Twenty-five years of Independent Slovenia 1 2 CONTENT Introduction 5 Laying down financial and fiscal foundations 6 Economic recovery and GDP growth 8 The path to international recognition and foreign policy 9 Defence, protection and disaster relief 13 Slovenian Police – in service of people for 25 years 15 Slovenia remains a social state 17 Slovenia pays extensive attention to the disabled 19 For better health 20 Dealing with the Government: from running from office to office to modern “e-services” available from the comfort of your home 22 Digitalisation of the judiciary branch and the land register 24 Food for the future is provided, and the natural wealth in the forest and the sea is taken care of 25 Environmental protection 29 Energy conservation 31 Traffic and safety 32 Culture achievements 33 From kindergarten to university 37 Slovenia’s achievements in science 39 Athletic achievements 41 Breakthrough in development 43 3 4 Twenty-five years of independent Slovenia This year marks 25 years since Slovenia became an independent state. Slovenia can look back on the road it has travelled during this time with pride. Some things that seemed out of reach at the time have now been achieved; especially in the lives of individuals and the entire society, a lot has changed and also improved over the past 25 years. After several years of economic and financial crisis and the poor management of banks, com- panies, and even the state, it is now time to look into the future with optimism. It is good to be more frequently reminded about all the good things happening in the society we live in and about areas that are well managed as they can even serve as good examples to other developed countries. Among Slovenia’s advan- tages, especially its high-quality healthcare, maternity protection, early education of chil- dren, kindergarten system, healthy environ- ment and other things should be pointed out. It can certainly be said that, after 25 years, Slo- venia and its people have become more mature, confident, vibrant, modern, courageous, devel- oped and optimistic. 5 Laying down financial and fiscal Furthermore, Slovenia successfully carried out ables the absorption of European development foundations the procedure for establishing a fiscal and cus- funds. The progress achieved with the help of toms system, including the abolishment of sales these funds can be observed in each and every After its declaration of independence, Slove- tax and introduction of VAT in July 1999. municipality in Slovenia. nia became financially independent due to one of the quickest and most successful currency In 25 years, Slovenia has built an independent Slovenia was among the first states in Europe to changeovers (in October 1991, with a 1:1 ex- public finance system. On 1st January 2007, as introduce fully paperless procedures for submit- change rate within three days) and introduced the first country following the “big bang” sce- ting customs declarations. Slovenia introduced a Slovenian currency – the tolar. At the time, nario, Slovenia adopted the euro currency by a fully electronic, paperless customs clearance the total foreign reserve assets of the Slovenian irrevocably fixing the exchange rate and, at the system as early as 1996, which was initially banking system amounted to $170 million, same time, introducing the euro bank notes and only intended for major companies. However, which was approximately €150 million. euro coins, while also complying with require- in 2008 and 2009, the entirely paperless elec- ments of the common European currency. tronic customs clearance was introduced for all Important steps for establishing the essential entities. Today, only electronic customs decla- public institutions were carried out in the field Following the initial complex and time-con- rations are filed without any appendices. As a of finances (Tax Administration of the Repub- suming income tax filing methods, Slovenia in- result, there is no need for archiving the files, lic of Slovenia, Customs Administration of the troduced a simple, efficient, and citizen-friend- which was previously done by the customs au- Republic of Slovenia), banking, the insurance ly provisional personal income tax calculation thority. industry and the securities market (Bank of Slo- system within the last few years. The first an- venia, Insurance Supervision Agency, and Secu- nual personal income tax assessment based on In 2014, Slovenia was the second state (right rities Market Agency). Three supervisory bodies provisional personal income tax calculations after the Netherlands) to start using simplified were established in Slovenia, each specialised was carried out in 2008: since then, over 98.5% customs procedures in the EU. for a specific financial market sector. of persons liable for tax no longer need to pur- chase or print personal income tax forms, fill By integrating the fiscal and customs adminis- Slovenia joined the World Bank Group, the them out by hand, and file them at offices or tration into the Financial Administration of the International Monetary Fund, the European post offices because provisional calculations are Republic of Slovenia, a large supervisory body Bank for Reconstruction and Development, delivered to their homes. was established, which enables and provides the Council of Europe Development Bank, the better services for persons liable for tax and Inter-American Development Bank and other Moreover, an effective system has been set up also contributes to an even higher rate of volun- important international financial institutions. for implementing cohesion policies, which en- tary obligation fulfilment. 6 Thanks to the great efforts made by the Gov- ernment, Slovenia’s general government deficit stood at 2.9% of GDP in late 2015. This is why the European Commission, after a seven-year procedure related to excessive deficit, proposed to the European Council to end the procedure and move Slovenia from the corrective to preventive arm of the Sta- FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS bility and Growth Pact. Financial independence Slovenia, in the 2009–2013 period, experi- Currency changeover within just 3 days following independence enced the second largest cumulative drop in GDP (by nearly 10 percentage points) right Autonomous system of public finance after Greece, which was due to the financial Establishment of the tax and customs system crisis, and suffered losses in the banking Establishment of key institutions in the fields of banking, insurance and securities market sector and general economy. However, its Common European currency economic situation improved in 2016, which Adoption of Euro on 1 January 2007 is evident from the nearly three percent eco- nomic growth recorded in 2015. The positive Effective and citizen-friendly system for informative personal income economic circumstances have an import- tax calculations ant effect on the increase in the number of Over 98.5% of persons liable for tax no longer need to purchase or print personal income tax forms available jobs as well as the general situation in the labour market and also in the entre- Effective implementation of Cohesion Policy preneurial sector, while the banking system Absorption of European development funds is once again sustainable. After quite some Progress is seen in every municipality in Slovenia time, the level of social optimism is now on Reduction of general government deficit the rise in Slovenia. By the end of 2015, the general government deficit was brought under 3% of GDP 7 Economic recovery and GDP In 1991, there was no support environment business centres, were founded. SBDC was lat- growth for entrepreneurship yet in place, but as early er transformed into the Public Agency of the as 1995 the Small Business Development Cen- Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and After becoming independent, Slovenia had to tre (SBDC) and Small Business Development Foreign Investments (Javna agencija za pod- find a new position on global and European Network, which included local and regional jetništvo in tuje investicije or JAPTI). In 2012, markets. It soon attracted foreign direct in- vestments, which have since considerably stim- ulate the effectiveness and growth of Slovenia’s GDP and the economy economy, especially by providing access to new markets and additional resources in the form of capital, technology and knowledge in organisa- GDP tion, marketing and other fields. From 1991 to 2015, GDP effectively increased by 75.2% and GDP per capita by 70% In 1991, GDP per capita amounted to approximately EUR 5,000 → In 2015, GDP per capita exceeded EUR 18,000 From 1991 to 2015, the Slovenian gross do- mestic product (GDP) effectively increased by Supportive environment for entrepreneurship 75.2 percent and GDP per capita rose by 70.0 Since 1994, accelerated establishment of new supporting institutions in the form of technological parks and incubators has been recorded percent (in 1991, GDP per capita amounted to Through direct grants or EU funds support for more than 3,000 small and medium-sized companies 1,400 innovations and patents were created approximately €5,000 and in 2015 it exceeded EUR 1.75 billion of private investments was encouraged Over 45,000 jobs were created €18,000). From 2008 to 2015, 48,000 new companies were registered, mostly in expert, scientific and technical activities as well as trade and manufacturing In 1990, the number of companies began to Tourism grow rapidly. After Slovenia acquired its in- Last 25 years: dependence, companies quickly overcame the Number of foreign overnight stays has tripled transformation-related crisis and successfully Number of overnight stays of domestic guests increased by 35% 59 million tourists visited Slovenia in the last 25 years and generated 187 million overnight stays redirected their work to foreign markets after In 1991, there were approximately 28,274 hotel beds → In 2015, there were approximately 41,208 hotel having lost the Yugoslavian one. This also con- beds tributed to maintaining national budgets close European funds to balance and a sustainable balance of pay- The accommodation capacities increased by more than 11,800 ments.