WEBVTT

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Dear journalists
and everyone following us,

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welcome to today's
press conference

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after the 31st regular session of
the government. Today, you will hear

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the minister of infrastructure
Bojan Kumer,

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the minister of economy
Matjaž Han,

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the state secretary at the Ministry
of infrastructure Alenka Bratušek

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and the minister of labour, family
and social affairs Luka Mesec.

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First,
the demands of trade unions.

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The government follows
the agreement from January 9, 2023,

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and is trying to solve
the demands

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of the Trade Union of Education,
Science and Culture.

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They decided on the basis
for the negotiations

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about the annexe to the
collective contract for education

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and about the annexe

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to the collective contract
for science.

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The government
was also briefed

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on the agreement
with the healthcare trade union

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and authorised
the minister of health to sign it.

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The government said
in the agreement

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that the doctors aren't
responsible for the situation.

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They condemn any violence against
doctors and other healthcare staff.

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They will include
doctors and dentists

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through the doctors' organisations,
also through the trade union,

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as equal partners
at reforming

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and forming an accessible and
quality public healthcare system.

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The other demand
will be solved as follows.

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On January 25, the negotiators
will meet for the first time.

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The government wants to form a
separate wage system until April 1

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within the public sector
wage system. The proposal

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will be sent to the parliament
until June 30.

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If the separate
payment system

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won't be implemented
until January 1, 2024,

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the government will correct wage
anomalies in negotiations

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for the E1 wage group.
New placements in wage groups

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will come into force
on January 1, 2024.

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Other demands will be solved
in the separate system.

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This is all for now.
Now, I give the floor

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the minister of infrastructure
Bojan Kumer.

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The government passed the decree
about the subsidy

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for electricity and gas suppliers
and the amendment to the decree

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about electricity prices
for small and mid-size companies.

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Minister, go ahead.

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Thank you. As already said,
we passed three decrees today.

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We passed the amendment
to the decree

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for micro, small
and mid-size companies

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where we limit the electricity
prices. We added the amendment

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to include companies

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that needed less electricity
during Covid in 2021

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that was the reference year
and wouldn't be entitled

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to the price regulation.
We passed the amendment

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and we gave the opportunity

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to take a non-Covid year
as a reference,

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this is the year
from July 1, 2021,

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after the end of Covid,
and the next 12 months

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until June 30, 2022.

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We have adopted two regulations
that have been announced

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and that follow all measures,
which have been prepared

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within the group for expanses
at the Prime Minister's.

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For appropriate remuneration
of loss of income

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or for the damage the energy
and gas suppliers had suffered

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from electrical network
or gas system.

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There are two regulations.
First is for remuneration of loss

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and damage to the
electrical energy suppliers.

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The second one is for reimbursement
of loss from gas system

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or gas suppliers.

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With these two regulations
we are addressing the costs ...

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Expensive measures.

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We are compensating the suppliers
which have to sell at a high price,

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as far as electricity
and gas are concerned.

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We also established
the agency for this task.

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It is Borzen, market operator.

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We established the criterion,
payment method,

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the measures and procedure

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that will last
the whole year 2023,

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and the criterion, if a supplier
is entitled to the compensation.

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The financial assessment
we made, is

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that all the measures
after these two regulations,

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which are considering
also current regulations

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on the highest price cap
of electricity and gas ...

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The financial consequences

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should be around
340 and 350 million € annually.

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Thank you.
-Thank you, Minister.

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Are there any questions? No?
Maybe someone on the internet?

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Let's wait,
if someone raises his or her hand.

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Nobody.
I would like to thank the Minister.

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We wish him a successful day
tomorrow as well.

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Now Matjaž Han
and Alenka Bratušek will join us.

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The government adopted the draft
proposal on the aid to the economy

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within the energy crisis. Minister
Matjaž Han shall talk about it.

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The government has also adopted
the bill about aid to aviation.

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State secretary Alenka Bratušek
shall talk about that.

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Please, Mr. Han.
-Hello, I will be very short.

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First I will talk about an amendment
on the aid to economy.

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It is basically an adaptation,

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considering that Mr. Kumer
explained the regulations.

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In the year 2022 we adopted
the law on aid to the economy

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for limiting
the effects of the energy crisis.

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We all know the limitations
or how we aided the economy.

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On 30th of December the government
adopted the regulation

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on defining the prices for micro,
small and medium businesses.

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In doing so, we have offered
administrative and other help

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to micro, small
and medium businesses.

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This price regulation
will last till 30th of June

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and because of this regulation
we had to exempt these businesses

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and they won't be able to apply.

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We have thus
simplified the matter

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and made our economy
more competitive.

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That is all, but I have to say
that gas is exempt from this

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and technological steam as well.

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If the businesses need a subvention
for gas, they can apply for it.

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That's all for this law.

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Regarding
the Air Connectivity Act...

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It is a very important law
that we have created

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together with the
Ministry of Infrastructure,

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especially with Mrs. Bratušek.

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We provided a source of financing
for air connections in Slovenia

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for a period of three years.

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You know that this is
of vital importance for Slovenia.

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So that Slovenia will be
well integrated into global lines.

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We need a flight connection
for that.

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Slovenia is
an export-oriented economy,

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we have a high quality tourism,

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that's why we need good airlines.

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After the collapse of Adria Airways,
we fell into a situation

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which is not the best for Slovenia.

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That's why we need
this kind of help.

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The goal is better connectivity
of Slovenia by airplanes.

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The State Secretary
will tell you more.

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Thank you, Minister. I would add
that the connectivity of Slovenia

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has deteriorated significantly
in the last two or three years.

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Our goal is to intervene
and provide better connectivity.

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The two ministries
will determine together

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key destinations for Slovenia.

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The financial assessment, which
amounts to €5.6 million per year,

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is based on prediction

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that for 255 days a year

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we would provide
10 flights per day.

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This is how we got this amount.

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Between 120 and 130
passengers per plane

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and €17 per passenger.

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Since this is state aid,
we need the consent

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of the European Commission.

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The law has already been forwarded
to the European Commission.

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We're in a hurry,
that's why the urgent procedure,

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for which I can apologise
in advance.

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We're in a hurry because we want
to catch the summer season

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which starts at the end of March.

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The law must be passed,
the tender must be published.

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Before the funds are allocated,

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we will have to get the consent
of the European Commission.

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Thank you very much.
Any questions?

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Online?

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We are waiting.

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No, no one. -Thank you.
-Thank you very much, good luck.

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The last minister.

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Luka Mesec, Minister of Labour,
Family and Social Affairs.

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He will let us know the gross and
net amount of the minimum wage,

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as well as what kind
of solution is envisaged

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by the amendment to the Act
on Recording Working Hours.

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Minister, the floor is yours.

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Thank you very much.

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Yesterday,
when the Ministry of Labour

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finally got data on December
- December annual inflation...

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This is the data we need
to make the calculation.

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We adopted a decision
on the new minimum wage.

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This minimum wage is getting
a net increase of 100 EUR,

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exactly as I said it would
before the new year.

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The net minimum wage last year
was 778 EUR

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and it is now being increased
to 878 EUR.

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Every minimum wage recipient
will get 100 EUR more.

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We don't have to waste time

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explaining the need
for these wage increases.

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Food,
basic necessities,

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costs have risen last year
due to inflation.

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The recipients of the lowest wages
were the worst off,

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as the price of food rises faster
than that of everything else.

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So we must first
take care of those

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who are most affected
by inflation

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and use most of their income
to cover living expenses.

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That is why we are raising
the minimum wage,

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so that those people
could live easier.

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This does raise the question
of other wages.

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The government has partially
already responded to this issue

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with the tax reform, which came
into effect on January 1st 2023.

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This tax reform raises
the general income tax relief

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from 3500 EUR
to 5000 EUR annually.

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This means that the lowest wages
increase by about 40 EUR per month

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and the average salary
will increase by 11 EUR.

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This year we are preparing
two measures

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to increase other salaries.

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The first one
is the debate

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on the overhaul of salaries
in the public sector.

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Secondly, the private sector
needs new collective agreements

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and an updated
payment model.

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As Minister I already started
working on this in the summer.

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We have an agreement
with unions and employers

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to overhaul
the payment model this year.

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As Minister,
I am working to ensure

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that the basis
of this payment model overhaul

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is that the minimum wage
truly becomes

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the lowest salary
in the country.

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All other salaries will be built
above minimum wage, not below it.

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There are now 24 salary grades
under the minimum wage

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in the public sector alone.
So collective agreements,

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including those in the public
sector, need to be overhauled.

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For this we need a new agreement
on the salary model in Slovenia.

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I will strive
to have this done this year,

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so that unions and employers
can begin negotiating salaries

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across all industries
in the country.

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Salaries in Europe are determined
by collective negotiations,

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except for minimum wage,
which is set by the state.

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We raised the minimum wage
by 100 EUR,

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for all others we need
a new payment model

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and negotiations
on collective agreements

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that will determine salary grades
and payment levels in general.

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The second topic is the act
on keeping working time records.

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Working time records
are a topic that I inherited.

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It was stuck in the Economic
and Social Council for 3 years

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and we finally
resolved it in the summer.

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The act that we received
proposed the creation

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of a central
electronic record of working time

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where all companies,
institutes and business entities

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would have to record
their working time.

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We'd introduce
mandatory logging.

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This was deemed unviable,
so we turned things around.

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We've drafted a proposal
that was accepted today.

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The logging remains the same,

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except in companies
where there are obvious problems.

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There are companies as reported
by the Labour Inspectorate,

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that prepares one evidence
for their accounting team,

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another one for the inspectorate

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and the third one for the employee.

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The employee is being cheated,
not paid fully,

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overtime isn't reimbursed, etc.

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There are conflicts where you have
employer's word vs employee's word

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and it's hard to judge
who's the misleading party.

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For such instances,
we're introducing the following:

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If the employees feel cheated
about the logging of their time,

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they can demand from the employer
to log the time electronically.

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If the employer disagrees,
they must inform the inspectorate

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that will check the situation
in the company.

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If the inspector concludes
that there are irregularities,

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mandatory electronic logging
will be advised.

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This way, the works will be able
to follow their logged time weekly.

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They will have to be notified.

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They will always have an insight
into their working hours

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and overtime.

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This way, we'll achieve
that they will be fairly paid.

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That is the purpose of this act
that was passed today.

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The workers in companies
and sectors

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that saw irregularities most often
will receive a tool

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to punish the offenders.

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I'd just like to stress
that for all those who don't log

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their hours,
this act changes absolutely nothing.

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Thank you very much.
Any questions?

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Time for questions from the webroom.
Please raise your hand.

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If there are any questions.

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I guess not.
You've been thorough, Mr. Minister.

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Thank you
and have a nice day.

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Good luck.
-Thank you.

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That would be all,
have a nice day.