security contributions for the entire period from 2011 to 2016, if the worker remains employed. Employer´s social security contribution in Slovenia is 16,10 % of gross salary per month. The reimbursement of social security contributions is valid for new, additional employment and not for replacing previous employees.

The reimbursement is meant for vulnerable groups: • persons without regular employment for the last 6 months, • elderly persons (more than 50 years old), • persons without upper secondary level of education or vocational training, • ethnical groups, • disabled persons.

3. Tax reliefs for hiring and investing: Employers in Pokolpje region may claim reduction of the tax base for 70 % of costs for the worker from vulnerable groups (gross salary and mandatory employer's social security contributions). They are valid for new, additional employment and not for replacing previous employees. The reliefs can be used only for first 12 months after employment and can be used per employee only once. Tax reliefs for hiring can´t exceed 50 % of gross salary per employee.

Companies in Pokolpje region may claim reduction of the tax base for investments up to 70 % of invested amount for new initial investments in equipment and intangible assets, but only for investments in the Pokolpje region and only up to the amount of tax base and up to the highest allowed amount according to the rules of state aid.

Invest in the Pokolpje region!

www.pokolpje.si

Economy Q Graduates of the early nineties from the Fac-

Professor Aleš Vahčič; Photo: FELU

Interview: Professor Aleš Vahčič, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana

d.school –

the Teaching Approach for Growth?

Professor Aleš Vahčič, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana (FELU), was the initiator of entrepreneurship as an academic discipline in the early nineties. Getting the idea of entrepreneurial thinking off the ground in the times of socialism was challenging. These days the professor claims that entrepreneurship should become an experiential subject in all stages of the education system in Slovenia and that virtual business knowledge, gained from books, has pushed Slovenian business society to the edge of crisis. For this reason, Professor Vahčič strives to realise dialogue with Slovenian authorities to put the d.school methodology into the Slovenian education system. He believes that only an interdisciplinary approach, based on experience, can solve the lingering crisis in Slovenia because it brings a new mindset and new experiences to people.

By Tina Drolc, Louise Chatwood

ulty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana remember you as a professor of the undergraduate program who was amongst the first to try to motivate students to be active in business thinking through fictitious projects, business plans …

Do you think that business thinking, oriented in the search for new ideas, is integrated enough into the educational system, even in the early stages?

A No, certainly not. Anyone who wants to build a company needs, in addition to creativity, the perseverance and most of all experience which cannot be studied or learnt. Time has shown that entrepreneurship is not learnt through the virtual writing of business plans but through experience. The same applies for pilots - someone becomes one when he pilots an airplane and not when he passes the exam to become a pilot. Together with my academic colleagues, we were the first in Slovenia in the early nineties to introduce entrepreneurship as an academic discipline – research, consulting and teaching. As such, entrepreneurship is a very young discipline and the FELU was among the first in Europe to establish graduate business studies. As a foundation for the course, we began with the writing of business plans, as was the practice abroad and appropriate to this we adapted the literature. The idea of entrepreneurial thinking was, in the times of socialism, still a challenge.

Q Can the current “without ideas” Slovenian society, politics, business, academia etc., end the long-standing general crisis by defining new, innovative development strategies, business concepts and create new trends?

A The mindset that you have awareness and knowledge about many things is still not sufficiently economically interwoven into the creation of new products and services. You have to be able to carry them out at a technologically advanced level, in such a way that in time the company has a profit. For that you need experience and this experiential approach it is not incorporated into the Slovenian education system as yet. People who study entrepreneurship are only informed about this, they have no experience. They think they know what business is. On the one hand, we hear political slogans that Slovenes will create 60,000 jobs but people do not realise what this means in reality. If entrepreneurship in Slovenia is not recognised as basic education, then you cannot understand what’s going on. It goes without saying that we have, in elementary school, mathematics, chemistry, physics and then replicate this knowledge in high school. People must become aware of business and creating jobs – in Slovenia this is still considered irrelevant, jobs here “fall from the sky”. But, in fact, this is one of the hardest things in the world. How does a business employ people Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Economy and pay them. It is therefore necessary that all the young people in our elementary and secondary schools become acquainted with this, this should be a part of our general education including work experience. For example, both the German and Austrian education systems already integrate young people directly into the profession. Many are obliged to spend time in the workplace and it is supported by the state. Tutors and students are paid. It is not a mandatory practice, but the system of creating jobs; young people, at the time of their study are working in the real workplace. If someone is working with the company for four years he has developed the job. The owners organise the business process in such a way that at the end of the study this person is employed.

Q For Slovenia, would you say that we are very prone to the businesses because we are faced with a flood of entrepreneurs. To a certain extent, this is an anomaly in the labor market; partly by necessity, an emergency exit for certain individuals.

A In addition to the academic development of entrepreneurship in the nineties, we were striving also for its development in practice.

Before the independence of Slovenia, we had been engaged in economic policy in this area.

Our goal was to become the support for small and medium-sized enterprises as part of the national strategy. This created the development of several institutions (incubators, technology parks, and a fund for small businesses ...) which today exist abroad. Unfortunately, in Slovenia, these institutions have no major impact on economic development. The problem is that the resources intended for those institutions is inferior. When you look at how much of national resources go to support the creation of new enterprises and their growth you see the twice crossed out zero. You cannot simultaneously argue that small and medium-

Anyone who wants to build a company needs, in addition to creativity, the perseverance and most of all experience which cannot be studied or learnt. Time has shown that entrepreneurship is not learnt through the virtual writing of business plans but through experience. The same applies for pilots - someone becomes one when he pilots an airplane and not when he passes the exam to become a pilot.

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

sized enterprises are a factor of growth and development if you give zero resources and then on the other hand, considering the amount of money that went for projects such as the Šoštanj coal power plant (TEŠ 6),several times more than budgeted. People do not distinguish between how many institutions we have and the actual resources available. The majority of Slovenian industry was built by the young post-war generation when many were working.

These days there is a lack of awareness of the younger generation; no one will give them a job and if the young person has done nothing to create a job by the age of 25, he will have no job.

Indeed something is not right when the people studying economics and business say: “now let me recruit someone.” Every generation creates jobs themselves.

Q At the FELU, you started the programs which at least gradually allow a better utilisation of the entrepreneurial potential in Slovenia. The method is the so-called “Design Thinking” concept; teaching and developing entrepreneurship from “the idea to operational market product and services.” What exactly is this?

A After introducing entrepreneurship at the FELU, we found that it was developing in the wrong direction - students learnt entrepreneurship from slides, we wanted this to change. Coincidentally I came into contact with Stanford University in the United States seven years ago.

They were just starting to develop the “Design Thinking” or so-called d.school approach which means the solution to human problems is in interdisciplinary teams, using the methodology of industrial design. It is first to find out what people need - using a base knowledge of anthropology, ethnography, psychology and other sciences that understand human needs. In the second step there are the necessary technical skills needed to design and build a product or a service. And the third stage is sale. It goes therefore to a method of producing innovative prototypes in workshops. With the Stanford methodology, this takes place over 10 hours by teams with four members. At the FELU, we have two such workshops: the so-called “high resolution” workshop where we produce real wood or metal prototypes and the “low resolution” workshop for the production of less complex prototypes, for example from cardboard.

For communication of the prototype, students use multimedia methods, mostly video and publishing on the Internet. What is needed is therefore a wide range of knowledge of different technologies because the prototype must be manufactured and tested in the market. And so in the course of entrepreneurial education using the d.school method we repeat the already known cycle “idea about the product or service”, “try to make a prototype” then “sell “. And this we can call the experience of entrepreneurship.

Q It seems that this new concept requires a complete change in mindset and also different working conditions, premises, new staff with relevant knowledge. Have you all these conditions at the FELU? A As mentioned, d.school was introduced at the FELU seven years ago and in that time we have made quite a few prototype solutions with our students (cell electric drive device for moving surface, water and aerial devices). We were supported by the previous FELU Dean, Professor Dušan Mramor and now we enjoy the support of the current FELU Dean, Professor Metka Tekavčič. It is important to emphasise that the creation of the physical conditions for the d.school, as we have it at the FELU, does not cost much. You can get the equipment for the d.school workshop for only EUR 10,000EUR 15,000 - basic machine tools, a CNC cutting machine, 3D printer and all such necessary tools. In addition to these workshops, we are also active in establishing contacts with foreign institutions such as the d.school in Potsdam, established by the main financier of Stanford d.school, Hasso Plattner. We are, of course, connected also with the Stanford d.school where our Assistant Professor Anja Svetina Nabergoj is a constant collaborator.

In Potsdam they offer d.school methodology courses for young people and teachers.

Q In recent years the FELU has attempted to broaden their educational plans with more of these businesses dimension and boldness. Is this being practiced by the younger generation of graduates already on the “new wavelength”?

A At the FELU we offer the d.school method to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. We have introduced this method to over 1,000 students but actively involved are currently about 200 (Slovenian and foreign students). There are better and better responses; of the current 12 projects in progress there are people involved who have their own businesses or have already made ​​prototypes.

There is no limit. Enterprising solutions and prototypes are created in an existing company or they are set up in a new company which is later opened by the students. It is important that we are aware of the need for the project to invest a lot of time that should be targeted to network and create a story of the product in the market. How many young Europeans think about spending time and money for creating their own business instead of taking a vacation?

Q What is the corporate view of these new concepts and the feedback from the competent ministry? With the current state of government finances it may happen that you get a lot of in principle support but no realisation?

A Indeed, awareness of this has spread across

Economy Slovenia. People are the primary resource. In Slovenia there are 910,000 people currently employed, 570,000 pensioners and 450,000 pupils and students. Most of these students and seniors do not work on anything that is economically useful. The reason for this is, once again, our education system. At universities around the world, the d.school methodology is developing capillaries but it depends on each institution as to what extent is subsumed into their system. Slovenian pupils should do something socially beneficial and therefore it is necessary to reorganise the way of incorporating the d.school methodology into schools, to provide teachers and infrastructure. There comes a time when the pressure of the labor market leads to a situation where people will begin to wonder “what can actually be done”?

For that purpose I had a meeting at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, but unfortunately the realisation is still far away. I hope that we will at some point manage to meet with the government and make a national project. It has been proven that the student’s experience and perception of economic and social realities radically changes when studying the d.school methodology. The importance of d.school methodology also demonstrates that countries around the world actively open d.school workshops, which are all available 24 hours a day.

Currently, the city administration of Shanghai is building 100 such rooms that have all the equipment and technology, as well as people who can help make prototypes.

Q The new concept could be a good basis for strengthening the link between educational institutions, science and the economy. Are some of these companies already contributing to the economy?

A Of course, we cooperate very well with the economy. We are currently developing, for example, products with the company Hovercraft.

Owner, Blaz Stepišnik, made ​​inflatable rafts which can transport even cars by water. This new technology changes somewhat the look at what the craft actually is. Within the d.school, we now have a project named “By Buddyt.”

This is an auxiliary boat for yachts which is extremely lightweight but endures a surprising amount of weight. An interesting product is in the framework of the project “CarryOn.” Lightweight luggage can change into a scooter which moves significantly faster around an airport or could be a backpack - skateboard for children when they go to school. We have also created a 3D printer, various electronic devices, etc.

Small businesses are a huge motivation for the students to find new products or services and then attempt to launch them in the market.

Against this background, the d.school method can undoubtedly play an important role in creating Slovenian GDP in the long run. 

Leadership Insight As companies continue to struggle to improve revenue they generally look to reduce their cost base. The common solution is to reduce headcount, particularly in service industries where people are the core asset of the company and consequently the highest expense.

However this is not an easy task and so we at Amrop Adria can help you transition your staff through this process.

The management teams of organisations, in particular the CEO, are advised to approach such a situation with compassion and dignity while clearly articulating the business decisions surrounding the downsizing of the workforce. Appropriately communicating a corporate downsizing requires transparency, preparation, consistency and planning. Communication is actually the key to an amicable separation.

While planning how to communicate with the employees, keep in mind some best practices: 1. Communicate personally, not by e-mail or a newsletter. The CEO or designated manager must stand up in front of all employees and openly tell the whole team what is ahead, what the process will be and why the redundancies will take place. The message should then be sent to all employees also in written form.

2. Senior management, including the CEO, must be visible and accessible throughout the process. Employees will probably have questions and concerns, they need to feel comfortable that the organisation will provide an “open door” policy during a layoff situation.

3. Provide managers with “separation notification” training. The separation process is difficult for the redundant employees but also for the managers communicating the news who may feel extremely uncomfortable in such a situation. Training managers in what to say and what not to say can help structure the situation ahead of time.

4. Offer the redundant employees top quality outplacement from a provider which shares your values to equip the redundant employees with solid knowledge of the job search process.

5. Communicate often and well with employees. Open communication and tailored discussions around the business objectives surrounding the layoff situation throughout a can minimise uncertainty, scepticism and distrust within the retained workforce. Proper communication diminishes fear and anger within a workforce.

6. Share transition success stories with all separated employees. Some organisations find that posting photos of employees who have landed positions can keep the workforce informed and even raise the morale of the entire group.

7. Don’t forget to express concern also to employees that stay in the organisation. They are also exposed to stress, not only during the layoff process but also later as often the workload is greater as they also have to fulfil the tasks of their redundant colleagues.

To summarise: the key to successful communication throughout the entire downsizing or restructuring process is to stay focused on the people in your organisation. Regular and consistent communication with employees will help both the separated and retained employees better cope and understand the business decision and the organisation’s concerns regarding the situation.

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Politics Government Economy Minister: 18 months of

PM finally ”finds” new ministers At the end of February, two months after the resignations of former ministers, the National Assembly appointed three new ministers.

Confirming Metod Dragonja, the former CEO of pharma company Lek, as Minister for the Economy; health official, Alenka Trop Skaza as Health Minister; and lawyer and long-time DeSUS party member, Gorazd Žmavc as Minister without Portfolio for Slovenians Abroad.

By G. M. Will New Economy Minister Metod Dragonja be strong enough to step out of the shadow of Finance Minister Čufer the PM´s favourite; Photo: MGRT

damage control ahead

Metod Dragonja is not a new face to Slovenian politics. The former boss of drug maker Lek, who previously served as Minister for the Economy, said he had no political ambitions and merely wanted to help improve the economy.

He will propose, amongst other things, a public-private fund tasked with recapitalising companies. Furthermore, he believes that Slovenia needs to implement mechanisms to increase the level of state asset management and to “withdraw that part of politics which functions by different rules from those of the economy”. Slovenia should continue the process of privatisation, however it should adopt a selective approach, he said. Given the drop in value of companies in the crisis, Slovenia should not simply sell under any conditions. This means that the country must find the best suited investors capable of guaranteeing development in the companies, said Dragonja. Touching on youth unemployment, the Minister said that the young should become more aware of their responsibility to enter the labour market at the right time. He said Slovenia should shape the funding of higher education in line with the needs of the labour market.

The public do not expect much from the new minister. He has just one, five year mandate and very limited funding inside the 2014 and 2015 budgets. His main task will be to reorganise the Ministry which has been very poorly managed in recent years under professionally ”weak“ ministers and represents one of the fortresses of bureaucracy and incompetence in several areas.

Health Minister: Fight against corruption and a more efficient health system New Health Minister Alenka Trop Skaza (in teh middle): ”Stability of the health system is the primary goal“; Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA; Source: UKOM

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Alenka Trop Skaza is a completely new face in Slovenian politics. The epidemiologist headed the Celje branch of the National Public Health Institute where she worked for over 20 years.

She strongly condemns corruption at all levels.

Regarding conflict of interest accusations, she stated before her appointment that she would no longer be involved in her husband’s company which has, for instance, been doing business with the Ptuj hospital.

“I have no aunts or uncles in the background,” she said, while announcing she would also resist any attempts to influence her decisions. Trop Skaza highlighted the need for more transparency in the issuing of treatment bills which she believes can be improved with more IT in healthcare.

She highlighted the lack of doctors, particularly at the primary level and at the same time,

the number of young doctors registered with the Unemployment Service.

Commenting on potential competition in compulsory health insurance, she said that having more than one insurer in charge of this would be imprudent for such a small nation, while she also indicated it was time for an overhaul of the organisational model of the health purse manager, ZZZS. She also stated that the present level of health care cannot be preserved without additional funding and announced her short-term goal would be stability. Her ideas include limiting the list of services covered by compulsory basic insurance to those with high added value.

Minister for Slovenians Abroad: Easy life until the next elections Žmavc, a businessman who has so far been active in local politics, succeeded Tina Komel of Positive Slovenia, who stepped down to make room for the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) candidate as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle. The way the candidate entered government was a source of much debate and criticism. Opposition MPs criticised the “political games” that made him a nominee.

Advocating continuity, Žmavc pledged to continue the work of his predecessors at the Office for Slovenians Abroad. He will prioritise economic cooperation with the diaspora and said he would work closely with the economy and foreign ministries. While not mentioning specific projects, Žmavc said the minority in Hungary was in the worst position. The community in Croatia, meanwhile, offers the best untapped opportunities for cooperation. Žmavc also said he had always been more interested in business than politics and so it´s very clear that he is in the government just to fill a seat for the coalition Pensioner´s Party.  Gorazd Žmavc (on the left) – Tourist in the Slovenian Government; Photo: Office for Slovenians abroad

Politics

New Left Congress: ”We will represent people, not the capital“ (on the right) Alexis Tsipras – Candidate for EC President; Photo: New Left

New political parties

pension cuts, the introduction of tuition fees or higher bills, have to do with the crisis.

New Left: Dreamers or Real Political Force?

Representatives of three explicitly socialist, non-parliamentary parties established the United Left at a congress in Ljubljana, presenting themselves as a much needed political alternative and saying they expect to secure at least one MEP post in the upcoming EU elections.

By M. T., STA Representatives of the Democratic Labour Party (DSD) and the Sustainable Development Party (TRS) who entered the 2011 general election, as well as the recently formed Initiative for Democratic Socialism (IDS), stressed in their addresses that they differ from other political groups, including the social democrats, “that have brought us to the brink of collapse”.

”Changes in Slovenia are not possible without changes in the EU“ They are the representatives of the people and not of the capital and the elite, DSD’s Violeta Tomič said, arguing that the disappearance of

the middle class, rise of fascism and the global food policy genocide had prompted them to take matters into their own hands. It feels that now is the time for a change in the balance of power in Europe, for a fairer Europe, which was underlined by Luka Mesec of IDS, who said that changes in Slovenia are not possible without changes in the EU and that social democracy needs to acknowledge its death.

“Conservatives and liberals which swap power use slogans about the lighthouse of Europe to merely meekly fulfil the wishes of the capital, while blaming the welfare state and the public sector for the situation brought about by the crisis,” Mesec said. He wondered what those who are losing jobs, suffering because of

Against austerity measures Echoing the views of the European Left’s candidate for European Commission President, Alexis Tsipras also attended the congress.

Mesec said that austerity measures merely deepen the crisis, adding his view that the 2012 measures of the Janez Janša government saved EUR 460m only to cause a EUR 700m drop in GDP. The TRS’s Matjaž Hanžek added that austerity would now be followed by a sale of everything remaining in state ownership. Hanžek said the United Left sees Slovenia’s opportunities in the wood processing industry, in employment in agriculture, in an increase in the country’s food self-sufficiency and in boosting companies that were globally competitive in the past.  New Left Congress

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European Union European Commission

Don´t get too excited over weak signs of recovery Slovenia should intensify work on privatisation, including of state-owned banks, continue with other economic reforms and restore the sustainability of its public finances, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, told Slovenian reporters in Brussels after the Commission released its report on macroeconomic imbalances just a few days after statistics showed the first signs of an end to the recession in Slovenia.

we support their work in the field of restoring the health of the banking sector”.

By T. M., STA Surprisingly good results in the Slovenian economy in the last quarter of 2013 was just the news that the prime minister needed in this time of ongoing problems with public finance consolidation, inter-coalition disputes around privatisation and on top of that – the real estate tax fiasco. As expected, Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek, hailed the news of an upturn in Slovenia’s economy following the announcement by the Statistics Office that Slovenia’s economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the final quarter of 2013. The data confirms that the government has succeeded in turning around Slovenia’s economy, the prime minister’s office said immediately. “The figures have surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts of Slovenia’s economic activity,” the statement said. Newly appointed Economy Minister, Metod Dragonja, pointed out that the figures clearly show a “precious turnaround” and proves that the reform course has been correct.

Prior to the final quarter of 2013, Slovenia experienced eight consecutive quarters of annual contraction. In 2013, Slovenia’s economy contracted 1.1%. This is significantly better than forecast by the Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, the government’s economic think-tank, which had predicted a 2.4% contraction in its autumn forecast.

The government immediately launched a strong PR offensive over signs of growth in Slovenia; Photo: UKOM

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Olli Rehn: “Don´t fall asleep because of the first few successes”; Photo: EC

European Commission: Intensify Special monitoring of progress in Slovenia reforms After Brussels assessed in November 2013 that Slovenia had stepped up the tempo of structural reforms that are seen as important to tackle imbalances, and made progress in repairing the banking sector, and following the Commission’s upgrade in its economic forecast for Slovenia, the country was the only EU Member State to receive a second consecutive warning of excessive macroeconomic imbalances in the last report.

“It means that Slovenia has had and continues to have quite serious and deep economic problems and it continues to take time in order to correct this. Slovenia has started to take effective action in the last couple of months or the past half a year or so but at the same time it’s important now to maintain the momentum and in some cases to intensify the reforms,” Rehn said about the Commission’s latest assessment.

Slovenia has, in his opinion, done a lot in recent months to improve its economic situation, especially regarding the banking sector, “but there are still excessive economic imbalances which require determined action by the government and by other authorities so that the situation can be more sustainably corrected”.

“It’s now important to maintain the momentum of reform both in the banking sector, in the privatisation process and in fiscal policy so that the country can indeed restore its economic competitiveness and the health of its public finances. It’s important that the country can reverse the negative trend of indebtedness,” Rehn said. The Commissioner would not comment on the operations of the Bank Asset Management Company, which has been under fire in Slovenia. “We are working in close contact together with Slovenian authorities and

The European Commission has placed Slovenia under specific monitoring due to excessive macroeconomic imbalances. The Commissioner explained that this involves the monitoring of the implementation of EU recommendations in the banking sector, structural reforms and fiscal policy in partnership with Slovenia. As part of this process, commission missions will visit the country twice a year, from which the Commission will analyse the situation and then report to the Eurogroup. Apart from France, Slovenia is the only EU member country to receive a warning from Brussels that it should make additional efforts to reduce the excessive general government deficit due to the risk the country will miss the deficit target in 2015.

Asked about the Commission’s concrete expectations and whether further austerity was expected, Rehn said: “We want to work in partnership with Slovenia and we provide friendly advice with regard to restoring the sustainability of public finances and improving the overall economic competitiveness of the country.”

Less than two months for preparing a credible reform plan Slovenia must heed the warnings in the budgeting and reform plans that it must submit to the EU in April. If the Commission assesses, in June, that the action is not robust enough, it can trigger a procedure for correction of excessive imbalances. Rehn believes that Slovenia will submit a bold and substantive enough stability and reform program that includes policy measures and economic reforms that support the meeting of the objectives defined in the recommendations as he deems these important for restoring economic growth and job creation. 

European Union Ukraine Crisis

Slovenia - EU membership or friendship with Russia?

As the world tries to resolve the Ukraine crisis, it seems that Slovenia is a little bit confused in her reactions and activities in recent days and weeks.

Slovenia will definitely follow the decisions made by the EU as was pointed out after the first EU Summit in Brussels at the beginning of March but due to strong economic ties with Russia, Slovenia is not to keen to follow the threat of radical sanctions coming from part of the EU and primarily the US.

As the crisis started, the Foreign Minister surprisingly offered mediation between the EU and Russia. Nobody really understood (or wanted to understand) what kind of mediation he had in mind and he was quickly caught in a never-ending vague interpretation of his ideas.

The Foreign Ministry was also a little contradictory in their initial statements: Slovenia Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec too quick with statements?; Photo: Aljaž Hafner

New playground for domestic left-right political confrontation

European leaders announced, after their first extraordinary summit on Ukraine, that they will implement three stages of sanctions against Russia depending on its attitude on Ukraine. The President of the European Union Council, Herman Van Rompuy announced that the EU will suspend, in the first phase,

The Slovenian government has come under fire from pundits on the right for its stance on the Russia-Ukraine standoff, leading an outfit with close links to the opposition Democrats (SDS) to call for the resignation of the foreign minister. “At least Karl Erjavec should immediately step down over his inappropriate conduct regarding Ukraine, which is damaging for Slovenia,” the Assembly for the Republic (closely connected to the opposition SDS Party) said in a statement.

The statement, signed by three former ministers of the Democrat (SDS) government of leader Janez Janša, refers to Erjavec’s offer that Slovenia could act as a mediator between the EU and Russia because of our good relations with Russia. Such statements raise doubt about good relations with Ukraine and create the impression that Slovenia is not an EU member but an “in-between, non-aligned country between the EU and Russia,” the group said.

Laris Gaiser, Head of the Slovenian PanEuropean Movement, meanwhile labelled Erjavec’s proposal a “marketing move for domestic use” that could make Slovenia come across as less than serious. He acknowledged in a statement for STA that Slovenia had the potential to be a mediator, but said the way to go about the issue would be to first make a thorough analysis, coordinate the key actors, and then proceed with silent diplomacy before presenting the proposal in public. 

Herman van Rompuy: EU still seeking a comprehensive answer for the Ukraine crisis; Photo: EC

Opposition leaders: “The Foreign Minister should step down” Photo: STA

By T. T.

Foreign Minister - too fast, direct and honest?

visa talks with Moscow, suspending also its attendance at the G8 Summit in Sochi. Rompuy also asked Russian forces to retreat immediately from Ukraine, calling the scheduled Crimean referendum on autonomy “illegal”.

The EU’s next stage of sanctions could include travel bans and the freezing of Russian assets, warned Rompuy, urging Moscow to sit at the negotiation table with the Ukrainians.

supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine but in parallel with that, Slovenia in principle opposes sanctions against Russia. Adding to that, the Foreign Minister clearly repeated that the situation on the ground (Crimea) speaks for itself - Crimea is more or less de facto under Russia - a very sincere but not diplomatic statement. All this Foreign Ministry acrobatics ended with the EU Summit on Ukraine and statements from PM Alenka Bratušek that “Slovenia has and will continue to strive for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Ukraine, anything else would be significantly worse,” she said.

Expected mild sanctions from the EU

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Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia

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Adrenaline rush in Slovenia’s most popular attraction The inspiration for the new team activity, Following in the footsteps of Luka Čeč, comes from the early days of Postojna Cave. On 14 April 1818, Luka Čeč from Postojna who ahead of the visit from the Austrian Emperor was working on the decoration in the cave, climbed a wall and discovered an unknown passage that led into the heart of the karst underground world. He returned crying out: ”There’s a new world here, a paradise!’’

Following in the footsteps of Luka Čeč offers a similar experience to that of Čeč 200

years ago. The underground adventure is for groups only, teams are taken to parts of the cave system that are excluded from the general tour. The journey through this paradise of stalagmites and stalactites doesn’t follow existing paths, teams have to make their own way and cross underground waters, climb rocks, crawl through caverns and descend on a robe deeper into Postojna’s subterranean paradise.

The adventurous journey through the cave consists of a series of tasks which are everyday experiences for professional cavers. Good

teamwork is needed to complete the tasks, especially when the group has to descend on a rope, cross the underground river and navigate through the unfamiliar terrain. It’s a challenging trip but it is not just for the fittest of the fittest. The experience requires individuals to have a standard level of fitness for walking, the level of difficulty can be adapted to the group.

This new activity is suitable for teambuilding and also for a group of friends looking for a fun adventure. Groups can see the beauty of the underworld in a different way. They learn about it and they can try caving. As a group they solve tasks together but still have fun.

It was at the request of visitors that Postojna Cave management set up the underground adventure. ”Among our visitors there were guests who were so impressed with their visit that they wanted to experience something more and to visit the underground world which is hidden to visitors on the standard tour.

Because we have experienced guides, who can do more than standard tours, and because the cave system is large and diverse, we decided to develop this offer.’’

The teams that travel through the cave consist of up to eight participants. For three hours they work like real cavers and at the end they

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Slovenia’s oldest and most popular tourist attraction, Postojna Cave, has added a new and spectacular group activity to its program this year with the introduction of an underground adventure. The 200 year old tourist magnet in Postojna will offer this challenge for teams and adrenaline lovers. In the subterranean paradise there is now something for everyone.

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Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia surface outside the cave. The day can be topped off by getting a taste of the Karst at Restaurant Proteus in the centre of Postojna or the Jamski Dvorec Mansion, next to the entrance of the cave which serves regional, national and Central European dishes and is also a conference venue.

Postojna Cave is by far Slovenia’s most popular tourist attraction. It’s a true must-see for tourists visiting the country and it often seems that Postojna Cave is better known than Slovenia is as a country. In its 200 year history, 35 million people have visited the underground world. In 2013, half a million people from around the world toured the cave, a visit to the 21 kilometre long cave system is a ‘seeing is believing’ experience. A look at the more than 500 visitor reviews about Postojna Cave on TripAdvisor reads like a dictionary of superlatives. In fact, there are no words that can truly describe the grandeur of, let’s say, the cave’s Concert Hall which can receive up to 10,000 people or the beauty of the natural phenomena in creation for millions of years already.

The cave’s most impressive work of art is the ‘Brilliant’, a five metre tall stalagmite that stands in the passage between the Red Room and the Concert Hall. A constant drip of calcite sinter from the ceiling keeps the stalagmite extremely white and shiny. The column has become one of the symbols of Postojna Cave.

The cave system is unique in many ways. It is the only cave in the world with a two track railway. In 1872 the first tracks were laid in the cave but at the beginning it wasn’t much, the first Postojna Cave railway had two-seater carriages which were pushed by the guides.

The current two-track line was completed in 1968 and today an electric train drives visitors through the cave.

In Postojna Cave the first underground post office in the world can be found. At the end of the 19th Century the use of postcards took flight and more and more visitors sent postcards from Postojna after their visit to the cave.

This prompted the cave administration to ask the Austrian Ministry Of Commerce to open a post office in the cave. In 1899 a small post office was built in the Dance Hall of the cave system and in 1901 the post office was entered

on the list of post offices of the World Postal Association.

Records show that on Whit Monday 1909, 37,000 postcards were sent from the cave within three hours. In the Concert Hall of the cave today is an exhibition of the history of the post office, where special postcards and stamps are for sale.

With its own post office and railway, Postojna Cave truly is a world on its own, it even has its own inhabitants. In the underground world live a hundred animal species of which the human fish, proteus or olm is the most famous. This 30cm amphibian creature lives in the waters of the cave. Olms have a thin skin which is almost of the same colour as human skin; they never grow up keeping most of their juvenile features. In the past it was thought that the human fish with their snake-like body and tiny arms and legs were baby dragons, so who knows what will happen when one finally does grow up. The human fish can be visited in the Vivarium Proteus of the cave.

After, or before, a tour through Postojna Cave the nearby Predjama Castle is also worth a visit. After seeing a train and a post office in a cave you can see a castle in a cave. Predjama Castle ranks among the ten most fascinating castles in the world. Placed in the entrance of a huge cave under a high cliff, Predjama is breathtaking and many look at this façade in admiration. The American author, George R.R. Martin, writer of the bestselling fantasy series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ was last year so impressed by the castle that he said it might feature in his next series.

Predjama Castle is a medieval castle which was once the domicile of the knight, Erazem Lueger, who according to some was a noble knight and according to others a notorious robber. Since the end of WWII the castle has been a museum and like Postojna Cave is open all year round.

With the caves and the castle, visitors can lose themselves in a fairylike world for a day.

There is much to see and much to do and with a growing offer of activities, Postojna Cave will remain Slovenia’s most popular attraction for a long time to come. 

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The Brilliant, most beautiful stalagmite in the Postojna cave.

02, 03 Following in the footsteps of Luka Čeč 04 Everything is created as if it was made by the most gracious, most educated artist …

05 Stalactite paradise on every corner…

06 The only cave with a double track railway.

07 The undisputed star among inhabitants of the Postojna Cave is the olm, Proteus anguinus, 08 Predjama Castle, the only preserved cave castle in Europe.

09 Jamski dvorec Mansion 10 Proteus Restaurant 11 Predjama Castle, perched half way up a 123-metre cliff

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Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia

Let spring awake the adventurer in you

Tips for an active start to the year From sunny skiing adventures on the white roof of Slovenia to whitewater trips down an emerald river and from cycling along the coast to golf at the foot of the mountains. If spring also awakes the adventurer in you, then Slovenia’s nature has a lot to offer for active people. Here are our tips for an active spring.

Ski touring Climb up, glide down. With ski touring, the efforts of climbing up the Slovenian Alps are rewarded with magnificent descents through a blanket of untouched snow. Ski touring is best in the spring when there is the least risk of avalanches. The Vrata valley on the north side of Triglav, the Krnica valley south of Kranjska Gora and Logarska Dolina in the KamnikSavinja Alps are three areas where beautiful tours can be made.

Ski touring is only for those with good skills and proper equipment and skiers are recommended to hire an experienced guide when going on a ski adventure on the roof of Slovenia.

Ski touring is more than just skiing. With your skis on your back you climb up the mountain and then ski down. But that’s a very simple description of the overwhelming experience ski touring offers, it brings unspoilt nature and sometimes the mountain wildlife.

Hiking

Photo bellow: Matevž Lenarčič

Hiking is a hit any time of the year in Slovenia. Attractive hiking routes are to be found in every part of Slovenia whether it is in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park or the Julian Alps. There are 10,000km of signposted trails which is very impressive if you consider that Slovenia measures only 20,000km2. If you plan to hike in the mountains in spring then be prepared, you can leave a warm and sunny valley and soon be in snow.

The Slovenian Mountain Trail (for the diehards) The hike of hikes in Slovenia is The Slovenian Mountain Trail, a 500km trail taking hikers to the peaks and valleys of the Alps and the Dinaric mountains. It starts at the Pohorje mountain range in the north east and finishes at the coast in Ankaran. The highest point on the

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route is Slovenia’s highest mountain Triglav.

Red circles with a white dot and the number “1” indicate the way.

Hike and learn (for the curious) Any hiker will be able to find something to his or her liking in Slovenia. Slovenia has at least 56 hiking routes with a theme from history, geography or nature. Follow these trails and you will learn some things along the way. The themed routes come highly recommended for those who want to discover more about Slovenia.

The Path to The Dwarves Land (for the family) Around the town of Slovenj Gradec you can find eight thematic hiking routes. For a good family hike, our pick is The Path to the Dwarves Land.

The hike is linked with the Forest Teaching Path and runs along the settlement Gmajne.

Wooden hayracks mark the 6km route.

The Energy Trail (for the believers) In Most na Soči, in the west of the country, you will find the Energy Trail, a hike from which you return rejuvenated. Well, maybe! Along the trail, which runs in the confluence of the rivers Idrijca and Soča, are 14 vital energy points which have been discovered with radiesthesia.

There are six water springs, three of which are considered to be healing, eight village stone water sinks, a water catchment from WWI and three Karst caves.

Cycling Cycling is one of the fastest growing activities in Slovenia and when you see the country’s quiet roads winding their way through green hills and forests you know why. This year, particularly in Ljubljana, is the year of the bike. At the end of August, the World Amateur Cycling Championships will be in the capital and on

Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia 8 June Marathon Franja will start and finish at shopping paradise, BTC City. Franja is Slovenia’s biggest cycling event and a qualifying race for the world championship in August. If cycling is your sport, Slovenia is the place to be.

We picked three regions for a spring ride.

Slovenian Istria Spring is an ideal time for cycling at the coast, you will find quiet roads, comfortable warmth and beautiful views. Our pick is the Parenzana route from Škofije in the north of Slovenia’s coast to Sečovlje in the south. This 30km ride is a treat for the cyclist all year and is also known as the Route of Health and Friendship.

It follows the now defunct old railway between Trieste in Italy and Poreč in Croatia.

Posavje The Posavje region in the south is another of our spring cycling picks. This wine region in the south of the country is one of the lesser known parts of Slovenia. The roads in Posavje are quiet and run through forested hills and vineyards. In Posavje there are plenty of roads and paths to choose from. There are 1,500km of cycling trails and all routes are waymarked.

Vipava Valley and Kras In winter and early spring the Vipava Valley, with its Mediterranean climate, is one of the favourite starting places for the training rides of many Slovenian cycling professionals. The area can be reached in 45 minutes from Ljubljana, routes lead to and through the Kras plateau and Italy. A 75km circuit, starting in Vipava, has everything a cyclist wants. From Vipava the roads undulate towards Nova Gorica and on the way back you can climb to the ancient, picturesque, hilltop village, Stanjel which lies on the Kras plateau. From there a descent brings you back to Vipava.

Fishing For those who want to enjoy Slovenia’s rivers in a more relaxed way, try fly fishing. Fly fishing is the most popular method of angling in Slovenia and is said to do the least damage to the fish. There are 93 fish species in Slovenia and the marble trout is the pride of the country. The marble trout was on the verge of extinction but the population is now growing again. The trout lives in the Soča, Idrijca, Bača, Vipava, Reka and Rižana rivers.

Golf There are several well groomed golf courses in the country of which Bled, with its 18 hole King’s Course and nine hole Lake Course, is the oldest. The 100 hectare golf course, from 1937, is considered to be one of Europe’s most beautiful courses. Snowcapped mountains tower over the green meadows of the course which opens in March.

Other golf courses can be found in Lipica, Volčji Potok Arboretum, Mokrice, Moravske Toplice, Ptuj, Slovenske Konjice, Podčetrtek, Otočec and Trnovo.

Paragliding and Hang gliding Spring is a good time to fly. Together with autumn it’s the time of year when the skies are at their clearest and you can see the Adriatic Sea and the Alps. Popular places to fly are Krvavec, Bohinj and the Vipava Valley. Flying is possible all year in Lijak in the Vipava Valley. 

Water fun With its many mountains and forests, the water in Slovenia is unfairly overlooked. There are 28,000km of rivers, creeks and other waterways and 1,300 lakes. The Savinja, Sava, Kolpa and Soča rivers, with their wild streaming waters, sometimes scream for some action.

The emerald Soča river is not just beautiful, it is a water enthusiasts playground, try sailing, kayaking or rafting on it.

In May the water activities on the emerald river begin, the earlier in the month, the wilder the river is. In the Soča valley, a European Destination of Excellence, there are many adventure companies that offer kayaking and rafting trips, ranging from individual outings to team building trips. Adventurists of any level can enjoy the Soča, the river has many different sections each with a different level of difficulty.

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Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia

Before Ljubljana there was Emona The Roman colony of Emona turns 2,000 in 2014

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It was in late 14 AD or perhaps a year later that the construction of the Roman colony of Emona (Colonia Iulia Aemona) on the site of the present-day Ljubljana was completed with the help of a large donation from the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. 2.000 years later, in 2014, Ljubljana will mark the anniversary of Emona with a vibrant programme of events, exhibitions and experiences.

The main event of the anniversary year, scheduled to take place from 22 to 24 August 2014, has been titled “Ave, Emona!”. Ljubljana’s Kongresni trg square will be occupied by costumed members of historical societies from Slovenia and abroad who will put up a Roman camp and demonstrate what life was like 2000 years ago as well as a number of ancient Roman skills and arts: from military formations and gladiator fights to dances and cooking. Children will be able to join Roman-themed workshops, a Roman market will be selling handicrafts, and various refreshments will be served at a Roman taberna.

Starting in spring, Ljubljana’s museums, galleries and outdoor venues will host a number of Emona- themed exhibitions. The City museum of Ljubljana will showcase the exhibition “Emona: A city within the empire” (29 May 2014 - 30 May 2015), which will shed light onto the city’s birth, life and decline, the everyday life of its residents, and the heritage they left behind as well as present the new findings, yielded during the most recent archaeological explorations.

The National Museum of Slovenia’s new permanent exhibition “Stories from the meeting point of different worlds” (From 30 May 2014 onwards) will bring together archaeological finds from the time when the territory of the present-day Slovenia was part of the Roman Empire with the help of films, sculptural reconstructions, reconstruction paintings and over a thousand objects. Cankarjev dom cultural and congress centre will host the exhibition “Aquae Iasae” (21 May - 26 October 2014) which will show the extraordinary archaeological finds

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discovered during the latest excavations in the area of the Croatian town of Varaždinske Toplice. Ljubljana Castle will host an exhibition on Ljubljana’s urban development (28 May - 14 September 2014). The photographic exhibition “The remains of the city”, held in the open air venue along the Jakopič promenade in Tivoli Park (1 July – 1 September 2014) will feature works by both established photographers and the winners of a public photography contest on the theme of the poetics of ruins, the remains of our past. Ancient ruins caught on photographs will also be the theme of the exhibition “Vestiges” by the world renowned photographer Joseph Koudelka, held at the Jakopič Gallery (20 May - 3 September 2014).

The remains of ancient Emona in Ljubljana’s streets and squares are waiting for you to explore and there’s no better way to do it than taking a guided tour. Ljubljana Tourism has designed some interesting guided tours offering you an opportunity to learn what life was like in Emona. The tours in March and April will give you an opportunity to sample the ancient history of Ljubljana by exploring the traces of the 2,000-year old Roman city of Emona, which used to occupy its site. The tours of the Roman Emona starting in May (and being carried out through September) will be a truly Roman experience, where you will put on a Roman attire and walk through the remains of Emona accompanied by a Roman legionary and a tour guide dressed as a Roman. The evening tours will take place in the light of flaming torches.  You are welcome to join the celebrations and experience the Roman Emona first hand!

For more information visit www.visitljubljana.com.

01 Emona House Archaeological Park, Photo: Dunja Wedam 02 Early Christian Centre Archaeological Park, Photo: Dunja Wedam 03 Parade Mask, kept at the NMS, Photo: Tomaž Lauko 04 Building Inscription, kept at the NMS, Photo: Tomaž Lauko

Experience&Lifestyle Slovenia

British School

To be the best possible “I still remember the day I walked into a classroom for the first time as a teacher, I knew it was home,” says David Cooksey, the new Principal and Director of the British School in Ljubljana. After an international teaching career and working for a Nobel Prize winner, he found himself in Slovenia by chance. It was a “fatal click, about one year ago,” he said.

ing problems, preparing for the future. The world is changing. When I grew up, we did not have calculators, mobile phones etc but now they all have that. Change will continue. Our kids can no longer expect to have one job for 40 years, they will have to be flexible, they will have to change and they will have to accept the concept of lifelong learning. So we are preparing them for that. We give them access to the best universities in the world. This is a highly academic program.

Q Can you say the British school is for children who want an international career?

A The British school is for children who want Since his arrival in Slovenia in August 2013, Mr Cooksey has been struck by the welcoming nature of the people of Slovenia. “I first came to what is now Slovenia in 1984 and have been struck by the enormity of the change in the country yet its people have retained their warmth. Bureaucracy is a major issue though; the Government has yet to fully embrace the challenges and opportunities provided by the current environment and I hope that they will become more welcoming to the concept of change.” But despite these problems he is sure that he made the right decision: “The school is brilliant. The staff and students are brilliant.

Our parents and families are brilliant. This is my last job and it will be a success.”

Q What are the plans for the school? In what direction do you want to lead the school?

A I want us to become a beacon of exellence, not just in Slovenia or in Europe but internationally and not just academically. It is about ensuring that every single person who comes through the door, every single student, each member of staff, leaves this school with the experience of the environment and is given the opportunity to become the best they possibly can, whether that is a future Nobel Prize winner or a street cleaner. It does not matter as long as they become the best they can be.

would like a bigger social role, a civic footprint where our students go out into the community.

We are a private school, we have relatively high fees and some could say we have privileged kids - they need to understand that they are privileged. They need to give something back to the community and I want them to be much more involved with the community.

Q So most of your students are children of diplomats, rich kids?

A By definition, because of the fees, they come from a wealthy background. That is also something I would like to change. In honour of Jeremy Hibbins (the founder of the school who died in a tragic accident last year), I would like to be able to offer to one or two students a once in a lifetime opportunity so that they can come to this school. For students who otherwise would not even dream about this. To give them their entire schooling, the opportunity of a lifetime.

We cannot do this for everybody, we have absolutely no support whatsoever from the state.

Personally, I am OK with that but who wouldn’t like money from the ministry. If we can find a mechanism of support – not very many one or two per year - and change their lives, I would very much like to do that. Selection must be transparent and rigorous.

Q If I can afford it why should I choose your Q Have you or will you establish something new? school?

A I think in terms of Slovenian education A Our school is not for everyone, our system we’ve already established something new. We look at the whole child, not just the academic side. We have things like an international day, we go out and we have adventure weekends. I

of education is not for everyone, it is different.

It is an alternative to Slovenian education and it is much more a gate to the 21st century. It is about being adaptable, understanding solv-

to be the best they can possibly be. We send students into the University in Ljubljana as well.

We develop all of their talents, we show them the skills which will enable them to survive in the 21st century. It is not just to go abroad.

Q As far as I know you are recognised internationally but not in Slovenia as you don’t fulfil the standards of the Ministry of Education. Your students therefore have to do extra exams for their results to be recognised in Slovenia. Have you made any progress on this?

A Yes, we are recognised internationally but not yet in Slovenia which is technically a contradiction. There is progress, soon this will not be a problem for the students , there will be no more switching between two different systems. We can work on the assumption that the legislation will be in place by the beginning of the next academic year and then there should be no more problems for students or parents.

We are here to complement, not compete.

Q Despite your initial difficulties with bureaucracy, the state etc, do you want to stay in Slovenia or do you want to move?

A This is my last job which is one of the reasons it has to be a success. I believe in Jeremy, I believe in his vision, I believe in our school and in our staff. I believe most of all in our students.

I have a moral obligation to do the best I can.  Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

41

Sports Economy Sochi Olympic Games

The Team of History Winning Olympic medals has never been easy but it looked a bit that way during the recent Sochi Olympics.

Slovenia won a record eight medals, including the first two gold medals in the history of Slovenian sport. The events in Sochi once again united the whole nation.

By Simon Demšar Tina Maze; Photo: STA

Until this year, Slovene athletes had won eleven Winter Olympic medals, four of them as members of the Yugoslav team. But during two fabulous weeks in February, they almost doubled the tally. The expectations before the games were no higher than before but it seems that things simply came together.

Peter “The Muscle” The first athlete to cause national euphoria was Peter Prevc who finished second in ski jumping, in the small hill event. “I was more nervous before the first jump than the second.

But a solid first jump helped relieve the pressure. I knew what to focus on in the second jump and was able to eliminate the mistakes at the critical moment,” said Prevc, known for his cool approach and short but witty replies.

He did it again in the large hill where he won a bronze medal. Receiving a hero’s welcome in his hometown of Dolenja vas (Lower Village, Peter Prevc; Photo: OKS

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

dubbed Olympic Village during the Olympics), he was more philosophical: “Young people will now have problems deciding which sport to choose as everyone would like to be a Tina Maze, Vesna Fabjan, Žan Košir, an ice-hockey player... I only hope that young people will try many sports and then stick to the one that suits them best. I think that sport is an activity that saves teenagers from bad influences.”

Amazing Tina Tina Maze was next up, this time with the first ever gold Olympic medal for Slovenia.

She went to Sochi on the back of a troubled season. She had won a World Cup event before the Olympics but was otherwise far from last year’s dominance. Winning a gold medal in the downhill, sharing it with the Swiss Dominique Gisin, was proof that she is a true champion: doing her best when it matters the most. “I came close to a gold medal in Vancouver so I was aiming for one here. It’s great to share the title with Dominique, who is pretty similar to me with her character and attitude. She is a fighter too,” said Maze after the race.

In giant slalom she won by a mere seven hundredth of a second ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria. In a way, this was just payback for Vancouver 2010 where she lost the gold medal by four hundredths. Also in Sochi she missed bronze medals in both super combined and super G by ten hundredths. She was also a contender in slalom. Finishing third in the first run, she had a disappointing second run and finished eighth. It nevertheless made

her the most successful female Alpine skier at the games.

Snowboard Offensive Snowboarder Žan Košir was the third Slovene to win two medals at Sochi, finishing third in the giant slalom and second in the slalom.

Interestingly, he was not entirely happy with his performances, despite winning the medals.

“Things obviously happen step by step in my life. It was not perfect, but good enough for a medal,” said Košir after the bronze medal. “As for the silver, I have nothing to complain about.

I did have some problems and I made two mistakes in the final run, but in the end, this medal is one more step up. There are no shortcuts and it seems that I will have to wait for gold until the next Olympics.” He lost the gold medal against Vic Wild. “If I was to lose I am happy that it happened against him.” Like Tina Maze, Košir is a kind of “lonely rider”, training Žan Košir; Photo: OKS

Economy Sports on his own with his private team. “I couldn’t have done more. I put so much energy into this season. I often travel alone but am still able to compete against the best,” said Košir, whose words reflect that he had been carrying a heavy burden and two medals are primarily a great relief.

Cross-country & Biathlon: The best reward for years of hard work

Vesna Fabjan & Teja Gregorin; Photo: STA

Vesna Fabjan’s bronze medal in the crosscountry skiing sprint was the most surprising. In the era of Petra Majdič, she had lived in her shadow and following Majdič’s retirement, she didn’t quite step into her shoes. She has now proved the sceptics wrong. She built her confidence on the back of a third place in a World Cup event earlier in January, which was her first podium finish in three years.

“Twenty years of training, forgoing and hard work have paid off today. Every athlete dreams of a medal and I have won mine today. There is no better feeling,” said Fabjan, who missed the silver medal by only one hundredth of a second.

Teja Gregorin won a bronze medal on the same day as Fabjan and Maze. She did so in pursuit, starting from 15th position. She won

the first Slovenian Olympic medal for biathlon with perfect (final) shooting, and even better skiing during the final kilometres of the 10 kilometre race. She had been a favourite but in a sport like biathlon predictions are even more difficult. “The most difficult were the last two kilometres, as I was not sure of my strength and of the strength of the other competitors.

I left the shooting range as fifth, and I knew I had to overtake two more excellent skiers,” said Gregorin. With Slovenian biathletes having narrowly missed a medal in Vancouver (back then, Gregorin was fifth, Klemen Bauer missed a medal by 3.4 seconds and the bronze medallist Jakov Fak was still representing Croatia), justice was served for both Gregorin and Slovenian biathlon.

Olympic Glory in Proportion Rank

Country

Slovenia Ice Hockey team; Photo: HZS

Slovenian hockey team “miracle on ice” The ice-hockey team didn’t win a medal but their achievement is on a par with those of the medallists. Qualifying for the Olympic tournament was an achievement in its own right, but beating ice-hockey super power, Slovakia, by 3–0 and then Austria by 4–0 to qualify for the quarter-finals, sparked rarely seen euphoria.

The team eventually lost 5–0 against Sweden but the seeds have been sown and it will be interesting to watch how they will grow. 

Olympic Glory in Proportion – Total Medals by GDP Medals

Population

Population per Medal

Rank

Country

Medals

GDP1

GDP per Medal1

26

5,005,700

192,526

1

Slovenia

8

49.54

6.19

8

2,057,540

257,192

2

Latvia

4

28.25

7.06

17

8,452,835

497,225

3

Belarus

6

55.14

9.19

4

Norway

26

485.80

18.68

5

Austria

17

418.48

24.62

8

215.22

26.90

1

Norway

2

Slovenia

3

Austria

4

Latvia

4

2,070,371

517,592

5

Sweden

15

9,490,683

632,712

6

Netherlands

24

16,731,770

697,157

6

Czech Republic

7

Switzerland

11

7,870,100

715,463

7

Netherlands

24

836.26

34.84

8

Finland

5

5,407,040

1,081,408

8

Sweden

15

538.13

35.88

9

Czech Republic

8

10,504,203

1,313,025

9

Finland

5

266.07

53.21 56.30

10

Canada

25

34,771,400

1,390,856

10

Russian Fed.

33

1857.77

11

Belarus

6

9,461,400

1,576,900

11

Switzerland

11

635.65

57.79

12

Croatia

1

4,290,612

4,290,612

12

Croatia

1

63.85

63.85

13

Germany

19

81,831,000

4,306,894

13

Canada

25

1736.05

69.44

14

Russian Fed.

33

143,500,000

4,348,484

14

Ukraine

2

165.25

82.62

15

France

15

65,350,000

4,356,666

15

Poland

6

514.50

85.75

16

Slovakia

1

5,445,324

5,445,324

16

Slovakia

1

95.99

95.99

17

South Korea

8

48,580,000

6,072,500

17

South Korea

8

1116.25

139.53

18

Poland

6

38,501,000

6,416,833

18

France

15

2773.03

184.87 186.20

19

Italy

8

60,776,531

7,597,066

19

Kazakhstan

20

Australia

3

22,880,619

7,626,873

20

Germany

21

United States

28

313,382,000

11,192,214

21

Italy

22

Great Britain

4

62,262,000

15,565,500

22

Australia

3

1371.76

457.25

23

Japan

8

127,650,000

15,956,250

23

United States

28

15094.00

539.07

1

186.20

19

3570.56

187.92

8

2194.75

274.34

24

Kazakhstan

1

16,718,000

16,718,000

24

Great Britain

4

2431.59

607.90

25

Ukraine

2

45,644,419

22,822,209

25

Japan

8

5867.15

733.39

26

China

9

1,347,350,000

149,705,555

26

China

9

7298.10

810.90

1

current US$ billions

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

43

Sports

New Nordic center Planica (above), Franci Petek (on the right); Photo: SZS

Interview: Franci Petek, Ski jumping World Champion; Ambassador, World Ski Championship 2019 in Planica

“We Deserve It” With the state-of-the-art Nordic Centre being built in Planica, bidding for the Nordic World Ski Championship is the logical next step. After unsuccessfully bidding for the 2017 championship, Slovenian Nordic skiing soon got back on its feet and put forward a bid for the 2019 event. Other candidates are Obersdorf (Germany), Seefeld (Austria) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). The host will be selected at the FIS congress in Barcelona in June. Franci Petek, together with Petra Majdič, has the role of an ambassador.

By Simon Demšar Organising a Nordic World Ski Championship is a serious matter. When Slovenia’s bid to organise the 2017 championships failed, it sparked a chain of events that culminated in the resignation of the then President of the Ski Association of Slovenia, Tomaž Lovše. “We are athletes and we know how to face a defeat,” said Franci Petek, who represented Slovenia at the FIS congress in South Korea, as an ambassador of the candidacy. He was right and soon afterward, Slovenia submitted another bid. Petek updated us on Planica’s chances.

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

Q Why is organising Nordic World Ski Championships so important that even personal fights break out, such as two years ago in Korea? Is it a matter of prestige, money or something else?

A Personally, I think that this is a kind of reward for Slovenia, our nation, for playing an active and substantial role in the development of Nordic skiing in general. Looking at the development of ski jumping, a lot has happened in Slovenia and without it, things wouldn’t have been the way they are in terms of both technical features and popularity. The first

Sports men jumped over 100 metres and 200 metres in Planica. We are a major Nordic force with our athletes, international judges, technical delegates, designers, researchers etc. We are therefore a truly active Nordic skiing nation and I believe that we deserve the World Championships as one of the cradles of Nordic sport.

This is also a matter of prestige, to show what we are capable of, as this is a massive undertaking. And there is some economic impact, too. I believe that this could be a strong impulse to invest back into sport, young people, development and facilities.

Q How are the Nordic centre in Planica and the bid connected?

A Simply, there is no championship without facilities. It is true that the Nordic centre is the core of our bid. The facilities are being built regardless of the outcome of the voting in Barcelona. We are under no pressure. This year, works on the main building will begin and it will include a cross-country skiing arena extending further on to the cross-country tracks.

It is a fantastic concept to be able to concentrate everything in such a compact space.

Q What are the comparative advantages of your

selves in a positive light in professional circles.

They know us, they are familiar with our bid and they know what to expect. In terms of lobbying, we had a bad experience last time around, so we know what not to do. We have our representative, Janez Kocijančič, in the FIS governing body and he knows exactly how to deal with these things, what is acceptable and what not.

bid?

A There are many objective advantages, many Q What is your personal role in this bid? more than disadvantages. The first thing is our A My role is to attend selected World Cup facilities, the other is the location: everything is in one place, within walking distance, and it is nature friendly. The emphasis is on an environmentally sustainable event. We are located in a gorgeous mountain amphitheatre, at the edge of a national park. We are also a reliable and trustworthy organiser. We know how to deal with the problems of organising a big event, how to accommodate a large number of spectators into an enclosed space. There were problems in the past but we learnt from them.

Accommodation facilities could be the only drawback as we cannot provide them in a single place. On the other hand, this is also an advantage, as we could integrate other neighbouring tourist centres, such as Tarvisio in Italy and Villach in Austria. Last but not least: our national team is one of the most competitive in the World Cup.

Q Regardless of all the objective advantages, there is no guarantee that the members of the FIS governing body will follow the guidelines. How do you intend to “politically” convince them that you are the best candidate?

A We are well aware that all our advantages and activities are no guarantee for a positive outcome. This is in the hands of the members of the FIS governing body, who are not necessarily involved in Nordic skiing, and their logic might be different from ours. So we just have to make sure we do everything to show our-

events, ski-flying championships, make the professionals, coaches and other interested people familiar with how things should look.

The other part is a formal presentation that I will present together with Petra Majdič (Olympic bronze medallist in 2010) for team principals, sports directors and officials in Planica during the World Cup finals in March. This will be a dress rehearsal for the presentation at the FIS congress in Barcelona. For me it is a great honour, and my and Petra’s backgrounds are a testimony of our serious intent.

Q What is your view of the unbelievable success of Slovene athletes at the recent Olympic Games.

We tend to complain that the future of sport is gloomy due to lack of finance but the athletes keep proving us otherwise.

A The organisational structure of sport in Slovenia is good and efficient. We are a sporting nation, with a large proportion of the population taking an active part in sporting activities as well as including their children in those activities. This is one of the main indicators.

Sport obviously means a lot to us, we like doing it. In terms of finance, I would say – as a rule of thumb – that up to 90 per cent of training is relatively easy and cheap and can be achieved by a relatively small investment and efficient organisation. On the other hand the last 10 per cent requires so many little details, experts, equipment, facilities and coaches (including

About Franci Petek Franci Petek is a former ski-jumper from the early 1990’s. In 1991, in his only second season in the World Cup, he became ski-jumping World Champion. His only other, at the highest level, was in the World Cup in 1990. He finished on the podium another four times. He retired aged only 24. “I was a bit unfortunate that in my time ski-jumping was undergoing a complete revolution.

The V-style was coming in and I think that about 80 per cent of my generation sunk sooner or later.

I tried the new style but had five nasty falls and I became psychologically uncompetitive, I was not relaxed and if you are not relaxed you don’t go to the limit. And if you don’t go to the limit you are not competitive,” he says. Having retired, he focused on an academic career. He graduated in geography and later earned a PhD. He worked at the Geographic Institute until 2007 when he became the Nordic skiing Sports Director. Having resigned in 2011, he took a completely new path, studying Montessori pedagogy. He recently opened a Montessori kindergarten in Radovljica. their assistants and advisors in the areas of nutrition, physiotherapy, health) that it becomes expensive. So, for a handful of athletes you need to invest disproportionate amounts of money. And then again, there is no guarantee that you will make it. When someone comes in fifth or tenth, people tend to refer to it as a disappointment. But this is already within those 10 per cent. So, it seems like we can do it with our immense enthusiasm and athletes’ determination to perform, not necessarily to win medals, but simply to force themselves to their very limits. Without going to the limit there is no top athlete. And still, a medal has to “happen”. There are others doing the same things, with their yield often considerably lower. As a nation and in sport we seem to be tough, diligent and hard-working, despite a rather pessimistic image in current public life.  Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

45

Culture&Events

Mirsad Purivatra, SFF Director with actor John Malkovich at SFF 2004

Interview: Mirsad Purivatra, Sarajevo Film Festival Director

Our cooperation with Slovenia has grown into real friendship For the twentieth year in a row, the Sarajevo summer will reach a high point with an event that has become a firm fixture on the calendars of leading European filmmakers. The Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF), to be held from 15 - 23 August, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. Over the years, thanks to its clearly defined program focus, the Sarajevo Film Festival has established itself as the leading cultural event in Eastern Europe. Although the youngest among the leading, long-running European festivals - such as Berlinale and the Cannes Film Festival - the SFF outgrew its national borders quite a while ago. Today, the SFF is the meeting place for regional filmmakers, a place where young film talent gets discovered before embarking on their road to international glory.

By Almir Flisar However, the Sarajevo Film Festival is much more than just a nine-day film event. Aside from its importance for filmmakers, the festival’s added value is the prominence it brings to Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The pleasure the festival gives audiences with its careful selection of the most recent films, is matched by the excitement surrounding the constantly expanding number of side events. During the nine days of the festival, Sarajevo transforms into a mecca for tourists, a place to be for all

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The Slovenian Times | Spring Edition 2014

film buffs. The person behind the constantly increasing standard of the SFF and the leader of its organisational team is Festival Director, Mirsad Purivatra.

Q The vision you had for a film festival 20 years ago is now reality. Today, the SFF is the most important regional film festival offering an exceptionally good program each year.

A It appears as if we have done a big job over the past 20 years. The Sarajevo Film Festival

was born out of our passion for film and our desire to promote it. We had a clear vision from the beginning and we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve. We are close to fully achieving the desired form and content of the festival.

Still, we can always do better; we can always get closer to the goal we set when we launched the whole idea. Our greatest success is the fact that we have survived all these years and that we have found our place and earned credibility for ourselves in a world that is already rich with

Culture&Events film festivals with long traditions. We decided a long time ago that the SFF must work to promote young filmmakers from the region and to develop and strengthen national and regional cinematography. Clearly, we faced many challenges and sometimes we had to make compromises, but we never abandoned too much of our true identity. Festival goers and the media are attracted by the cheerful disposition of the SFF and our celebrity guests, but we have remained faithful to our goal to focus the attention of the general public and the global filmmaking community on our competition programs and young cinematographers from our region.

Additionally, the Sarajevo Film Festival has excellent cooperation with Slovenian media.

Numerous journalists from Slovenia, including your journalists, report from Sarajevo during the festival. Thanks to their work, the Slovenian public is very well informed about the SFF and about all the events during its nine days in August. Also, many tourists from Slovenia enjoy attending the festival and are always happy to return to Sarajevo. Our cooperation with Slovenian filmmakers and journalists and also with some companies that are partners of the festival, continues throughout the year and it has, in many cases, grown into real friendship.

that the political and economic situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina was the greatest challenge for the organisation of the last festival. Fortunately, some things turned in our favour at the last moment so that the quality of the festival has never been in question. Information that Bosnia and Herzegovina had fulfilled the requirement to join the EU MEDIA Program, allowing its cultural institutions and projects to apply for funding, reached us at a key point during the preparations for the last festival.

MEDIA is the biggest EU Fund for culture with a combined budget in the last six years of EUR Red Carpet at SFF

Q Filmmakers from Slovenia have often been Q In recent years, the economic crisis has had a among those competing for the festival’s prestigious Heart of Sarajevo awards in best film, best actor, best actress and other categories.

A Our selectors carefully protect the high standard and strong reputation of their respective festival programs. The only criteria for the selection of a film for one of the competition programs has always been and always will be its quality and artistic value. We try to avoid national or political criteria in order to preserve the credibility of our competition programs.

Personally, I am the happiest when our competition programs include films from the countries with which Bosnia-Herzegovina once shared a state. However, the situation in our countries is not very favourable for filmmakers and the number of films made keeps falling from one year to the next.

Slovenian filmmakers are not only well represented in our feature, documentary and short film competition programs, but also in other festival programs and selections. Slovenian filmmakers often choose Sarajevo for the world premiere of their films. Numerous filmmakers from Slovenia were our dear guests, they have promoted their films here or they have taken part in one of our industry programs. At the risk of forgetting someone, I will mention a few names: Damjan Kozole, Jan Cvitkovic, Blaz Kutin, Martin Turk, Nejc Gazvoda, as well as Branko Djuric, Tanja Ribic, Miroslav Ciro Mandic and many others.

severe impact on our region, particularly on culture. Last year, the SFF’s budget was cut by 20%.

How did you reorganise the festival in light of this fact?

A We are a non-profit organisation that has to seek funding for its projects each year. To tell you honestly, it is a tiring and difficult job, especially in B&H where nothing is ever easy or simple. We took some steps to help us weather the storms of the recession. All members of our team were willing to contribute and support our saving measures. Still, I can freely say

Actors Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie at SFF 2011

Director Miroslav Mandić and Adria Blues crew at SFF 2013

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

47

Culture&Events 800m. Access to MEDIA will not solve all the problems faced by our cultural sector, but it can blow wind at the back of proactive and dynamic cultural workers and institutions in our country. We believe we belong in this group.

Unfortunately, the way things look right now Actor Jeremy Irons at SFF 2012

Singer Bono Vox (U2) at SFF 2006

for this year will not be any better or more encouraging than the last one.

Q Is the reduced public funding for cinematography reflected in the quality of films produced in that country?

A Of course it is. However, some developed countries found, a long time ago, lasting solutions for cultural financing and film funding, so the current crisis has not severely endangered their filmmaking communities. However, we had an interesting new development in the European world of film this year, especially in the region covered by the SFF. The crisis gave birth to new, progressive forces in the world of film - to filmmakers who were inspired by crisis to make excellent low-budget films. Obviously, they are young filmmakers, a newly emerged and very sharp film guerrilla.

Q How big is the budget of the Sarajevo Film Festival?

A We live in a land of poverty, a land that has

Actor Steve Buscemi at SFF 2007

no cultural policy or systemic solutions for financing and supporting culture. The absence of a state strategy for financing cultural events and culture in general has a direct impact on our chances of survival. The total budget of the Sarajevo Film Festival, including for our coproduction market CineLink, Sarajevo Talent Campus and our project Sarajevo City of Film, stands at under EUR 1.3m. Less than 30% of the festival’s funding comes from different governments and around 70% is secured through (commercial) partnerships and from support from different film funds and international embassies. Our profits are limited, so they contribute very little to our overall budget.

Q How do you then secure the funding to organise such a big and costly event?

A Numerous problems we encounter have

Peter Musevski, Damjan Kozole and Spare Parts crew at SFF 2007

taught us to treat difficulties as business challenges. Thus, we entered partnerships with some major companies and our cooperation has lasted for a number of years already. The SFF has proven that it is possible to link successful companies with events of this kind to mutual benefit and to the benefit of our city and our country. The SFF has developed a specific model of partnership with some of the leading international, regional and national companies. Major companies have recognised the significance of the SFF and the importance of using it for their own promotion, but also the importance of investing into the local community. Our partners are companies that follow European and world trends, which have a vision to develop according to the European standard.

Q That is exactly why managers of some of the world’s leading companies visited Sarajevo dur-

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ing the Sarajevo Film Festival last year. Why is that important?

A First of all, that is a sign of respect from those company managers and owners considering that they decided to visit Sarajevo during the summer holiday season while their preparations for fall projects was ongoing. Managers of multimillion dollar companies such as CocaCola, Atlantic, InaMol and others value every minute of their time, so when they decided to spend two or three days in Sarajevo it shows that they see our potential, that they perceive the SFF as an event that provides them with an opportunity to meet people they might not otherwise meet. I think that the SFF is no longer just a meeting point for filmmakers, but also for the people from the world of business, politics, entertainment and public life. The realisation that we have enriched life in Sarajevo in this way makes us very happy.

Outside the festival lights and away from its red carpet, something new is happening something we are calling “the hidden value of the festival”, namely our Industry Terrace and B2B forums. They were the result of our need to do some kind of a favour to all the business people and representatives of the film industry who visit Sarajevo during the festival by helping them to meet, to organise such meetings.

A kind of a network of different businesses is starting to emerge, a network of business representatives. They meet in Sarajevo, they talk, they organise forums and present their work, they reach cooperation and partnership deals.

We are happy that we have managed to pull off something like this and because of this we are now recognised as a platform for regional business development.

Regional forums and the Industry Terrace are festival programs that provide the members of the film community with an opportunity to meet and we feel that they are very important for the development of the film industry in our region and for helping it establish links with the rest of Europe.

Q This year, the festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Will the 20th year be special in some way?

A We started preparing for the 20th anniversary of the festival as soon as the last one was over. We always try each year to make each festival at least 5% better than the last one. However, this year will be really special. Through different festival programs, our side events, many special events and also with the help of our special guests, including many who will be returning to Sarajevo, we will try to present twenty years of festival life and development.

It is too early to reveal our plans but I can say that this festival will be a true celebration of film just like all the previous festivals have been. 

Culture&Events Culture

Traditional orchestra with percussion wizardry When a percussion genius such as Martin Grubinger and the traditional perfection of an established orchestra such as the BBC Philharmonic meet up, there is some magic for sure. In March, people in Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom will witness this magic.

By David Tiefenthaler The special combination of the percussion wonder kind on the one hand and the traditional orchestra on the other one, must be introduced.

The BBC Philharmonic was founded in 1934 as the BB Northern Orchestra, its roots go back 80 years. In 1982, it changed its name to the BBC Philharmonic. The orchestra, which has made over 200 recordings with Chandos Records, boasts an impressive roster of conductors, who have importantly co-shaped an inventive and explorative programme. Succeeding the magnificent Gianandrea Noseda, Juanjo Mena took up the post of principal conductor in September 2011.

Making his debut with the Philharmonic on BBC Radio 3, the Spanish conductor, Mena, was described as “a wonderful musician who will continue the tradition of world class Chief Conductors at the BBC Philharmonic. His ability to combine overarching vision with a masterly attention to detail augurs well for many years of very special music making”.

Austrian Martin Grubinger, sought-after soloist and “percussion wizard” started playing drums when he was a child. His father, also a drummer, was his first teacher. Grubinger rose to fame after his more than seven hour percussion marathon in Vienna during the Beethovenfest in 2006. Since then, he has performed

Juanjo Mena, conductor – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Photos: Cankarjev dom

in famous venues all over the world including Carnegie Hall in New York and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels.

Grubinger is known for being one of the best marimba players on the planet. The marimba, a percussion instrument with a wide range of tones, is very difficult to play – another reason why Grubingers talent is outstanding. The list of compositions dedicated to Grubinger, winner of a number of awards, grows at a rapid pace.

The programme on 21 March in Cankarjev dom will not lack diversity: the Prism Rhapsody for percussion and orchestra by Japanese composer Keiko Abe, which demands a great deal of technical dexterity and virtuosity, a work by the Austrian composer HK Gruber (Rough Music) and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6, a tribute to Austrian creativity, will all be performed.

While some people say that classical music is boring to listen to and that it is for old people, this concert will certainly prove the opposite, with virtuoso percussionist Grubinger bringing young blood into the classic concert scene and enriching orchestras all over the world.  Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Culture&Events War that shaped the Slovenian history

Centenary of WWI -

catastrophe of 20th Century history

The shots that were fired in early summer, in 1914, in Sarajevo, at the heir to the Habsburg throne, Franz Ferdinand, triggered the initial catastrophe of the 20th century. The war, unforeseen by the most, affected large parts of the world, with Slovenia being in the middle of the world war. What were the roads that led to the Great War and how were Slovenians involved in those events?

By David Tiefenthaler Optimists are saying that 2014 will be a good year. Why shouldn’t it be? People in Europe are living in peace, most of them have enough to eat, a place to stay and a job – despite the economic crisis. But let’s take a look back, 100 years ago the world had just entered the 20th century, new inventions and industry were improving living conditions for many people. But problems arose: nationalist intentions in many countries, the general rearmament, social tensions and military-political alliances. All these were reasons for the biggest catastrophe in Europe to date: the First World War or the Great War.

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In this four-part series, we will take a look at the development of the war, with a special focus on the former regions of Slovenia and the Slovenes who participated in the war as part of the Austro-Hungarian army. Although those who actively fought in the war are already dead, the impact of WWI on history was enormous and shaped the following decades.

Slovenes entered the 20th century within the Habsburg monarchy under Franz Josef I, who reigned 68 years until his death in 1916.

The regions Kranjska, Štajerska, Koroška, Goriška and Istra were the historic lands where Slovenians lived. Though modernisation came

late, the Slovene regions had an active social, political and cultural life. Many Slovenes were studying in Vienna and the newly finished railway between Vienna and Trieste contributed to an economic upswing. Nonetheless, many workers emigrated to more industrialised areas (the vast majority of the Slovenes still lived an agricultural life) in Europe because of poor competitiveness and debt.

The ‘fault’ for WWI is often placed on the shoulders of one man: Gavrilo Princip. The Serbian assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia Hohenberg, in Sarajevo during their visit

Culture&Events to watch manoeuvres. Princip was a member of a nationalist underground organisation which fought against the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The shooting of Franz Ferdinand was planned but the first assassination attempt was unsuccessful. It was a mere coincidence that the car of the royal couple stopped next to 19-year-old Princip who was already leaving the area. The shots were the catalyst that pushed the accumulated conflicts and military alliances among European states into military conflict.

Hypothetical questions: what if the car had not stopped? What if Gavrilo Princips attempt to shoot Franz Ferdinand had failed? Would war still have broken out? Probably yes. The European states were caught in an implacable cauldron of conflict and fear, military strategists prepared offensive-defensive military concepts and industrially developed states stockpiled military technology. Several circles within the Austro-Hungarian government favoured war and saw the assassination as confirmation for a preventive and punitive war.

Princip’s shots were just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

On 23 July, Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to Serbia demanding, amongst other things, a ban on anti-Austrian publications and permission for the Austro-Hungarians to search for the assassin on Serbian territory.

Serbia was not willing to accept the ultimatum, which was considered unconstitutional. One month after the shooting of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

An interesting fact: The main reason why Austria-Hungary waited a month before declaring war on Serbia was mainly because many army officers, generals and soldiers were on holiday. Simultaneously, with the declaration of war, the mobilisation and preparation for the war began, also in Slovene regions. 60% of men between the ages of 21 and 35 were mobilised, around 80,000 of them were Slovenians.

The international bonds and treaties triggered a whole wave of mobilisation in Europe and the Serbian and Austro-Hungarian conflict thus grew from a local to an international matter and transformed Europe and a large part of the world into a battlefield. The two basic opposing axes were the so-called Central Pow-

ers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire) and the Entente (United Kingdom, France, Italy from 1915, Russia and the USA).

Slovenes were sent with different regiments to the fronts that were opened in Europe: in the east in Galicia, in the south in the Balkans and in the west on the Soča/Isonzo front.

With the opening of these three fronts and the use of unimaginable amounts of money, material, ammunition and especially soldiers, the world saw a face of war which had never before been seen. Gas attacks, tanks and submarines brought a new, barbarous aspect to modern warfare. The opponents stumbled into a catastrophe, blinded by war propaganda and nationalism.  This article was written in cooperation with the National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana, which also provided the photos.

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Culture&Events Interview: Dr Mel Gill, Hermetic Philosopher, Spiritual Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Film Maker, producer of the movie, “The Meta Secret” and the author of “Uncommon Sense” and 12 other best-selling books

Change the story in your head and you can conquer the World Dr Mel Gill, one of the leading experts in personal development, motivational speaker, psychotherapist and best-selling author, is coming to Slovenia. A seminar “Change your brain and you will change your life”, based on his new book Uncommon Sense, will be held in Ljubljana on 4 April 2014 and Q Dr Gill, in April you will visit Slovenia for the in Ptuj on 5 April 2014. second time. Could you share with us your impressions from your first visit?

A When I was last in Slovenia several years

By Almir Flisar ago, it was at the end of a long European tour to

promote my other best-selling book The Meta Secret. After being in many countries and exhausted from the many media appearances, talks and interviews, being in Slovenia was like entering a paradise that the rest of the world forgot! So green, so lush and so peaceful!!! The

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people were so hospitable, kind and loving that it was so difficult to leave when it was time to go. And now I return to this paradise, not just for me but for the citizens of this country also.

Q What is in the focus of your work recently?

A You know me as a motivational speaker and best-selling author but what most people are unaware of is the fact that I have been a psychotherapist for the last 30 years. My entire focus is and always has been the introduction

Culture&Events of good mental health principles and practices to offset the growing worldwide pandemic of depression and other mental health concerns that seem to plague not just the older generation but are now becoming common amongst the youth of today. It seems incredible but the statistics provided by the World Health Organisation for Europe suggests cause for concern for this prevalence of mental disorders.

Q Could you tell us more about those statistics?

A According to a systematic review of data and statistics from community studies in European Union (EU) countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland: 27% of the adult population (defined as aged 18–65) had experienced at least one of a series of mental disorder in the past year (this included problems arising from substance use, psychoses, depression, anxiety and eating disorders). These figures represent an enormous human toll of ill health, with an estimated 83 million people being affected. Yet even these figures are likely to underestimate the scale of the problem as only a limited number of disorders were included and it did not collect data on those aged over 65, a group that is at particular risk.

Rates for women are significantly higher compared to those for men, except for substance use disorders (men: 5.6%, women: 1.3%) and psychotic disorders (almost identical estimates). Overall rates are 33.2 versus 21.7.

These figures also fail to capture the complexity of the problems many people face. 32% of those affected had one additional mental disorder, while 18% had two and 14% three or more!

Add to this the increasing rates of suicide globally and the prognosis appears dismal.

According to the most recent available data, 123,853 people commit suicide every year, out of which almost 80% are men. The average suicide prevalence rates in Europe are 13.9 per 100,000, with the highest rates in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (21.4 per 100,000), followed by the new EU countries (13.8 per 100,000). Even within the European Union, where the overall average rate is 10.1 per 100,000, it rises as high as 30.7 per 100,000 in Lithuania, 21.5 per 100,000 in Hungary and 18.5 per 100,000 in Finland and 18.4 per 100,000 in Slovenia.

Men are almost five times more likely to commit suicide than women, in all countries of the European region (average of 23.8 per 100,000 for men versus 5.2 per 100,000 for women), with the highest male/female ratio in CIS countries and the new EU Member States (6 times and 5.3 times more frequent in men respectively). The highest suicide rates are reported among people aged 65+ (21.9 per 100,000) and 45–59 (21.5 per 100,000), both rates are around 1.5 higher than the European average. For women, especially in Slovenia, the

news is not altogether encouraging when it comes to availability of resources and the distribution of mental health care services.

Q How we can change this situation? What could be a solution to those problems?

A Although traditional psychiatric services operate on a medical model, they mainly function as social service institutions. For example, some researchers found that many women in the Ljubljana hospital had run away from violent relationships “to take a rest.” Researchers also found that these hospitals tend to reinforce traditional taboos against speaking out about sexual abuse and other dysfunctional family experiences. The majority of the staff in these institutions are women, who themselves help to perpetuate the taboos and who sometimes express their own psycho-social oppression in power relations with patients.

On a theoretical level, consciousness about gender differences has progressed, but on a practical level, psycho-social help for women remains almost untouched. Until recently, there has been only the help line for battered women, although now a few social workers have begun to consider a women’s perspective in their work. This means that the mental health treatment options for women in Slovenia are still extremely limited.

you entirely from the ocean of issues and problems that plague you but it will definitely keep you afloat and safe from drowning. What will I teach Slovenians this time around on 4 April in Ljubljana at Hotel Plaza and on 5 April in Ptuj at Hotel Primus? That we tell ourselves so many negative, self-limiting stories about what we cannot do, cannot have or cannot become and we deprive ourselves of all the happiness and satisfaction we deserve. I will remind Slovenians that they are truly amazing beings of light with extraordinary minds which are capable of doing anything, anywhere at anytime. For them indeed ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!! All they have to do is “CHANGE the stories in their heads and they can conquer the world!!!” 

Q Finally, could you tell us how Slovenians could thrive on your ideas?

A I return to Slovenia as a herald of good news.

There is a light at the end of the dark mental health tunnel…..it’s here…..I am bringing it and it is called UNCOMMON SENSE. See it if you will, as a mental health life-raft. It may not save

Spring Edition 2014 | The Slovenian Times

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Event Guide

Cinema

Before Midnight 23 March, 7pm, Kinodvor, Ljubljana, €4 – €5 The highly anticipated conclusion of Richard Linklater’s trilogy is one of the great love stories of American independent cinema: Jesse and Celine first met in their twenties in Before Sunrise (1995), reunited in their thirties in Before Sunset (2004), and now, in Before Midnight, they face the past, present and future; family, romance, and love. Before the clock strikes midnight, their story again unfolds. The critically acclaimed film will be screened once again in Ljubljana’s Kinodvor, after it was on the programme last year.

Classical music

Rock concert

Blood Red Shoes 1 April, Kino Šiška, 9pm, from €8 – €12 Blood Red Shoes are an alternative rock duo from Brighton, England consisting of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter. On the first day of April, they will play a gig in Ljubljana’s infamous Kino Šiška. To date, they have released three full-length albums, Box of Secrets (2008), Fire Like This (2010), and In Time to Voices (2012) as well as numerous early singles on limited 7" vinyl pressings. The duo draws inspiration mainly from artists like Blur and PJ Harvey For all lovers of underground rock/ punk this will be a good evening for sure!

BBC Philharmonic & Martin Grubinger

21 March, 8pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, €21 – €60 The 1934-founded BBC Philharmonic Orchestra meets Austrian percussion wunderkind, Martin Grubinger, in a very special event in Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom in March. Described by the critics as “a wizard of percussion”, Grubinger rose to fame in 2006 after a percussion marathon in Vienna. The Austrian percussionist is a sought-after soloist who performs with some of the world’s finest orchestras, the BBC Philharmonic is one. With their Spanish conductor, Juanjo Mena and in combination with percussion wizard, Martin Grubinger, the audience will have a blast for sure.

Exhibition Rock concert

TOY 24 March, Kino Šiška, 9pm, €10 – €14 Their first single Left Myself Behind was sold out immediately in 2011; NME Magazine named them one of the 100 bands you have to listen in 2012. Last year, TOY was named „Best New Band 2013“ by Q Magazine. It is quite obvious that TOY is a rising star on the international band scene, drawing influences from psychedelic „shoegaze“ rock, krautrock and postpunk. The quintet from London played at Placebo’s concerts in Europe and will take the journey to Slovenia for the first time in March this year.

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Jože Ciuha: The Labyrinth of Time

until 12 April, Jakopičeva galerija, €3 This retrospective of work by Jože Ciuha, one of the most renowned Slovenian fine artists, brings together some of the major highlights of the artist’s oeuvre. Ciuha, who will celebrate his 90th birthday in April 2014, around the time when his retrospective is set to close, has a 70 year artistic career behind him. His work is underpinned by a distinctive philosophical background built mainly from experiences from his travels, about which he also wrote books. Ciuha, who worked as an illustrator at the beginning of his career, draws a lot of influence also from his Buddhist experience.

Event Guide

Exhibition

Opera

Guiseppe Verdi: Aida

Doors - Spatial and Photo exhibition Symbolic Passageways Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia: of Life The Journey Within Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, Ljubljana, opened every day (except

12 April, 7.30pm, Velika dvorana SNG Maribor, €28 The operatic masterpiece Aida represents one of Verdi’s greatest achievements. The opera was completed in 1871 to honour the opening of the Suez Canal. Aida explores the conflict between private emotion and public duty of Amneris, the proud daughter of the pharaoh, and her slave Aida, the princess of the rival kingdom of Ethiopia; and also Radames, the Egyptian warrior whom they both love. Aida will be directed by Pier-Francesco Maestrini.

until 30 April, Jakopič Promenade, Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, free Ljubljana’s popular outdoor gallery located in Tivoli Park hosts an exhibition of one hundred photographs taken by the British photographer Deborah Beer during the shooting of Andrei Tarkovsky’s cinematic masterpiece, Nostalghia (1983). The photographs are being displayed to the public for the first time, in the “Year of the Cinema” in Ljubljana which marks the 90th anniversary of Kinodvor. Andrei Tarkovsky is considered to be one of the best film directors of all time. He wrote himself into film history with his distinctive and unique style and a poetic approach to the theme of spiritual search.

Exhibition

Classical music

Under the Ponce Mountains

Belcea String Quartet

until 13 April, Ljubljana Castle A new exhibit high on the castle hill tells the history of ski jumping in Slovenia, with the focus on the infamous Planica ski jump. Visitors will see an exclusive collection of pictures from the rich archives of the National Museum of Contemporary History. The photos allow an insight in the development of ski jumping: from its beginnings in 1934 until 1991. The cherry on the top are the caricatures of ski jumping by the artist Bine Rogelj, a former successful jumper. His drawings add a humorous touch to the exhibit.

20 May, 7.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, €17 – €23 The Belcea Quartet is one of the leading string quartets of the new generation: under the mentorship of the renowned British Chilingirian Quartet, the young artists drew attention to their musical flair by winning the string quartet competitions and becoming the first group to participate in the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. The quartet has appeared in some of the most prestigious venues of the world.

The British ensemble devotes special attention to building an imaginative repertoire, especially focusing on Beethoven and Schubert. Lovers of classical music will enjoy this one!

Monday) from 10am to 6pm In this exhibition, doors are presented as objects of historical heritage offering an insight into the life of the residents of different parts of Slovenia. They tell stories about the people they were made by as well as those who lived behind them. The exhibition presents various aspects of doors as symbolic passageways, dealing also with keys and thresholds, which have a similar symbolic meaning as doors. From some of Slovenia‘s oldest doors to modern ones, this exhibition has got it all.

Classical music

Orchestra de Cadaqués 7 May 2014, Cankarjev dom, Tickets from €21–€60 In mid-spring, an extraordinary musical experience is waiting for you, the Orchestra de Cadaqués from Spain. Bringing the Mediterranean spirit, the orchestra will feature the wellknown guitar soloist Miloš Karadaglić. Born in Montenegro, the guitarist revived the classical guitar. While studying, he won competitions at the Royal School of Music in London. Conducted by Jaime Martin from Spain, the program will consist of classical guitar gem Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo, while the vivacity and passion of the Spanish orchestra will be brought to life through music by Ravel in Granados.

Winter Edition 2013 | The Slovenian Times

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17 September 2014 Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

International platform for doing business in South East and Central Europe

The FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) Summit Slovenia 2014 is an executive-level business conference devoted to the investment environment and opportunities in Slovenia.

Being a business networking event, it is an outstanding opportunity to make new contacts with the leading business people in the region, top government officials, existing international investors in Slovenia and those interested in entering the Slovenian market and develop business in the wider region.

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A Clear Vision for the Future