NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor on a working visit to Koroška: "The Government to stand by the region, but calls for active participation of people of Koroška"

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, accompanied by ministers and state secretaries, today paid a working visit to the Koroška region. Following an introductory consultation, the delegation members held separate working meetings across the region and concluded the visit by meeting local businessmen, mayors, deputies and national councillors. At the close of his visit to the Koroška region, Mr Pahor assessed the state of affairs by saying that following the bankruptcy of several companies, the regional corporate sector is slowly but surely recovering and that the situation on the Koroška labour market is improving. At the concluding meeting, Prime Minister Pahor, among other things, said: "I see Koroška as a region and the construction of the motorway as one of the most important future regional projects to be launched still before the end of the term of office of this Government." Mr Pahor also emphasised that the Government will see to the regional development centres of the Slovenian economy that will provide support to quality projects. In this respect, however, active participation of the people of Koroška will be fundamental. Prime Minister Pahor concluded his visit to the Koroška region by meeting the representatives of labour and the Trade Union of the Vegrad Company.

  

"The crisis did also not spare this part of Slovenia. The Government has, however, prepared well for this visit by, among other things, seeking optimum solutions for the Koroška region. We have decided that to this end, we will amend the Balanced Regional Development Act in order to provide comparable instruments for eliminating disparities in the regional development not only in Koroška, but also in other vulnerable parts of our country," emphasised Mr Pahor at the concluding consultation and added that in this way, the Government will actively eliminate discrepancies in regional development. The second most important issue highlighted by Prime Minister Pahor in connection with the development of the Koroška region was the construction of the motorway. Without it, Koroška will have no possibility for a rapid economic recovery. Therefore, the Government will tackle this issue as one of its top priorities. As an important aspect of the development of this region, Mr Pahor highlighted an active employment policy and added that the relevant labour market is flexible enough to facilitate the implementation of a new social policy and the realisation of projects of the ministry responsible for labour and social affairs. "Competition with the neighbouring Austrian entrepreneurs is undoubtedly of great importance for Koroška. In this context, it is necessary to create conditions that will make us competitive," pointed out Mr Pahor.

  

At the close of the Slovenian Government's visit to Koroška, Prime Minister Pahor, together with the Minister of Justice, Aleš Zalar, the Minister of the Economy, Darja Radić, and certain other Government representatives, met in Velenje with the representatives of labour and the Trade Union of the former Vegrad employees and the representatives of the Velenje municipality. Mr Pahor reaffirmed the Government's commitment to further speed up the implementation of aid mechanisms, which will help Vegrad workers in overcoming the situation forced on them and their families through a series of wrong moves made by the company's management and other people involved. To this end, the Government made a transfer in the amount of EUR 26,000 to the Red Cross. Moreover, Prime Minister Pahor emphasised that from the very first moment, the Government had tried to do its utmost to find a solution within its competences. He added that in the case of Vegrad, the responsibility for past actions will retroactively be examined by the Slovenian judicial authorities.
According to Mr Pahor, the Government's efforts were focused on the resolution of problems faced by all employees and not only the owners, one of them being also the state. "After several meetings we came to a conclusion that the best solution for the employees would be bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the responsible people did not agree with it, but decided to prolong the agony by applying for compulsory composition. Ultimately, everything nevertheless ended with bankruptcy," said Prime Minister Pahor after the meeting and added that the Government was particularly concerned about great distress suffered by the people, while making itself available to trade unions for discussion at any time. Moreover, Mr Pahor asked the Trade Union representatives to submit in writing any information at their disposal to be used as the basis for a final report that will serve as a lesson in any similar cases.