According to the speakers at the Slovenia Business Bridge event, Slovenia is a safe country, pleasant to live in and has a highly skilled workforce, a dynamic research and development sector (over a thousand research institutions in the private and public sector), and currently good economic indicators. On the other hand, this picture is spoiled by high income taxes, primarily by highly paid staff, as well as bureaucracy.

Dragan Šolak, the founder of United Group, who is the owner of the telecommunications company Telemach and N1 Slovenia in Slovenia, said that Slovenia is a country of incredible opportunities. "Unfortunately, some have not yet materialized."

He warned of the still strong role of the state in the economy. "It's never good. When it comes to startup companies that will create "unicorns" (startup companies that have rapid growth and become worth more than a billion dollars in a short period of time), the state has an important role to play in creating favorable conditions and then must move quickly. We don't want to see her anymore. "

That removal of the state means a cheaper and more efficient state, and consequently lower taxes. "It's nice to hear that the government is planning tax breaks for IT professionals, but we employ several thousand Slovenians and I would like to see tax breaks introduced for everyone. The problem here is that two thirds of the gross salary is taken by the state, only one third is left to the one who works."

Due to that, it makes the decision to open a regional center in Slovenia more difficult, because it is cheaper in other countries. “We have just hired a new procurement director at United Group. Employees at the group level have the opportunity to decide for themselves at which location, of all those in which the group operates, they want to be employed. Although he likes Slovenia, he decided to go to Zagreb, because of lower taxes."

In the debate on the free market, Šolak reminded of the recent decision of the state-owned Telekom Slovenije to stop the sale of the company TSmedia, for which United Group made the largest offer. "My company offered two million euros more than the next best bidder, and then a political decision was made to stop the sale. It's not a very attractive atmosphere and it doesn't send a good message, "he said.

Meanwhile, the United Group has invested 1.5 billion euros in Greece, which will record 8% GDP growth this year. "These are competing countries. If Slovenia does not wake up, all the money will go there. In all Balkan countries, the state apparatus is too large in terms of the size of the economy and population," added Šolak and said that when they invest in other countries, they mostly use the system and experiences from Slovenia.