Good day. There's more of you each day.
The scenery is beautiful.
We've finished debating with economy representatives
from The Chamber of Commerce and The Chamber of Craft
in Pomurje and Prekmurje and several companies.
We exchanged views on problems in the economic world,
we had to avoid the situation with energy sources
and the rising costs.
We've explained what measures we're preparing this week
and in the following year.
I think we'll find an adequate solution to the economy of Pomurje.
We've also discussed developmental opportunities of the region
and its strategic aspirations.
Besides agriculture and irrigation systems
and how to help agriculture
we've discussed another untapped opportunity,
and that is geothermal energy.
A huge part of the economy counts on this potential
with its agricultural aspect in mind.
We've also discussed
how to exploit natural resources
and strengthen food-processing industry
with education systems and infrastructure investment.
We've learned a lot in this meeting,
the meeting was honest and direct and I believe
we'll soon have concrete measures that will benefit both the economy
and Slovenia as a country.
I'm now ready to take questions.
On Thursday, we'll be discussing electricity prices
for the current year in accordance with the European directive
on state aid. We'll propose a measure
that will cover a part of the price difference compared to last year
from the budgets. Funds are guaranteed.
Luckily, only a handful were affected by the high prices,
however, the following year will be different for the majority.
We've discussed ways how we can help
small and medium-sized consumers through escalation ladder.
It's quite similar, but it's easier for the state in regards to electricity,
because we have our own energy sources
whereas we lack those for gas. We'll definitely not run out of gas,
but the prices are very high.
Many measures, including transition from gas to other energy sources,
including consumption rationalization, seems to be the best solution.
Companies are in different situations. No two cases are the same.
Every company has its own purchasing prices
that's why we have to figure out the difference and consumption by company.
I am counting on energy providers,
there aren't many, to verify all the data.
No, we don't want to introduce further charges.
We're taking measures to limit the price of gas and electricity downwards.
We don't want to follow steps taken by other countries
that put the higher cost on the consumer alone.
Primarily on household consumers.
We'll shortly prepare an analysis
on gas and electricity price differences compared
to other European countries.
You'll then see how big the difference really is.
We're not talking about a 20% difference
but about 200% or more
when you compare our consumers and those from other countries.
We're not thinking about taxes.
We've discussed how to improve the efficacy of existing boreholes.
We'll review the situation
and prepare an analysis with the relevant experts.
We need to prepare a plan on geothermal energy
for the entire region.
This potential is rather untapped today.
It is unusual that today,
when only a small portion is in use, we would limit those who use it.
Geothermal energy is a big opportunity for Pomurje that we should focus on
more ambitiously.
Shortage of labour is a problem everywhere.
We have daily migrants
in neighbouring countries,
and we've slept on migration policies as a country,
especially work permits and we need to tackle this challenge.
How to obtain work permits faster
to offset shortage of labour that migrates abroad
either in Austria or Italy.
You know very well that the employers define salaries.
Those present today did not suggest this, however, they thought
that the taxes could be lower. Even if we abolished them completely,
we can't compete with the situation abroad.
Because of the higher value added per employee.
That's why we'll take two measures.
We need to invest in those branches that will boost the value added.
This way, salaries can be higher, too. Meanwhile, we need to take care
that we'll acquire labour force
that wants to work here faster.
I believe the Statistical Office published this today,
but I haven't looked at the data.
I'm happy. This was expected
for the second quarter.
I'm more worried about the last quarter,
because things might get cold.
The key, however, will be the first quarter of next year.
All those measures will have that in mind.
How to help people through the winter and how to upstart
the economy in January.
The prospects seem good which is an extenuating circumstance
that will be used to alleviate our people's troubles in the winter.
We've discussed prices before. Our prices will be much
lower than those abroad, for example in Austria.
Migrant workers have Austrian salaries and Slovenian prices.
This is an unbelievable combination which won't last.
I don't know exactly.
There's been fewer applicants than expected.
Apparently, our farmers didn't have problems selling their crops.
They sold to the highest bidder.
If we don't acquire everything, we'll reopen the call to tenders.
It's good news that the port of Odessa is not under blockade.
I believe there won't be shortage of wheat as it seemed a month ago.
No, we can't talk about energy poverty.
Several experts are working on the criteria for energy poverty.
We'll skip this phase.
We'll define poverty. Not on Thursday.
This will be done in the course of next month.
We'll appeal to all those who aren't documented
but would be eligible for help, to come forward so that they can
be included in the next wave of benefits.
We'll present the measures on Thursday.
We'll know more on Thursday.
No comment. Time will show that the difference is huge.
We don't expect
any additional measures in schools
apart from proper ventilation and that symptomatic students
will stay home.
We've stressed that we don't expect additional measures.
For the first time NIPH leads a taskforce of school personnel
who focus only on that.
We'll communicate more about that this week.
They waited for people to come back from vacation.
But we've already mentioned in July that we don't expect any measures.
If we go down this route, we have to think carefully.
Because of climate change that we're witnessing every day
and the fact that we have water but we can't properly store it,
we'll have to rethink the concepts of water tanks and the supply network.
We'll discuss this in the Autumn, as it's not a region-specific issue,
as we can see in the Slovenian Istria and the Karst regions.
We'll probably amend the laws
and try to find a balance between national interest of draught prevention
and ecological interests. We'll speed up the process
which is the only way to introduce such systems
in our environment.