By: M. Č.
With a round table on the state of the Slovenian economy, featuring representatives of the Economic Circle, the 57th International Trade and Business Fair – MOS was opened today in Celje. “Innumerable administrative and financial burdens are hindering the development and competitiveness of the Slovenian economy,” emphasised the president of the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia (OZS), Blaž Cvar, in his opening remarks. He also expressed strong opposition to the mandatory Christmas bonus announced yesterday by the Prime Minister. According to Cvar, such moves by the government, which in any case should first require agreement among the social partners, only further undermine the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy.
As OZS president Blaž Cvar stated, numerous administrative and financial burdens placed on the Slovenian economy are further hindering its development and competitiveness. “The latest in a series of burdens imposed on us is the contribution for long-term care. In the basket of levies, or better said, the overloaded basket, last year we also got a temporary increase in corporate income tax, a mandatory healthcare contribution, the position of flat-rate taxpayers worsened, and now the announcement of a mandatory Christmas bonus is certainly yet another wrong way of negotiating any kind of positive change,” Cvar sharply criticised, adding: “In employer organisations we have long, far too long, been warning that labour costs in Slovenia are too high. And even though this government pledged at the beginning of its mandate to reduce wage costs, today we are facing even higher burdens on wages.” He also pointed out the increase in the budget deficit, which will inevitably be felt above all by the economy and asked whether the economy really is a cash cow that must be squeezed dry.
According to OECD data, Slovenia in 2024 climbed one place on the tax wedge ranking – we now hold 6th place among 38 countries, which means one of the highest labour tax burdens in the developed world. On the other hand, we are slipping on the ranking where we should be climbing: in the World Competitiveness Ranking, Slovenia last year placed 46th among 67 countries, four spots lower than the year before.
Participants in the roundtable “When the economy prospers, we all live better” only reinforced President Cvar’s words. Marta Klevišar explained that at the company Adria Dom, poor policy is felt mainly in competitiveness, and compared Slovenian conditions with Croatia’s: “Croatia has made remarkable progress in recent years. They are sprinting forward, while we are sliding down the rankings. In the past, 15 percent of our workforce came from Croatia; today it is only 10 percent, because conditions are better at home for them. In fact, we need to do something very simple: let’s look at what successful countries are doing and do the same.”
Peter Pišek, vice-president of OZS and president of the Transport Section at OZS, said that Croatia is practically ahead in every respect: “Also in transport. Slovenian transport is no longer competitive because the state has loaded it with too many burdens. The state must relieve the economy, and above all listen to it. We have long been talking about overloaded wages, a lack of labour, lengthy permitting procedures… It is high time the government found immediate solutions if it wants us to continue filling the budget,” he stressed.
“Fortunately, we are in a sector that remains competitive at the European level. Nevertheless, we face major problems due to the high labour burden. We need highly educated staff, which we can get in Croatia much more cheaply. We must be aware that Slovenia is competing for talent across a wider region. If nothing is done to make the country attractive to highly educated foreign talent, they will prefer to go to Croatia. We already see that Croatia’s proximity is attractive for companies considering relocation there,” explained Borut Čeh from Labena.
Matjaž Čemažar from Domel said they are feeling a decline in competitiveness also at the European level: “European industry faces challenges with energy and strategic raw materials. Without key strategic resources, Europe cannot be competitive. I am concerned about our dependence on China, which we are insufficiently aware of.” At home, he added, far too much time is wasted on administration and reporting: “In Slovenia we have absorbed the Balkan improvisation and German order, and created a hybrid that makes us inefficient,” he said vividly.
This was confirmed by Maja Brelih Lotrič of Lotrič Metrology: “We spend far too much time on administration and waste enormous energy that way. Europe is gradually digitalising, but it is not true digitalisation. If we still have to fill out and submit forms with data that institutions already have, then it is not real progress.”
The fact is, as roundtable moderator Sonja Šmuc concluded, that in Slovenia we have at least five strategic development documents, all based on the same data and reaching very similar solutions. Unfortunately, implementation is where everything always stalls.
At the end of the opening ceremony, Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matjaž Han, also spoke. He said he is aware that the current conditions are not encouraging, but in his view not all indicators are negative: “For me, the most positive indicator is investment growth. It is precisely these investments in new technology that can, of course along with other necessary measures, pull us out of difficulties. Together we must agree on how to raise competitiveness, but we will certainly need a social agreement,” he concluded.