NEWS
Prime Minister's press conference following the Government’s 110th regular session
At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, alongside several other resolutions, adopted the text of the Act Amending Public Finance Act. The Government also endorsed the hosting agreement with FIBA Europe for European Basketball Championship 2013. The responsible ministers presented the adopted resolutions, and Prime Minister Pahor then answered a number of topical questions.
At today’s regular session, the Government adopted the draft Act Amending the Public Finance Act which provides a legal basis for increasing the efficiency and liquidity of the secondary market for bonds issued by the Republic of Slovenia. Additionally, the amendment provides a legal basis for actions to be taken should the National Assembly does not adopt the annual financial statement of the budget. The amendment further provides a legal basis for allocating funds from the budget. Thus far, allocation procedure has been regulated only by implementing rules, whereas it should have been regulated by an act of parliament. The objective of the Act is threefold. The first is to determine the appropriate legal basis to enable the implementation of an instrument for the temporary lending of bonds, which will reduce the risk on outstanding transactions in the trading of reference bonds of the Republic of Slovenia. Secondly, the Act will introduce a different course of action should the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia find irregularities in the revised draft annual budget accounts which the Government believes could and should be corrected. Thirdly, the Act seeks to establish the legal basis for allocating grants, loans, and other forms of co-financing from the budget.
The ministers also adopted a series of resolutions concerning the organisation of the European Basketball Championship 2013. The Government will provide 3,000,000 euros for the organisation of the event, of which 750,000 euros will be paid to FIBA Europe by 17 December 2010, and payment of the remaining amount will follow in 2012 and 2013.
Prime Minister Pahor expressed his confidence that the FIBA Europe executive committee in Munich on Sunday would confirm Slovenia as host of the European Basketball Championship in 2013. He has recently held several talks concerning the organisation of the championship and also met with Nar Zanolin, Secretary General of FIBA Europe. “It is absolutely unlikely that FIBA Europe should reject our bid for hosting the championship on Sunday. The decision rests with the delegates, but we are confident that FIBA Europe will not change its decision now that the championship budget has already been adopted, said Pahor. As far as the funding of the event is concerned, Pahor said that, should it be needed, the Government would reallocate the funds earmarked for the participation of Slovenia in the Expo 2012 in South Korea to the basketball championship. He stressed that “a basketball championship is the largest event that Slovenia is capable of hosting and, at the same time, sufficiently attractive for the media and beneficial for the economy "