WEBVTT

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Welcome
to today's press conference

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following the 187th session
of the Government,

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which we are holding
on location.

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Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arčon
will tell you what has been adopted.

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Thank you.
Welcome on my behalf as well.

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Today's session
was short and effective.

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Let me start
with the first piece of information,

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which is that today is
International Wikipedia Day.

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There will be a new Wikipedia entry
in the coming months,

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when this is
officially confirmed.

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Today,
we have declared May 19th

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to be Lipizzan Day
in the Republic of Slovenia.

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This was one of the points

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aimed at the area
in which we find ourselves,

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and gave validity
and an additional seal of approval

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to the promotion of Lipica
as a Slovenian natural cultural gem.

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As far as higher education
is concerned,

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we have taken
another step forward,

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namely with regard
to the university in Novo Mesto.

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We have authorised the minister

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to sign the transfer of property
rights to the Republic of Slovenia.

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Once these rights
have been signed,

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the Government will also officially
confirm in a correspondence session

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that the University of Maribor
is a public university,

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thus taking
another step towards

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strengthening
the public system

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in the field
of higher education,

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as we have done in the field
of health, for example.

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Now I would like to move on
to topics of local interest,

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more or less concentrated
in the Municipality of Koper

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where we are today.

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Today,
we adopted a draft decree

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and declared the Church
of the Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje

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a cultural monument
of national importance.

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This procedure will be forwarded
to the National Assembly,

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and it will give this monument
additional validity,

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which I believe will also contribute
to better tourist promotion

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of cultural heritage
in the Municipality of Koper.

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We were informed about the good
interdepartmental cooperation

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regarding the fishing boat,

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which was owned
by the fisheries inspection,

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and is being transferred
to the police.

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because the inspection will receive
a new boat from European funds.

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Then we had
a letter of intent,

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which will be signed today
by Alenka Bratušek

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and the Minister of the Interior

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for the transfer
of five moorings on the pier

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and the possible relocation

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of the coastal customs office
to another area.

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The Municipality of Koper
will provide

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additional moorings
in another area,

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and the Ministry of the Interior
will relocate this crossing,

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so that
the Municipality of Koper

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will have this pier
and these moorings

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for its own purposes,
probably of a tourist nature.

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One of the more
important points, however,

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was the transfer of land
from the Ministry of Infrastructure,

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i.e. from the state
to the local community,

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for the project
of building a viewing tower

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or a connection between
Markovec and the centre of Koper.

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The land
is worth 1.2 million euros.

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The Municipality of Koper has
secured funds for this project

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in this year's
and future budgets.

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The funds for
the implementation of this project

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will be drawn from the integrated
territorial investments mechanism.

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This is a very important project

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for the development
of the local community

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and the promotion of Koper

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as an important tourist
and economic centre

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here on the coast.

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You are all familiar
with the project,

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which has been discussed
for many years.

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With the transfer
of these funds,

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we have given the green light
for this project to be implemented.

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There's a microphone
for questions from the press.

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Ask your question and
introduce yourself. Go ahead.

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Šuligoj, Boris.

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You've mentioned the transfer ...
-Free transfer. -Is it free?

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I heard that the municipality
owes the state money

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for the expansion
of the freight railway,

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so that an exchange
could also take place. -No.

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This is a proposal
for the free transfer

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of state property
to the Municipality of Koper.

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Has the transfer taken place today
or will it in the near future?

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With this decision,

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we will proceed
with the implementation

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and the signing
of the contract for free transfer.

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Next.

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If there are no more questions ...
Go ahead.

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Eva Jakomin, STA.

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In addition to the construction
of the second track,

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is the state planning
any other assistance for Luka Koper,

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which is facing competition from
the ports of Trieste and Rijeka?

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This was not the topic
of today's meeting,

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but we can forward this question
to the relevant minister

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so that she can answer it,

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as I am not familiar
with this issue.

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Another minister will speak.
-One more question, please.

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What does today's decision
to grant protection

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mean for the church
in Hrastovlje?

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Will this be the basis for
the restoration of the famous fresco,

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which is said
to be in poor condition?

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The Minister of Culture will be able
to answer that question later today.

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Certainly,
there is the possibility

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of drawing on other funds
from tenders,

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as the monument has been declared
a monument of national importance.

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Has there been no protection
of this heritage before?

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This is the highest
possible protection.

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I can't tell you whether this
was a monument of local

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or regional importance,
because the minister

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did not explicitly
state this in her explanation.

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However, she may provide
this clarification during the day.

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We will look at the material.

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Anyone else? If not, I would like
to thank the Deputy Prime Minister.

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Thank you. My colleague Jože
will now take you to the sea.

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That's right,
because we are right by the sea.

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Minister of Natural Resources
and Spatial Planning Jože Novak.

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Today, you received information
about the state and pressures

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on the Slovenian sea
and measures for its protection.

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Yes, hello everyone.

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We have presented
the state of the sea

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in order to prepare further
measures in this area.

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We are also obliged
to report regularly to Europe

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on how this is progressing.

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Most of you are from this area

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and know that the average
depth of the sea is 16 meters,

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which is relatively shallow.

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Shallow sea
has certain characteristics.

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Climate change is already
having a significant impact.

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The sea is warming
by 0.15 degrees Celsius

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per year at the surface layer

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and 0.9 degrees Celsius
at the deeper layer.

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pH or the acidity of the sea
is decreasing,

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the oxygen content
is decreasing,

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which seriously threatens
marine ecosystems.

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As you know, sea levels are
rising by five millimetres per year.

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To sum up, the forecast
is that in a hundred years,

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the sea will be 88 centimetres
higher than the regular tide,

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we are talking about
an average of one meter.

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Our generation is right
to have opened up this issue

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and to be holding various workshops
and discussions on what to do.

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We are aware
that Piran will be underwater,

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that part of Lucija
will also be affected,

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and that some parts of Izola
and Koper will also be affected

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in the lowest-lying areas.

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I believe that
in the next term,

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we will also have to look
for individual solutions.

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Some are easier,
some are more difficult.

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I even suggested
to the European commissioners

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that we take the Slovenian coast
as an example

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of how to solve the problem. Let them
tell us if there are only limitations

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or also possible
technical solutions.

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In short,
it is a big challenge for all of us.

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We are also
a hotspot of marine biodiversity.

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There are 2,260 species
in the Adriatic,

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13% of all species
in the Mediterranean Sea,

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our sea takes up 0.12%
of the Mediterranean Sea.

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There are protected species.

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Sea grass beds
and other things

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are important too.

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We use sea for three or four
main purposes.

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Half of it is maritime transport,

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90% is fishing
and cultivation of marine organisms.

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Tourism and urbanization are at 70%,
but there are others fields,

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such as salt production, recreational
fishing, research and education.

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It's a relatively big burden
for a small space.

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Input of litter
is quite substantial.

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And interestingly enough,
80% of it is plastic.

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The most of this waste
is caused by fishing

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and tourism.

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More than a half of it.

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Neighbouring regions
have a big influence as well.

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Italy and Croatia,
mainly because of water courses.

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We can monitor plastic levels
in marine organisms.

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Our institute
researches it really well.

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We offer it to the Mediterranean,
but global measures are substantial.

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The underwater noise levels
are again increasing

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because of ships that come
to the Port of Koper.

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In times of the pandemic
it was a bit lower, now it's growing.

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I understand the technology
of ships' engine will improve,

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but this passage is known
and limited for ships.

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There is also quite an increase

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in foreign marine organisms
because of the transport.

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It has increased for 76%.

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And in certain areas there is
a cultivation of marine organisms.

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The whole percentage is 11%.

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I can tell you here
that the government has adopted

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a document
that was prepared a long time ago,

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but former governments
haven't signed it.

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It's about ballast waters.
This Act was adopted this week.

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It enables us
to have a tighter control over it.

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To put it simply, we didn't have
all the instruments before.

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I have to tell you that with
an Italian deputy minister

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and the Croatian Minister of waters
we are already talking

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to ban the discharge of ballast
waters in the Adriatic Sea.

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There is a whole protocol
to do it. The key thing is

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that we have this document now
and it will be limited.

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If I sum up some key things,
the waters' status is worsening.

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What is the first measure? I tried to
make it clear to the municipalities.

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We have to ensure a better
discharge of urban waste water.

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We have to separate
storm water from sewer water.

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We have to avert floods,
because there are big outbreaks

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and after days of drought
a big outbreak comes

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and pollutes everything
with the cleaning plants' content.

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It's a big responsibility
of a local community.

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The storm water system isn't working.
It's a task for the municipality.

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Other interventions
in the coastal area will be limited.

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Here I mean marinas
and areas for shellfish farming.

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It shouldn't exceed our capacity.

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Fishing practices
will have to improve.

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We've been thinking,
whether we could ensure,

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together with the
neighbouring countries some methods

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to increase a number
and species of fish in the sea.

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It's a complicated procedure,
because it's not just up to us.

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Sustainable tourism
is also a word

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connected with clean waters
and it's a key matter.

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What is also key here,
is a cross-border area.

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We've showed that local communities
and the state have

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a big responsibility to maintain
and improve the state of the sea.

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Thank you.
The questions from journalists.

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Go ahead.
-You've mentioned

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that Piran could be flooded
in a few decades.

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Is anybody doing something
about it? There was a plan,

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but it wasn't adopted
and there was an issue.

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Is there some kind of motion
to solve the flooding of Piran?

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Every month
or every two months we have

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an exchange of opinions
in professional circles,

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how to do this.
There are 30 of us,

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the municipality representatives
as well. They are preparing plans.

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I told them the fact

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that just guessing how to do
something won't be enough anymore.

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If you want to do something
in 50 years, you have to do it now.

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There is one possible solution
in Piran that is known for centuries.

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Before, there were only storages
for fishing gear on the ground floor.

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Nobody lived on the ground floor.

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Maybe something like that
will have to happen.

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The other topic is,
what my colleague mentioned.

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There are also measures
for lifting and protection possible.

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I believe that we will finish
with this phase of thinking

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and transfer
to the operational phase. I expect

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that we will get technical solutions
in the next four years

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and implement them gradually.

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But we can't have the same approach
for all three areas,

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because of the current situation.

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You've mentioned many things,
but you haven't said anything

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about the coastal road
which is meant for recreational use.

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Have you talked about it?

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I will answer for two roads.
First, this former coastal road

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which is now closed.
-From Izola to Koper. -Yes.

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The key is that traffic is gone.
We've adopted it all together.

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We have two main goals here.

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Some of it is meant for bathing
area or something similar.

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The other part is mainly
for conservation of nature.

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I think we will continue
with the project preparations

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and increasing the coastal line.

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You can't increase it here,
because you have to reach the depth

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to the river outlet and so on.

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Maybe there will be a wood pier
or something else.

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We would like to make something nice
for visitors and everybody else.

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At the same time, we have to think
about the nature conservation,

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because this place
has an important natural value.

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Okay. -Anything else?
Thank you for coming.

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Thank you. Good day.