Aleksandra Pivec (born 26 March 1972) is a Slovenian

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

and politician who served as the country's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food from 2018 to 2020 and Deputy Prime Minister from March to October 2020.

Early life and education

Pivec was born on 26 March 1972 in

Ptuj Ptuj (; , ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, eighth-largest town of Slovenia, located in the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria (northeastern Slovenia). It is the seat of the City Municipality of Ptuj, Municipality of Pt ...

. Her family is known for wine-making. Pivec has a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

. Her thesis was on the optimisation of wine fermentation processes.

Career

Pivec worked at the Scientific Research Centre Bistra Ptuj for 17 years, including 6 years as its director. She served as state secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad from 2016 before being appointed Minister for Agriculture in the government of

Marjan Šarec Marjan Šarec (born 2 December 1977) is a Slovenian politician, actor and comedian who served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob from June 202 ...

on 13 September 2018. She gained wide media exposure as a minister, appearing at numerous events across the country. Pivec became leader of the

Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (, also known by the acronym DeSUS) was a political party in Slovenia last led by Vlado Dimovski. The party claims broadly liberal values with a strong focus on the interests of the retired and the ...

on 18 January 2020, defeating Defence Minister Karl Erjavec, who then resigned. In the campaign leading up to the election, the media had focused on Pivec's failure to report money she made consulting for a state-funded tourism project to the anti-graft commission as required by law. She became Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Prime Minister

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), better known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2022. Since ...

on 13 March 2020.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pivec, Aleksandra Living people 1972 births People from Ptuj Women chemical engineers University of Ljubljana alumni Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia politicians Women government ministers of Slovenia Agriculture ministers of Slovenia Food ministers of Slovenia Forestry ministers of Slovenia Deputy prime ministers of Slovenia 21st-century Slovenian women politicians 21st-century Slovenian politicians