NEWS

Prime Minister Janez Janša: “Koroška is a self-made region”

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, today in Koroška continued the fourth Government’s working visit to Slovenian regions. The Prime Minister concluded that the general impression of the situation in the Koroška region is not so bleak, saying that "Koroška is a self-made region" with its main problem being infrastructure which will serve as an important platform for economic development. During the visit, the discussion mainly focused on the economy's needs for a more flexible labour market and on the measures that the Government adopted and implemented within the set of packages to boost economic growth.

 

At the morning working session held in the Manor Bukovje, the Prime Minister met with his ministerial team and analysed developmental challenges and open issues regarding some of the region's key projects. Several times during the visit the Prime Minister stressed that certain procedures were accelerated and certain problems of the region solved already in the course of preparations for the visit.

 

At the press conference held during the visit of the region, Prime Minister Janez Janša emphasised that Koroška is quite a self-made region considering that, in the last years, it obtained a bellow-average share of state aids but nevertheless managed to create a fairly positive image of its economic situation. "It is probably due to this self-made trait that the situation in this region, despite years of crisis, is not so bleak after all," the Prime Minister said. This was supported by a visit to Kopa d.d. company from Slovenj Gradec, which has been for 30 years successfully competing in computer engineering also in international markets and has adjusted to the crisis by consensual reduction of salaries. “Unfortunately Slovenia, as a state, has failed to adjust in this way,” added the Prime Minister, who visited the company together with the State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Uroš Rožič.  The participants also discussed the role of high-technology companies in the concept of economy development and the promotion of youth employment.

 

Prime Minister Janez Janša, together with State Secretary Rožič, also visited Bijol d.o.o. company from Vuzenica, which this year has received two awards by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia for outstanding economic and entrepreneurial achievements, and the golden regional award for the best innovation (a truck for the production of forest chips). The director of the company, Janez Bijol, presented their numerous products and the company's own production and development, emphasising that the competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, where the company has been spreading, is hindered by the rigid labour market, therefore he welcomes the Government's endeavours for the adoption of new legislation.

 

In his statement to the press, the Prime Minister pointed out that economic entities have high expectations for the already adopted packages for growth, in particular changes in the labour market. ”If we fail to crack this problem in the current year, there will be a serious threat of production being moved to business environments with more flexible labour markets and lower production costs, which would be a disaster for Slovenia," Prime Minister Janša said.  He highlighted that the Government met with approval regarding the measures to eliminate administrative obstacles, shorten the deadlines, assure the implementation of economic investments within the period expected by the economic sector, and prevent unreasonably long waiting periods for building permits. The Prime Minister said that the companies striving for the maximum added value welcome unlimited reliefs for investments in research and development which also contribute significantly to the development of Slovenian science.

 

At the press conference in Slovenj Gradec, the Prime Minister stressed that the economic and social situation in the region is solid and that the unemployment rate in the region is around the national average, which is partly due to the opening of the labour market in the neighbouring Austria, as quite a number of people commute there. The Prime Minister stressed that it would be better for Slovenia if equal opportunities for work and pay were created at home. “It is not Slovenia’s objective to export qualified people and their knowledge but to create working conditions in the country," he said and underlined that domestic knowledge and skills must be appreciated. In his words, the economic results in the region are positive, which applies especially to exporters as the export growth in Koroška is considerably higher than the state average; moreover, the region has not had any direct foreign investments in the last few years of crisis, which prevented the situation from not being even better.

 

As regards the fiscal situation of Koroška municipalities, their total debt amounts to 20 million euro, which is “not critical” according to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Janez Janša went on to stress that “the situation overview revealed a solid consumption of EU funds and many steps forward in terms of development." He added that the most important development opportunity of the region lies in a productive use of available EU resources from different funds and pointed out an important tender for energy-saving building restoration.

 

 Prime Minister Janez Janša said that infrastructure was the central problem of the region but that activities towards siting the third development axis have been accelerated, and added that Slovenia will seek financial sources by issuing a public call for granting a concession for the existing motorway network management.

The Minister of Agriculture and the Environment, Franc Bogovič, spoke at the press conference mainly about the resources available for projects from cohesion funds and the situation of individual projects (regional waste, water supply…) and said that all conditions have been fulfilled for the projects to be concluded. The Minister of Agriculture also spoke about the environmental restoration of the Mežica valley and assured that the Government of Slovenia will make all the efforts to ensure that the restoration dynamics will be as planned. The Minister of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, Zvone Černač, pointed to the issue of the third development axis and the appropriate road connection between the existing road and the Koroška region. He underlined that the siting of the road has been underway for several years; as four sections are planned, each of them has a different dynamics.

 

In the late afternoon, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia attended the meeting of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia with mayors, business people, deputies and national councillors from the area of Slovenj Gradec, Dravograd and Radlje ob Dravi, at which they discussed the central topic of the third development axis project implementation, which is of key importance for the economic growth in the region, and challenges for a better economic development in the region. Afterwards, the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Andrej Vizjak, presented the key changes brought about by the legislation in the field of the pension system stabilisation and a more flexible labour market. The invited regional representatives pointed out concrete challenges and questions for the representatives of the Slovenian Government which were answered in detail by the speakers.

 

The visit to the Koroška region closed with a friendly football match between the Government team and the Koroška region representatives.