The speed and scale of the fall in energy investment activity in 2020 were unprecedented, according to International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based intergovernmental organisation. As companies reined in spending, and project workers were confined to their homes, planned investments were also delayed, deferred, or shelved, and supply chains interrupted. The COVID 19 crisis and measures taken to slow its spread have had a profound impact on energy demand, the likes of which have not been seen for 70 years, IEA states. In its Global Energy Review issued in April 2020 and assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy system, IEA expected that overall energy demand would fall by 6% in 2020, while electricity demand was set to decline by 5%. In contrast, global carbon dioxide emissions were expected to drop by almost 8% compared with 2019.

During the pandemic, traffic curbs and mobility restriction measures accompanied drastic drops in economic activity. Sales of motor fuels fell. The Petrol Group, one of the largest businesses in the Adriatic region, responded comprehensively to the changed situation.

Petrol generates more than 80 per cent of its revenues from energy trading, while the remainder is derived through trade in consumer goods and services. Both energy and trade are considered highly competitive industries. In addition to global industry trends, Petrol Group’s operations are influenced by several other, often interdependent factors, notes Salkič. Among the most important are the movement of energy prices and the gyrations of the US dollar, both a reflection of global economic conditions. During the pandemic, Petrol prioritized the health and safety of its employees and customers, as well as ensuring a reliable supply of energy. They addressed risks very directly. The measures followed the provision of sufficient liquidity. “Reducing and managing costs, all the while optimizing supply chains and sales outlets and thus ensuring the profitability of points of sale, have all proven necessary,” states Salkič. They also ensured a sufficient number of employees was present at points of sale. At the same time, other employees, wherever possible, worked from home, and due to a reduced volume of business, some employees were put on temporary leave.

Petrol envisions a future of energy independence and efficiency, but also the growing share of renewable energy sources. According to Salkič, reducing the carbon footprint is the company’s top priority. Their sustainable orientation is based on three pillars: on being a low-carbon energy company, on establishing partnerships with employees and the social environment, and on operating in accordance with the principles of the circular economy.

Salkič believes the economic situation in 2021 will be significantly affected by the post-pandemic economic recovery, which will also be reflected in oil prices. In the markets in which they operate, both local economic conditions (economic growth, price inflation, rising consumption and production) and state regulation of energy prices and market structure, exert a significant impact on business operations. The impact of a pandemic is difficult to disentangle from the measures taken to contain it.

Business players in the energy market are facing major challenges and changes. First, they are undergoing an extremely demanding systemic transition to renewables. “At the same time, there are major changes in the behaviour of end customers, who are becoming increasingly active and environmentally aware,”
says Salkič. At the same time, environmentally- friendly practices are official EU policy when it comes to the so-called green economic recovery, which is taking place under the auspices of the European Commission. Activities in this area are numerous, from energy efficiency in industry and the commercial sector to energy renovation projects in buildings. “These are integrated energy services for industry, which will lead to increased energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” explains Salkič.

But there is another area with great potential: sustainable mobility. Petrol focuses on the provision of services related to the establishment, the management, and the maintenance of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, explains Salkič. Also, the group provides solution for the implementation and billing of electric vehicle charging and support. “In the field of mobility, we are developing services related to new concepts and forms of mobility such as vehicles as a service,” adds Salkič, who also says the company has ambitious goals for 2021, including a new strategy for the next five years. They are also incorporating the lessons of the current pandemic, which has radically changed the way we do business in a matter of months.

For Telemach, a Slovenian provider of advanced and high-quality fixed telecommunications services in the Adriatic region, 2020 will go down as a very successful year. The company has grown in all of its key segments: networks, human skills, and finances. With the constant growth in subscribers, Telemach’s market share in Slovenia is rising fast.

In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic significantly transformed peoples’ lives and drove them online even more so than before, telecom perators played an extremely important role in helping people maintain mutual contacts. Users have relied even more on their services, and it has become impossible to imagine normal operation without internet and mobile communications. This applies both to individuals and large institutions.

While Telemach faced challenges at the start of the pandemic, they successfully overcame obstacles thanks to previous preparations and experiments in homeworking where feasible. “The pandemic was a true test for our networks and our organization. However, we made the right upgrades and organised remote work to ensure good communication between users. We are talking about changes in a very short amount of time. We increased all the necessary capacities to allow unhindered traffic so that our users would experience almost no difficulties. In just a few days, we managed to double our capacity in both mobile and fixed networks. Our performance parameters remain the same as before, but with significantly higher user consumption,” Ježina reveals.

At Telemach, they were well prepared for the pandemic. Even before the complete lockdown, the company had tested how individual services would handle work from home. “Understandably, not everyone could perate in this way, especially our technical services, which work on the ground and are most exposed to health risks. Of course, we took special care for their protection,” says Adrian Ježina. When we talk about digitalisation, the question always arises how it affected companies, as well as a broader social aspects. Per Ježina, “Slovenian society has become very digital over the past year. There has been an enormous leap forward, companies have introduce quite a few new services that make some everyday operations easier in these unusual times, and people are also doing more things online. Many have let go of the distrust they once had towards internet services, learned more about numerous things, and broadened their horizons.” The pandemic is pushing the world hastily into information and communication technology, and this is beneficial for the telecommunication industry. However, it also calls into question further investments into landline networks, as the focus is shifting to frequencies and 5G. “No doubt the pandemic will lead to lasting changes in the way we do business, but at the same time, we hope that there will be a rapid economic recovery without a deeper financial crisis,” Ježina points out.

For 2021, Telemach expects growth in all areas, including financials and subscriber numbers. Together with United Group, which they are part of, they will continue to push boundaries, grow their network, work on user experience, and strive to be the best on the market. Their business goal is to become the first choice of Slovenian users who are looking for telecommunications services, the number one broadband provider and the number two mobile provider in Slovenia. They are convinced their highly motivated and skilled employees offer almost bulletproof guarantee for further success.

Since the start of the pandemic, Telemach has been focusing a lot on employees. »Together with our employees, we were well prepared for the novel way of doing business, so the transition of working practices was fast. Where possible, our employees were working from home, and we made sure all our employees who work in the field had proper protection, such as masks, disinfectants, and gloves. We also sent out a first aid kit to our employees, which contained disinfectants, masks, and vitamins,” the company says. “We did everything to make them feel good, provided them with various online seminars, sent them packages with masks and vitamins occasionally, and so on. It is why we have successfully faced all the challenges posed by the pandemic,” emphasizes Adrian Ježina.

B2B: Telemach offers business customers seamless services such as collocation, limited and advanced service management, and cloud computing platforms since it has the most advanced data center in Slovenia. During the pandemic, they offered special packages to business customers including the packages aimed at individual activities such as bars, massage parlours, car mechanics, private health clinics, and dentists.

B2C: Since their customers were mostly working and staying at home, Telemach could offer them additional bonuses. They opened program schemes and provided more content and mobile data. They also very quickly introduced advanced customer care tools, such as a chat option on their website, voice signing, and virtual shops. These proved to be excellent examples of resolving the situation, the company states.

Adrian Ježina sums it up: “We were pleased to help as best we could. United Group donated USD 3m to help countries in the region, USD 500,000 of which came to Slovenia for medical supplies. Telemach also donated tablets with internet access to children and families to enable as many students as possible could have uninterrupted studying from home.”

The load on internet connections increased by as much as 40% during the pandemic. Telemach recorded a 60% increase in voice traffic on the mobile network during this period. In the autumn of 2020, the increase in internet traffic was 50%, while mobile voice traffic increased by 20%. Compared to last year, data traffic over the mobile network increased by 30% in December, while the number of SMS messages increased by 10%, and the number of MMS messages by as much as 40%.