NEWS
Prime Minister’s press conference
At today's 60th regular session, the Slovenian Government, alongside other resolutions, adopted the proposal for the Act Amending the Energy Act, the proposal for the Act Amending the Road Transport Act and the Regulation on Allocation of Regional Incentives. The Slovenian Prime Minister, Borut Pahor, and the responsible ministers first outlined the major resolutions, and Mr Pahor then answered a number of topical questions.
(Foto: Daniel Novakovič/STA)
At today's session, the Government agreed on the text of the proposed Act Amending the Energy Act aimed at removing certain inefficiencies in the construction and maintenance of the energy infrastructure and the provision of public services in the area of energy, as well as other administrative obstacles. Among other things, the proposed act simplifies procedures related to operating small power plants in buildings, lays down an obligation for municipalities to give absolute priority to renewable energy sources and energy-saving solutions in drafting regulations related to heating supply, reduces the exaggerated demand for heat efficiency in co-incineration of wood biomass, and removes considerable ambiguity about the incorporation of energy facilities in space and the regulation of ownership and entitlement relationships in the existing energy infrastructure. The act also introduces a specified sequence of switching off power supply in the event of crisis, as already stipulated for gas supply.
The ministerial corps today further agreed on the text of the proposed Act Amending the Road Transport Act, which particularly aims at the adoption of certain measures that could indirectly or directly contribute to the reduction of the negative effects of the economic crisis in road transport operations.
Moreover, the Government today adopted the Regulation on Allocation of Regional Incentives to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. The Promotion of Balanced Regional Development Act stipulates that the Government adopts a regulation laying down in detail the conditions, criteria and procedure for allocating regional incentives, and regulating the procedure for a free-of-charge transfer of the state's physical and financial assets into the ownership of the local self-governing communities for subsequent investment by them into regional development projects. Regional incentives are allocated for the purposes defined in regional development programmes, and according to the goals and schemes of individual competent ministries.
At the close of the press conference, Prime Minister Pahor emphasised that the Government and the competent agency carefully monitor current developments related to weather conditions and the risk of flooding, adding that "irrespective of the festive nature of this period, we should be ready to provide assistance whenever and wherever required."