News Archive - September 2012

The Five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany have met in New York to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

Insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav remained the leading insurer in the Adria region last year, while the group around the NLB bank fell from second to third place among the banks, shows a survey by auditing firm Deloitte.

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed a border security deal after four days of talks. The agreement allows for the resumption of oil exports through Sudan from South Sudan. The dispute brought the countries to the brink of war in April.

Prime Minister Janez Janša told public broadcaster POP TV late on Saturday that the situation in the country was tougher than it was a year ago but still better than what could be in a year if nothing is done. Provided government measures are implemented, Slovenia could return to the path of growth in 2014, Janša stressed.

France’s highest court has upheld the conviction of oil giant Total in the Erika disaster, which left Brittany’s beaches covered with oil, and polluted for a generation.

The National Assembly will meet Monday for its first plenary session after the summer recess. The plenary will begin with questions for the cabinet and government secretary general Božo Predalič, while legislative motions, including on the establishing of a bad bank and the sovereign holding, are scheduled for later this week.

The insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a minibus in the Afghan capital Kabul.

The state-owned development bank SID provided a total of EUR 433m to around 500 Slovenian companies in the first half of this year. The largest share of the loans funded efforts on foreign markets, while the biggest increase in funding was recorded in technological and development projects. As many as 84% of the loans went to SMEs.

Anti-US protests sparked by a film which was made in the United States and which mocks the Prophet Muhammad continued in Cairo on Friday.

Finance Minister Janez Šušteršič commented on Thursday on some of the details of the planned bill addressing banks' bad claims, confirming that the amount of state guarantees needed to finance bad loans of Slovenian banks transferred to a new entity would be limited to EUR 4bn.

Yemen's defence minister has survived an assassination attempt which killed at least 11 people, including seven of his bodyguards, security officials say.

The coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) backs in principle the government's pension reform proposal, though it has qualms about certain aspects of the bill. "The devil's in the detail," DeSUS president Karl Erjavec said Tuesday after the party's executive committee discussed the reform.

Protesters gathered outside the Greek finance ministry in Athens while crucial bailout talks went on inside.

CEO of household appliance maker Gorenje Franjo Bobinac talked to the Monday edition of the daily Delo about the company's plans, including the relocation of washing and drying machine plant from Sweden to the company's base in Velenje. Gorenje is also working on penetrating markets outside Europe with premium products.

Three members of British family killed in France may have been the victims of a contract killing, according to detectives

The opposition Social Democrats (SD) have drawn up a set of proposals that they say should enable Slovenia to resolve its problems on its own, including by encouraging individuals and businesses to invest in domestic banks and sovereign bonds.

The EU has had its rating outlook lowered from stable to negative by Moodys.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said in an interview for the STA on Monday she was absolutely confident that Slovenia and Croatia will find a solution to the issue of Croatian savers in the Zagreb offshoot of the defunct Slovenian LB bank.

It was a relaxed looking President Barack Obama who attended a campaign event in Colorado as he begins a crucial week in his bid to be re-elected.

The Bled Strategic Forum, a major international meeting of politicians, business representatives and scholars, will conclude on Monday with debates on China, Central Asia and Afghanistan, and on the EU's challenges in SE Europe.