MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, July 4): BRATISLAVA - For several weeks now, with the exception of only a few days, the number of Ukrainians returning home from Slovakia has exceeded the number of Ukrainian refugees coming to Slovakia in the statistics, Interior Minister Roman Mikulec (OLaNO) has pointed out. The Interior Ministry has responded to the decrease in the number of refugees by changing the manner in which large capacity centres for refugees operate. According to the ministry, the trend has been confirmed by the latest figures. On Sunday, July 3, a total of 3,238 people from Ukraine entered Slovakia via the border between the two countries, while 4,114 people crossed into Ukraine via the same border on the same day. BRATISLAVA - Russian gas supplies for Slovak gas utility SPP will continue to fall this week, Juraj Adamica, the deputy head of the SPP regulation and compliance department, told TASR on Monday. "Based on the information from the Gazprom Export company, we expect gas supplies to be halved compared to the volume stipulated in contracts. However, the above cut has no impact on our customers," assured Adamica. BRATISLAVA - The Health Ministry is supposed to submit an offer for salary hikes to doctors by the end of this week, Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ) chief Peter Visolajsky told TASR on Monday. "We currently received a promise that they will submit the offer to us by the end of this week. Subsequently, we should meet to negotiate the proposal with the ministry," said Visolajsky. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (an OLaNO nominee) originally said that the issue of health professionals' salaries might be resolved by the end of June. Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) wanted to manage it within the deadline as well. "However, LOZ hasn't yet obtained any official offer regarding salaries from the Government. There's no official offer from the Government for nurses, either," noted Visolajsky. BRATISLAVA - President Zuzana Caputova on Monday signed the second package of measures to improve the business environment sponsored by the Economy Ministry. The bill, amending and completing some laws in order to improve the business environment, contains almost 200 particular measures. BRATISLAVA - The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the appeals of Justice Minister Maria Kolikova as well as Martin M. (name abbreviated due to legal reasons), who's been charged in the case of the 'fecal' attacks in Bratislava in 2015, returning the case for retrial at Bratislava regional court. In 2018, Bratislava regional court dismissed the defendant's appeal in the case, arguing that his guilt had been sufficiently established based on the evidence presented. The court thus found the suspended sentence of eight months with a probationary period of 14 months that had been handed down to Martin M. along with mandatory treatment for sexual deviancy to be in line with the law. ko