Andrej Vizjak

Ljubljana – Aleksander Zupančič, the chief-of-staff to Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak, has been appointed chairman of power grid operator Elektro Ljubljana. He will start his four-year term on 6 January, the company said. Zupančič is already a supervisor at the partially state-owned energy group Petrol.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly is meeting for an eventful plenary session tomorrow that will culminate on Friday and next Monday with debates and votes on the opposition-sponsored motions to oust Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak and Interior Minister Aleš Hojs.

Ljubljana – Primary schools and kindergartens will serve traditional Slovenian breakfast on Slovenian Food Day, introducing a novelty this year – a story about traditional farmer dish – to further raise the youth’s awareness of local food and eating habits, also to reduce the amount of food waste and climate impact.

Glasgow – The COP26 climate conference is a key step for the future of our planet and younger generations, Slovenian Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak said at Monday’s press conference in Glasgow, UK. “It is time we act responsibly and move up from good intentions to concrete actions,” he added.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Judges’ Association, a non-profit organisation uniting judges and retired judges, said on Thursday it was shocked by the statements made by Andrej Vizjak as the economy minister in 2007 in a new recording revealing his conversation with businessman Bojan Petan during privatisation of spa company Terme Čatež.

Ljubljana – The commercial broadcaster POP TV released a recording on Monday evening of Andrej Vizjak, the then economy minister, urging businessman Bojan Petan to avoid paying taxes in relation to spa Terme Čatež during the first Janez Janša government. Vizjak also offered Petan the support of the state and the supervisory board if he agreed to his terms.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša will lead a sizeable Slovenian delegation to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, to be held between 31 October and 12 November. The roadmap posted on the government website estimates the cost at EUR 1.2 million, most of which is to be spent on an EU pavilion.

Luxembourg – The EU environment ministers adopted on Wednesday a joint EU position for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which includes an agreement on a five-year time frame. “For the first time in many years the European delegation is going to the climate conference with a clear position on time frames,” Slovenia’s Andrej Vizjak said.

Milan – Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak attended a three-day Pre-COP meeting in Milan whose participants tried to bring their positions closer together ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow. He noted the importance of an agreement being reached at the summit as the only way to limit heating of the atmosphere and negative impact of climate change.

Ljubljana – Advocates and opponents of the changes to the waters act, to be put to a referendum vote on Sunday, stressed the need to protect water as they faced off on public broadcaster TV Slovenija on Wednesday evening. However, the advocate said the new law will better protect water, whereas the opponents said it will endanger it.