The full interview will be available on Wednesday, 4 February 2026, at 19:00, on POP-TV's YouTube channel.

Interesting thoughts from Marjan Batagelj's talk

I pledged all my assets, my personal bills, my house, my car, everything I had, I believed so strongly in this story.

No, I don't have a yacht. I had one boat, and there was so much to do with that boat that I'd rather go to sea and swim than deal with that boat.

How rich was I when I went to school? Nothing, I didn't even have a car. When you walk down the stairs, people don't notice you walking. They only want to see that last step, where you have done something in your life. And nobody sees you in between anyway. They don't see your effort, your commitment.

Tolstoy said it best, “It is easier to write ten books of philosophy than to put one principle into practice.” And that is entrepreneurship. An idea is empty if you don't put it into practice, if you don't materialise it...

Go into entrepreneurship with courage, with passion and with the belief that it can be done.

Young people think they know what they want, but I tell everyone that they don't know what they want. So let him do a lot of things in the beginning and then one thing will pull him along.

What will be left of this Slovenia if we all get out? If people feel that the solution is to leave? Will we become an old society, where only the old will live and all the young will go out? Who will set the example and the desire for some success here? Who will explain that it is also possible to succeed here?

But do we want to be proactive as a society? Because we are not proactive. We have become a purely bureaucratic society. We pass papers from one end to the other, and one more amendment and one more ...

It would have developed three times faster if Slovenia didn't have completely crazy legislation. For example, I thought of bringing Six Senses, which is one of the most reputable, sustainable tourism companies, to Slovenia, but I am not going to do it because I simply cannot keep up with such complicated zoning legislation.

Not enough is said in Slovenia about the corrupt background to obtaining consents. These consents are granted quickly in some places and slowly in others. And because we only know how to do things the way we do them, it is obviously very slow here. We are always waiting and waiting and amending, and others get it quickly. When you start to look into why that is, when they give you concrete examples of quick wins, you can only say - I am not going to do that.

It is necessary to explain things as we, entrepreneurs, see them, in a dialogue, without hatred, and on the other hand, I always listen to politicians and understand their concerns, and then we have to find the best solution together. Not to say “this is the way it is going to be, period”. That is not a conversation. That is an ultimatum. But should I fight an ultimatum?

Why am I staying in Slovenia? Because I am such a local patriot. If I have been through all this, I will stay in Slovenia. I also have all my investments in Slovenia.

However dissatisfied I may be sometimes, I know that I will stay in Slovenia until the end. As long as I am here, I will set this example that it is worth fighting here and explaining to politicians or whoever that let's for God's sakemaking this economic and business environment a pleasant one, because that's no bad thing.

Why don't we build a society where those who can give, should give, and those who can't, shouldn't be forced to give.

Does this left-wing government want Slovenia to have all bad companies, all unprofitable companies, all companies on the verge of bankruptcy, so that no one stands out? Is that the message when they look so disdainfully at capital, at success, at profit?

When they accuse someone of having a high gross salary - why don't they say that out of €1,100,000, only €420,000 is net. Where is the other €550 000? They have gone to the state. When I persuaded my daughter to come to work for me from London, she asked what her salary would be. Yes, look, not as much as in London, because this is Slovenia. She says she has 130 000 euros gross. And I ask her: How much is that net? “95,000 euros.” I said: fine, here you will get a little less than €60,000 net out of €130,000 gross. And she asks me where the €35,000 is going. How do I answer her? For taxes, for the state. “Why do you always go to the taxman as a self-payer, if it's for health, education, whatever?” How to explain this to her?

This envy in Slovenia is really very big ...

As long as I feel comfortable among my people, I will work. As long as they trust me that what I do is right, sometimes it doesn't matter what the evil and always the same tongues say. Instead of being proud.

Some captured highlights from the TALES OF ACROBATES event with Uroš Slako: Marjan Batagelj, Postojna Cave and Barbara and Urh, Bistro Bombina

These events are also organised to promote entrepreneurship and creativity and to show entrepreneurship in a positive light.