Mit - Index

Mit - SINFO March 2008 No.6 - Index

BUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESSBUsinessBUSInESS
and Gorenjka chocolate. The strongest brands in the territory
of the former Yugoslavia meanwhile are Milka, Coca Cola and
Orbit, with Paloma's tissues in 10th place.
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT UP 0.7% IN
JANUARY
The industrial output in January was up 1.1% year on year and
0.7% higher than the previous month, the national Statistical
Office said on 28 March. Seasonally adjusted data shows a
decrease of industrial output in manufacturing by 0.2%, while
production went up in electricity and gas supply (+16.4%) and
in mining and quarrying (+8.4%). According to working-day
adjusted data, industrial production in January increased in
manufacturing (+1.2%) and in mining and quarrying (+16.7%),
but dropped in electricity and gas supply (-5.5%), compared to
January 2007. Compared to the month before, the industrial
output increased in intermediate goods industries (+1.4%) and
in capital goods industries (+3.9%), but decreased in consumer
goods industries (-2.6%). The seasonally adjusted index of
stocks of industrial products was down 0.7% on a monthly
basis, while the working-day adjusted index was up 10.8% year
on year. Labour productivity in 2007 increased by 6.1% over the
year before, according to the office.
GENERAL GOvERNMENT DEfICIT AT
0.1% Of GDP IN 2007
The general government deficit in 2007 stood at EUR 24m or
0.1% of GDP, while the general government debt at the end of
December dropped to EUR 8.071bn, or 24.1% of GDP, Andrej
Flajs of the national Statistical Office told the press in Ljubljana
on 31 March. According to Flajs, the general government
deficit in 2006 stood at EUR 377m (1.2% of GDP), while the
Finance Ministry expects the deficit to increase in 2008 to EUR
343m or 0.9% of GDP. The deficit has been dropping gradually
over the last few years, from 2.1% of GDP in 2004 to 0.1% of
GDP in 2007. The bulk of the deficit is created at the central
level, where it stood at 0.3% of GDP for 2007, Flajs said. He
added that the ministry projected that the deficit would stand
at 0.9% of GDP in 2008 at both the state and central levels.
≈Last year the growth of revenue (8.1%) was considerably
higher than the growth of expenditures (5.3%) because of high
economic growth and accelerated inflation,« Flajs said. He said
a considerable reduction of the debt in 2007 to slightly more
than EUR 8bn is a consequence of acquisition and restructuring
of debt, for which the government also used a part of assets
from privatisation. Slovenia cut the debt last year to 24.1% from
27.1% in 2006. The Finance Ministry projects a 5% increase
of the general government debt in 2008 to EUR 8.505bn, or
23.4% of GDP. According to Flajs, the relative borrowing in
terms of the share of GDP decreased in the 2004−2008 period.
The biggest deficit in 2007 was recorded in transactions with
foreign countries, which stood at EUR 1.4bn or 4.3% of GDP,
while the year before it stood at EUR 803m or 2.6% of GDP.
GERMAN-SLOvENIAN COMPANY
LAUNCHES INTERMODAL TRANSPORT
SERvICE
Europe Intermodal, a joint enterprise of Slovenia's Adria Kombi
and Germany's Kombiverkehr, launched on 31 March the
sinfo february 08 20
Bosporus-Europe Express, a train link between Turkey and
Germany via Slovenia offering weekly intermodal transport
services. The new service links the biggest container terminal in
Istanbul, Halkali, with the European train network of Adria Kombi
and Kombiverkehr, and thus enables access to key economic
regions in Europe. The service is designed to allow goods to
be transported from Turkey to Central Europe or the other way
round within six or seven days, Adria Kombi has said in a press
release. ≈Germany is at the moment Turkey's most important
trade partner, both in imports and exports,« Adria Kombi's boss
Rok Svetek said, adding that the Bosporus-Europe Express service
would guarantee fast and reliable freight between the countries.
Europe Intermodal, established in 2007 with headquarters in
Istanbul, Turkey, also plans to launch daily transport services in
the near future, according to the press release.
NKBM GROUP POSTS EUR 56M PROfIT IN
2007
The NKBM financial group, centred around Slovenia's secondlargest
bank, Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM), posted a
net profit of EUR 56.5m for 2007, almost 20% more than in
2006. Total assets stood at EUR 5.1bn, up 25% year on year,
according to unaudited results released on 31 March. The group
posted a pre-tax profit of EUR 71.4m, which is almost a third over
the 2007 plan. Net interest revenues meanwhile stood at EUR
116.5m, up 16% year on year and also above plans. The NKBM
group consists of 12 companies, and its consolidated balance
sheet includes insurance company Zavarovalnica Maribor and
investment firm Moja Naložba. NKBM lost 3.58% on the Ljubljana
Stock Exchange on Monday to end the day at EUR 33.65.
PARLIAMENT ADOPTS TOUGHER ANTI-
TRUST LAw
The National Assembly passed a new act on the prevention of
restriction of competition, which strengthens the powers of the
Competition Protection Office and tightens anti-trust provisions.
The law gives the Competition Protection Office greater
investigative powers and obliges the companies being
investigated to fully cooperate. In investigations, the competition
watchdog will be able to seize property and seal off offices.
At the same time, it gives companies under investigation the
right to ≈privileged communication«, excluding from the probe
communication between the company under investigation and
its legal representatives. Presently all decisions are taken by the
director of the office; according to the new act, a three-member
panel will decide on a case-by-case basis. The decisions of the
office will be final and recourse provided with appeal at the
Supreme Court. For market concentration, the act determines
two thresholds of annual turnover requiring companies to ask
for a takeover permission. Moreover, companies may be required
to ask for permission if their market share exceeds 60%. The
act raises fines for violators. The current maximum fine stands at
EUR 375,000, but the ceiling has been raised to 10% of annual
turnover. Prosecution may be dropped if a violator cooperates
with the watchdog (whistle-blowing) in cases of restrictions of
competition or cartels.