The Communication Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (UKOM) has sent the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) the final version of the public service contract.
The total contract value is estimated at EUR 2,028,000.00, and UKOM took into account the costs of providing individual public services, as indicated by the STA director Bojan Veselinović. During the negotiations, UKOM reminded the STA director of the obvious discrepancies in the calculation of costs that he had sent. He initially estimated that the cost incurred in the production and publication of an entire news item equalled the cost incurred in the production and publication of a news summary.
During the negotiations, UKOM he could not agree to Bojan Veselinović’s request to violate the STA Act, which clearly determines that public service content is available free of charge to all under the same conditions. Veselinović’s plan was to resell this content on the media market once again, which would enable different access to the content for those who pay for it and those who don’t.
Veselinović has introduced a public service section on the website, which is welcomed by UKOM. At the same time, it seems unacceptable to accompany every published news item provided by a public service with a notice stating that it should not be used without a marketing contract being agreed. The content provided by the public service may not be marketed, as this is prohibited by law. An exception is the marketing of archival material, which is permitted by law and consequently also regulated by the contract.
UKOM expects that the contract, which ensures orderly and transparent financing of the Slovenian Press Agency and at the same time prevents abuses and circumvention of legal provisions, will be signed without delay.
Sara Kovač
