Employees of RTVS have demanded answers from management regarding the whereabouts of promised millions, raising concerns over financial transparency and operational stability within Slovenia's public broadcaster. The legal firm representing RTVS has reportedly prepared a legal opinion on potential changes to its business plan, particularly concerning budget reallocations. This comes amid calls for an extraordinary meeting of the RTVS Council initiated by five members, including representatives of employees such as Robert Pajek, Barbara Stegeman, Janez Pirc, Gregor Drnovšek, and Ilinka Todorovski, who requested clarification on how the administration is striving to pay out funds totaling over 15 million euros under the law. They also wanted to know the status of discussions with the Office of the Government for Nationalities and the Ministry of Culture, which are supposed to allocate funds for national minority programs and music production. According to one of today’s decisions, the administration will present the draft contract for the allocation of budget funds for music production received from the Ministry of Culture on July 15th. Additionally, the council wants to see the texts of contracts related to the allocation of funds for national minority programs received from the Office of the Government for Nationalities. The head of the administration, Natalija Gorščak, assured the council members that the administration is doing everything within its power to ensure the institute receives budget funds for this year in accordance with the law. Meetings were held with Minister of Culture Ignacija Fridl Jarc and acting director of the Office of the Government for Nationalities, Gregor Perič. If negotiations with the ministry and office fail successfully for the institution, more severe liquidity problems could arise by October, she warned. The largest share of the institute's expenses are employee costs. For the payment of salaries in July alone, the institute borrowed 9.5 million euros. According to estimates, by the end of July, the institute would still owe 7.5 million euros. Špela Stare, appointed to the council by the Information Commissioner, stated that the extraordinary meeting was unnecessary because the administration had already informed the council about the situation during the last regular meeting. "At this moment, the problem is not the administration, but the state, in particular, both the previous and current government," she criticized. One of the initiators of the extraordinary meeting, Robert Pajek, warned that RTVS can't always rely on the state as a co-founder. However, he believes the institution must be prepared to handle the possibility of being left to fend for itself. Public broadcaster RTV Slovenia is facing liquidity issues, leading to an extraordinary meeting of the RTVS Council on Tuesday. There was a desire for the administration, which caused complications regarding the payment of legally mandated funds when it refused to sign a contract for the targeted use of funds for music production and for the program for national minorities, to explain how it is practically trying to secure the funds. Last month, the institute, which had signed 1999 employment contracts by June 30, was forced to borrow 8.1 million euros from the administrator of the unified state treasury account due to salary payments. According to STA reports, 2.5 million euros of the loan were repaid by the end of the month. Debt amounted to 5.6 million euros by the end of June. Meanwhile, the administration claims they have been limiting expenses since the beginning of the year, including implementing a restrictive personnel policy and reducing external contractual work. However, they insist that further reductions in staff numbers without adequate and stable financing are not unlimited, as a more significant reduction in the number of employees would affect the implementation of the program. We asked for comments on the situation at RTVS from former President of the Programming Council of RTV, Dr. Staneta Grando. He recalled the years when he held that position, stating that finances have always been a constant problem for the television station, from the quality of the program onwards. Regarding Anton Guzej, who was then the general director of RTVS, he noted his belief that Guzej was exceptional, perhaps one of the best directors in the history of the television station. He mentioned that Guzej, as general director, had only the seventh salary in order when they had a small surplus. "This means that an enormous amount of money is leaking somewhere unknown and unknowingly." He also recalled an instance when technical workers came to him demanding that he initiate a process against a well-known sports journalist, claiming he had a contract with Planica requiring them to shoot only certain advertisements, giving him a commission. However, since they did not want to start proceedings, he did not get involved in this specific case, as it was not his area of competence. Despite acknowledging that the RTV contribution is not grotesquely large, according to Grande, the worst problem is that the television station behaves completely irresponsibly in terms of content. He specifically refers to the informative program, "which is under all criticism." "Yesterday, for example, I listened to the Rai program in Slovenian, which is culturally more appropriate than the one in Ljubljana, which is content-wise terrible. This is reflected in the finances. With such quality, people are not willing to contribute, and the only solution is to ensure quality." He added that ensuring quality involves dismissing people who work poorly or do nothing at all. According to him, the solution must be found within the television station, as Slovenia does not have enough money to waste. "Therefore, I think it is time to put responsible and capable leadership at the head of the television. It is necessary to know how much the costs of broadcasts will be, and when discipline, order, and financial transparency are introduced, things will happen," he said, recalling corruption he noticed in the past, which surprised him. These were connections, "about which a person can only grab their head." According to Grande, the television station must gather itself, organize itself, ensure quality, and get rid of ideology. "The problem is not the ideology of the television employees, the problem is ignorance and poor quality." He gave the example of journalist Jurij Gustinčič, who was clearly left-leaning, but everyone respected him because he was of high quality. "If you listen to political commentaries today, you hold your head in your hands, it is below every level," said Granda, who believes that once quality is resolved, finances will be resolved too. "Only with finances will there be no quality." RTV Slovenia decided not to broadcast the awarded film Zečji nasip (Rabbit Hill), which was presented at more than 50 festivals and had its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlinale. The film was also funded by the Slovenian Film Center, a public institution. This decision has raised questions among the film community and sparked debates about the criteria used by the public radio-television institution for selecting program content, especially those co-financed by public funds and addressing important social themes. The decision by RTV Slovenia has attracted attention in Croatia, as the film Zečji nasip, directed by Čejen Černić Čanak, follows the story of forbidden love between two boys in a rural Croatian setting threatened by floods. The film is considered one of the more successful recent Croatian films and is explicitly marketed as the first Croatian LGBTQ+ film. The film was also produced in collaboration between Croatian, Slovenian, and Lithuanian producers. The decision by RTV Slovenia to not air the film has caused surprise, especially considering that public funds were invested in the film. The film was very well received at film festivals, with audiences actively engaging in conversations with the film crew and sharing personal stories inspired by the film. According to Jutarnji List, the decision by RTV Slovenia to not air the film has raised eyebrows, especially given that the film was very well received at film festivals, with audiences actively engaging in conversations with the film crew and sharing personal stories inspired by the film. According to Jutarnji List, the decision by RTV Slovenia to not air the film has raised eyebrows, especially given that the film was very well received at film festivals, with audiences actively engaging in conversations with the film crew and sharing personal stories inspired by the film. The film, which follows the story of forbidden love in a rural Croatian setting, has caused concern in Croatia. The film was produced in cooperation between Zagreb-based Kinorama, Lithuanian Tremore, and Slovenian production house Perfo Production. The director, Čejen Černić Čanak, mentioned in a June interview with MMC that while traveling with the film around festivals, she met many Croats living abroad whose families back home knew nothing about their queer identity and private lives. When they return home, they have to pretend to have a completely different life than they actually do, just like Slaven in the film, to be free. This is still the reality we live in, she said, and continued to question whether films should continue to address the issue of same-sex love and its non-acceptance in society. "Yes, we must, and we will have to for a long time," the director replied, adding that outside of events dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, one can never find "a male couple holding hands or kissing on the main square." Despite this, the director emphasized that the film addresses the issue of RTV Slovenia faces the threat of bankruptcy, with demands for wages made through a questionable method, using funds allocated for national minorities. As the extraordinary meeting of the RTVS Council approaches, the administration emphasizes that it has been limiting expenses since the beginning of the year and aims to achieve the disbursement of funds stipulated by the new RTVS law adopted last December under the government of Robert Golob. As known, the
Slovenia
