Record attendance at the 27th traditional Real estate transactions conference

At the two-day conference held on 10–11 November, a total of 360 participants were briefed on the planned and proposed legislative amendments pertaining to real estate transactions.

President of Ukraine visits the CCIS

Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, addressed a small group of businessmen on 8 November at the CCIS with the aim of deepening mutual commercial relations between the two countries. He also used this opportunity to enter his name in the CCIS Book of Honourable Guests.

Business delegation in Serbia during the meeting between the governments of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia

On 24 October a joint meeting was held in Belgrade between the governments of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia. In the wake of this opportunity, a 60-member business delegation of Slovenian company representatives was also in Belgrade. The Slovenian partners were welcomed by more than 100 Serbian companies. Within the context of the Serbian-Slovenian business forum, where both Prime Ministers, Mr Cerar and Mr Vučić, addressed the participants, possibilities and new opportunities for business cooperation were discussed.

Risks at the workplace? No, thanks

Three new, free interactive tools for drawing up a risk assessment of a particular position could save bakers, butchers and retailers up to EUR 1.5 million. On 20 October, with the closing international conference, the Chamber of Small Business and Trade together with its partners successfully completed the one-year project “Together – Health Building Blocks”, which was financed by the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia.

21 November: PortorožpoPortorožu

The responsible ministers and ministry representatives will be presented with the conclusions of the 27th Real estate transactions conference.

23–24 November: International meeting of the Slovenian paper-making industry 2016 under the title: “Paper – always a thrilling tale”

We will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Slovenian Paper-Making industry Day with a brief look back over its 20-year history. During our 20-year tradition we have focused on important and interesting topics in organising this event: we were among the first to give attention to environmental issues, the energy sector, new technologies, digitalisation and the circular economy, etc. Most of these topics still draw our attention today. The “Section for packaging: added value packaging”, will focuse on current issues relating to packaging, such as its sustainability aspect, use of new materials, active and intelligent packaging, certification and legislative requirements.

23–27 November: 32nd Slovenian Book Fair

Over five days you will be able to visit 100 exhibition stands with around 3,000 new books, meet around 100 local and 30 foreign authors and see around 250 accompanying events. You will become part of the 30,000-strong crowd of reading enthusiasts.

24 November: Slovenian Business Summit

At the Slovenian Business Summit we will discuss the DigitAgenda 2016 – recommandations to improve Slovenia's digital business environment. Participants will also be addressed by the Prime Minister, Dr Miro Cerar.

8 December: Business contacts – Vietnam

A discussion will be held at the event regarding new business opportunities in Vietnam for Slovenian companies that are provided by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Opportunities for cooperation will be presented in the area of infrastructure development, primarily pertaining to the IT sector and programmes for tourism exchange.

16 November: Slovenian budget under scrutiny: Brussels reservations justified

The European Commission has confirmed the assessment that it is a mistake to take the current economic growth for granted and not for public debt reduction. The structural public financial deficit is even being increased.

15 November: Remember 2007?

Curbing appetites in the public sector is vital to not once again fail the fiscal sustainability test and additionally burden the corporate sector. This leads to lower salaries for public servants in the medium and long term.

9 November: What are the prospects after Trump's victory?

The US dollar is expected to weaken, raw material prices will fall (fossil fuels, oil, coal, natural gas), while the price of gold will continue to rise.

8 November: The CCIS will keep a close watch on the liberalised petroleum product prices

In the wake of Monday's decision by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the additional liberalisation of petroleum products, this time on motorways and expressways, the CCIS promises to keep a close watch on the movement of the liberalised prices. Already on Friday the CCIS pointed out the drawbacks and potential price increases owing to the structure of the retail market for petroleum products that is dominated by two companies. If significant price increases occur and if no signs of increased competition appear in a reasonable amount of time, the CCIS will demand accountability from those who adopted such decision.

28 October: Brussels in favour of a development budget, Ljubljana not

Higher inflows owing to the higher corporate income tax rate mean 3,000 less jobs. The proposed budget for 2017 and 2018 can be assessed as lacking, focusing on current spending and the public sector. The vital reforms are once again pushed back and will have to be addressed by the new government after 2019.

20 October: R&D relief: the fourth opinion is just the first step

Legislative amendments and policies for increased tax certainty are vital following the publication of the fourth opinion.

Economic growth in the euro area stood at 1.6% in the third quarter of 2016, which is equivalent to the previous quarter. Growth slowed down the most in France (from 1.3% to 1.1%) among the largest member states. We can also expect the growth of the Slovenian GDP to somewhat slow down, projected to be around 2.3% according to the assessments of the CCIS analytical group. Exports of the euro area to foreign markets remained unchanged over the first nine months. Similarly, trade in goods between the members of the euro area also remained unchanged, while imports from other states were down 3%. This is primarily a reflection of the lower prices of raw materials. The 3% growth in exports in Slovenia over the first nine months is only slightly less than the growth figures in the Czech Republic (5%), Ireland, Croatia and Romania (all 4%). The most significant decline in exports (-13%) was recorded in the UK. There was almost EUR 1 billion in real estate transactions in terms of value in Slovenia in the first half of the year, which is two thirds more than in the same period in 2009. The number of transactions (16,500) was up 1/16 in year-on-year terms and 1/4 in terms of value. The price of residential real estate was up 0.4% in the second quarter in year-on-year terms, which is significantly less than in the EU (4%) or in the euro area (2.9%). The trend in commercial real estate prices in Slovenia has yet to reach a turning point, given that the prices for office premises were the lowest since 2007. The industrial production in the manufacturing sectors was up by 7.7% in year-on-year terms in the first eight months of the year, while nominal revenues rose by 3.5%. Growth in revenues lagged behind the growth in physical production on account of lower end-prices (resulting from lower input prices) and a growth in inventories (+5.8%). In the beginning of November the government adopted a decision to liberalise the prices of the 95-octane petrol and diesel fuel at service stations along motorways and expressways. Fuel prices are expected to rise at these locations, given that fuel prices in Austria and Italy are also higher on motorways than inland and in smaller towns. The change is expected to enter into force on 22 November. In order to better inform consumers of this fact, the responsible ministry announced that it will set up a web portal until the middle of next year which will provide data on prices for all types of fuel at all service stations in Slovenia. The act will also enable the government to re-adopt the measure to regulate prices, as required. It is expected that the prices will be adjusted to the volume of transit traffic, as the main objective of this amendment is to increase revenues from tourism and, in part, from commercial transport.

Below you will find some statistical data for Slovenia.