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Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_02February4 - Index

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Text: RAMÓN MIKLUS, Photo: STA
slovenian Finance minister andrej Bajuk (sta).
SLOVENIA AND COMMISSION SIgN EU
fUND PHASINg CONTRACT
Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk and Regional Policy Minister Ivan
Žagar signed with European Commissioner for Regional Policy
Danuta Hübnerr a contract of confidence in Brussels on 12 February.
Hübnerr praised Slovenia's EU fund phasing achievements,
highlighting Slovenia and Estonia were the only new EU members
to have signed this agreement so far. The contract means
that the Commission will narrow the scope of its audit activities
related to European regional development and cohesion funds,
which entails extended responsibilities for the national monitoring
bodies. Hübnerr praised Slovenia's phasing results, highlighting
that the country was able to draw 91% of the funds available
to it as part of the largest structural fund, which puts it second
only to Sweden. Slovenia was also among the most successful
members in phasing regional funds, its rate in the 2000-2006
period standing at 91%, which compares to the EU average of
83%. Slovenia was entitled to EUR 188m in cohesion funds in the
2004-2006 period and to EUR 237m from the European regional
development fund (an additional EUR 30m was awarded to it as
part of the Interreg and Equal initiative).
SINgLE EURO PAyMENTS AREA (SEPA)
PROJECT LAUNCHED
First services in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) project are
available in the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway, Switzerland and nine territories under administration
of EU countries, in what is seen as the first step towards a
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more efficient and transparent payments in the EU. SEPA provides
an environment in which individuals, companies and other
users of payment services in banks make and accept payments
in euros regardless of whether the payment is within a single
state or between states in SEPA. The project is to be fully running
in four years. As of 28 January, pan-European payment
instruments are available for credit transfers, which will be possible
between customers with bank accounts. About 80% of
the banks in the SEPA area are capable of receiving such credit
transfers, among them 21 banks in Slovenia. Direct debits will
be available as of 2009, while payments with smart cards will
be possible as of 2011, when cards are to be used in all terminals
in SEPA countries. The system is to reduce costs and facilitate
cross-border operations for companies and individuals. The
payments from and to abroad are to become safer and simpler.
UNEMPLOyMENT IN SLOVENIA DOWN
Slovenia's registered unemployment rate stood at 7.3% in November
2007, down from 8.6% the year before, a national
Employment Service official said on 28 January. The number of
the registered unemployed registered dropped to 68.411 at the
end of December 2007, down 9,892 year-on-year. The average
number of registered jobless for 2007 was 71,336, down 16.9%
on 2006. Employers reported 242,927 vacancies to the service
last year, which is up 6.6% on the year before. Most of these
(76.6%) were for fixed-term jobs. The share of such jobs stood at
79.7%, up one percent on 2006. The biggest demand for workforce
was in the services (60.6% of vacancies). According to the
head of the Employment Service Marija Poglajen, the latest trend
is for employers to hire workers for a fixed-term and then, in two
to three years, give them contracts for an indefinite period. This
serves as a safeguard for employers. The institution spend EUR
68m on active employment policy measures last year, a sum that
is increase to EUR 72m this year. While unemployment is in decline,
structural unemployment is on the increase. Poglajen said that
the lack of workers was still acute in construction, metal industry
and machine construction, tourism and the hospitality sector as
well as highly-skilled personnel, in particular medical staff. The
official also pointed to an increasing percentage of those who
are difficult to employ; 53.7% of the jobless are women, 16.4%
are under 26 years old, 50.8% are the long-term unemployed,
39.6% lack qualifications and 19.5% are first-time job seekers.
AERODROM LJUbLJANA PLANINg
fURTHER gROWTH IN PASSENgER
NUMbERS
The airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana said on 29 January
that it had recorded a 14.2% increase in the number of passengers
in 2007 over the previous year and was planning an
additional increase of 11% for this year. The number of arrivals
and departures was up 13.5% over 2006 and the amount of
cargo transported increased by 42%. Plans for 2008 meanwhile
envisage increases of 13% and 17%, respectively. The operator
of the Jože PuËnik Ljubljana airport, which accommodated a total
of 1,524,028 passengers in 2007, plans to give more focus
to passengers from Italy and Austria in 2008, as well establish
new routes with Germany, Spain, England and Scandinavia.
The company wants to uphold its intensive investment cycle,
aying competition from neighbouring airports made growth in
revenues dependent above all on turnover. Investments in facilities
and new equipment are expected to stand at EUR 28.6m, the
company also said.
february 08 sinfo