the slovenia times 140
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Slovenian magazine in English LanguageTRANSCRIPT
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GUEST STAR 2010 REPORT
May 2011
REAL ESTATEBuilding for the future
The KD Equity Income (KD Delniški dohodkovni) Mutual Fund is managed by KD Funds – Management Company LLC (KD Skladi, družba za upravljanje, d. o. o.), Celovška cesta 206, Ljubljana. You can find information about the Mutual Fund in the Prospectus including the Fund Rules and the Simplified Prospectus. The investor is entitled at any time to request the Simplified Prospectus, the Prospectus including the Fund Rules and the most recently published annual and semi-annual reports free of charge. These documents are available free of charge at all Management Company subscription offices, and in e-format on the website www.kd-skladi.si, along with a list of subscription offices. The KD Equity Income (KD Delniški dohodkovni) Mutual Fund emerged from the transformation of KD ID, Equity Investment Company, plc (KD ID, delniška investicijska družba, d. d.) into a mutual fund. Details of the investment company and its business operations before the transformation into a mutual fund are available on the Management Company’s website. In the first two years following the transformation from an investment company into a mutual fund, the Management Company must charge all investment coupon holders who at the moment of the transformation were shareholders of the Investment Company a redemption fee should they wish to redeem their holdings. In the first and the second year following the transformation the redemption fee amounts to 12% and 8% of the investment coupon value, respectively. * All investors who agree to the KD Equity Income (KD Delniški dohodkovni) Mutual Fund Rules on the basis of a duly completed subscription form, or those who have become investors in the Mutual Fund as shareholders of the Investment Company upon its transformation into a mutual fund and have presented all the necessary details to the Management Company, and whose payments arrive in the Mutual Fund’s current account in the period from 21 April 2011 after 00:01 up to 1 September 2011 until 00:01 a.m. inclusive will in this period not be charged the subscription fees specified in the Mutual Fund Prospectus including the Fund Rules and published on the website www.kd-skladi.si. Discounts do not accumulate. Where several special benefits or discounts are offered, only the discount that is most favourable to the investor will be applied.
Investments in global equities bringing a higher dividend yield.
Multiply your savings with equities issued by top-rated growing companies that pay above-average dividends and share their business successes with their investors.
KD Equity Income Mutual Fund KD Equity Income (KD Delniški dohodkovni) is a new mutual fund. Transformed from the KD ID Investment Company, it has recently joined the family of 17 funds managed by the KD Funds (KD Skladi) Management Company. Although not yet part of the Umbrella Fund, KD Equity Income complements the range of investment opportunities for both existing and new investors. The Mutual Fund invests in shares with a higher dividend yield in all markets and different sectors. It is the first investment fund to pursue this type of investment policy in Slovenia.
The Mutual Fund is suitable for investors who:• want to invest in equities (shares) of top-rated rated growing companies that pay
above-average dividends and share their business successes with investors; • have a financial situation that allows them to assume higher risks coupled with
higher return expectations (on a risk scale from 1 to 10, the risk associated with the Mutual Fund is estimated at between 7 and 8, i.e. higher risk);
• want to keep their assets invested for a longer time period (from five to 10 years or more).
Why invest in the KD Equity Income Mutual Fund?• The stability of your savings is underpinned by the best companies
The Fund will invest in growing global companies that are leaders in their respective sectors and, in addition to enabling capital gains, also pay out a substantial profit in the form of dividends. For investors, this type of investment generally represents a lower risk because the share prices of issuers with stable and growing dividends are subject to less fluctuation in global markets. The Fund will primarily choose companies in more mature sectors (health, telecommunications, energy, supplies).
• The future lies in going globalInitially, the KD ID Investment Company only placed assets in shares issued by Slovenian companies. Later it expanded its investments throughout the European Union region. The transformation into a mutual fund has now opened new possibilities for investing in global capital markets. In the future, the KD Equity Income Mutual Fund will gradually replace its Slovenian holdings with global equity investments.
• Basic diversification of investments As a global fund without a specific geographical or sectoral focus, the Fund is suitable as a base of any investor’s portfolio, in particular since it will seek high-potential investments in all markets and thus enable optimum diversification.
• A portfolio hedged with derivative financial instruments The Fund’s assets will be hedged against market risk with standardised put options whose underlying ranges from equities and equity indices to index funds. In this way, the Fund will be hedged against significant declines in the value of equity investments.
Further informationFor additional information on saving options, please call the free hotline 080 80 24, send an e-mail to [email protected] or contact any of the financial advisers at the KD Funds subscription offices listed on the website www.kd-skladi.si. You are also invited to join the Mutual Fund online using a qualified digital certificate at our web office www.kd-skladi.net.
Invest for a reason
May 2011
3CONTENTS
POLITICS 6 School system on the reform path
ECONOMY 10 Redundancy worries for Črnomelj factory 12 NKBM capital increase causes concern
FDI 15 Slovenia presents its investment projects
to investors in London 16 A match made in heaven for Inles and Ertl Glas
17 Innovation special: A tissue that makes you feel better
18 Embassy diaries
Business Partners
May 2011
54 Every picture tells a story
SLOVENSKA CESTA 5, SI–1000 LJUBLJANAT/F: +386 1 426 80 57 /8 E: [email protected]
T I P O G R A F I J A & I L U S T R A C I J A Naročnik:Skai Center d.o.o.,
Šmartinska 154, Ljubljana
Avtorja:Domen Fras
Maja B. Jančič
Projekt:Celostna grafična podoba
Kristalna palača
Faza:Projekt za izvedbo
Datum:Oktober 2008
Vsebina:Barvni Logotip
angleška različica
List:
2
Najmanjša dovoljena velikostlogotipa je 25 mm.
LIFESTYLE 36 Interiors under Slovenes 39 Unique wooden products 40 The Capital: Ljubljana Castle 41 Guest Star Report 44 Dine with Style: Otoče Castle 46 Style news 47 Column: Andja Marić
48 The Event Guide
SPORTS 52 EBEL league Ice Hockey review
REAL ESTATE SPECIAL 20 Overview of the real estate market
22 Woes continue in the construction industry
24 Interview: Ana Filipov, Schönherr law firm
26 Wood and furniture industries are fighting for survival
28 H.E. Andrew Page and Howard Swan give their view on golf in Slovenia
30 Regional overview: Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia
32 Crunch time for retail real estate in Slovenia
34 Rental market in Slovenia’s Alps has potential
The Slovenia Times
4
source: STA, Slovenian Press Agency
www.sloveniatimes.com
Published every month by DOMUS, založba in trgovina d.o.o.CEO and publisher: Brane Krajnik
Editorial office: Trg MDB 12, 1000 Ljubljana
phone – desk: +386 (0)1 520 50 84
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email: [email protected]
PANORAMA
Editor-in-chiefJaka [email protected]
Business editorMaja Dragović[email protected]
Assistant editorClaire Read
Sub-editorTerry Troy Jackson, s.p.
Art directorMaja Kaplan ([email protected])
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Marketing/Advertising
Marko Stijepić[email protected]
Irena Krž[email protected]
Uroš [email protected]
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Nobody Wants Mini JobsThe government’s reform efforts suffered a severe setback when voters rejected the mini jobs law in the 10 April referen-dum with a landslide 80%, with a third of the electorate turning up to vote. The immediate consequence is that the law, which would have abolished student work in its present form and introduced a new type of short-term employment, extending it also to pensioners and the unemployed, will be shelved and parliament may not pass similar legislation for a year. This was hailed by the biggest opponents of the law, students and trade unions, which called the vote a defeat of the government’s method of social dialogue. But far more important is what the vote presages for the pension reform, the linchpin of the govern-ment’s reform drive, which is expected to be put to referendum shortly. There is unanimous agreement that the pension reform law stands no chance of being con-firmed, while the same fate will also befall the unpopular act on the prevention of un-declared work, which will be put to voters on 5th June.More broadly, the outcome highlights the government’s inability to make much needed changes in the face of popular discontent and an opposition bent on un-dermining its every move, no matter how necessary it may be in order to kick-start economic recovery. The immediate after-math of the vote thus saw calls for early elections, but PM Borut Pahor rejected this option, saying that the government will push ahead with what it deems is good for the country, no matter what the popular verdict is. This could mean a government relegated to caretaker role for the remain-der of its term, exactly what the main op-position Democrats (SDS) proposed in their first reaction to the vote.
The DownfallWith DeSUS out of the coalition, the minority government faces a situation with many possible outcomes.
It has all began with executive committee of the Pensioners’ Party’s decision that party leave the ruling government coalition. The party president Karl Erjavec highlighted DeSUS’s opposition to the pension reform and the reasons that led to resig-nation of its member Duša Trobec Bučan as minis-ter for local government and regional development. Trobec Bručan stepped down over alleged lack of trust in her work. Erjavec added that DeSUS, which started the term of the incumbent ruling coalition with seven MPs before two decided to become in-dependent deputies, would nonetheless try to act in a constructive manner in parliament.DeSUS deputy group head Joško Godec stressed that the decision had also been backed by all of party’s MPs, whereas Roko Žarnić, a university professor who took over as the environment and spatial planning minister, said that he planned to stay in politics although his time as minister seems to be ending.After DeSus, Zares as well decided to cut into the government. However it was not the party itself, but Gregor Golobič, who has announced that to
step down as well as the party leader and as a minister of higher education, science and technol-ogy. He will probably resign before the referendum on the pension reform, planned for early June. PM Pahor responded by urging Golobič to think twice before stepping down or at least until after the in-coming referendum triplet. Pahor also said he saw no reasons for his own resignation, arguing that he is responsible for the stability of the country. Slovenia is not in a political crisis, but only faces a coalition crisis, which it can overcome, Pahor said after a meeting of his party. Meanwhile, two independence figures, Spomenka Hribar and Ivan Oman, told Pahor should resign, but that a snap election is not a solution.President Danilo Tuerk called for a solution to the crisis, possibly before the summer recess, favour-ing early elections as the best possible way out. Turk also noted that the pension reform, which is facing a referendum, should not be tied to the faltering support for the government. He urged all political parties to take a step back and think about political interests after the referendum.
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5UNDER THE PRESS
“As a citizen, I am concerned that politicians, many businessmen and other elite members of society behave as if they were only acting in a play, one which they can leave at any time. Their play is about scoring against each other, and they are losing any touch with the reality of this country. This leads to catastrophe. It’s also tragic that all of us watch
their lousy performance and react to it. Instead, we should simply leave the theatre and let them play only with each other.”Law expert Miro Cerar in “Objektiv” on bad political
behaviour
The Judiciary
Unwanted JudgeThe National Assembly failed to appoint Rado Bohinc, legal expert and chancellor of the Primorsko University, as Constitutional Court judge. The rejection came as a surprise, after all coalition deputy groups promised to support him, but the secret ballot showed that three coalition depu-ties voted against him. The opposition was happy with the outcome, as it objected Bohinc’s appointment, accusing him of acting against Slovenia’s independ-ence during the country’s battle to break away from former Yugoslavia. The SDS also accused him of issuing unfounded deci-sions reinstating the status of the erased (citizens of former Yugoslavia who were de-leted from Slovenia’s permanent resident register) during his time as interior minister between 2000 and 2004.
Minorities
Assimilation Plan?Several Slovenian political parties have voiced harsh protest over the proposed new Hungarian constitu-tion, which they believe excludes ethnic minorities in Hungary with a wording making them part of the Hungarian nation. Such assimila-tion attempts are unacceptable, they point out. According to the senior coalition Social Democrats and the opposition Democrats and People’s Party, striking minorities out from the constitution is a grave violation of European standards and a number of international treaties. The parties pointed at the 1995 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) and other minority protec-tion documents of the international institution. Also they adressed the authorities in Hungary not to pass such constitutional changes in their vote expected in mid-April.Some 3,000 Slovenes live in Porabje, an underdeveloped region in the south-west of Hungary. The minority is struggling with a lack of funds and unresolved issues regarding the use of the Slovenian language in schools, official institutions and the media.
Medicine
Homeopathy LegalizedFirst homeopathic remedies have become available in Slovenia as the national Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices approved their sale. Slovenian pharmacies have been prepar-ing for their arrival for years, with more than 300 chemists having completed training in homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies, which usu-ally come in the form of granules or a solution, will be issued without prescription and are intended for self-treatment. Under the compli-mentary and alternative medicine act, passed in 2007, homeopathy can be practised in Slovenia by doctors who have got training in homeopathy and obtained a licence in line with this law. However, once licensed as a homeopath, a doctor in fact loses his doctor’s license, preventing him from practising con-ventional medicine, which is seen as a problem in Slovenia.
Numismatics
Head or Tail?The Slovenian central bank Banka Slovenije issued 12,000 commemora-tive two-euro coins bearing the image of Franc Rozman Stane and a five-pointed star. Franc Rozman was a volunteer in the Spanish civil war, where he became a battalion commander. Having returned home, he joined the Patrisan resistance against Germans and in July 1943, he took the helm of the High Command of the Slovenian partisan army with the rank of lieutenant general. He died in November 1944 in an accident while testing new mortars. The Coins sparked protests by political organisations who see the partisans as communist revolutionaries rather than occupation resistance. Opposition leader Janez Janša called the issue a provocation on the 20th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence.
“Figuratively speaking, a citizen feels no safer because of a hundred kilos of heroin that the police has seized, since it doesn’t happen in his own environment. He is more interested in whether he is going to have bike stolen, his home burgled, or be mugged on his street. White collar crime is not seen as something that would threaten his security.”
Police Director Janko Goršek in “Dnevnik”, on why white collar crime doesn’t affect the image of Slovenia as a safe country.
“Be aware that years ago there was much speculating about the danger for Slovenian companies moving their manufacturing to China, where they would find cheap labour. The reality facing Slovenia and Europe is just the opposite: Slovenes will become cheap labour for the Chinese.”
Gregor Golobič to journalists on the ultimate consequence of failing reforms.
“During the cold war, things were particularly complicated for Yugoslav journalists because we did not belong to any side. We had to pay attention not to enrage the Russians more than Americans. But it was not always like that. During the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, we indulged in criticism of the attack.”
Legend of political journalism Jurij Gustinčič, on reporting during the cold war.
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6 POLITICS
Dictatorship of discontent
Several months ago, the newspaper Delo published a survey in which random Slove-nians were asked about their preferences on energy issues. 73 per cent of those surveyed agreed that the future of power should ultimately be green, meaning focused on the sun, wind and water. However, 60 percent of respondents to the same questionnaire also supported the investment into TEŠ 6, another block of a coal operated thermal plant – a dirty energy of earth and fire. Where’s the logic, you may wonder? The whole issue has already got sucked deeply into the vortex of bad political habits: multi-million building contracts promised, hopes for regional development raised, and ambitions for power over “power”. It is interesting that the political supporters of the coal plant have some-how gained the mantle of the good guys against the Zares party who, along with the environmentalists, have openly opposed the plan. For its previous affairs, Zares is known as a “greedy bastard”. And the tree-huggers? Who cares!
This controversy is characteristic of the Slovenian democratic atti-tude. We somehow sense the need for thorough changes in taxation, pension system, labour policies and so on but the distrust for the cur-rent government generates an eternal standstill.
And then, there is the referendum law.When the fathers of the nation created Act 90 of the Slovenian con-
stitution, they were probably a bit over-euphoric at the transition to a democratic society. What they didn’t take into account is the elitist argument that sometimes a democracy should be protected from its own “people”. Because of this act it is very easy for a group of MPs or ordinary citizens to call for a referendum on basically any lawmaking issue. To make things even worse, the referendum decision is binding to the government even if the turnout is as low as three per cent, which somehow corresponds to the minimum number of citizens signed un-der a referendum request. Above all, referendums are very expensive.
Our short history reveals fifteen more or less ridiculous, and gener-ally lowly attended, referendums: whether shops should be open on Sundays (the results of that poll were widely ignored) and whether single women should be allowed a bio-medical insemination were two of the highlights (or lowlights). Not to mention two referendums on media acts, which essentially consulted a hypothetical Mr Alojz K., a retired car mechanic from Kobjeglava, on how to assemble the pro-gramming council of the national broadcaster. Obviously, in many cases the majority of people lack any idea of what the question is actu-ally about or just don’t care. Since you cannot expect Alojz K to analyse the law he is voting on, it all goes down to political interpretations with essentially demagogic and simplified campaigns, full of ideology that play on ethos, pathos, and – mostly – fear.
In the current situation, the referendum has become an instrument of extortion. There is no need to repeat that we are dealing with a gov-ernment lacking in any credibility and an opposition which constantly reminds one of the story of the scorpion and the frog. The level of governmental authority has actually become the measure for the qual-ity of its acts: when the “little labour act” went down the referendum drain, the results matched the government’s ratings in polls.
Three more referendums have been set to June: On pension reform, prevention of undeclared employment and on declassifying the ar-chives. Meanwhile, the government seems to have given up on the family law, well aware that the act on equalising homosexual families has no chance of withholding the referendum threat.
When Prime Minister Borut Pahor introduced his term as a period of “unpopular” yet inevitable changes, he probably didn’t account for such resistance. Now he’s probably been singing “should I stay or should I go,” knowing that the trouble won’t go away whatever he does.
Despite vocal speculations it should be reviewed, the referendum act is not likely to go either. Amendments to the constitution require a two third majority in parliament and there is probably more than a third of deputies who just love to play with referendums.
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
By Jaka Terpinc
Educational reform
New School DealSlovenia’s education system is facing significant changes, aiming at higher efficiency and better results. After two years of expert activities, it’s now up to politicians to pass the reforms.by Tjaša Pureber
It has been more than 15 years since Slovenia has made any serious systematic interven-
tions in its educational system at the levels of primary and sec-ondary schools, apart from some minor shifts in different more or less successful directions. How-ever, the new reform that was introduced at the beginning of April, and already caused some consternation among experts, will be a major milestone that will with no doubt have lasting effects on the educational system as we know it.
It is expected that questions such as the abolition of free pre-school for a family’s second child will be at the centre of the public debate around the new reform. However, the most important question remains whether or not this reform will contribute to the excellence of the pupils’ achieve-
ments, since they usually fall in the middle of the comparable countries.
The so-called Bela knjiga (White Book) of school reform was pre-pared by a group of 20 experts that were appointed with this task al-most two years ago by Minister of Education and Sport Igor Lukšič. They finished the document in the early April.
Safely in the middleIt is often heard among Slove-
nian politicians that the key chal-lenge of the country’s future lies in a well-educated labour force, which can provide extra value on the global market. Nevertheless, the numbers show that Slovenia has been investing less and less in basic education every year since 2005, and has now, with a little over five percent of GDP, sunk be-low the OECD average of approxi-
May 2011
7POLITICS
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mately six percent of GDP invest-ed into formal education.
What is perhaps even more wor-risome, according to international research, is that Slovenian pupils usually reach a little over average, compared with the knowledge of their peers in comparable coun-tries. For instance, according to the OECD PISA research project, Slovenian pupils fall in the aver-age range in all three major sub-jects: reading, natural sciences and math. The most problematic is the reading literacy, where the results are in constant decline. They have reached their lowest point in 2009, with Slovenia be-low both OECD and EU averages. Another problem is that Slovenian children do not attain high levels of excellence. Only 0.3% of pupils are in the top of their generation, whereas the OECD average is 1.0% and the EU average is 0.6%.
Second baby free of charge: not any more
With these numbers in mind, the reform will start at the be-ginning of the educational chain – preschools. Trends show, that in the previous decade there are more and more children enrolled in preschools every year, which correlates to the rising number of working mothers. Approximate-ly, 70% of preschool age children were attending such schools in 2009. However, a closer look into the numbers show, that there are only 40% of children of aged one year attended preschool, while more than 90% of children aged six years attended preschool.
Presently, if a family has a sec-ond or more children in the pre-school at the same time, they only have to pay for the first one. This was one of the measures to encourage young people to have more children, introduced by now leading opposition party SDS in the previous government. Of course, now they are the most vo-cal critics of the new reform that will abolish this right. Instead, the reform proposes that second and other children would have 50% discount if they attended pre-school at the same time as the first child.
Marks will come soonerPrimary schools will see the
most changes if the reform passes with little modification. One of the key innovations is the intro-duction of numerical marks in the third grade, which is a year soon-er than in the present system. The experts we spoke with agree with this change, saying that the mate-rial pupils have to learn is not as difficult in the third grade as it is in the fourth. Therefore, pupils will likely be faced with better grades in the third grade, which will contribute to a less stressful passage from one marking system to another.
They are also making signifi-cant changes in the learning of foreign languages. The first for-eign language will be compulso-ry in the second year and option-al in the first. The second foreign language will not be obligatory, which is considered to be a deeply flawed proposal by many experts and teachers.
There will be more external test-ing of the pupil’s knowledge as well. Reformers are proposing one exam at the end of first three years and then another two at the end of sixth grade and eighth grades.
Furthermore, they are propos-ing smaller class sizes in the last two grades for the main subjects of math, Slovenian and foreign languages. At this point, it should be mentioned that Slovenian pri-mary schools have nine grades. Pupils are usually around 5 or 6 years old when they enter primary school and 14 to 15 when they go to secondary school.
Dividing pupils One of the more controversial
proposals of the new education re-form are the divisions of students into different levels in secondary school in the key subjects that are part of the Matura, the special exam at the end of four years of high school, which also serves for entry to university. Critics observe that it is unclear who will be the sorting students into different levels and according to which
criteria. Reformers respond that they are only giving their expert opinion, but that implementation is not their responsibility. They defend the proposed change with the fact that last year only 43% of all students were enrolled in gim-nazija – secondary schools aimed at preparing students for univer-sity. In their opinion, we cannot expect excellent knowledge from all of them, but the best should have opportunities to develop even further.
The question is of course, how to ensure that those who need more time to grow in their knowl-edge skills will be able to so if they are sorted into groups for “bad students”, and of course how will this affect their psychological state, which is most vulnerable in adolescence.
There are also proposals for sig-nificant changes in the vocational training secondary schools. Those schools that were offering three-year programs will now trans-form to a four-year curriculum. At the same time, they are cancelling the programs that were offering a “three plus two years” program. Moreover, there will be more op-tions for those who attend such schools to get more preparation, if they decide to write a Matura exam, which will enable them to enter university.
Public debate on the reforms of education system will be over by the end of May, when it is ex-pected that the reform will enter into governmental and later par-liamentary procedure. Until then, it can undergo significant chang-es.
Can the school system under Education minister Igor Lukšič make a move towards excellence?
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The Slovenia Times
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ECONOMyFACTS AND FIGURES source: STA, Slovenian Press Agency
Mercator shares sliding (in EUR per share)
Final Appeal Prime Minister Borut Pahor has called on his political opponents to support pension reform in any upcoming referendum on the issue.Reiterating that reform was inevitable and would be even harder to implement in the future, Pahor said rejection of the proposals would send a signal to financial markets that Slovenia was incapable of modernisation. The Prime Minister and his supporters believe that if the system is not changed, Slovenia’s credit rating could suffer meaning higher credit cost and in turn severe authority measures.Although trade unions have collected enough support for a referendum to be called, Pahor is hopeful that they will ultimately decide not to call the vote: “Perhaps the masters of this decision will stop to consider whether this is truly the most useful act”.
The head of the country’s biggest union asso-ciation has however indicated that the only the annulment of reform would stop it from forcing the referendum. “The unions’ goal is not a refer-endum, but to prevent the implementation of a reform that is unfriendly to most workers,” ZSSS boss Dušan Semolič said in response to Pahor’s appeal. “We cannot give in here because such is the will of the people now, so this is no longer the union’s cause”.The standoff between the government and trade unions is such that most believe a referendum will take place – and that the government will lose. Many are concerned by the costs that will be involved in this outcome. Head of the junior coalition Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) Karl Erjavec asserts that the government will “lose the refer-endum; what is more, the referendum will cost
EUR 4m, which could go into the pension purse instead.”Pahor’s appeal for support came just days after his government suffered a humiliating defeat when its mini jobs act, a part of the economic re-form package, was rejected in a referendum.
Food industry
Žito Opens Four Bakery ShopsSlovenia’s leading bread and pasta maker Žito has opened four new bakeries. The shops, based in Ljubljana and Koper, will offer traditionally baked bread without additives. According to Žito chair-man Toni Balažič, the firm has developed 60 new products for the shops and aims to promote healthy eating among Slovenians. “We want to increase the share of the healthier and better bread that also has a higher added value.” Žito, which bakes between 70 and 80 tonnes of bread each day, plans to open six more such bakeries in the coming year.
Retail
Bids for Mercator Extended
Bids for a 23.34 percent share in Mercator have been extended past the previous deadline, the stake’s current owner has announced. Beverage group Pivovarna Laško says that “due to changed circum-stances in the process of sale” it has “thanked some bidders for their cooperation while continuing negotiations with the others.” Bids for the stake in Slovenia’s lead-ing retailer have been submitted by Croatian food and retail group Agrokor and investment funds Mid Europa Partners and Warburg Pincus. Unofficially, negotia-tions only continue with Croatia’s Agrokor.
Agriculture
Lobbying for CAP ReformSlovenia has reservations about reform of the European Union’s common agricultural policy accord-ing to one of its government’s min-isters. Agriculture Minister Dejan Židan presented the concerns when he met with European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos last month. He says the two biggest challenges for Slovenia are the abo-lition of “historical entitlements” and support for disadvantaged ar-eas. Historical entitlements (which depend on the value of subsidies paid in a reference period) affect 30 percent of farm production in Slovenia, especially cattle breed-ing. Židan says Slovenia is therefore seeking a gradual transition to a “non-historical” system that would allow for other mechanisms to offset the expected loss of income for farmers. The minister has also been lobbying hard for some sort of preservation of payments for less favoured (especially mountainous) areas as 74 percent of Slovenia’s farmland is in those areas, where the cost of producing food is higher and therefore requires subsidies.Židan has said that the European Commission is now going to exam-ine the proposals he put forward.
Retail
Tuš Holding Sells Supermarkets in Serbia
Tuš Holding has sold all of its six supermarkets in Serbia. The stores were sold to Idea, a com-pany owned by Croatian food group Agrokor. According to the holding, the firm also took over all employ-ees although one shop has been closed. The sale comes after the re-tail chain Tuš, the holding’s primary business, was reported to be hav-ing trouble in paying its suppliers and the holding reached a deal with banks on a seven-year moratorium on loans. While the Celje-based group has been tight-lipped about its debts and dealings with banks, the daily Dnevnik reported back in September that total debts of Tuš Holding amount to EUR 670m and that it had EUR 6.6 of outstanding liabilities for every euro in capital. The holding did not disclose the financial details of the sale to Idea.
ZSSS boss Dušan Semolič
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May 2011
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Modest GDP growth
Number of unemployed keeps going up
Labour
Unemployment Remains at Record LevelThe number of Slovenians regis-tered as unemployed remained at a record level in February, the Statistics Office has revealed. Some 12.3 percent of the popula-tion were out of work in the second month of 2011. The figure of 115,608 was an increase of 476 over January and a 15.9 percent year-on-year increase. The unem-ployment rate among men and women remained level at 12 per-cent and 12.7 percent respectively.Meanwhile, the number of people in paid employment grew by 0.1 percent to 727,833 in February, down 2.9 percent year-on-year.
Energy
Decision on New TEŠ Generator Delayed
Plans to build a new generator at the Šoštanj coal-fired power plan have been postponed once again due to fresh concerns about the project. According to the economy minister Darja Radić, an inspec-tion of TEŠ’s operations suggested “quite a number of serious reasons to suspect” that laws were violated and revealed the . However, the minister adds that the suspicions were not so serious as to warrant the project being suspended. The government now plans an audit of the EUR 1bn-plus project and a postponement of the decision on the state guarantee needed for a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Logistics
Aerodrom Ljubljana’s Profits Drop
The operator of Ljubljana’s Jože Pučnik Airport has posted a fall in profits. Aerodrom Ljubljana recorded EUR 4.28m of net profit in 2010, a 30 percent fall. Revenues remained steady at EUR 33.88m. The firm says its results results were affected by the financial troubles of the com-pany’s main partner, Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways. While Jože Pučnik Airport saw a slight drop in passengers in 2010, the share flying with Adria Airways did increase by 1.6 percentage points to 77.7 percent. The number of flights fell by 6.4 percent to around 42,600 in 2010. On the other hand, the volume of transported cargo increased by 20.8 percent to around 17,300 tonnes.
Gaming industry
Management of Troubled Casino Steps Down
The board of gaming company Casino Portorož has resigned. Chairman Marjan Bolka and man-agement board member Dušan Mes tendered their resignations last month. Their departures come a month before the end of their terms and amid speculation that the state-owned company is in seri-ous financial trouble. It recorded a EUR 1.7m loss in 2010 alone. According to the daily Dnevnik, state-owned funds KAD and SOD had made a cash injection con-ditional on an overhaul of the management.
Home appliances
Gorenje Introducing Premium Brand
Gorenje is to launch a premium brand of kitchen appliances. Gorenje+ is being launched in a bid to boost the sales of upmarket products with higher value added. Head of marketing Aleksander Uranc says the strategic brand will in the long run become Gorenje’s leading European brand. Gorenje+ will be launched in Germany, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia this spring.
Automotive industry
Car Part Makers Establish Green PartnershipRepresentatives of eight Slovenian car in-dustry com-panies have formally established a partner-ship to find green methods of transport.The SiEVA (“Synergic Eco Safe Automobile”) partner-ship includes Cimos, Hidria, Iskra Avtoelektrika, Iskra Mehanizmi, Kolektor Group, Mariborska livarna Maribor, Polycom and TPV. The joint company, modelled after similar as-sociations around the world, will be headed by the vice-president of the management board of industrial group Hidria, Miloš Šturm. The part-nership will associate know-how, potential and infrastructure for de-veloping new solutions in the field of advanced internal combustion engines, hybridisation and electri-fication of vehicles, safety, comfort and production excellence.
Economic growth
IMF Downgrades Growth ForecastThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its projec-tions for Slovenia’s economic growth in 2011. The Fund now forecasts two percent growth this year, down on the previous estimate of 2.4 percent. It does foresee 2.4 growth in 2012, however. The projections of growth are somewhat above the eurozone average, where economic growth is anticipated to stand at 1.6 percent in 2011 and 1.8 percent in 2012. The IMF’s longer-term predic-tions tell a similar story: it forecasts a 1.9 growth for Slovenia for 2016 while the eurozone average stands at 1.7 percent.Inflation in Slovenia is projected to stand at 2.2 percent this year and 3.1 percent next year. The average for the eurozone is expected to be 2.3 percent in 2011 and 1.7 percent in 2012.
Automotive industry
Adria Mobil Boosts SalesCamper and caravan maker Adria Mobil has announced a growth in sales. The Novo Mesto-based firm says it sold more than 8,800 vehicles last year to post EUR 203m in net sales revenues, up 27 percent year-on-year, and a EUR 7.5m net profit. It says that it sales and market share on the European market is increasing even though the market itself is shrinking. The company invested in development EUR 3.9m last year, which is 35 percent more than in 2009, and launched five new products.
Marketing
Mobitel Named Best AdvertiserMobile operator Mobitel has been named best advertiser and Futura DDB best advertising agency at the 20th Slovenian Advertising Festival. Futura DDB tied for first with Publicis in points, but it won by virtue of having received more awards in individual categories. Mobitel was honoured for having “surpassed traditional limits of advertising” and underpinning all of its activities with a distinct corpo-rate communication. The award for advertising personality of the year went to Janez Rakušček, creative director of agency Luna\TBWA.
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10 ECONOMY
Danfoss Compressors
Compressed WorkforceIt was last November that Danfoss Compressors – a Danish firm with a successful Slovenian arm – was formally taken over by a German holding. The new owner declared a commitment to driving its acquisition forward to further success. But five months later and the picture for workers at the compressor manufacturer is bleak. With significant layoffs announced, most now fear for their futures – while the government fears for the Slovenian region the company has called home.By Claire Read
Those who go to the website of AURELIUS AG are of-fered a very simple expla-
nation of the organisation’s pur-pose. The site states simply that it is “an industrial holding with a long-term investment horizon”. Anyone reading on will learn that the German group’s focus is on taking over companies “with po-tential for development”. A little later the holding asserts that its “responsible actions and sustain-able concepts focus on the benefit of all stakeholders.”
One suspects that the Slovenian employees of Danfoss Compres-sors – taken over by AURELIUS AG late last year and renamed Secop – would struggle to agree with the last part. Last month, it became clear that most of them are going to lose their jobs. Some 250 to 300 will be made redundant this year. Another four hundred or so will go in 2012. Once the process is over, the workforce will have shrunk by two thirds.
A shockThe news of the layoffs was
greeted with confusion. Under the management of the Danish firm Danfoss, the Črnomelj-based Slov-enian wing had generated 40 per-cent of the group’s total revenues. In 2010, it produced and sold some 4.5 million compressors generat-ing an estimated revenue of EUR 154m and a pre-tax profit of EUR 8m. Efforts to improve efficiency and develop an improved product – made after a tough, loss-making 2009 – seemed to be paying off.
Indeed, when the takeover by AURELIUS AG was announced it barely made headlines. The state-ments by the holding all empha-sised continuity, explaining that the newly-renamed Secop would continue to do business with its previous owners Danfoss and that the takeover would not affect the staff on a day-to-day basis. The firm’s managing director issued an upbeat message: “With AU-RELIUS as our new shareholder,” Mogens Søholm said, “we have found a good partner who will support us in further developing and growing our business.”
Fierce competitionHalf a year later and it is clear
that AURELIUS does not be-lieve that such development and growth can take place in Slov-enia. Instead, it plans to relocate the bulk of production to Slovo-
kia and it is this move which will leave most of Secop’s Slovenian employees without a job.
Søholm says the decision has been taken to better meet ongoing fierce competition and challenges in the global compressor industry. But, predictably, worker organisa-tions are dismayed. The head of Slovenia’s largest trade union as-sociation has rejected all the ar-guments made for the relocation. Dušan Semolič of ZSSS says that the corporate tax rate in Slovenia is lower than that in Slovakia; that labour costs at the Črnomelj plant are low; and that employment legislation in the country is not as rigid as it sometimes implied.
Political concernPolit ical leaders are wor-
ried by the move too. The may-or of Črnomelj, Mojca Čemas St jepanovič, believes that the redundancies might affect the South Eastern region more than the bankruptcy of clothing giant Mura affected Prekmurje. She es-timates that once the relocation has been completed, unemploy-ment in Črnomelj will reach 15 percent.
The government seems to be taking such warnings seriously. Following the announcement of the layoffs, it adopted a set of tem-porary development measures for municipalities along the Kolpa river. It has also agreed a EUR 20m development promotion pro-gramme. And it has committed to helping Secop find a strategic partner to take on the workers who are not being made redun-dant – something the compressor manufacturer says it is keen to do.
“We believe that seeking a stra-tegic partner for our components manufacturing provides a sustain-able perspective to a large number of employees in Črnomelj,” says Søholm.
The fact remains that, even if such an investor is found, there will be far more workers who lose their jobs at Secop than keep them. But at this worrying time for Črnomelj, the feeling is that some-thing is better than nothing.
Broken promises: only six months after taking over Danfoss Compressors, the German holding Aurelius AG announced it is to make up to 300 workers redundant this year alone, with more redundancies to follow in 2012
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Cheaper location: Aurelius AG is moving the production to Slovakia
The Summer is rapidly approaching and with it time out, travel, the seaside… Mobi-tel’s carefree price plans make sure that you can relax when using your mobile abroad as well.
Come the Summer many of us take trips, embark on shorter or longer travels or just go laying about some nice beach. When we are travelling abroad, our mobiles are indispensi-ble accessories. But due to often rather expen-sive roaming charges many are still cautious when using their phone overseas. The con-cern, however, is unnecessary as the charges are continually decreasing. More to the point, it is now possible to easily make a reliable cost estimate when making a call – Mobitel users are charged the same price regardless of the roaming operator network. By setting network search to ‘automatic’ on a device we can be as-sured of the best reception possible and always at the same rate. Yes, roaming is most afford-able in EU countries of the Eurotariff zone, but the prices are also reasonable in Croatia and other favourite tourist destinations.
When abroad we still tend to make most use of the more basic mobile services – namely making phone calls and texting. Mobitel has therefore introduced price plans that enable a bulk purchase of minutes or texts, so enabling better cost control for customers. Mobitel is now offering Talking Hour and 100 Texts price plans for the EU and the Balkans (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montene-gro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia). Choose the Talking Hour price plan and you’ll get 60 minutes of incoming and outbound calls and videocalls. Opt for the 100 Texts plan and you’ll receive 100 texts to be used within the charging period. To activate the desired price plan just fill out the Additional Services form before your departure.
Even when abroad you may have times when you want to use mobile internet, for instance for checking email, finding local services to
decide which tourist attractions to see or just for browsing newspapers. Yet, due to high data transfer charges in the past, people today are still quite sceptical about using mobile inter-net in foreign networks. But with Mobitel data plans for abroad it is possible to make sure that at the end of the month the bill will not be a surprise. There are three plans to choose between: Internet Abroad S with 10 MB data transfer; Internet Abroad M with 30 MB data transfer; and for the most demanding users In-ternet Abroad with 100 MB data transfer. In short, it is easy to pick the price plan which best suits your needs.
The impressive selection of mobile services
gives you the chance to select additional func-tions. In this way you can choose diverse and accessible modern technologies even when travelling abroad on holidays, business or just go for a nice sunbath on a sunny beach.
For more details on Mobitel’s price plans and services abroad visit www.mobitel.si.
For more information on Mobitel services and special offers visit www.mobitel.si, your nearest Mobitel Centre or, if you are Mobitel user, call the Mobitel Customer Support Cen-tre for free on 041 700 700 (from abroad +386 41 700 700).
Carefree travel abroad
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Mobitel is now offering Talking
Hour and 100 Texts price plans for the EU and the Balkans (including Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Montenegro,
Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia).
Choose the Talking Hour price plan and you’ll get 60 minutes of incoming and
outbound calls and videocalls. Opt for the 100 Texts plan and you’ll receive
100 texts to be used within the charging period.
12 ECONOMY
It was on 4 April that NKBM launched the first stage of its capital increase, valued at
some EUR 132.4m. Existing own-ers, and subsequently other inves-tors, were invited to subscribe to just over 13 million new shares to be double-listed in Ljubljana and Warsaw. The result was a much-needed influx of money into Slov-enia’s second largest bank – in the first round investors bought over eight million fresh shares, worth a total of EUR 64.45m. In the sec-ond round of the increase, 15 per-cent of shares were made available to smaller investors in Ljubljana and Warsaw and the rest to do-mestic and foreign institutional investors.
There was one big potential investor which, officially speak-ing, decided not to participate in the recapitalisation: namely, the state. Having recently supplied Slovenia’s largest bank NLB with fresh investment, the government took the decision to step back from the NKBM capital injection. And yet some fancy footwork has en-sured that the state will retain its significant influence in the bank in which it has owned a fifty one
percent stake. The Capital Assets Management Agency (AUKN) took advantage of the state’s preemptive right, as an existing owner, to purchase shares. But it did so by transferring the pur-chase right to state-owned power utility Gen Energija, national grid operator ELES and postal compa-ny Pošta Slovenije. The three firms reportedly bought EUR 20m, EUR 7.5m and EUR 20m worth of fresh shares respectively and, in so do-ing, ensured continued and strong state involvement in NKBM.
Political meddling?This move by the guardian of
the state’s capital stakes in com-panies has quickly become a very hot political potato. Allegations have flown that Finance Minis-ter Franc Križanič interfered in the decision-making process at AUKN, urging the body to find a way to purchase shares. Križanič has strongly rejected the claims. He is not the only one issuing de-nials over the matter – Prime Min-
ister Borut Pahor has been forced to defend himself against sug-gestions that he allowed himself to be manipulated over the capi-tal increase. The premier says the agency’s management presented legal and economic reasons for state participation in the increase; reasons which convinced him that the agency’s decision was the right one. He has assured the public that AUKN remains a politically independent body.
But even some within Pahor’s own government are unconvinced by his claims. Economy Minister Darja Radić has argued that the agency’s decision to carry out the capital increase on behalf of the state runs contrary to previously-stated government policy. Gregor Golobič agrees. The Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology says “the prime min-ister is very wrong in this case”.
“The move of the agency, which is obviously sponsored by the Fi-nance Ministry, is an irresponsi-ble, harmful action which runs
Finance
In a StateA capital increase has taken place at Slovenia’s second largest bank – and with it a major debate over state involvement in the banking sector. While all acknowledge the additional funds will help NKBM accelerate crediting of businesses and also expand into foreign markets, many are critical of the what they see as by-the-back-door state participation in the increase.Ba Maja Dragović
Not without consequence: many are worried that AUKN’s involvement in NKBM capital increase will impact badly on Slovenia’s image as an investment destination
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May 2011
13ECONOMY
contrary to the past talks of the government,” Golobič argues. “[The agency] has decided to pur-sue some non-transparent logic of a not yet drafted government strategy on the financial sector while completely ignoring all pri-orities that have been agreed upon as part of the energy policy”.
There are also fears that the move could be harmful to the three state companies which have bought shares in NKMB. Those worries seem to be borne out by a press release issued by ELES. The firm, which confirmed it had pur-chased EUR 7.5m of fresh NKBM shares in line with the agency’s decision, expressed hope that AUKN would task the company to sell the shares “as soon as pos-sible”, and with profit. “Other-wise we’ll be forced to take out a loan in the amount of the value of NKBM shares to finance our fu-
ture investments,” the company added.
Bad imageThose in the Slovenian bank-
ing industry, meanwhile, are concerned that the agency’s ac-tions could harm the image of the sector.
“Treating NKBM, which wants to get listed on a foreign stock ex-change, in this way can cause the bank a lot of damage, which gives a bad impression about the entire banking system and financial sta-bility in general,” believes France Arhar, chairman of Unicredit ban-ka Slovenije.
NKBM may now have the addi-tional capital that its management has long argued it needs. But the question that many are now ask-ing is: at what cost?
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ELES expressed hope thatAUKN would task the company to sell the shares “as soon as possible”, and with profit. “Otherwise we’ll be forced to take out a loan in the amount of the value of NKBM shares to finance our future investments,” the company added.
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14 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FDI NEWS IN BRIEF source: STA, Slovenian Press Agency
Division for FDI Verovškova 60 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia tel.: +386 1 5891 870 fax: +386 1 5891 877 e-mail: [email protected] www.investslovenia.org
JAPTI (Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investment) is a business facilitator providing free information and advising services for foreign investors:
• Information on business opportunities, legislation, taxes and incentive • Information on industrial sites and local suppliers • Links with industry and local authorities • Arranging visiting programmes to the most suitable locations
Automotive industry
Revoz Remains Slovenia’s Top ExporterCar assembly plant Revoz remained Slovenia’s biggest exporter in 2010 according to new data prepared by the Delo newspaper. The Slovenian subsidiary of French car maker Renault exported EUR 1.3bn-worth of goods last year. It was followed by home appliances maker Gorenje with EUR 1.1bn-worth of exports and drug maker Krka with EUR 855.8m. The top ten was round-ed out by steel group SIJ (EUR 488.8m), energy producer Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (EUR 446m), aluminium maker Impol (EUR 375.4m), energy group Petrol (EUR 360m), car parts maker Cimos (EUR 346.5m), SIJ subsidiary Acroni (EUR 299.7m) and industrial group Kolektor (EUR 297.1m).
Logistics
Chinese Interested in RailwaysA delegation from China has visited Slovenia last month to discuss plans for a second railway track between the port of Koper and the transport hub of Divača. The delegation, included representatives of the Chinese Railways Ministry and two railway infrastructure companies. The Slovenian Transport Ministry has declared itself happy with the visit but emphasised that no concrete agreements were reached at what it says was the first meeting of the group.
Exports
Slovenia’s Exports SurgeSlovenian exports surged in February but the trade gap is growing ever wider, new data from the Statistics Office has shown. Exports showed a 20.2 percent year-on-year increase in February to EUR 1.58bn but the trade gap nearly doubled over the month before with imports up 21.4 percent to EUR 1.72bn. This puts the trade gap at EUR 135m and the export-import coverage at 92.1 percent. Over the first two months of 2011 exports rose 22.4 percent year-on-year to EUR 3.1bn, with imports up 23.1 percent to EUR 3.31bn.
Trade with Germany
German Delegation Visits SloveniaA business delegation from the German state of Saarland has visited Slovenia. The delegation met repre-sentatives of the Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce as well as Viljem Pšeničny, state secretary at the Economy Ministry. According to Gertrud Retzen, the head of the Slovenian-German Chamber, Slovenia is attractive for German investors. She adds, however, that German companies would like to see incen-tives in the form of tax cuts, subsi-dies and a more friendly business environment. Trade between Slovenia and Saarland, which is located in the South West of Germany, is currently fairly modest. Exports reached EUR 34m in 2010, which amounts to only 0.26 percent of Slovenia’s total exports, while imports stood at EUR 67m, accounting for 0.61 percent of the total.
US Investors Learn about SloveniaA number of American investors have learnt more about opportunities in Slovenia thanks to a special conference.US-Slovenia Business Bridge – jointly organ-ised by the US Embassy in Slovenia, American Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia (AmCham) and the Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) – was attended by around 40 US investors, who learnt about both national and smaller-scale projects.Opening the two-day business conference, Development and European Affairs Minister Mitja Gaspari said Slovenia needed to be more operative and ready for change – not merely talking about what should be done, but actually taking action. Tomaž Lovše, head of AmCham, expressed a similar sentiment. He expects Slovenia to become one of the ten most devel-oped countries in Europe but stresses that in order to achieve that the country must become more competitive as well as more open to for-eign investment.US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli emphasised the many advantages of the nation to those look-ing for investment locations. He pointed out that Slovenia observes the rule of law; that it is much more open and predictable than other parts of
the world; and that its workforce is creative and speaks English. He also emphasised its excel-lent geostrategic position, though acknowledged that Slovenia must make more of this.The second day of the conference was devoted to the entrepreneurial potential of Slovenia. A panel was organised at which two Slovenian firms presented explanations as to how they had managed to attract US capital. The cases of Ataco and Zementa, both IT firms, were very dif-ferent – one was a start-up investment while the other was a growth investment – and according to the event organisers this was important.
“I think it was useful for the participants to see the different strategies and to realise that attracting investment isn’t a one-path story,” explains Sarah E Gjorgjijevski, Political-Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Ljubljana.Gjorgjijevski says the event attendees were impressed by the potential of Slovenia but cau-tions that investors need to see concrete results before deciding to invest.“[American investors] were very excited about [what is happening in Slovenia] especially on the entrepreneurial side,” she says. “They see a lot of potential with the high-growth firms. That said, what needs to happen in Slovenia is that it has to develop domestically first in terms of inves-tors. Once investors are able to see that these firms have grown successfully in the Slovenian market, and in some cases the regional or even the global market [they will look to invest too].”
Foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US ac-counted for EUR 69.2m or 0.68 percent of the total FDI in Slovenia in 2009, putting the US in 14th place among foreign investors in the coun-try. A total of 75 companies with American capi-tal are present in Slovenia, including computer giants IBM and Microsoft as well as tyre maker Goodyear and fast food chain McDonald’s.
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15FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
UK-Slovenia investment forum
London CallingLast month, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor travelled to London to speak at a forum on investment in his country. Finance offered a damning verdict on his performance: “Even worse in English than in Slovene” was the daily paper’s take on the Prime Minister’s remarks at the event. The view on the ground, however, was very different with attendees and organisers alike declaring the forum a real success.By Claire Read
The capital city of the United Kingdom is nothing if not cosmopolitan. Walk any dis-
tance in London, travel on any bus or train, and the chances are that you will hear many languages spoken in addition to English. But even notoriously open-minded Londoners might have wondered why there was quite so much Slov-ene being spoken near Liverpool Street station on a sunny Tuesday last month.
The answer lay a few steps away at the headquarters of the Europe-an Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It was in these im-pressive surroundings that politi-cians, businesspeople and diplo-mats gathered for a special forum on UK-Slovenia investment.
The event, which showcased the wide range of investment op-portunities in the South East Eu-ropean country, was initially the brainchild of staff at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Lon-don but its potential was quickly recognised by colleagues at the British Embassy in Slovenia.
“At present I don’t think British awareness of investment opportu-nities in Slovenia is great enough,” explains Andrew Page, the British Ambassador to the country. “That was the reason for holding the fo-rum. If we can get a number of British investors looking at Slov-enia, that spreads the word about the country as an investment destination.”
Well attendedAnd there is no doubt that a
number of investors were looking at Slovenia during the forum. Some 200 people attended the event and a common refrain at refreshment breaks was the highly impressive nature of the delegate list. Amongst those who attended sessions fo-cused both on the general appeal of Slovenia and on three key areas of potential – logistics, tourism, and information technology – were representatives of international
firms JPMorgan, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and Morgan Stanley; of banks HSBC, Deutsche Bank and ING Bank; and of the London Stock Exchange, UK parliament, and UK Trade and Investment.
The powerful delegates were met by powerful speakers. The event was opened by Borut Pahor (he left midway through the day for a brief meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg); Finance Minister Franc Križanič who gave an overview of the Slovenian economy; and Trans-port Minister Patrick Vlačič who detailed the many logistics projects planned. All offered the same mes-sage: Slovenia is open to foreign investment; offers a gateway to the Western Balkans; and has an array of investment opportunities on of-fer, not least those presented by the planned privatisation of currently state-owned businesses.
Success and surpriseMost delegates seemed im-
pressed with the message and the day. As a result, there was genu-ine surprise when news broke at lunchtime that daily newspaper Finance had run a story criticising
Pahor’s efforts to reach out to po-tential investors in the UK. Most dismissed it as an attempt to gen-erate headlines, but there was con-cern it would serve to overshadow the impact of the event.
In summing up that impact, Ambassador Page cites a conversa-tion he had with one potential in-vestor at the forum: “This partici-pant hadn’t previously been aware of the Aeropolis project [the plan to develop 80 hectares of land next to Ljubjana’s Jože Pučnik Airport, providing hotel accommodation, office space and logistics facili-ties],” explains Page. “This inves-tor has already been involved in very similar large scale logistics plans linked to an airport in an-other part of Europe and is poten-tially very interested to look at the opportunity in Slovenia.”
The organisers are realistic, however – while the forum might have served to raise awareness of Slovenia the real proof of its suc-cess will be how many British in-vestors come to the country to find out more, and how much invest-ment ultimately ensues as a result.
Critics and fans of Pahor alike will be waiting to see what hap-pens in that regard.
Plenty of opportunities: over 100 British investors attended the conference, intrigued by a number of “good projects” Slovenia has to offer
Good language skills: Prime Minister Borut Pahor gave a good. realistic overview of investment environment in Slovenia and, unlike what Finance daily claimed, his English was flawless
The Slovenia Times
16 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Interview: Andrej Mate, president of the board, Inles
Heart of GlassIn Ribnica, Austrian glass manufacturer Ertl Glas is building a new 5,000 square metre production facility. One of the main reasons for the company’s decision to open a production facility in the southern Slovenian town is the demand for its product by local company Inles, Slovenia’s largest manufacturer of windows and doors. Inles’ president of the board, Andrej Mate, says that the new facility is exciting not only for his company but also for Ribnica and Slovenia as a whole.By Maja Dragović
What do you think attracts foreign investors to Ribnica?
Foreign investors coming to Ribnica is a result of local com-panies having worked on inter-nationalisation for many years. Usually foreigners decide to in-vest here based on trust, knowing the people and their abilities. Of course, the economic and market conditions play a significant role too, especially when we know that Slovenia in general can be quite unattractive to foreign investors.
Ribnica has a number of suc-cessful companies, while only 70 kilometres away in Črnomelj businesses are having problems. Why do you think that is?
The essential reason is that the economy in Ribnica hasn’t been too affected by the crisis. It’s also because of the nature of the busi-nesses here. Most of us manufac-ture finished products rather than individual components which other companies then incorporate into finished products. That has meant that many of the firms in Ribnica have actually managed to increase revenues and improve re-sults during the crisis.
What sort of products does Inles make and for whom?
At Inles we have a very var-ied structure of customers and
are not dependent on a few ma-jor partners. We produce unique custom-made products with very short delivery times and difficult logistics. A large number of our products are made and installed the same day.
Generally, Inles’ main cus-tomers are developers of family houses, so we manufacture a lot of products in order to replace old doors and windows. In addition, we have solutions and products in the areas of historic protection, and we also sell an increasing number of products to manufac-turers of prefabricated houses.
What impact will the arrival of Ertl Glas have on the business environment in Ribnica?
The arrival of the foreign in-vestor Ertl Glas in Ribnica will have multiple effects. Firstly there is the effect on Inles that, since 2002, has been buying vir-tually all its glass from the Aus-trian company. Secondly there is the impact on the local and wid-er environment as 80-100 people will be gradually employed by the company. There is also the possibility that in the next few years the investment will contin-ue with the development of ad-ditional programmes related to glass. Ertl Glas already has three factories in Austria and two in the Czech Republic, so it is one of the largest manufacturers of building windows in Europe. It is also worth mentioning that this is the largest new foreign industrial investment in 2010 in Slovenia, which also received the largest share of funding from the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI).
How will cooperation with Ertl Glas influence Inles’ revenues?
Cooperation with Ertl Glas will not have a direct impact on Inles’ revenues but it will have a signifi-cant impact on reducing the cost of glass, as well as leading to a
better and faster service. Inles will provide a variety of services for Ertl Glas, which will influence the rationality of operations of both companies.
When will production begin at the new facility?
The production of windows will be launched in June this year. The first production of glass will be for Inles only, although [in time] probably part of the products will be for customers in Austria.
Very soon after production will begin for some other Slovenian buyers, and possibly for some in Croatia.
What were Inles’ sales like in 2010?
Last year the entire Inles group generated about EUR 30m of rev-enue. We exported 80 percent of manufactured products.
Which are Inles’ most impor-tant markets?
Inles exports to over 20 coun-tries. Our main market is Ger-many, exports to which account for around 45 percent of all sales revenue. Other important markets include Austria, Switzerland, Ita-ly, Greece, Benelux, Russia, USA, Japan, Finland, Kosovo, Croatia and of course Slovenia.
What are your plans for the future?
Inles has very ambitious devel-opment plans for the future. Just this year we started a two-year investment cycle for updating the production of timber and wood-aluminium windows and front doors. Based on this new tech-nology we will also develop new programmes which will to an even greater extent meet the tech-nical requirements of the mar-ket in terms of energy efficiency, durability, quality and design improvements.
In addition we expect to suc-cessfully market a product which we have developed and patented together with Ertl Glas. In the next few years, we will also try to in-tegrate photovoltaic solutions into our products. Leader: Inles is Slovenia’s biggest producer of doors and windows
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17INNOVaTION SPECIaL
In December, Slovenia’s leading manufacturer of sanitary pa-per products made an intrigu-
ing announcement. Paloma was, its chairman announced, to man-ufacture “a napkin with added value”. Bojan Rajtmajer went on to explain that full details could not yet be disclosed due to patent pro-tection but said that the napkins would be a welcome tool in ho-tels, restaurants and cafes where they would cut costs at the same time as improving the wellbeing of customers.
Rajtmajer was less tight lipped about who was behind this inno-vation. It turned out that it was none other than renowned Slov-enian inventor Peter Florjančič, a sprightly 92-year-old who already holds 400 patents. Upon coming up with his idea for a “revolution-ary napkin”, Florjančič reportedly contacted Paloma immediately and the firm responded with sim-ilar speed: signing contracts with the inventor and producing proto-types of the new product.
Public announcement dueA public announcement as
to exactly what makes this new napkin so unique i s expected any day now.
Whatever the idea proves to be, there is no doubt that it is regard-ed as central to Paloma’s ongoing plans. And those plans are ambi-tious ones: Rajtmajer wants the firm to become the leading tissue manufacturer in the region. A spe-cific target of becoming one of the top five hygiene product produc-ers in Europe by 2015 has been mentioned.
There are hurdles to overcome if that vision is to turn into real-ity. Last year was a hard one for the 138-year-old firm, with record pulp prices meaning it recorded a loss of around EUR 3m. There has been a recognition that produc-tivity per employee needs to be boosted and simultaneous plans implemented to reduce the 800-odd workforce – those who retire from the firm will no longer be replaced.
Even so, Rajtmajer believes that the firm needs a EUR 20m capital injection if it is to reinforce and strengthen its position. He has expressed confidence that a part-ner to provide this money will be found before the first half of 2011 is out. But it is tough to erase memories of the previous, failed, search for such a partner. Back in April 2009, the firm published
bids for a capital increase and at-tracted five interested parties – all of which subsequently pulled out.
Belt-tightening... and optimism
In spite of this worrying history and the belt-tightening, there is optimism at Paloma. The effects of efforts to streamline operations are starting to be felt and pulp prices are now expected to fall (it is notable that the last time pric-es were last relatively low, back in 2009, the company posted a net profit of EUR 3m). And while consumption of Paloma products
is dropping in Central, Eastern and South East-ern Europe, it is on the up in other markets. In 2009, almost half of the firm’s sales revenues
were generated in Western Eu-rope. By 2015,
Paloma
Not to be Sneezed atOne of Slovenia’s most popular brands is soon to announce a product which it says will shake up the sanitary paper product market. Such talk might typically be dismissed as public relations nonsense from a company looking to boost sales. But when Paloma revealed that its latest napkin is the brainchild of a famous Slovenian inventor both eyebrows and interest were raised.By Claire Read
the company aims to have annual net sales revenues of EUR 111m, a significant increase on the EUR 85m which has been the average result in recent years.
The “revolutionary napkin” is expected to play an important part in this sales increase – it is be-lieved it will bring in another EUR 10m in revenues in 2012. Whether that figure can be reached remains to be seen but certainly one would be a little foolish to bet against a new creation by Peter Florjančič. This is the man who has given the world – among other things – plastic injection moulding ma-chines, perfume spray bottles, and the plastic photographic slide frame. It is fair to say that he is not an average individual: in his youth he faked his own death to avoid fighting in World War II; won an Olympic medal in skiing; and appeared alongside Marlene Dietrich in an uncredited role in The Monte Carlo Story.
In spite of his incredible ex-ploits, Florjančič remains modest: “There are millions of inventors like me,” he says. “But I was for-tunate to come up with products that sell on the market.” Paloma will be hoping that his latest in-vention continues that trend.
No more runny nose: Paloma is looking to develop a tissue that will serve as a remedy for winter colds
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The Slovenia Times
18 DIPLOMaTIC SOCIETY
EMBASSy DIARIESRussian embassy
Exhibition on Gagarin’s Space FeatAn exhibition to mark the anni-versary of the world’s first space flight has opened in the centre of Ljubljana. “Gagarin – Skies Are Black, Earth Is Blue” is being held at the newly-opened Russian Centre of Science and Culture and celebrates the 50th anniver-sary of Yury Gagarin’s flight into space. The exhibition was opened by Culture Minister Majda Širca while the guest of honour was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko. The exhibition is a part of a larger one dubbed “The First Man in Space” which will be on display in October at the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies.
British embassy
Countdown to the OlympicsA new exhibition in Ljubljana is encouraging Slovenes to learn more about the London Olympics. British Ambassador to Slovenia Andrew Page opened “London 2012: Be A Part Of It” at the beginning of April. The photo exhibition tells the story of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that will take place in London next year. The opening was attended by several Slovenian athletes as well as president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee Janez Kocijančič.
British embassy
Young British Musicians Support Greenwich-Maribor LinkFive gifted young musicians from the UK have given concerts in Slovenia. Clarinettist Gordon Curtis and the Brodowski String Quartet played for crowds in Maribor, at Pule Estate in Dolenjska and at Klasična Gimnazija Šentvid in Ljubljana where they also gave a workshop for talented musicians at the school. The concerts were promoted by the British Embassy and British Council and are part of a programme aimed at strength-ening links between Maribor, the European City of Culture 2012, and Greenwich, one of the sites of the London 2012 Olympics. All five musicians are studying at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich.
German embassy
German Companies in Slovenia Satisfied with 2010 ResultsGerman firms in Slovenia were satisfied with 2010 and are cautiously op-timistic about 2011 according to the results of a survey conducted by the Slovenian-German Business Chamber. However, they are less pleased with the economic situation in Slovenia, especially with defaults on payment. The majority of those surveyed felt that taxes are high or too high and also expressed criticism of productivity, motivation and skills. More than half do not expect the situation to improve in 2011, though there are no major cuts in workforce planned. The survey suggests that companies exporting to Germany and other countries are much more optimistic than those oper-ating solely in Slovenia and South-East Europe.
Hungarian embassy
Liszt Evening
The Hungarian Ambassador to Slovenia István Szent-Iványi and his wife Dora Veress have organised a piano concert by world-renowned Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi. Bogányi played selected works by Ferenc Liszt, celebrating both the 200th anniversary of the com-poser’s birth and the Hungarian presidency of the European Union council. The pianist, widely regard-ed as the best interpreter of Liszt’s music, gives concerts at the most prestigious concert venues all over the world.
American embassy
American Days in LjubljanaThe American Embassy in Ljubljana has once again sponsored the annual event dubbed “America Days”. The event celebrates special segments of US history and culture with the Slovenian community through music and art, dance, in-formative lectures, exhibitions and other events. The US Ambassador to Slovenia Joseph A. Mussomeli gave a speech to a full house at the opening of the event, which will conclude on 15th May with a Mundo Ninos concert and work-shop as part of the Druga Godba festival.
Russian embassy
Strengthening Cultural TiesSlovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Žbogar and his Russian counter-part Sergei Lavrov officially opened a new Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Ljubljana last month. Lavrov said he hoped the centre would become a venue for inter-esting cultural events connecting both countries and thus furthering cooperation in arts and culture. The centre was formed under the agreement on opening science and cultural centres signed by the two countries during the visit of Russian PM Vladimir Putin to Slovenia in March.
May 2011
New Appointment System for Routine Consular Services at
the British Embassy, Ljubljana
With effect from 1 June 2011, the Consular Section at the British Embassy will introduce an appointment system for non-emergency Consular Services.
Services for which an appointment will be required include Birth/Death Registrations, Notices of Marriage, Certifying copies of documents and other routine notarial acts.
To make an appointment, please send an e-mail to: [email protected] stating the service you require.
You should also include your contact details so that the Consular Section can reply with your appointment time, or contact you for further information if necessary.
For general consular enquiries you can also contact us by phone on +386 (0)1 200 3910
If you require urgent consular assistance during office hours (08.00-16.00, Mon-Fri) please contact the consular section by phone on the number above.
If you require urgent consular assistance outside of office hours, you should call the Global Response Centre on +386 (0)1 200 3922
There may be times when the Consular Section has to close
at short notice. If you are travelling a long distance to apply for a consular
service, you might wish to telephone first to make
sure the section will be open.
British embassy
British Minister of Justice in SloveniaThe British Justice Minister has travelled to Slovenia on the invita-tion of his Slovenian counterpart. Kenneth Clarke met Aleš Zalar last month and the two discussed strengthening Slovenian coopera-tion with the UK on justice issues. The ministers also exchanged experiences and good practices in various justice fields, among others the construction of prisons. Both ministers share the view that there are no open bilateral issues in the judiciary between the countries. The British delegation also met Prime Minister Borut Pahor, top offi-cials from the Corruption Prevention Commission, and representatives of the Ministry of the Interior.
British embassy
Minister Jelušič Decorates Defence Attaché Lt Col GibsonFormer British Defence Attaché Lieutenant Colonel Derek Gibson has been awarded a medal for international cooperation. The medal, presented by Slovenian Defence Minister Ljubica Jelušič, is in recognition of Gibson’s contribution to strengthening defence relations between Slovenia and the UK. The Lieutenant Colonel took up the position in 2007 and was involved in many important events. He was also instrumental in bringing the Red Arrows, a famous British air force aerobatic team, to Slovenia. Gibson has been replaced by Lt Col Ian Stafford of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Netherlands embassy
Dutch Books with the Best DesignThe Netherlands Embassy has organised an exhibition as part of the UNESCO programme “Ljubljana – the world book capital”. The exhi-bition focuses on the Dutch graphic design of thirty selected books and was organised in conjunction with De Best Verzorgde Boeken Institution and the International Centre of Graphic Arts. It was opened by the Ambassador of the Netherlands Jos Douma, head of the culture department at the Municipality of Ljubljana Uroš Grilc, and director of Nevenka Šivavec art centre.
American embassy
US Attorney General visits SloveniaUS Attorney General Eric Holder has visited Slovenia to take part in the Balkans Justice Ministerial. Holder gave the opening remarks at the event, which was organised by the Slovenian Justice Ministry. The Attorney General also met with the Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Justice Minister Aleš Zalar and Interior Minister Katarina Kresal during his trip.
The Slovenia Times
20
REAL ESTATE SPECIAL
At Last Some HopeEveryone knows the recent story of the housing market: boom, bubble, recession, bust. It is Slovenia’s story too and it has led to a static market, with its primary actors content to sit and wait for better days. Now, at long last, it seems those days may be coming. Sure, recovery is not equal across all regions in the country. But sales are on the increase and some major projects are under way in Ljubljana and due to be completed soon. This is creating a more positive mood amongst agents, developers and investors alike.By Aleš Šinkovec
seem to be continuing. The firm says it sold 24 apartments in the first six weeks of 2011 alone.
Agents are also feeling the change: “The real estate market in
crease over the worst quarter at the beginning of 2009. Real estate de-veloper iProjekt was the most suc-cessful in terms of sales towards the end of 2010 and the good times
sold 405 new apartments, which is the highest number since the first quarter of 2008. Promisingly, this was a nine percent quarterly in-crease and a drastic 81 percent in-
The end of last year was prom-ising for the Slovenian hous-ing market. At last, sales
started to pick up. During the last three months of 2010, developers
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REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL 21
Slovenia is increasingly buoyant with enquiries and sales increas-ing significantly compared to last year,” says Justin Young, owner of Slovenia Estates real estate agency. “Many, including me, believe that this is just about the best time to buy and to take advantage of stag-nant prices and what is very much a buyer’s market.”
Get realSales may have seen drastic shifts
but, more significantly, the price of property is also shifting to more re-alistic levels. In 2010 house prices fell by 8.9 percent; the price of forest land by 7.3 percent; and agricultural land was 5.1 percent cheaper. Mean-while prices for business premises fell by 3.4 percent, building plots by 1.6 percent and second-hand houses by 1.8 percent.
The price readjustment is not yet entirely complete, however. Some sellers are reluctant to ac-cept a lower price. The result? Their properties remain unsold while they play the waiting game.
“Some desperate sellers have reduced prices but most are wait-ing to see what buyers will do,” explains Young. “The ‘buying’ season has only just begun so sellers are not in any rush to re-duce their prices. However those that overpriced their property in
the first place will have no option but to get real if they wish to sell this year.”
Igor Horvat of RE/MAX Slovenia says agrees that there has been a waiting game going on: “Between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, sales stopped completely. Sellers were not willing to lower their prices and buyers were wait-ing for a reduction. This created a heavy atmosphere where everyone was simply waiting.”
Foreign impactThe inflated prices also saw de-
mand from foreigners dry up. As Young explains: “Slovenia was no longer a reasonably priced place to invest. Prices grew too high too quickly and certain properties were clearly overpriced”.
However, this too is now chang-ing with a significant number of foreigners returning to the mar-ket. In recent months Slovenia Estates has registered increased interest from Russian buyers as well as those from the UK, Italy and Ukraine.
The only way is upSo what is in store for the sec-
tor in 2011? Some sources suggest slight drops in prices, and oth-ers suggest a marginally positive change.
“The real estate market will con-tinue to stabilise and move for-ward,” predicts Young. ”We have seen the worst.”
At Stoja Trade real estate agen-cy they are not as optimistic: “We don’t expect any dramatic chang-es in the housing market, but as a proactive company we constantly see business opportunities, with prospects of good performance and new successes”.
One of those prospects is the many properties seized by banks
due to loan defaults. These have not yet been released on to the market due to fears that doing so would cause a significant drop in the value of such properties. However, the banks are expected to start offering seized and unsold housing gradually during 2011 at market-adjusted prices which, many believe, will cleanse and stabilise the sector.
Whatever happens, the only way for Slovenia’s real estate mar-ket is up.
WHERE THE NEW EUROPE IS BUILT.24 – 25 MAY 2011, MESSE WIEN, VIENNAWWW.REALVIENNA.COM
“The district of Varaždin offers investors clear information on land rights, structured documentation for land-use and a wealth of experience with investors from Austria, Germany and Italy. We also hold ICPR certifi cates issued by the European Union. These certifi cates provide a reliable indication for European investors and a guaran-tee that our region is safe and absolutely prepared for investment.“
PREDRAG ŠTROMAR, GOVERNOR OF THE DISTRICT OF VARAŽDIN
Supported by:In cooperation with:
RV11_STAD_Stromar_230x158_EN_Slovenia Times.indd 1 18.04.11 16:58
Price of apartments by region (in EUR per square meter)
Studio One-Bed Two-Bed Three-Bed
Ljubljana 3,117 2,759 2,558 2,5
Central Slovenija
2,363 2,148 1,91 1,795
J Primorska 3,133 2,956 2,551 2,574
Gorenjska 2,078 1,892 1,702 1,561
S Primorska 1,928 1,67 1,646 1,602
Savinjska 1,49 1,299 1,232 1,163
Dolenjska 1,731 1,44 1,323 1,423
Notranjska 1,354 1,321 1,245 1,173
Podravska 1,295 1,246 1,206 1,206
Koroška 1 1,037 1,006 883
Zasavska 1,086 934 1,056 1,002
Posavska 1,286 1,056 1,036 1,207
Pomurska 1,202 1,081 1,072 1,072
Source: Slonep.si
The Slovenia Times
REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL22
Construction
No End in SightSpring has brought no end to the woes of Slovenia’s construction industry. On the contrary: recent weeks have seen even more insolvencies among building firms. As it becomes clear that this is the worst crisis in the sector in decades, the government is promising to help the faltering industry.By Maja Dragović
The problems in Slovenia’s construction sector are now so deep that Prime Minis-
ter Borut Pahor last month called a meeting specifically dedicated to the crisis. Pahor declared that before deciding on how best to help the troubled industry it was important to identify where the biggest problems lay. The meet-ing highlighted that there are in fact no shortage of issues. Many officials and business representa-tives described problems with outstanding payments to subcon-tractors. According to the Cham-ber of Commerce, subcontractors alone are looking at EUR 600m to EUR 700m in exposure to debt due to insolvency proceedings. Inter-estingly, it has become apparent that the state is one of the late pay-ers, with EUR 33m in outstanding payments.
How low can you go?Some also raised the connected
issue of unrealistically low bids in public tenders. With cost often the main criteria in public procure-ment, contractors are offering to carry out jobs at unreasonably low prices and sub-contractors aren’t being paid as a result.
As well as discussion of the problems, there was a look at the opportunities open to the sector. Environment and Spatial Plan-ning Minister Roko Žarnič be-lieves that the number of planned national projects such as the new generator at the power plant in Šoštanj, the transport infrastruc-ture-related third development axis, railway infrastructure, a gas pipeline and an overhead power line are can all help restore the construction sector.
Insolvencies continueBut these projects will come too
late for many companies. Recent weeks have seen yet more insol-vencies. Joining big names like SCT and Vegrad is Eurogradnje, which employed 36 people. It filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of April. The firm leaves one large unfinished project in Medvode but company director Klemen Gantar says all other projects have either been finalised or are about to be. He blames the insolvency on non-paying investors.
At the same time as Eurogradnje was coming to an end, the bank-ruptcy of GPG was being adopted in the courts. This firm has been
making the same sort of headlines as SCT and Vegrad thanks to suspi-cions of manipulating their books. The list of collapsed companies doesn’t end there. Gradis Hiše, the subsidiary of Gradis Celje which was the first major construction company to collapse, has also gone bankrupt. CPM, the Maribor road company which lost the contract to build the Makrovec tunnel, went into bankruptcy proceedings in February. Another Maribor-based company, MTB, has been in pro-ceedings since mid-March.
Government steps inIn the face of so many collaps-
es, the government is now mak-ing legislative changes. Laws have been adopted which tackle payment defaults. There have been changes to the act on pub-lic procurement dealing with di-rect payments to subcontractors. Changed too is the act on value added tax, with a view to promot-ing timely payments of invoices through tax penalties. Together with the act on the execution of judgments in civil matters, claims insurance, and changes to insol-vency legislation, the position of creditors in receivership and debt restructuring proceedings should have improved. But Fi-nance Ministry State Secretary Mateja Vraničar has stressed that it will take a while for the full ef-fects to be felt.
At the meeting devoted to the sector last month, participants agreed to draw up an action plan and examine the possibility of set-ting up a construction directorate, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) could estab-lish an expert council.
In the meantime, those in the know predict that the construction sector’s woes are far from over, with little change in demand and further insolvencies expected in 2011. For now it seems the best bet for those Slovenian construction firms which manage to avoid bankruptcy is to turn away from their crisis-ridden home market and try to penetrate foreign markets.
Deep troubles: construction companies are going through a record number of bankruptcies which are likely to continue throughout 2011
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www.rpi.siB U S I N E S S Z O N E
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Protim Ržišnik Perc arhitekti in inženirji d.o.o.Poslovna cona A 2, SI-4208 Šenčur, SloveniaT: +386 4 279 18 00 I F: +386 4 279 18 25E: [email protected] I www.protim.si
SERVING INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES IS OUR DAILY BUSINESS
LPKF Industrial Building – NakloThe overall concept of the Sparkasse branch offices – Slovenia
Volksbank branch office – Kranj
WTE main treatment plant – Bled
Rexroth Bosch Industrial Building – Škofja Loka
Furnishing offices of the Pricewaterhouse Coopers – Ljubljana
Aldi / Hofer shopping centres – 40 buildings in Slovenia
The Slovenia Times
24 REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
Interview: Ana Filipov, Schönherr law firm
A Changing SectorSchönherr, one of the top corporate law firms in Central Europe, was one of the first foreign law firms to enter the Slovenian market in 2001. One of the major areas in which its team of 14 lawyers works is real estate and construction. According to Ana Filipov, one of the firm’s specialists in the area, the precise nature of that work has changed significantly in recent years.By Maja Dragović and Claire Read
The economic downturn has hit the Slovenian real estate mar-ket and construction industry hard. How has this affected your work?
Firstly, the portfolio of our cli-ents has changed. Previously we mostly acted on behalf of inves-tors but now the number of de-velopers and banks to which we render services has grown. Also, prior practice largely involved counseling on issues arising from the purchase of real estate. In the last two years we have had more and more requests to advise on restructuring of debt, insolvency and enforcement proceedings.
What is the way forward now for the real estate and construc-tion sector?
I believe firstly the industry it-self has to adopt some changes. If a company has liquidity prob-lems and also a number of unsold apartments the firm should con-sider offering those properties for a price that would be acceptable on the market. Further, compa-nies that are insolvent should take the appropriate and statutorily re-quested steps to either overcome
the insolvency or cease to exist. It could also be argued that the state and local communities should help to overcome the crisis – with further investments in infrastruc-ture, help acquiring transactions abroad, expediting residential construction and so on.
What is the most common criticism you hear from your cli-ents about the real estate environ-ment in Slovenia?
From a legal point of view the criticism used to relate to the length of registration proceedings. There have been some improve-ments in this regard – most of the existing registers are now publicly available online and entries into the land register do not take years as they used to. But proceedings to acquire a building permit still take too much time and since the recent change of the Building Act the comments on too many pos-sible parties in such proceedings and a lot of questions relating to possible revision of already final building permits.
Slovenia is not known for large commercial investments. Why do you think this is?
There are a few reasons: the smallness of the country, high prices of real estate, lengthy pro-ceedings to acquire consents and subventions, tax burdens, costs, and very employee-friendly em-ployment legislation.
What can Slovenian develop-ers do to attract more institution-al investors?
I believe it is of utmost impor-tance to do proper research on what the institutional investors are looking for. In most cases it’s being able to secure an entire of-fice building, retail or logistic centre and being able to secure lease agreements for at least five consecutive years with tenants of good standing. They also want to be informed about the potential of a particular site, and to know whether the opportunity is a sin-
gle one or whether there is the chance to build a portfolio. But none of this will help unless con-tacts are made. Being present and active at international real estate fairs is a good opportunity to get in touch with possible investors. Too many times we Slovenes for-get that such events are network-ing events and are meant to be used as such. We must not forget that developers are not alone here. Among its other tasks, the Public Agency of the Republic of Slov-enia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) does a fantastic job helping Slovenian companies presenting abroad.
Can Slovenia meet the re-quirements of institutional inves-tors seeking commercial develop-ments?
Yes, it definitely can. If I have listed obstacles in attracting for-eign investments, I also have to stress the benefits – Slovenia is a member of the EU and NATO, within the Euro and Schengen area and a politically and econom-ically stable country with a good rating. However, it does seems that the commercial developments I know of that are currently on the market are not yet completely sat-isfactory to potential institutional investors.
At a recent conference on Slov-enian investment opportunities in London, one British investor complained about the difficulties foreign buyers have in obtaining loans in the country. What is your view on this?
In principle, Slovenian banks act rather traditionally and are a bit stiff when granting loans and requesting securities to en-sure the repayment of the loan. I cannot confirm this relates only to foreigners but it is clear that if creditworthiness is taken as a primarily condition to grant a loan, a foreigner with no income within Slovenia cannot have much chance of obtaining the money.
Being present and active at international
real estate fairs is a good opportunity to get
in touch with possible investors. Too many
times we Slovenes forget that such events are
networking events and are meant to be used as
such. We must not forget that developers are not
alone here.
The desert
SiPark, Slovenian Park of Tourism Ltd, CKŽ 137, 8270 KrškoTelephone: +386 (0)41 422 459
[email protected], www.sipark.si
ABOUT THE PROJECTThe SiPark project is realising a modern concept for an amusement park. Degraded land is going to be used to create a place with added value and partici-pants in the project will be offered unique opportuni-ties – both financially and in terms of fun.
SiPark is spread over 30 hectares of landscape and is divided into several segments: a real estate project; a tourism project; a commercial project; an entertainment project; an eco awareness project; a wellness project; a culture project; an education project; a sports and recreation project; and a high technology project.
On the surface there will be a lot of green areas and camping facilities. Thirty or more houses will be on site and will not simply offer sleeping facilities – they will represent European and other countries, offer-ing a unique way to depict a country’s appearance as well as its cuisine, tourism and trade. Additional facilities within the project will include syllabus trails, a spa, a hotel and an amusement park designed for recreation and adrenaline rush with an emphasis on a specific Slovenian literature topic. Meanwhile part of the land will remain unchanged so the desert will also be an attraction for visitors. The entire area will put great emphasis on the protection of nature.
SiPark is a starting point for the promotion of nature and natural resources, which are in the area’s vicin-ity. Here begins the Natura 2000 area and Krako-vski gozd (forest). This area is also known for bird nesting grounds of the rare and protected bird spe-cies Čebelar (beekeeper). The area is known for its vineyards and wine product, especially the famous Cviček wine that is unique to the Posavje and Do-lenjska regions.
LOCATIONSiPark is located along the major European trans-port corridor, corridor X. It is one hour’s drive from Ljubljana and half hour’s drive from Zagreb.
PARTNERS & FUTURE PARTNERSCentre for Entrepreneurship and Tourism Krško, Municipality of Krško, AMZS, Local Community Krško, Tourist Association of Raka, Philosophical Faculty/Department of Library Science, Biotechnical faculty/Department of Botany, Biotechnical faculty/Department of Wood Science and Technology, Tu-ristica in Koper, Faculty of Sciences and Engineer-ing/Department of Geology, Eco Schools etc.
ECOLOGY & SCIENCEThe ecology element is seen as the main part of the project. Everything in SiPark is based on eco-friendly technology, including ecological approach and innovations.Culture in the SiPark is a bond of the whole project. All segments are interwoven through the rich cul-tural heritage of Slovenian literature. The main mas-
cots are chicken Kati and rooster Pepi. Slovenian stories will be told with a new, modern approach. The company’s mission is to promote science in-volving innovations in real estate as part of the project itself.
The point is to offer customers a haven of fun as well as all forms of relaxation in one place.
AMUSEMENT PARK
Investment opportunity
FUTURE In 2012 the opening of the first part of the project (the desert)
is planned. In 2012 it is planned to invite one or more investors to join the project. Plans are to have the whole SiPark fully
operational within the next five years. Subsequently, SiPark’s business model is going to be replicated abroad.
INVESTORS We are searching for a buyer
of the whole project or a strategic/capital partner.
The Slovenia Times
26 REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
Wood and furniture industries
Fighting for SurvivalThe wood and furniture industries were once been a flagship of the Slovenian economy. Yet with the real estate and construction sectors struggling, it is hardly surprising that the demand for furniture has dried up too. Now companies are looking for ways to reignite the industry, conscious that they can no longer compete on price alone.By Maja Dragović
Slovenia’s wood processing industry has been weath-ering a storm. In 2009, total
revenues in the industry amount-ed to EUR 969m, a significant de-crease on the EUR 1,191m of the previous year and not far off the expenditure figure of EUR 982m. Net revenue from sales in the domestic market fell by 8.7 per-cent and on foreign markets by 16.1 percent. The industry ended the year with a net loss of EUR 6.1m. The closely-linked furni-ture manufacturing industry has not been faring much better. Do-mestic sales revenues fell by 19.9 percent in 2009, leading to a net loss of EUR 18.3m for the finan-cial year.
“The Slovenian wood manufac-turing industry was badly hit by the crisis, especially in the part of the production of furniture, where its production halved,” explains Bernard Likar from the Associa-tion of Wood and Furniture Indus-try at the Chamber of Commerce.
According to Marjan Ferčec of the wood and forestry trade un-ion, one effect of this struggle has been falling numbers of employ-ees in the industry. Twenty years
ago there were 40,000 people working in the wood processing and furniture sectors. Today that number is closer to 16,000 and lay-offs continue. Ferčec warns that without fresh capital input compa-nies will be forced to continue cut-ting costs by cutting employees.
The need for investmentCertainly one of the reasons for
the industry’s decline is insuffi-cient investment. Analysis by the Ministry of Economy has shown that seven times less money is invested in the Slovenian wood processing and furniture industry than is invested in the same sector in Austria.
There are some companies that are trying to buck the downward trend. Eight small Slovenian firms and three institutes have recently established a joint development centre for the creative furniture industry. The centre is expected to help the companies to invest more in product development, with an emphasis on new design, new construction and upgraded tech-nology. Called RC 31, it has won state and EU funding in a public call and its aim is to promote Slov-
enian furniture firms on foreign markets.
“The main thing is the market,” explains Aleš Zupanc, chief execu-tive of furniture producer Alples, one of the companies in the con-sortium. “We are thinking main-ly about south eastern Europe, where we can sell Slovenian furni-ture brands. The primary targets include the Czech Republic, Slo-vakia and Hungary, which have a decent GDP and have adopted the
Euro, and where consumers are willing to spend some money on furniture.”
Zupanc adds that Slovenian firms simply “cannot sell our brands in the west.” The reason? Cost.
Different differentiation“Our problems are similar to
construction firms and other la-bour-intensive industries, where it is becoming more difficult for us to compete with developing countries’ cheaper labour costs,” explains Igor Milavec, the direc-tor of the Association of Wood and Furniture Industry.
Many feel that since the Slov-enian industry cannot realisti-cally compete on price, compa-nies should focus their attention elsewhere. Minister of the Econo-my Darja Radić, for instance, has suggested firms need to focus on design and production of high quality products with their own trademarks.
Milavec, meanwhile, sees op-portunities in the increasing fo-cus on the environment: “Envi-ronmental threats bring wood and wood products tremendous opportunities,” he argues.
Now it is down to these strug-gling industries to capitalise on those opportunities and, in so doing, bring an end to the crisis that has dogged them in recent years.
New technologies: modern attitudes to the environment bring wood products immense opportunities but more investments are needed
Net profit/loss in wood processing and furniture industries (in ‘000 EUR)
1999 2009
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25
Furniture porduction
Wood processing
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The Slovenia Times
28 REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
Interview: Andrew Page and Howard Swan
The Nature of GolfThe appeal of the lovely town of Otočec was boosted yet further a few years ago when a new golf course opened in the area. It was designed by British architect Howard Swan, who says his prime aim in developing course was to preserve the natural environment. According to Andrew Page, British Ambassador to Slovenia and a keen golfer, Swan succeeded.By Maja Dragović
Why did you decide to focus your career on golf course design?
Howard Swan: I thought it was great fun to be a horizontal archi-tect rather than a vertical one. It is much more fluid, much more exciting to work with nature than with hard structures that go into the sky. I also happened into it be-cause my father was a green keep-er and then a landscape architect. Every place, whether on the macro level of a country or the micro lev-el of a site, is different because you are dealing with nature.
There is the British style of a golf course, which revolves around preserving nature, and the Ameri-can style, which is more about adapting nature to the needs of man. Which category does Otočec fit into?
Swan: I believe that we have to have respect for what nature has given us and I think it would have been unfair for me to come to Otočec and disregard nature. There have been only two great architects of golf courses in our history: God and Mother Nature. We have no right to change the countryside. We may change the
use of the countryside to a differ-ent pursuit, but its form must re-main. Hence at Otočec we tried to conserve the natural environment as much as we possibly could. In Otočec, the land moves so won-derfully with the valleys and the hills and you have the framing of it with the woodland.
Where did you get inspiration when you designed Otočec golf course?
Swan: It is entirely by walking around it. You gain [inspiration] from your intimacy with the site, with nature. It is easy to sit down with a plan in front of your com-puter and do something. But you have to be there to touch, smell it, see it, feel it, and hear it.
What is so unique about Otočec?
Andrew Page: The reason I liked Otočec so much to begin with is its great combination of lovely tennis courts, a lovely golf course and a magnificent castle. I love tennis and golf, and I love a good restau-rant and the restaurant is great in the castle. The setting is glori-ous too: the nature is lovely. You
have this wonderful contrast of different greens, especially at this time of year. The lime greens of the new leaves against the dark greens of the fir trees and the ev-ergreens, beautifully planted out. Some of the vistas leading up to the hillside where you’ve got the vineyards etched into the coun-tryside are just stunning. And there are lovely churches on top of the hills with pink roofs, and all those beautiful cuckoo-clock houses built into the countryside like model villages. So the views are lovely. As a golf course, I think it is very challenging and the most difficult course in the country be-cause of the rolling hillside which is tough for a golfer. Quite often you have to make quite difficult calculations and use your judge-ment which makes it much more interesting than just a flat course. All it now needs is a decent club house which would unable the course to hold high-quality inter-national championships.
Swan: Otočec has no golfing his-tory like Bled has. Those people who know that Slovenia has golf courses know one place and that is Bled. However, Bled golf course needs to be renovated because it is old and tired while Otočec is in its youth but needs a clubhouse.
Do you think there is an aspi-ration in Slovenia to become a golf destination?
Page: I think the Slovenian Min-istry of Economy and the Sloveni-an Tourism Board are conscious of the fact that golf represents an opportunity. Down in Portorož they are very conscious that it would add greatly to the attrac-tion of the town as a tourism des-tination if they had a decent golf course. They have identified a lo-cation where they could have it. They need to get the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture to go ahead and I very much hope it would [give that permission]. Aside from Kempinski Palace – which is the finest hotel in the country – there really isn’t as high a quality of five-star infrastruc-ture in Portorož to keep the guests and the tourists entertained dur-ing their stay.
Swan: At the moment, the attrac-tion for international golf tour-ism in Slovenia is not related to the coast unlike most of the other parts of Europe. In countries like Spain, Portugal or Turkey, most of the golf courses are on the coast. The biggest market for golf tour-ism today are the Irish, the British, the Germans and the Scandinavi-ans who like to play golf in better weather than they have in their home countries. In order to make a destination for golf, you need to have a cluster of golf courses. Having a golf course in Portorož presents a great opportunity.
What is the most demanding aspect of Otočec golf course?
Page: The combination of val-leys and hills. Also, pretty well every hole has trees on either side meaning there isn’t a lot of room for error. If you are prone to hook-ing and hitting it to the left or slic-ing and hitting it to the right, you are going to be severely punished. And that is how a golf course should be.
Swan: It is the elements of na-ture that are the great things in Otočec. Because you change di-rection a large number of times to play the round, you either fol-low the sun, or the sun follows you. Then there is the wind which is a real challenge because some-times it is behind you, sometimes it is across you and other times it is against you. It is those elements that make you think how you play the game.
What is your favourite golf course to play?
Swan: Without any doubt the best course where I have played is the one at St Andrews – because of its tradition, its heritage but also its design. My favourite golf course that I have designed is on the very small island of Eriska, off the west coast of Scotland. It has a lovely hotel and it the simplest, most natural, cheapest nine holes you can imagine. And it is an utter delight to walk around and play golf or even not play it.
Page: One of the things about golf courses is that what you re-member are the circumstances
Joining the top class: Andrew Page (left) and Howard Swan (right) agree that Otočec golf course just needs a modest club house for it to be able to hold major championships
May 2011
29REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
in which you played and that can bring back very happy years. For me, that makes my favourite course one in Norfolk, England. My father comes from there and we used to go up there for family holidays every year. I started play-ing golf in my teens. One of the great courses on which we used to play quite often is the Royal West Norfolk golf club in Brancaster, very much one of the top 50 or top 100 in lots of people’s favour-ite golf courses. What is so lovely about it is that it is so natural and it’s simply a case of sand dunes. Indeed, the coast is being eroded by the sea and the course is in danger from that. There are some wonderful holes where the water from the sea will fill up various channels of the course at high tide and completely change the nature of the course. It is the naturalness of the course that is its charm.
Some would argue that golf courses are ruining nature. How would you respond to that?
Swan: One of the greatest de-fenders of nature in the world are open spaces which are golf courses. The way they are man-aged is important though as they can be over manicured. There are some arguments, with some justi-fication, that this is artificialising nature. But we all have a greater
regard for the environment than we used to have. Twenty percent of golf courses in Great Britain are in areas of landscape importance, some with very high classification where they are protected. Such golf courses are great contributors to conserving and protecting what nature has provided.
We need to make people better aware that golf courses are not de-stroying nature but the complete opposite. I am currently involved
with six Nordic governments on a project to make golf more acces-sible and make golf courses more multi-functional. It is important not to deny people the opportu-nity to enjoy the beautiful land-scapes of golf courses – we should allow them to walk around or ride around golf courses on bicycles or on horses.
Page: Just take Otočec. If we hadn’t had a beautiful golf course carved out of what used to be a
forest, how many fewer people would have had a chance to ad-mire the lovely Dolenjska coun-tryside. And it is not like you can’t spare a bit of forested land when over 60 percent of the country is forested. It helps bring income into the country and it makes jobs when you are creating a golf course. So long as it is managed in a sustainable way, it can be for the enjoyment of many people, and not just golfers.
Challenging: with its valleys and hills, Otočec offers tremendous pleasure to golf lovers
Phot
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Krka
The Slovenia Times
30 REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
Regional overview: Croatia
Steady GoingAfter a steady price decline since 2008, Croatian house prices have finally stabilised. According to real estate firm CentarNektretnina, the average price of advertised houses in January 2011 was up 0.4 percent on the previous month. January’s price increase was the third consecutive monthly increase. The recovery is far from complete, however – prices were still 3.8 percent down on the same period in 2010. From a peak in September 2008, house prices in Croatia have on average fallen 11 percent to October 2010.By Mateja Novak
In January this year, the aver-age price of flats in Zagreb was EUR 1.825 per square me-
tre, which is 2.3 percent down on January 2010 but up by 0.4 percent from December 2010. House pric-es in the capital followed a similar pattern: down 8.5 percent on the year before, but four percent up from the previous month at EUR 1.163 per square metre.
Meanwhile property prices in Croatia’s most popular destina-tion, the Adriatic coast, remain almost level. The average price of a seaside cottage or apartment was EUR 2.055 per square meter in January 2011, up by 0.2 per-cent from the previous month and down by only 0.3 percent from a year earlier. The average price of houses was EUR 1.564 per square metre, the same as in December 2010 and down only 0.7 percent from the same period in 2010.
The recovery may be starting but agents do not expect house price rises to return to the mo-mentum of pre-crisis years, due to high levels of non-performing loans in the banking system – 9.5 percent of all loans.
In terms of the rental market, gross rental yields in Zagreb are moderate, at around 5.5 to six percent. Here too few changes are expected. In the words of the Business Monitor report for the Croatian property market in 2011: “Given that rents and yields ap-pear already to have stopped fall-ing, we are not looking for mean-ingful changes in either over the next year or so. To the extent that rents do move from late 2011 on-wards, we expect that capital val-ues will change similarly.”
The report envisages that rent-al yields in Split and Zagreb will move sideways through the 2011-2014 forecast period. Similar pre-
Regional overview: Montenegro
Tourism BoostMontenegro’s current economic conditions may not be the best one the country remains one which garners a great deal of interest from the media, including the BBC. The interest is understandable: the tourist season is just around the corner and the property market is feeling the effects.By Mateja Novak
The financial cr isis has caused a real crash in prop-erty prices in Montenegro.
According to data from interna-tional real estate firm Savills, most properties have lost approximate-ly a third of their value since the credit crunch. Prices are now a long way from the peak of around EUR 3,000 per square metre seen in 2007.
But the signs are that recovery is on the way. Montenegro’s real estate agencies have reported an increase in transactions from late
2010 into the first few months of 2011 as well as some modest price increases, with some transactions achieving EUR 2,000 per square metre.
Tourism factorOne of the main reasons for
the increased activity is Mon-tenegro’s growing tourism sector. Whilst overseas travel and tour-ism numbers contracted by five percent across the world in light of the financial crisis, in Montene-gro the numbers have kept going
up. In 2009, the number of visitors was up by two percent compared to 2008. The trend continued last year: in the first 11 months of 2010 more than 1.2 million tourists visited Montenegro, five percent more than in the same period in 2009.
With tourism going f rom strength to strength, it is of little surprise that holiday homes along the Montenegrin coast are still the most popular amongst those in-vesting in property. Most of those buying are from overseas. Accord-
dictions are made for Zadar, even though rental yields there are sig-nificantly lower than in the other two cities.
It all means Croatia’s current property market can be summed up in five words: steady but not yet spectacular.
Average apartment prices in Croatia (in EUR)
Zagreb 1,965
Split 2,455
Zadar 1,799
Osijek 1,112
Rijeka 1,609
Sour
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May 2011
31REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
ing the Central Bank of Montene-gro, the total inflow of direct for-eign investments in Montenegro amounted to EUR 58.8m in Janu-ary this year, of which 15.3 percent was in real estate.
Data from Kotor municipal-ity shows that 115 deals involv-ing foreign property buyers have been completed in the area since the beginning of 2011 (63 transac-tions were concluded in February alone). Russians remain the most active buyers of Montenegrin property, with locals are almost absent from the market.
According to Julia Titova, chief executive of Rentsale company, the activity in Kotor reflects the overall situation on the market.
“The municipalities of Her-ceg Novi, Tivat and Budva are also gradually becoming more active,” she says. “In 2010, prop-erty transactions in Montenegro slid by 10 times, compared to the peak indicators of 2008. This year,
transactions may increase two- or threefold in comparison to the preceding year.”
Positive trendsThere are also positive devel-
opments in sectors related to real estate. The Montenegrin Minister for Sustainable Development and Tourism, Predrag Sekulić, has an-nounced that Ryanair is prepared to begin services to both Podgor-ica and Tivat in September this year. The arrival of low-cost flights to Montenegro will have immense an impact on the tourism indus-try as well as the holiday rental market on the country’s coast. In addition, the International Mone-tary Fund forecasts Montenegro’s economy to grow 4.5 percent in 2011, and more than five percent in both 2012 and 2013.
Things are definitely looking up for this small country on the Adri-atic coast.
Regional overview: Serbia
Catching upWith the residential market remaining slow, the focus of real estate in Serbia is currently on office and retail property. Yet these two sectors are not without their problems either.By Mateja Novak
Recent years have seen a sig-nificant growth in the de-velopment of office proper-
ty in Serbia. The economic crisis may have slowed development slightly – some firms put projects on hold due to financial difficul-ties – but 2010 still saw a large number of office spaces added to the market in Serbia’s capital. The Bluehouse, VIG Plaza and Belville II projects were all completed and meant businesses had yet more of-fice space to choose from.
The problem is that few are ac-tually filling that space: according to the King Sturge property con-sultancy, the occupancy of office property, which is mostly concen-trated in Old and New Belgrade, remains low. This in spite of the fact that the supply remains rela-tively limited in comparison to oth-er capital cities in Eastern Europe.
That is expected to change in the coming years when the projects which were put on hold during the crisis are restarted and ultimately completed.
Demand for prime logistics space, meanwhile, remains high in both Belgrade and the surround-ing areas. Lack of modern indus-trial supply is hampering growth somewhat but particular interest has been seen from food retail dis-tribution chains and pharmaceuti-cal companies.
Retail marketDemand for retail space is in-
creasing too. A number of large international retailers are now looking for space in the Serbian capital and its outskirts. Here, however, the problem is too little quality space.
“Over the past year, we have seen demand for retail space gain-ing some momentum again,” ex-plains the King Sturge property consultancy. “However, the retail market has seen a significant de-crease in turnover, with landlords fighting increased vacancy rates and rising rent arrears. Interna-tional retailers are mainly located in the core high street and modern
retail schemes. The main barrier for retailers, other than recession-ary uncertainty, has been the lack of adequate modern retail space.”
The consultancy also says that there is a growing focus away from high street retailing to qual-ity in-town mall and retail park developments, which offer more
reasonable pricing as well as a controlled and measured tenant mix.
With investors and buyers be-coming more quality aware, Ser-bia and its capital will have to focus on quality rather than quan-tity if the real estate sector is to ex-perience a true recovery.
Serbia’s top 10 shopping centres by size City Scheme Name Size GLA (m2) Year Developer
Belgrade Shopping Center
43.000 2009 MPC Holding
Belgrade Delta City 28.000 2007 Delta Holding
Belgrade Mercator Center
22.000 2002 Mercator
Čačak Mercator Čačak 18.000 2005 Mercator
Novi Sad Mercator Novi Sad
16.000 2007 Mercator
Kragujevac Ronda Center 14.000 2008 Mercator
Niš Mercator Center
14.000 2008 Mercator
Indjija TQ Center 8.000 2010 Tradeunique
Belgrade Zira 7.000 2007 Verano Group
Novi Sad Novi Bataar 7.000 2006 Delta Holding
Source: King Sturge consultancy
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Picking up: in February this year there were 63 transaction involving foreign buyers in Kotor municipality alone
The Slovenia Times
32 REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL
Commercial property market
A Slow SeparationRetail and real estate have long been separate businesses in the developed markets of Western Europe. Retailers try to sell as many goods as possible, which were bought at the lowest possible price, with as few expenses as possible. Real estate businesses, however, deal with the development and management of high-quality projects in top-notch locations which will ensure stable long-term profit in the form of rent. In Slovenia, that separation hasn’t traditionally been present – but times are changing.By Mitja Terče
Due to its recent past, un-developed market, small size, and tendency to-
wards property ownership, Slov-enia is far behind the developed West when it comes to separation between retail and real estate. Everyone in Slovenia wants to own – or already does owns – their home, office, warehouse, store, or shopping centre. For Slovenian cit-izens and businesses, renting has always been the second or worst option.
Austrian attitudeIn the field of commercial prop-
erty, this mentality and work eth-
ic came to Slovenia via Austrian commercial real estate companies such as Mid Investicije, M2 with Supernovas, Hypo with Qlandia and SES with City- or Europarks. In most cases the anchor tenant was the grocery retailer Spar, a company already familiar with such an arrangement from expe-riences abroad.
The largest Slovenian commer-cial property company BTC was also influenced by the Austrian model, and broke new ground among real estate companies. In turn, BTC inspired entrepreneurs in small towns who developed and rented out smaller shopping
centres – which, on the most part, were not on a par with global standards. Meanwhile Mercator, Tuš, and Mercur, as the largest re-tailers in Slovenia, developed and financed properties for their own use.
ChangesTimes change and so does the
property market. Joining the Eu-ropean Union and the European Monetary Union were the first ma-jor developments which served to increase foreign interest in Slov-enian real estate. At that time, due to the excessive amount of cheap money offered by banks and leas-ing companies, these investors were unsuccessful. Real estate development became a national sport in Slovenia; one in which everyone saw an opportunity for fast profit. This created a vast gap between real estate prices and rents, which did not ensure the anticipated profit. The traditional tendency towards the ownership of “family silverware” and the difference between a four percent interest rate and a nine percent anticipated profit of foreign funds were the main reasons for the re-jection of offers. At this time, Mer-cator began to take a more serious approach to its real estate and Tuš established a new company to deal with its property.
Times changed again when the financial crisis hit Slovenia. Banks began to slowly limit the financ-
ing of the economy. The financ-ing of property changed from El Dorado to the land of plague over night. The real estate business is capital intensive and traditional real estate companies are abso-lutely and relatively indebted.
After just over a year of the cri-sis in the US, Slovene retailers discovered that they are, in com-parison to foreign companies, in too much debt and that consider-ing the current bank requirements and, of course, also bank capabili-ties, they cannot expect to incur new debt with regard to property.
Seeking foreign investment
In light of the financial crisis, Slovenian commercial companies have been seeking out foreign real estate investment trusts to buy their real estate or work with them to develop new property. As opposed to the Croatian company Agrokor, which is already pursu-ing this actively, Slovenian success in this area has so far been lim-ited. Partly, the reason for this is the profit, which foreign investors expect to be approximately eight percent for the best properties. However, investors are mainly concerned by the economic and legal environment in Slovenia, as well as the quality of the real estate. They are primarily inter-ested in shopping centres, a larg-er number of different types of stores, or a larger warehouse or logistical capacity. Due to trou-bles abroad, Hypo with its Qlan-dia centres is also among those seeking investors.
In the Slovenian market, more than two million square metres of commercial real estate is avail-able to investors. Business deals between local commercial com-panies and foreign investors are to be expected soon. They will surely be a great introduction into the further division of labour among commercial and real es-tate companies and the arrange-ment of the market in a similar manner to other developed west-ern countries.
Financial calculations: Mercator is looking to sell some of its impressive real estate portfolio
Big offer: more than two million square metres of commercial real estate is available to investors
Tuš NepremičNiNe d.o.o.resljeva ulica 16 / 3000 Celje / Slovenia
e: [email protected] / p: +386 59 733 000 / f: +386 59 733 625
your opporTuNiTy To beCome a parTNer of SuCCeSS STorieS
ShoppiNg CeNTer Tuš Domžale
CaTChmeNT area: 105.000 people
gba: 20.106,67 m2
gla: 11.753,78 m2
garage wiTh 342 parkiNg plaCeS
opeNiNg: 2013
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ShoppiNg CeNTerBest location in town
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The TowN CeNTer of Domžale
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The Slovenia Times
REaL ESTaTE SPECIaL34
Alpine potential
Ain’t No Mountain High EnoughSlovenia’s location and its small size confer a number of advantages, not least the fact that wherever you are within the country you are only a short drive away from the mountains or coast, or from Italy, Croatia or Austria. This in turn makes the country a year-round tourist destination, and property in the mountains an attractive prospect for investors looking for rental income. There is still a way to go, however, before the number of foreign buyers – traditionally the main investors in these areas – returns to pre-crisis levels.By Mateja Novak
When it comes to Slov-enia’s mountains, the most popular places
for tourists and investors alike are Bovec, Kranjska Gora and the areas around Bohinj. These spots have long been established as tourist destinations but their property potential developed mostly in the new century. The novelty of the places attracted a number of foreign investors as well as local ones.
“Before the crisis, the majority of investors came from Italy, Eng-land, Germany as well as Slove-nia,” says Jure Zagar, a developer from Kobarid near Bovec.
The popularity of the place be-fore the crisis was immense, and consequently the prices of prop-erties followed a strong upward trend, with some reaching more than EUR 5,000 per square metre. However, since the crisis, prices have fallen dramatically.
“The prices have fallen by as much as 20 percent if not even more,” explains Zagar.
Return of the foreign buyer
Foreign buyers had all but dis-appeared from the mountain ar-eas’ real estate market in recent
years. 2011, however, has seen some of them making a return. Justin Young, founder of real es-tate agency Slovenia Estates, says that he has recently had a number of enquiries from Russian, British and Italian buyers. The properties they were looking at were “qual-ity properties, either renovated or newer alpine style, bright and
with views of mountains, and with good all year round access.”
Most of the buyers were looking for a holiday property, “although some clients are considering a per-manent move,” adds Young.
Optimism for the future?With all the latest indicators,
the future of real estate market
in the mountains is looking much brighter than its recent past. Ac-cording to Zagar, opportunities are great due to the strong tour-ism potential of such areas.
“The potential of the real es-tate market in the mountains is immense, especially in terms of rental investments such as cottag-es and residential developments,” explains Zagar. “The unspoilt nature of Slovenia’s mountains where a person can really rest, en-joy great weather conditions both in the winter and in the summer, is a great guarantee of the places’ popularity as a tourist destination in the future,” says Zagar.
However, even though there is great potential in tourism, Young believes that the space for growth of the rental market in the moun-tains is very limited.
“If a property is close to a ski re-sort it will always be easy to rent it out. However, if it is located in a more remote area, it can be hard to rent out in either summer or win-ter,” explains Young. “There need to be attractions or activities close by as people renting in the moun-tains are looking for such things.”
But whichever way the real es-tate market moves, the beauty of Slovenia’s mountains will always remain the same.
Kobarid is a small town in the upper Soča region, whose beauty and rich history attracts tourists from all over the world who are fascinated by the many natural attractions the place offers.
Apartments PRI NAS - We offer you a pleasant stay and relaxation in these newly built and modern apartments where in caring for your comfort we have added a unique touch. Our apartments are filled with a charming combination of sophisticated elegance and modern elements, making your stay cozy and comfortable. The surrounding area includes a large parking space and grassy gardens where you can sit and enjoy the beauty of local nature. If you feel like having a treat in the water, on our terraces you are able to relax in a massage pool. We will organise a holiday for you in Soča, which you will never forget.
Apartments PRI NASGoriška cesta 5, 5222 Kobarid, Slovenia [email protected], T: +386 (0)3 137 75 85 www.pri-nas.si, Join us on Facebook! A
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Good location: it is important to be near attractions or activities for a property to have a good rental potential
Otocec Castle Restaurant
Dine with Style
Interior design
What is in(side)?
Guest Star 2010 Report
The Slovenia Times
36
Interior Design
It was natural for one of the most forested European countries to develop a strong wood processing industry. Sadly, the Slovenian furni-ture industry is still overcoming the shocking transition from a self-con-tained market to an internationalised and very competitive one. Slovenian homes with furniture installed at least two decades ago would display a
very similar set of cabinets, almost exclusively of domestic brands, many of which are now long-gone. These items were considered solid and reliable with designs perfectly up-to date with western trends. But as companies from abroad came knock-ing Slovenians accepted their wares with open arms, leaving the domestic industry to either innovate or die.
One of those companies which has not only survived but flourished is Svea, a firm particularly well known for its kitchens. Since it is difficult to compete in the low-end class, they have focused on a middle-upper range of products, offering a complete, “all inclusive” service from consulting and measuring to final installation, all included in the price of the product. Moreover, they offer customised kitchen sets similar to those made by small carpentries but with much stronger technology and knowledge base. The effect of this thorough and long-term branding is that Svea kitchens are now a defini-tive status symbol among Slovenes. Svea has also conquered foreign markets – including the highly de-manding markets of the Netherlands and Belgium – through its coopera-tion with particular European furni-ture stores and establishment of 25 of its own boutiques.Taste in shapes and coloursSvea commercial director Tim Tomažin is proud to say that his company is not only in line with cur-rent trends, but also shaping them. When it comes to kitchens, modern designs of clean horizontal lines seem to prevail, despite a rich range of traditionally designed sets. In his opinion, a well developed taste in interior aesthetics typically follows global trends.
Few are better placed to confirm Tomažin’s view that Jo Wieden, general manager of Harvey Norman in Slovenia. The company is an Australian one which has now been in Slovenia for some years. Wieden says the only real differences between the two countries relate to climate and living space: “Slovenians enjoy qual-ity and value for money in much the same way as Australians do. “Furniture choices may depend on climate but of course it’s not something which is closely linked to seasonal trends. That means that the effect of sales and special offers is not as drastic as with skirts and shoes. This doesn’t mean buyers don’t respond to discounts. Harvey Norman gets particularly busy dur-ing the half-year clearances.
The Ikea Factor Bargains are of course the stock-in-trade of Swedish giant Ikea, a brand familiar to anyone who has a young family or has just bought their own place. The firm doesn’t yet have a store in Slovenia but its products are still ubiquitous thanks to the num-ber of shops just across the border in Graz, Klagenfurt and Vilesse. These stores attract large numbers of Slovenes, mostly the young, who want their homes to look trendy at a good price – and who don’t mind as-sembling their furniture themselves.
Home Beautiful HomeEveryone wants his or her living space to be practical and look good. Generally speaking, Slovenes achieve that goal in the same way as their counterparts in the rest of Europe. Take a closer look, however, and one spots a few novelties.
Ljubljana furniture fair.
Phot
o: B
OBO
May 2011
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Guest Stars in Interior DesignHow do those in the creative arts go about decorating their homes? Two nominees in the recent Guest Star awards explain their views on Slovenian tastes in interiors as well as revealing their own preferences.
Visual artist Uwe LaysipenOn my arrival in Ljubljana in 2009 I noticed and was quite amazed by the Slovenian taste for interior design, especially in terms of com-mercial design – shops, restaurants, cafés and so on. After some time I was of course invited into people’s homes. There I noticed two main characteristic design differences and I guess they have to do with “taste” and “money”. Some of the places were furnished and built in clean, hygienic, cool Ikea-catalogue style. Others were amazing well thought out, built, furnished and decorated to a higher life-style ambience.I personally tend to favour rather minimal, functional interiors with very good quality furniture, kitchen, bath and objects. Light off white walls, light rooms, preferably with high ceilings. In my home I like to move. Rooms are room in which to move, to live – not spaces to be stuffed with objects and stuff on the walls or around like in museums.
Open space and light are most im-portant to me. Old buildings in good shape, renovated with good materi-als are what I like most.My own place has wooden floors, good, solid and simple wooden tables and chairs. A very good bed and mattress is important as
well, the same as a light spacious bathroom with window and plants. And of course, there is a very good kitchen furnace and equipment. Then one or two comfortable leather chairs. A few very good and pleasant lights with dimmers. A plasma TV, a working table and chair. Closed bookshelves. No art works on the walls.One of my favourite furniture stores and mail order companies is Manufactum. I buy little and tend to come by things by chance, wher-ever. I dislike Ikea and would only go there to help somebody carry his/her stuff.The last time I travelled in Rajasthan, India I enjoyed finding old materials and wooden craft ob-jects which I bought and took back home with me.
Singer Hannah ManciniIt seems to me that Slovenian taste is pretty eclectic and also very prac-
tical. Some take a more traditional approach and others appreciate very modern design. There isn’t really any one typical aesthetic that I’ve seen used the most in interior design here. Exterior-wise, I would just say that there is a more cottage-like look to many homes here in Slovenia. I love the old flats in the centre – hard wood parquet floors, high ceilings and so on; those features that are prevalent in many European flats in general and I especially like it when they are kept up well and mixed with modern elements. I suppose I would like to see a little more variety in architecture of the family homes here. In my home I have tried to imple-ment a mix of old and new. I love a lot of natural light; rich, lively colours and unexpected drama yet I still prefer a look that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I want to live com-fortably in my home and not worry that my furniture will be damaged by my five year old. So we choose
The Slovenia Times
38
Behind the Front Door
Although Slovenes can’t deny their historical agricultural background, so much has changed over the past century: today, over half of popula-tion lives in cities, including, of course, in the capital Ljubljana. As with most of other capital cities, Ljubljana represents an exception. We can’t avoid the fact that for a long time it was the loca-tion of the only Slovene university. It hosted most foreign business representatives, ambassadors and of course, the seat of the government. All of this resulted in much higher living standards and a much more discerning taste, on average, of the inhabitants of the city. In the flats and houses of Ljubljana, we can find much elegant and contemporary furniture and equipment, often from the hands of extremely skilled and ambitious Slovenian carpenters. Of course, collaboration of interior designers is often present, too. Some of most prestigious areas of the city are filled with elegant apartments and vil-las, competing among each other on the level of contemporary elegance of their interiors. The middle class follows them with very modern, simple and fresh (but much cheaper) furniture of-ten bought at globally known IKEA. However, we shouldn’t forget the many highly qualified, design-driven Slovenian furniture producers: wood has always been a very important export product of Slovenia, so it is quite obvious that we also have many excellent craftsmen. The rest of Slovenia is following the capital quick-ly, but with slightly more traditional orientation, often seeking symbols of traditional luxury with classical images and details, lots of brass decora-tions and large, heavy and intricately detailed pieces in dark solid wood. Unfortunately we can also find, especially in recent years, an overly strong influence of living
styles and patterns coming from other parts of the world through contemporary media, especially television. The lack of awareness of national tradi-tion and low self-confidence as members of one of the smallest nations in Europe often leads in to an uncritical copying of some very distant role models.Another feature of Slovenian interiors market is overly large homes. There’s still an attitude that every couple should make sure that each of their children are provided with their own homes, especially (as much as possible) in individual houses. That’s why average individual houses are very big, often much bigger than the needs of their owners. Well, we can’t deny there is an important role of the fiscal policy of the Slovenian government in all of this. The changes for these policies are already on the horizon, but without any evidence of practical effects yet. What else can be seen from the contemporary habits of Slovenian homeowners? Of course there is a need to show something new and contem-porary – keeping traditional, slightly worn old furniture is often considered a sign of poverty. Everything tends to be new: lights, curtains, suspended ceilings, windows and doors etc. The question of comfort is often secondary, leaving more space for a trendy look. Another noticeable difference is the lifecycle peri-od of the furniture, which is quite longer than typ-ical, especially in Western Europe, often reaching much longer than ten years to make a change. In most developed countries, this period is most often five years, rarely to ten. The reason is the lower living standard of the average Slovenian employee in comparison to his European col-leagues. He’s able to invest in furniture and home a comparable sum of money from the beginning,
but he’s often short on cash to take care of un-necessary additions and details and, of course, to make a change in a very short period.As I’ve already mentioned, Slovenia has very well-developed timber industry with factories produc-ing everything: kitchens, cabinets, upholstery, chairs, tables, etc. We also have many excellent craftsmen, some of them already on the verge of becoming small factories. Creative designers are not in question, either, with many international awards as proof. Of course, it is the easiest way for Slovenian investors to buy from Slovenian producers, but this issue always falls under the weight of a crisis. This is also our current situation: we have many Slovenian furniture factories in deep trouble, but it’s very rare that private investors would support them only from loyalty reasons – everybody is looking out for themselves today.What would be conclusions of those reflections? First of all we’d have to build up stronger com-mitment of all Slovenian citizens towards our history and tradition – it is a contemporary trend in most developed countries, and I’m deeply convinced that following it would bring our society a stronger visibility. Second, we’ll have to rethink matters of life cycling and recycling of furniture and to search solutions for it. Third, we’ll have to rethink also the issues of locality towards the Slovenian timber industry in the light of a source of jobs for Slovenian workers and of Slovenian in-dustry as a producer of final products, not merely exporter of raw materials. These are questions concerning our government, but as we are the ones who vote them, we’ll also have to rethink our own ways of thinking and acting. Irena Hlede is the editor of Klik – a magazine for quality and sustainability in architecture and design
pieces that look nice, but that you don’t have to worry will be somehow damaged with a kid in the house. I have a white leather couch that cleans up surprisingly well! What doesn’t make me feel at home is having to constantly worry you will damage something, or homes that are too dark. For our place we just have a lot of our books and personal items such as little treasures from places we’ve been to... I have brought some spe-cial wallpapers with special textures and graphics and other decorative items that have a kind of ocean feel
to them, like delicate sea fans and big sea shells from Los Angeles. I also love a beautiful outdoor space, whether it’s a balcony with lots of plants and flowers – which is what we have – or a garden. A nice place to sit and enjoy the morning sun when the weather allows is definitely a luxury I cherish. Our furnishings are a combination of antiques and artwork passed down from family and more modern elements like a giant modern bookcase, lighting, furniture and other more modern accessories we brought here from America and also found in Europe.
Column: Irena Hlede
May 2011
Uniquely YoursEach home has a certain character, which is mainly reflected in its furniture. Wood is a pure material with the power to convey various messages – so long one knows how to bring out these potentials. There are some designers who know the secret and thus the dividing line between craft and art.By Polona Cimerman
It is not surprising that it is wood that stirs the imagination of design-ers in Slovenia, the third most forested country in Europe. Dejan Pfeifer, a designer of unique wooden products in his company Studio Drevo, says he feels very close to nature and, for him, wood is the most natural and domestic mate-rial: “With each piece of wooden furniture, a piece of something fresh, healthy and innovative comes to your home from the forest.” Wood is also a fundamental ele-ment for independent wood designer Matija Hiršenfelder, who has been intrigued by it ever since he was a child: “First it was the smell that attracted me. Later on, I started to collect beautiful pieces in order to later turn them into something nice and special.”
Uniqueness as a ruleBoth designers feel that furniture does not mean lifeless objects. “Wood is alive, especially if we co-exist with it and take care of it,” believes Hiršenfelder, a wood expert who, besides his unique furniture design, also takes great interest in restoration, continuing “A wardrobe is never just that – a wardrobe. It has a special purpose which needs to be respected and sought after with design and wood treatment. ” Pfeifer bases his creations on the philosophy that “All things that are unique or perfect are very simple, just like life. That is why I create with love, which I breathe into each unique product. I’m convinced that a well-designed product has to offer people a different view of life and convey well-being and happiness.”
He specializes in first-class, hand-made furniture through
which he supports ecological and ethical thinking. Details are what matter and
distinguish the unique pieces from
manufactured ones. The designers are more flexible, they
can listen to the clients’ wishes and demands and can create a piece with an added value. “Ideas come after I talk to the customer and get to know what message they want their furniture to tell. But always I create from within myself,” says Hiršenfelder whose designs are marked by soft, curved lines.
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Trademark potentialsMany users and customers recog-nize the value of unique furniture designs. “My designs are used by children who play with ecological toys in naturally furnished rooms and, of course, adults who express high expectations of living stan-dards,” says Pfeifer. “My products are used privately and in public places, too.” His unique pieces are found in homes all over Europe and also in North America and Australia. Hiršenfelder mostly caters for the needs of Slovenian clients; however, he has pleasant business experi-ences with Japan through which he formed an opinion on the unique-ness of the Slovenian design. He asserts that, “Slovenians should be more aware of their own wood treasures and should build their own design brand. I think the distinctive characteristic of the Slovenian furni-ture is the softness of lines which is an expression of the Slovenian soul and mentality.” Looking at the innovative artistic work of both designers, Slovenians really have something uniquely spe-cial to show and also to boast of.
In sync with natureIn creation, nature serves as inex-haustible inspiration. “I get ideas mostly from nature, sometimes the source is a bird’s nest or a spider web,” says Pfeifer, who believes the only limits of human imagination are the limits of wood design. Both designers use mostly Slovenian wood for their products. “It gives each product its own original story as well as excellent characteristics of a top-quality material. Fruit trees like walnut, cherry and pear offer un-believable aesthetic and functional values,” according to Pfeifer. “There are 85 different kinds of wood in Slovenia, and some of them are widespread. I use them to make the furniture even more special,” adds Hiršenfelder. Dedication to nature in terms of ecology is also what characterizes both designers, since they avoid the use of the chemical coatings, such as lacquer. Instead, they use flax oil or beeswax, and thus retain the natural patina the product gains through the years of use. “One can thus literally feel the wood and the product,” says Hiršenfelder.
Arts & Crafts
The Slovenia Times
The Capital
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• free admission to the main sights• free public transport, boat ride, funicular, tourist train
• other attractive free services24 hours: € 23.00 • 48 hours: € 30.00 • 72 hours: € 35.00
Sales outlets:• Tourist Information Centres and major hotels
www.visitljubljana.si
Ljubljanatourist card
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Old Charm for Modern TimesOnce a feudal palace, now a public institute - Ljubljana castle looks better than ever with a handful of exciting upcoming events. By David Aleksander
Towering over the bustling streets of the Slovenian capital, the Ljubljana Castle, one of Slovenia’s most val-ued tourist attractions, was convert-ed into a public institute following a decision by the Municipality of Ljubljan. The move was seen as integral in ensuring that Ljubljana’s iconic landmark continues to provide the necessary setting for various cul-tural and other events, following the castle’s intensive remodelling and growing appeal as a diverse venue in recent years. The challenges now facing the new public institute revolve around coming up with a well-rounded programme of events that will both respect the castle’s identity and yet offer an ever greater variety of events to both domestic and international visitors. The challenge will be how to unite the cultural, tourist and catering aspect of the castle under one roof in order to turn this historic landmark into Slovenia’s number one tourist attraction in the near future. Under the new scheme the funicular and a permanent exhibi-tion of Slovenian history will become part of the castle’s management regime. The former, carrying over 200,000 passengers per year, was built towards the end of 2006 and despite initial doubts proved a wor-thy investment, uniting the old town and the Castle Hill, thus relieving the
number of tourist buses and cars. The later has been opened since last June and covers the Slovenian histo-ry from the earliest traces of human activity (200,000 BC) to the pivotal events following Slovenia’s declara-tion of independence in 1991. A novelty that will most likely prove popular with both foreign and do-mestic visitors is the introduction of the Castle Day celebrated on 16th May every year. The day marks an important event when more than a century ago the Municipality of Ljubljana bought the castle from the provincial government. This year the Castle Day will be observed a day earlier (on 15th May); visitors will be treated to a free tour of the Virtual Museum, which in May will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The earliest mention dates from 1144 when the castle was used as the seat of the Carinthian dukes Spainheims. Today, the castle serves many pur-poses, from hosting weddings as well to numerous cultural events and exhibitions. Visitors will be surprised to find that the entry to the castle courtyard is free of charge –one can relax by sipping one’s favourite bever-age or enjoy a piece of cake in the midst of historical surroundings. A guided tour takes the visitor around the castle premises, giving you a chance to feel the breath of history and learn interesting facts about the castle. Medieval jails, the old Gothic chapel, the beautifully renovated halls, a 2,000-year-old Roman well and much more are there for the visi-tor’s viewing pleasure; to top it all off, ascend the castle tower and bask in the marvellous vista of the Slovenian capital.
May 2011
A Stellar Line-Up
At the seventh Guest Star award ceremony, Slovenia’s international stars were brought closer to the sky than ever, with the event being held on the Ljubljana Castle hill. Among the sixteen nominees, each and every one a star of their own right, four names shone even brighter.Text by Polona Cimerman, photos by Alenka Slavinec
Organizers
Partners
Media PartnersAutomotive Partner
Host
Awards by
Communication Partner
Guest star winners with Justice minister Aleš Zalar and
The Slovenia Times CEO Brane Krajnik
The Slovenia Times
The evening started by launching more than 200 guests from diplomatic, financial and entertainment circles into the orbit with the promise of meeting the other stars along the way. The evening’s host, singer Anđa Marić took everybody on astar-filled journey, organised by The Slovenia Times and Radio Slovenia International with the aim of honouring the most notable foreign-ers who most influenced Slovenian society in the previous year.The three-month-long campaign culminated in an award cer-emony that gave birth to four new stars from four categories – Culture, Diplomacy, Economy and Sports. For the first time, the final results consisted from two parts in which 40% of votes came from the public and 60% from the expert jury composed of authorities from the media outlets of Delo, Dnevnik, Pop TV and RTVSlo.The organizers received around 10,000 public votes which tell of the candidates’ ability to activate the voters.
Star-struckThe winning names were kept secret until the very end of the event,during which the nominees or their representatives were
Ahmed Farouk, Ambassador of Egypt – Guest Star 2010 in Diplomacy
Winning is a great feeling and this is the first award I’ve ever won in my diplomatic career. Diplomats
are not very familiar with awards, they’re usually just working. However,
the most important thing since my arrival to Slovenia is that I have felt
a welcome guest here ever since my first week. The campaign was
very nice and well-organised and so was the award ceremony. I’d like to
congratulate the The Slovenia Times and also express my thanks to them, my colleagues, family and my team.
GUEST STARS 2010Ayhan Öztürk, Turkish Airlines General Manager for Slovenia – Guest Star 2010 in EconomyI was shocked when I heard the final results, but it feels very nice to win. I was a bit nervous before the announcement and I tried to think of a speech, but then I completely forgot it due to the great joy of winning.The entire campaign was very honourable and well-organised and I liked it a lot. I’m extremely honoured. I think I’ve done good things for Slovenia and I promise to keep doing them. In my opinion, there’s an excellent co-operation between the countries on many levels, not just in the aviation business.
Hannah Mancini, singer/songwriter – Guest Star 2010 in Culture
It feels remarkable to be honoured and recognised for my contribution to the Slovenian society. I’ve never
expected anything before moving to Slovenia, but living here turned out
to be so much more than just being involved in the music industry. I see
the award as a huge honour. I enjoyed myself throughout the campaign and
I was very impressed with the way the organizers treated us. Also, the programme on the final event was
wonderful.
Andrea Massi, ski coach, head of Team to A-Maze – Guest Star 2010 in SportsThis is the first award I’ve ever won in Slovenia, and it really means a lot to me. It is an honour for a coach to see that his efforts are being recognized. I was not able to be present during the campaign due to ski trainings and competitions, so there were problems with getting in touch with me. However, the organizers were extremely kind and managed to make the best of it.
Singer, songwriter and The Slovenia Times’
Legal alien Andja Marić was an excellent host.
The highlight of her stage presence was a singing performance
- not to mention the el-egant Versace dress by
XYZ Premium store.
Guest stars in sports were busy training so they have sent representatives instead. Only Andrea Massi managed to Show up and took the prize.
The excellencies: Ahmed Farouk, Anunciada Fernández de Córdova, Nicole Michelangeli, Andrew Page
May 2011
given a chance to tell a little bit about themselves and their views on various matters – some of whom did so in perfect Slovene.The four winners received crystal bowls made by Kristal Rogaška; each of the candidates, from four-teen different countries, was greeted with a warm applause. “The message of Guest Star is much more than merely a competition. It is about reciprocal trust and intercul-tural understanding, which are ex-tremely important. The 16 nominees are inspiring ambassadors of their own countries, who bring a touch of multiculturalism to Slovenia,” says project manager Irena Kržan.
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The night continued over delicious Vivo Catering treats and exquisite wines from selected winemakers Miro Vino, Jeruzalem Ormož, Vinag d.d. and Marof. The merry mood stretched to the dance floor, too, where guests were able to enjoy exclusive cigars from Havana Cigar Point shop by the company Camelto. The event once again lived up to its reputation of being one of the high-lights of the year, uniting Slovenians with its most honourable expatriates and thus creating long-lasting mem-ories with an important message for the future.
The business people: Louise Chatwood, Klemens Nowotny, Ayhan Öztürk and Christof Johannes Droste
Three musicians and a visual artists: Guest stars in culture - Uve Laysipen, Carlos Yoder, Lasanthi Manaranjanie Kalinga Dona and Hannah Mancini.
Srečko Trglec, Editor-in-Chief of RadioSi, a co-organizer of the event.
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Otočec Castle Restaurant
Dinewith StyleOtočec Castle RestaurantGrajska cesta 2, OtočecTel: + 386 (0)7 384 89 [email protected]
OpenEvery day until midnight
Price rangeseven-course tasting menu – EUR 55daily menu: three-course – EUR 26four-course – EUR 33five-course – EUR 39
Reservationsrecommended
Menu of the eveningFoie gras and a foie mousseline with a quince and red peppercorn compoteConfit of pulled-off the bone fish with a wild garlic coulis and puree of beetroot cornelBeef back medallion with bean dumplings, asparagus and fresh radishVanilla charlotte with peanuts and chocolate soup
Beautiful Partnerships
Otočec Castle is organising a series of special culinary evening events at which delicious food and wine are paired. According to Jade Van Baaren, it is a match made in heaven.
Grad Otočec, a stunning castle nestled on an island in the River Krka, dates back to the thirteenth century and has hosted many of Slovenia’s noble families. Today it is home to the unique Castle Hotel, currently running a series of very special culinary dinners.Held once a month, these dinners are fast becoming hard to book, being a delicious and educational culinary experience at an attractive price. Those attending not only enjoy a four-course meal but also wines carefully selected to perfectly accompany the food. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been invited on the day that Miha Batič was hosting. Founded in 1592, the Batič winery uses production methods that are entirely organic and biodynamic. At the event Batič was able to give me a real insight into the wines he had cho-sen for the evening.
Beautiful inside and outThe evening began in the open air of the castle courtyard. In this atmospheric, historical setting, we sipped a lovely 2008 rosé, met the others guests, and nibbled on some delicious canapés of young local Slovenian cheese. It was
then time to move inside for dinner, held in the castle’s elegant dining room. The hotel was refurbished in 2008 to a very high standard and while the decor is contemporary it cleverly blends in the castle’s period features and many antiques. Seated at our own private table the meal started with an intro-duction from Miha and Robert Gregorčič, called Robi, Castle Otočec’s resident chef. The two explained the inspiration for each course and the wines chosen. It was refreshing to meet Robi, a chef who equals Miha in his enthusiasm for nature and what it gives us. Well attuned to seasonal changes in the woodlands belonging to the castle, Robi harvests the freshest produce for his menus. His energy and creativity are a genuine inspiration.
Vanilla charlotte with peanuts and chocolate soup
Beef back medallion with bean dumplings, asparagus and fresh radish
Confit of pulled-off the bone fish with a wild garlic coulis and puree of beetroot cornel
In Issue 139
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In Issue 140
In Issue 136/137
Top choice
JB RestaurantMiklošičeva 17, LjubljanaTel: +386 (0)1 430 70 70 [email protected], www.jb-slo.comOpen: Mon-Sun, 11am – 11pmSat, 5pm – 11pm
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City Restaurant - BTC CITY LjubljanaPoslovna stolpnica, 13th floor, Šmartinska 140, LjubljanaTel: +386 (0)1 585 19 97www.btc-city.comRestaurant open: Mon-Fri, 11am – 4pmBar open: Mon-Fri, 7.30am – 6pm
Pule EstateDrečji vrh 16, Trebelno Tel: +386 (0)7 34 99 700, (0)51 373 [email protected], www.pule.si Open: Wed-Sat: 12am-10pm, Sun: 11am-8pm; Pule Estate is also available for rentalTraditional Slovene cuisine with other culinary delights
Barka Restaurant - St.Bernardin - PortorožObala 2, PortorožTel: +386 (0)5 695 30 [email protected] with selected fish dishesOpen: 11am – 11pm
Vila PrešerenVeslaška promenada 14, BledTel: +386 (0)4 575 25 [email protected]: 11am – 11pm
Otočec Castle RestaurantGrajska cesta 2, OtočecTel: + 386 (0)7 384 89 [email protected]: Every day until midnight
Cafe CentralGrand Hotel Portorož ***** Obala 33, PortorožTel: +386 (0) 5 692 [email protected], www.lifeclass.netOpen: Every day, 8am – 9pm
Promenada Gourmet RestaurantCesta svobode 15, BledTel: +386 (0)4 579 18 39restavracija.promenada@hotelibled.comwww.sava-hotels-resorts.comOpen: Tuesday to Sunday: 12pm–10pm
Bled Castle RestaurantGrajska cesta 6, 4260 BledTel: +386 (0)4 579 44 [email protected]/castle restaurantOpen: Every day, 10am –10pm
Great foodIn short order our first course arrived: a duo of seared foie gras and a foie mous-seline, accompanied by a quince and red peppercorn compote. This was coupled with a 2009 Sivi Pinot. It was such a lovely blend of flavours and textures that I think I actually frowned when I saw my plate empty. A good seared foie should resemble a crème brûlée: crisp on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous on the inside. This foie gras was exactly that, fresh and aromatic. The mousseline was light and airy with a mellow savour of foie and cream. The quince compote did its job, cutting through the foie flavours with the perfect blend of sweet and bitter, finished off with the spice from the red peppercorn. The second course was confit of pulled-off the bone fish, served with a wild garlic coulis and purée of beetroot cornel. This dish was attractive, fresh and delicate. The local carp was caught that day in the river and the wild garlic foraged from the castle woodlands. It was a magnificent explosion of colour and taste served with a 2007 dry Zaria – a glorious match. Both the wine and the dish spoke of mulched woodlands and fresh fruit.
Wonderful harmonyAnd so to the main event: mature beef back medallion with a lemon foam and pepper sauce served with bean dumpling (štrukelj) and a bouquet of shaved season-al asparagus and fresh radish. I enjoyed every tender morsel of the beef filet. The sauce was rich and tantalising and thank-fully Robi came around to all the tables and offered more of this luscious treat if desired. The bean dumplings had an earthy flavour to them. They were moist,
plump and melted in the mouth.The Rosso 2006 which accompanied this course was dry with a wonderful har-mony of three grape varieties: the Merlot gives the wine its structure; the Cabernet Sauvignon lends its aroma; and the Cabernet Franc, like a good mother, brings it all together.
SweetThe meal wrapped up with vanilla char-lotte with peanuts and chocolate soup. The charlotte was as light as a cloud and had a very pure essence of vanilla. The warm milk chocolate soup that the char-lotte lay upon balanced out the flavours of the dish, whilst the dusting of nuts added that extra crunchy texture and bitter aroma.The desert was served with a Valentino 2007, sweet. Now to be completely hon-est I am not a fan of sweet wines but this Valentino was right up my street. In reflected on the evening, I realised it was one of partnerships. Not only was the food and wine well paired, I found the chef and wine maker to be equally well matched. And I cannot think of a more perfect setting for this special dinner then Grad Otočec, imbued with so much his-tory and comfort. I think the only thing that could have improved the evening for me would have been permission to crawl upstairs and bed down in one of the ho-tel’s luxury suites.There is no doubt that I will put myself on the monthly mailing list to find out when the next dinner and wine paring event will take place. I recommend you do the same.
The next culinary event at Otočec Castle
Thursday, 12th May, 7 p.m.Price (wine including): EUR 49 per person
ReservationsTel: +386 (0)7 384 89 00
E-mail: [email protected]
The Slovenia Times
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ZOO
Soft
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Fash
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African VillageThe Ljubljana ZOO opened a new children’s playground called African village which was given to it by NLB Vita, Life Insurance company. The atmosphere at the event was cheerful and relaxed and despite the April weather over two thousand visitors attended the playful Saturday at the ZOO. The children together with parents tried out the climbing houses, family floor trampolines, two family swings, a big toboggan and enjoyed the versatile animation programme. The new African playground is a part of the African playing complex which is about to be built in the Ljubljana ZOO including the equipment for the youngest visitors. The playground is going to make the ZOO which is already a popular meeting place of young parents and children extra interesting.
New Fructal Ice TeasFructal entered the spring with a refreshed line of
ice teas with three harmonious flavours: cranberry and raspberry, peach and strawberry, and lemon.
The lighter and more refreshing flavours with a lower fruit content are available in 0.5 and 1.5 l
plastic bottles while the richer and more distinctive flavours with a higher fruit content can be found in
new 1.5 l cardboard packaging. The company is proud to be the first in the Slovenian market to offer the consumers two ice tea alternatives at the same time, both in terms of flavours and packaging. All
their ice teas do not contain preservatives, artificial flavourings or colourings. The Fructal experts say all their ice teas are made according to the customers’
tastes which are a result of numerous tests and tastings.
Interestingly, the peach flavour is still among the most popular
flavours among the Slovenian consumers.
Rejuvenated for SpringTerme Dolenjske Toplice have introduced a new treatment which promises smooth, firm and gleaming facial skin. This effective method is completely natural which enables lymph drainage, peeling and mezzo therapy without syringes. The new therapy with water and oxygen is suitable also for acne treatment, skin blemish reduction and even baldness elimination. The procedures are minimally invasive and as such have rejuvenating results without big risks, long rehabilitations and also costs. Jet Peel-Hydro Bliss method is a novelty and experts claim it has numerous effects since it is optimal for deep-cleansing facial treatments and deep skin hydration and oxygenation to name but a few. Among its beneficial effects are skin detoxification, swelling reduction and scar healing encouragement.
Sophisticated with an EdgeSuperTrash opened a shop in Galerija Emporium, BTC, Ljubljana
The Dutch brand SuperTrash stands for living a successful life, being sophisticated and exposing yourself as you are. The brand may be born in L.A. but it definitely has been raised in Amsterdam and brought
to big European success by the Dutch fashion entrepreneur Olcay Gulsen (in the picture with the Dutcha ambassador, Jos Douma). It boasts a dealer network of 1.000 high class boutiques and department stores. In
2009, Gulsen took over the worldwide business and made it an Amsterdam label and enterprise.
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I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach, excited like a little girl. I opened the window and the sunshine flooded in along with the crispy and fresh air. What better day for a new beginning? For it is today that I have my first date with my brand new band from Hungary. I have never met these guys in person before. The audition was held via Skype (my favourite benefit of this century) and today I will be travelling to a rehearsal for our first show together. I really hope my luck hasn’t run out and that I have managed to find excellent musicians to continue my musical journey under the name of Kisha. When I started the Kisha project, my whole idea was to assemble a pleasant group of musical enthusiasts who would meet for jam sessions, have fun making music, enjoy good food and wine and then, united in their diversity, create something special. On days like this, I feel like luckiest girl on earth to have the job I do – that of entertainer and songwriter. But being an artist, and expressing myself through my music and lyrics, can also be scary. Lately I have found myself believing that the lyrics I sing should be carefully chosen, like a mantra, because they do come alive.
Just think of it: we are what we think. Words are swords, roses with thorns, depending on the energy they are sent to travel with. The last Kisha album “A Nyar” was all about my childhood in Hungary, my first loves, my last relationship and everything I felt at the time. I put so much passion into those lyrics, which were accompanied with melancholic music in the Hungarian style, that all of them became my reality. Is it just a coincidence? I really don’t think so. I wrote them, put passion into every performance, and the world, being a mirror to my attitude, materialised everything I sang and believed in. Is this why our worst fears usually become real? I think so. When you focus upon an unwanted aspect of something in an effort to push it away from you, it actually only comes closer. You get what you give attention to, whether it is something you want or something you don’t. In my case, the titles of the songs already speak for themselves: Fear, Love is not enough, Lie to me, and so on… So now I have decided it is up to me to focus upon and attract what I want. No more sad songs for me, I am all about to change my whole life.
As I chose my clothes from the wardrobe, I repeated the same process with my thoughts – focusing on what I want rather than what I don’t. The minute I stepped out on the street, I felt the difference. I was met by smiles on strangers’ faces, the kindness of the gas station clerk, and the beautiful sunshiny day, just perfect for driving across the country. I have found solace in my vision of how this day is going to be, and it is becoming real as I type this. If I can’t change the world, at least I can change myself. We are creatures of the energy which emanates from each one of us, moulding our common realities. Can we make a difference to our common world if we focus on healing ourselves first and becoming happy, healthy cells in this wonderful organism of life we all live in? Call me a dreamer, but I believe so. I will let my every day be the first day of the rest of my life, and as for today I will let it be a fresh new beginning, because my happiness depends on starting today – every day.
New beginnings
Column: A
ndja Maric
White House PorcelainLenox Corporation is one of the leading producers of qualitative
tableware, gifts and collector’s pieces of porcelain and crystal in the world. Its three trademarks Lenox, Gorham and Dansk cater
for various consumers’ needs but they are all distinguished by high design, innovative lines and easy usage. The fine Lenox porcelain is
decorated by hand. Depending on the product, the items are adorned with platinum, 24 carat gold, precious enamel or with a combination
of all mentioned materials. Lenox’ articles trademark is outstanding quality and artfulness of each piece. They incorporate ideas of many
famous designers. Lenox is still the only American porcelain which has been in constant use for more than 80 years in the White House and
is a popular gift item in political and private sphere. The fine Lenox tableware can be found also in Slovenia in shops of Steklarna Rogaška.
Choose Your Favourite
With the help of naturally active ingredients, Kozmetika Afrodita has been combating cellulite for 40 years. This spring they have launched a renovated Anti-cellulite line with outstanding results, based on observations of 45 women and in-vitro tests. There are three treatments you can choose from. One is based on cecropia, a plant from the Amazon rainforest also known as “the tree of slenderness” and has a great diuretic power. The second one contains Garcinia Cambogia extract which blocks the enzyme that is vital for fat formation. You can also opt for pitaya active gel which reduces the body girth with its antioxidants. You can intensify the anti-cellulite effects by using aroma massage tights which stimulate blood circulation and activate lymph flow and shape the body. You can order your free samples at [email protected].
The Slovenia Times
EVENTS48
Exhibition
Urban PlasticTue 22 Mar–Thu 30 Jun, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission
The exhibition Urban Plastic represents different points of view of urban furniture, which is somewhere between art and design. Sculptors Polona Demšar, Boštjan Novak and Jurij Dobrila have developed shapes which focus more and more on the complex mutual interaction of the local and the global, tradition and novelty. These statues offer the city a new identity, where friends can meet and children can play.
Photography
Caio ReisewitzThu 24 Mar–Sun 15 May, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission
The invented world of Caio Reisewitz seems real. Almost. But his dreamlike photographic collages are an illusion, a rigorous, detailed and meticulously created world, where a lush, often nondescript, Brazilian landscape dominates the image, giving way to small human figures, houses and architectonic details; a manipulated reality, which is at the very heart of Caio’s work. In an era where Photoshop reigns over the digital photographic world (and the very truthfulness of things is questioned , in his own words), Caio makes his collages from cutouts in huge enlargements, which are then glued, re-photographed and enlarged in a smaller format in order to provide a wealth of detail.
Pop
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Mon 2 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 8–12
Wildbirds & Peacedrums is a Swedish power pop duo. It is hard to believe that this amazing mixture of atmospheric pop, expressive gospel and punk rock is created only by drums and vocals. Wildbirds & Peacedrumsare are husband
and wife, Andreas and Mariam, who have thrilled fans and critics alike, which helped them sign a deal with the record label Leaf Label (Murcof, Caribou, A Hawk And A Hawksaw). This concert is to promote their new album Rivers, which has helped to strengthen their reputation even further.
Classical
The Konzerthausorchester BerlinTue 3 May, 7.30pm, Union Hall, Maribor, EUR 20
Listeners of quality classical music are in for a real treat with a visit from The Konzerthausorchester from Berlin, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek. The soloist for the evening will be Mirijam Contzen on violin. The programme will include the following pieces: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to the opera The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, KV 216 and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68.
World music
Adriana CalcanhottoTue 3 May, 8.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 15–18
Adriana Calcanhotto is a Brazilian singer/composer. Her melancholic songs are most often categorized as belonging to the Música Popular Brasileira genre. She started her professional career in 1984, released her first studio album in 1990 and is deservedly considered one of the finest musicians in her country. The line-up for the concert: Adriana Calcanhotto – voice, acoustic guitar; Alberto Continentino – acoustic bass; Domenico Lancellotti – percussion.
Electronic
Ben FrostWed 4 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 8–12
Ben Frost is an Australian born composer and audio artist. After the release of his album Theory of Machines, the critics labelled him as the prototype for the future of electronic music. His great power stems from the contrast between classical composing and the innovative use of lethal virtual instruments. His performances are intense and subtly brutal. The support will be the Serbian-
American duo ViceVerse, made up of Dis-patch (Belgrade) and Communikey (Colorado), and the Slovenian collective Synaptic.
Avant-garde
Led Bib
Wed 4 May, 9pm, Menza pri koritu, Ljubljana
Led Bib is one of the hottest representatives of the British new jazz scene. Recently, they released their fifth album, Bring Your Own, on the legendary Cuneiform label, which means that they were instantly exposed to a wide audience of avant-garde jazz fans. The band has been making a lot of noise ever since their debut Arboretum in 2005. The line-up: Mark Holub – drums, Liran Donin – bass, Toby McLaren – keyboards, Chris Williams – saxophone, Pete Grogan – saxophone.
Exhibition
Dragica Čadež, Retrospective Thu 5 May–Sun 3 Jul, Art Gallery, Maribor, no admission
Academic sculptor Dragica Čadež, one of the most consistent representatives of the Slovene Neo-Constructivism, spent her youth in Maribor where Gabriel Kolbič introduced her into the art of small-scale sculpture. In 1963 she graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. Her sculptural oeuvre consists of several connected series in terms of structure and content, focusing mostly on a firm constructivism of the sculpture and considering the significance of the space. The artist turned her ideas into sculptures made of wood, which is one of the oldest materials man had been using in order to express his creativity.
Party
Tokyo DecadanceFri 6 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 12–15
Tokyo Decadance is a hot cocktail of Japanese-French extravagance. This colourful show features Japanese urban tribes, DJ’s, dancers, explicit performers, fetish styling and daring fashion. This is a crazy party where the rhythm is set by industrial, gothic, trance, electro and techno DJ’s, the electro punk band Dead Sexy Inc. This is fun, unadulterated fun the likes Slovenia has never seen.
Electronic
Tomideli MartelliFri 6 May, 11pm, K4, Ljubljana, EUR 8–10
This night will see K4 host one of the most prominent DJ’s from this territory, Tomidelli Martelli, who will be celebrating fifteen years in the business. It started out very modestly with high school parties and Martelli’s style has evolved along the way, but there’s one thing he keeps coming back to, his first love – house. Although his music contains elements from several electronic styles, it is house music that he is best known for. Martelli has become one of the most renowned DJ’s in the business, performing at the best clubs and festivals all over the world.
Avant-garde
VialkaFri 6 May, 10pm, Menza pri koritu, Ljubljana
The French acoustic duo of Vialka comes from central France, even though the pair says they come from everywhere and nowhere. Their music transcends genre definitions, as we can hear glimpses of blues, gypsy music, rock, Chinese folk music, punk and much more. Their compositions are full of broken polyrhythms, screams, exclamation and plain fun. This exciting band consisting of drummer Marylise Frecheville and guitarist Eric Boros are here to promote their new record La pursuite de l’excellence, recorded with Bob Drake.
May 2011
49EVENTS
World music
27th International Druga Godba FestivalSat 7 May–Sat 14 May, various venues, Ljubljana
Druga Godba, held for the 27th year running, is a festival of world and, to a lesser extent, contemporary jazz music. It ranks among Europe’s best festivals of slightly alternative music difficult to fit neatly into musical categories. Druga Godba is well known for bringing to Ljubljana leading artists from different backgrounds and musical traditions who draw inspiration from different traditional folk musics and are committed to creative musical exploration. The Druga Godba line-up is sometimes even ahead of world trends.
World music
Staff Benda BililiSat 7 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 20–28
Staff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in Congo-Kinshasa. They live around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm ‘n’ blues and reggae. The core of the band consists of four senior singers/guitarist, who are all disabled (they suffered from poliomyelitis when they were young) and move around in spectacularly customized tricycles. They are backed by a younger rhythm section consisting of abandoned street kids who were taken under the protection of the older members of the band.
Post rock
M. A. Z. C. A.Mon 9 May, 9pm, Menza pri koritu, Ljubljana, EUR
Lately we are being bombarded with great post rock bands. The dust hasn’t even settled after the performance of God is an Astronaut and we are already moving on to another new and exciting band. This time we will be able to witness the unique music of the Italians M. A. Z. C. A., who don’t have the high profile of some other
post rock bands, but they make up for it by putting their own stamp of uniqueness to their music. The line-up: Marco Bernacchia (guitar, synth, voice, xylophone) Michele Morganti (bass, electronics) Daniele Maori (drums, clarinet).
Classical
Benjamin SchmidWed 11 May, 7.30pm, Union Hall, Maribor, EUR 14
Born in Vienna, Benjamin Schmid studied in Salzburg, Vienna and at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Over the next several years, Schmid went on to win further competitions, culminating in 1992 with the Carl Flesch Competition where he also won the Mozart Prize, the Beethoven Prize and the Audience Prize. We will be hearing some of his interpretations of Mozart, Paganini and Sabina Hank. He will be accompanied by Ariane Haering on piano.
Classical
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Thu 12 May–Fri 13 May, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 8–26
Conductor: Alain Paris, soprano: Theresa PlutMaestro Pâris and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra will introduce concert audience with the three pieces composed by Florent Schitt, Francis Pouled and world-renowned Chinese composer Qigang Chen, who lives and creates in France. Therefore you are cordially invited to join us at pre-concert talk (on Friday, May 13 at 6.15, in the Lily Novy Club of the Cankarjev dom) with musical expert Maestro Alain Pâris, who will certainly tell as all we would like to know about French music.
Rock
Demolition Group
Thu 12 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 12–15
Demolition Group is one of the most recognisable bands in
Slovenia and has been creating music for several decades. Their previous album came out ten years ago and now they return with thirteen completely new tracks, with a unique sound that cannot be mistaken for anyone else’s. Their relentless and uncompromising vision is now emphasised even more with a rejuvenated rhythm section.
World music
Hindi ZahraFri 13 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 20–28
Hindi Zahra is a Moroccan femme fatale living in Paris. Her songs are mostly sung in English, so she has been able to get a lot of worldwide attention, first with her
single Beautiful Tango and then with her debut album Handmade, which was released by Blue Note in 2010. Her gentle voice has been attracting concert audiences all over the world and there seems no stopping her. On this concert she will be supported by a local jazz and world music legend, the great saxophone player Vasko Atanasovski, who has also taken on the role of singer with his latest project Mljask.
Comedy
Trevor Lock Monday, 16 May, 8.30 pm, Cvetličarna, Ljubljana,
Wednesday, 18 May, 9 pm, Jazz Club Satchmo, Maribor
Trevor Lock is an English comedian, actor and playwright. He is noted for the circuitous and surreal nature of his stand-up comedy. He has toured the UK supporting
The Slovenia Times
EVENTS50
both Stewart Lee and Russell Brand and made appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe. A founder member and co-host of the comedy cabaret Kool Eddy’s in London. And he’s coming to Slovenia in the merry month of May!
Classical
Carmina Burana
Wed 18 May, 8pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 13–24
Carmina Burana is the most recognisable work by the great Carl Orff, where he incorporated traditional motifs into a classical and operatic environment. This performance will be accompanied by a dance performance from the Szeged Contemporary Dance Company, from Hungary. The choreography was done by Tamás Juronics. Now we have a chance to see one of the most spectacular classical works in history accompanied by a truly spectacular dance performance.
Photography
Žiga Koritnik: A Point of LightWed 18 May – 28 June, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, no admission
The renowned Slovenian photographer has gained acclaim especially in the field of jazz and concert photography. In 2009, his book Punto di luce was published in Italy, focusing on the Sardinian carnival. Through B&W photos, taken since 2004, Žiga Koritnik foregrounds morsels from the celebration at the end of winter. When the carnival takes over, people take their leave of absence to participate in the festivities, while those who live in the mainland inevitably return home... The exhibition presents a unique opportunity to feel the spirit of the true Sardinia.
Electronic
Electronic CarnivalFri 20 May, 9pm, Exhibition and Convention Centre, Ljubljana, EUR 25–135
For several years now, this has been the biggest electronic event in Slovenia. This is the second edition in a row to be held in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. To convince you that this really is a spectacle to behold, let us just tell you that on this one night you will be able to experience 18 of the most established DJ’s in the world playing on three different stages. Some of the artists performing include Sebastain Ingrosso, Cosmic Gate, Beltek, F. Sonik, Daniel Greenx and several others. Not to be missed by fans of electronic beats.
Industrial
Swans
Tue 24 May, 9pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 22–25
Michael Gira founded the influential New York band The Swans in 1982. They soon became known for their insane, brutal and repetitive sonic outbursts, extreme levels of noise and the self-destructive, pathetic screams of Gira’s vocals, who blurted out slogans as if there was no tomorrow. They gradually changed their style and became a proto industrial rock band and they have been continuing to evolve until this day.
Electronic pop
Mars festival: Moby Thu 26 May, 6.30pm, Exhibition and Convention Centre, Ljubljana, EUR 38–60
This edition of the Mars Ljubljana-Zagreb Trans Europe festival will be marked by the performance of one of the most recognisable figures in the musical world in the past decade or so. Richard Melville Hall, better known as Moby, will surely attract a wide range of audience members, from younger electronic music fans to the older generation, which still
remembers Moby’s beginnings. We are bound to hear some of his greatest hits, including ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’, ‘Lift Me Up’, ‘Porcelain’, ‘Raining Again’, ‘Natural Blues’ and many others.
Classical
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Thu 26 May–Fri 27 May, 7.30pm, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, EUR 10–33
Piano Concerto No. 4, dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, was premiered in March 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. However, the public premiere was not until 22 December 1808 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien. Beethoven again took the stage as soloist. This was part of a marathon concert which saw Beethoven’s last appearance as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the premieres of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. However, after its first performance, the piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn.
Metal
SaxonMon 30 May, 8.30pm, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, EUR 22
Saxon is a band that hardly needs any introduction. Ever since their beginnings in the late 1970s, Biff Byford (vocals) and company have been dazzling audiences with their fast and furious power chords, angry vocals and screams and many excellent albums, including several that have made it onto
the charts. Just a short time ago, Saxon released their latest album Call to Arms, which will surely be presented at this concert as well. Saxon have no intention of going away! The night will also see Crimson of Passion and Lene Kosti opening for the headliner.
Electronic
Chemical Brothers Fri 3 Jun, 9pm, Stožice Sports Park Arena, Ljubljana, EUR 50–75
After Moby, DJ Tiesto and several other big names in electronic music, we will have the honour of another legendary act – Chemical Brothers. Ed Simons and Tom Rowland already started making a name for themselves in the 1990s with their unrelenting vision for very dark, yet melodic electronic music fused with more organic elements. They are known for their many collaborations, including Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve). They have also put out several hit songs like: “Setting Sun”, “Block Rockin’ Beats”, “Leave Home”, “Life Is Sweet”, “Hey Boy, Hey Girls” and many other memorable dance hits.
Shopping
BTC Festival21 and 22 May, BTC City
The traditional spring Shopping and Fun festival attracts people with both special discounts and a variety of performances. This year’s programme features concerts, workshops, children events and workshop, as well as sport tournaments and races.
Honorary PartnerEmbassy of the People’s Republic of China
Organizers PartnersAcademy of Music, University of LjubljanaFaculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
The Confucius Institute at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics
Impressive merge of two cultures presented by the oldest
instrument in the wor ld
11 May 2011 at 20.00 Slovene National Theatre Maribor
14 May 2011 at 20.00 Slovenian Philharmonic Ljubljana
Get your tickets at: Petrol stations, Post offices across Slovenia, Big Bang, Kompas, Hiša vstopnic - CityPark /LJ, Hiša vstopnic - Europark /MB
Internet sales: www.eventim si, www.vstopnice.com. Telephone sales: + 386 1 420 5000
Chinese flute virtuoso
Liu Zhengguo
and
Ljuben Dimkaroski
from Slovenia with group Pella
The Slovenia Times
SPORTS52
Ice hockey
A Comedy of ErrorsIce hockey in Slovenia rarely fails to provide excitement, intrigue, undercover moves, back stabbing, and even some fun, both on and off the ice. But as with the frequent fights on the ice, things are mostly forgotten by the next game – or at least the next season.By Simon Demšar
Olimpija and Jesenice re-main the only serious Slovenian contenders. In
recent years, they have found their place under the sun in the Austri-an EBEL league, which provides respectable competition, some-times too strong for the financially struggling Slovenian teams.
Olimpija and Jesenice were fiercely fighting for a top eight po-sition in the EBEL league – mostly against Medveščak, Croatia, and Alba, Hungary – and a place in the play-offs. After many ups and downs, eventually Olimpija made it, while Jesenice finished in last position. Olimpija played Salz-burg in the knock-out system and this was when sparks began to fly.
Following Salzburg coach Pierre Page’s critical comments that Ol-
impija’s Andrej Hebar should be sent to prison (for attacking Salz-burg’s Kevin Puschnik, he was eventually suspended for the en-
tire season; many believe, partly based on Page’s comments), fans were eagerly waiting for revenge. However, Page had another trick up his sleeve. Claiming that Ljubljana is too dangerous a place to play (despite being given of-ficial approval), he avoided con-fronting the furious crowd. Salz-burg lost the game behind the green table but eventually elimi-nated Olimpija.
In the time between the end of the EBEL league and the nation-al championship finals, Jesen-ice had a month to get its act to-gether. They were well aware that the EBEL league was not a disas-ter, given the fact that they had a young team. Rok Tičar, Žiga Jeglič and Robert Sabolič further estab-lished themselves, and have been approached by other big teams.
Sabolič has already announced that he’s leaving for Medveščak, but if the management is able to keep the other two, the team – with an additional year of experi-ence – might be a force to reckon with next year. After all, with
the exception of two or three top teams, there was little to choose between other EBEL league teams. Even Olimpija came close to beat-ing eventual champions Salzburg in the quarter finals.
National championship finals brought more excitement and po-litical battles off the ice. When the finals were about to begin, Jesen-ice’s Podmežakla Hall was closed for failing to obtain an operating permit. Many, including the may-or of Jesenice, believe that this was a political trick. It was issued only for the fourth match, after Jesen-ice had won the first two games in Ljubljana and the third one in front of empty seats.
Jesenice’s coach Heikki Mälkiä has been kept on for the next sea-son. “Frankly, I want to stay in Jesenice for reasons beyond ice hockey. My family and I feel great here and I had no second thoughts about extending the contract. The core of the team is great and we want to build on that next year. Failing to qualify for EBEL play-offs leaves some bitter aftertaste, but this will make us even more hungry next season. We healed some wounds by winning the na-tional title and this is a big boost for the future,” said the Finnish coach.
What strikes the eye in terms of the national championship is the lack of enthusiasm among fans, perhaps even players, particular-ly in Ljubljana. There were times when you had to queue for hours to get hold of the ticket, while this year only 2,000 tickets were sold for both Ljubljana matches. The EBEL league drew a lot of atten-tion, while the national champion-ship appeared to be redundant.
Muršak joins KopitarMeanwhile, Slovenian players are doing great in the NHL. With 73 points (goals plus assists) Anže Kopitar is the most successful player of Los Angeles Kings. Playing his 330th consecutive game for the team (in four years, he’s missed only ten matches), he hurt his ankle and was forced to miss the playoffs. Team management openly admitted that they had lost their best player while fans call the Los Angeles Kings, “the Los Anzeless Kings”. This year, Kopitar was joined by Jan Muršak as the second Slovene in the NHL , replacing an injured team mate. Muršak played 18 matches and scored one goal.
The eternal rivalry of Olimpija and Jesenice.
Phot
o: B
OBO
In research by the Global Economic Forum, Slovenia progressed by two spots in the rank-ing of competitiveness: from number 35 in 2009 to number 33 in 2010.
In the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Re-port 2011, which reviewed 139 countries – six more than in 2009 – Slovenia moved from 35th spot to 33rd. The research by the World Eco-nomic Forum shows that the country’s competi-tive advantages still lie in business environment and infrastructure (33rd place); opportunities to set up tourist infrastructure (17th place); ground transport infrastructure (25th place); informa-
tion technologies (25th place); and in the areas of safety (29th place) and sustainable environ-ment development (23rd place). The biggest leaps have been made in tourism – by 36 spots to rank 44th overall. In the field of support to tourism Slovenia is now in 49th place (up from 70th in 2009) and in natural resources Slovenia has moved 15 spots to 64th (79th in 2009). The progress in the quality of natural environment is particularly significant – Slovenia now sits in 16th place.
The survey by the World Economic Forum did however show declines in some areas. In air
traffic infrastructure the country fell from 70th to 74th place; in price competitiveness it now sits in 99th place; 42nd position for visa policies; and 116th place for both foreign capital pres-ence and effects of regulations on foreign direct investments.
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A giant leap at increasing competitiveness in Slovenia has been made in the field of natural resources, especially in the quality of environment.
Competitiveness of Slovenian tourism on the rise
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Launch of Simbioz@, a huge national voluntary project to
increase the electronic literacy among the seniors.
Intrepid cellulite fighters: Afrodita cosmetics team with The Slovenia Times’ Goran Mladenović and Irena Kržan at the launch of renewed Anti-Cellulite line.
Slovenian Fashion designer Matevž Faganel
at Practicum: British Fashion-2 event during
the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Moscow.
(British Council)
The definition of celebrity: Porn model Ines Juranovič, Standup comedian Tin Vodopivec and TV presenter Bernarda Žarn at
“Famous people cook” presentation. (Mediaspeed)
EVER
y PI
CTU
RE T
ELLS
A S
TORy
The elite police: Athletes Tina Maze and Dejan Zavec with Interior Minister Katarina Kresal instructing the kids on pedestrian safety (BOBO)
The big Mini event: Openin of the MINI saloon in Ljubljana
Miss Sports 2011 competitors with actual Miss Živa Viktorija Turk (first on the left). (Mediaspeed)
Slovenija danes: A new monthly magazine launched by the publishers of The Slovenia Times in cooperation with the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenes Abroad.
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