ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Thursday that Mayor Tomislav Tomašević and his team were responsible for the markedly higher corporate gas bills in Zagreb, and not HDZ personnel, because they failed to procure it at better prices.

Tomašević said earlier the former director of the City Gasworks' Supply division, Igor Pirija, who ran the division until last October, was responsible and that he was HDZ personnel, claiming that he did not buy gas at cheaper prices on time and that Zagreb businesses were in trouble because of him.

Ćorić said Tomašević should do his job and that Pirija was not in the HDZ.

Alluding to Tomašević's past as an activist, he said, "That phase is over, now it's necessary to run Croatia's largest city."

"At one time, Holding and the Gasworks were taken over by the new city administration. (Nikola) Vuković became the head of Holding for a few months. He could have procured the gas whenever he wanted. That procurement would have cost three and a half to four times less than it costs today," Ćorić said, referring to the Zagreb Holding multi-utility conglomerate.

He added that Vuković and his successors were appointed by Tomašević.

The minister said the mayor and his team should assume responsibility for the higher price, find the money, buy enough gas, whatever the cost, and honour the contracts with corporate clients.

He said Tomašević, Zagreb Holding and the team running the City Gasworks assumed responsibility for the Gasworks when they assumed responsibility for the city last May, regardless of who was director until one, two or five months ago.

"A new president of Holding's management board was appointed in June. Talks probably began then with the companies owned by Holding. Someone should have said then that the City Gasworks was short of 600 gigawatt hours of gas to meet corporate needs until the end of April," Ćorić said.

He reiterated that the price of gas at that time was several times lower than today and that the mayor and his team should have acted.

City Assembly vice president Mislav Herman (HDZ) told Tomašević to stop using the City Gasworks's previous management board as an excuse because he had enough time to buy gas at far lower prices.

He said that since Tomašević came to power, there was enough time to contract a new gas price, claiming that on 15 August last year the price of gas was about five times lower than today.

"Instead of making illegal appointments in Zagreb Holding during the summer, he could have been buying gas at then far lower prices so that our corporate clients' bills for December and the period ahead were far lower," Herman said.

He, too, said Pirija was not an HDZ member.

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange indices decreased on Thursday, the Crobex by 1.09% to 2,123.83 points and the Crobex10 by 1.08% to 1,292.84 points.

Regular turnover was HRK 6.12 million, 1.3 million less than on Wednesday.

The most traded stock was Atlantska Plovidba, turning over a little over HRK 1 million. It closed at HRK 372 per share, up 0.54%.

Forty-seven stocks traded today, with ten going up and 26 down in price, while 11 were stable.

(€1 = HRK 7.526928)

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Thursday received representatives of the Financial Club, a specialised university student association, who presented their "Simply about the euro" project, the president's office said.

The project was carried out between October 2019 and April 2021 and is the first project dedicated to the introduction of the euro in Croatia, launched by university students to educate their colleagues and the public.

The aim of the project was to explain in a simple and comprehensible way all the doubts concerning the euro, the club's representatives told the president.

The project, which received the Rector's Award, included the publication of expert articles on the effects of joining the euro area, the organisation of panels and other activities.

They told the president the Financial Club was established in 2005 at the Zagreb Faculty of Economics and Business.

Besides the "Simply about the euro" project, the club has launched many other programmes aimed at increasing financial literacy in Croatia, notably among youth, including a seminar on the financial literacy of students in many Zagreb schools.

The president supported their idea and activities, his office said.

The Financial Club has received more than 30 Dean's and Rector's awards for various projects and conferences. In 2013, the Zagreb Stock Exchange awarded them for outstanding contribution to market capital education.

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - The United States on Thursday welcomed the deal reached with Croatia on the purchase of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, the embassy said in a press release.

"The United States welcomes the Government of Croatia’s decision to acquire Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The United States is pleased to provide our close Ally and partner Croatia with these vehicles, which will be refurbished and equipped with the support of U.S. funding. Croatia’s Bradley program is a joint investment in our shared security," the press release said.

"Croatia has earned a reputation as a committed and capable NATO Ally. This acquisition will enhance Croatia’s security and NATO’s collective defense while deepening the already strong U.S.-Croatia defense partnership. Croatia’s Bradley program will further benefit the Croatian defense industry. We deeply appreciate the Croatian Government’s close cooperation in this project," the embassy added.

"The U.S.-Croatia relationship is based both on shared interests and shared values. We look forward to strengthening the U.S.-Croatia partnership even more in the years to come."

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - The HANFA regulator is checking the accounts of 725 current and 463 former employees of the central bank as well as other available accounts, with 529 transfers involving 26,940 stocks of credit institutions having been determined for 58 of the 1,188 former and current employees.

This was stated on Thursday by the head of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA), Ante Žigman, at a thematic session of the parliament's Finance and State Budget Committee, entitled "HNB employees' trading in securities of banks supervised by the central bank", which was also attended by Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Boris Vujčić and his deputy Sandra Švaljek.

Žigman said that those transfers, registered by the Croatian depository agency SKDD, did not mean that all those stocks were traded but rather that the SKDD registered any change to the legal status of a transaction, such as transfer from one broker to another.

"That should be underlined, so that one does not think that all those stocks were traded," he said.

On 10 January, the Index news portal said that in the past 20 years more than 40 HNB employees had traded in the securities of banks supervised by the HNB, with more than 400 transactions worth more than HRK 10 million having been registered.

After that, on 12 January, HANFA launched an inspection to determine if HNB employees had violated the Market Abuse Regulation and the Capital Market Act, and if they had traded in banks' securities based on insider information.

HANFA said at the time that violation of the HNB Act and HNB's internal rules by HNB employees by trading in credit institutions' securities does not necessarily constitute market abuse in the sense of the Capital Market Act and Market Abuse Regulation.

As for possible violation of the HNB Act and HNB's internal rules, HANFA does not have the authority to launch an inspection, the agency said at the time.

Vujčić: No indication of insider trading

HNB Governor Vujčić said in his introductory address today that the HNB does not have indications that its employees had traded in securities based on insider information, which is a criminal offence, but he recalled having called on HANFA to investigate the matter and also having asked for internal checks to be made for 41 persons.

An internal inspection is currently under way into 31 persons, but it is not as nearly as thorough as inspections by HANFA because the HNB does not have access to SKDD data, said Vujčić.

On the other hand, five HNB employees who hold stocks and are not among the 41 employees have also come forward, Vujčić said.

There is no legal ban on holding bonds, says Švaljek

The current deputy governor, Sandra Švaljek, was in 2012 an external member of the HNB Council and at the time she invested in the Erste Bank corporate bonds. She said at today's session that neither at that time nor currently there were any legal restrictions for the Council's members to hold bonds.

Švaljek said there was a significant difference between shares and bonds and that possessing bonds has the nature of saving, explaining that she had not traded in those bonds but held them until their maturity, and that the yield earned had been defined in the relevant prospectus.

Švaljek said that she had been informed by her personal banker about the possibility of purchasing those bonds, and emphasised that the HNB Council had never discussed such matters.

"I am confident that this case has nothing to do with market manipulation regarding the bonds that I used to hold at the time when I was not employed in the HNB."

Responding to media claims about possible wrongdoing, the central bank said recently that Vujčić bought stocks of Riječka Banka and Zagrebačka Banka in the 1990s, when he was still not HNB vice governor or HNB Council member, and when the HNB Act did not forbid the HNB governor and HNB Council members to own stocks of the banks supervised by the HNB.

The HNB emphasised that it was the new HNB leadership that in 2000 initiated changes to the HNB Act which forbid the governor, HNB Council members and HNB executive directors to own stocks and shares in banks supervised by the HNB. Vujčić thus sold his stocks of Erste&Steiermärkische Bank, which in the meantime bought Riječka Banka, and of Zagrebačka Banka, in March 2001, a month before the entry into force of the HNB Act, which was reported by the media at the time.

Švaljek, who between 2000 and 2013 was an external member of the HNB Council, bought corporate bonds of Erste&Steiermärkische Bank on 23 November 2012 and held them until their maturity in 2017.

"As already stated, there is no legal restriction that would forbid a member of the HNB Council to own bonds of legal persons to which the HNB issues operating licences or whose operations it oversees," the HNB said, adding that Švaljek did not violate any legal regulations.

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković called out President Zoran Milanović on Thursday for undermining Croatia's reputation and credibility, and said the government distanced itself from his views on the Ukraine situation.

Milanović's statements "are damaging for Croatia's reputation and shameful," he said at a cabinet meeting. "They lead to big disappointment, I'd say indignation, among our partners, from the Unites States to NATO member states, European Union member states, our neighbours."

Plenković said it seemed that every important ambassador would be summoned due to Milanović's statements. "That's bad, it's scandalous, it undermines Croatia's reputation and credibility. It's in total opposition to the Croatian government's principled foreign policy positions, not just on Ukraine but many other countries."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Croatian Ambassador Anica Džamić to protest against Milanović's recent statements, which were applauded in Russia.

Milanović said earlier this week that Croatia would not get involved in the crisis in any way in the event of its escalation and that it would not deploy its troops there. He also said Ukraine did not belong in NATO and that the EU instigated the 2014 "coup d'etat" in Ukraine at which pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown.

Plenković reiterated today that the Croatian government's stand was "to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity, to respect international law principles, to advocate peace, conflict de-escalation, defusing tensions, and to contribute to international community efforts, whether through the various existing formats or through our activities in NATO, the EU or other organisations."

He denied that sending troops to Ukraine was being considered, saying that it was not on the agenda of any international organisation.

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Thursday that the purpose of the ministry's new epidemiological rule was the abolishment of self-isolation for students so as to enable face-to-face classes as much as possible.

This means that children with symptoms of infection with COVID-19 and children who test positive after taking a rapid antigen test stay at home while all the others go to school, the minister told reporters ahead of a government session.

The ministry will send instructions to school principals regarding the testing, Fuchs said, adding that the latest rule would go into force "once we have a sufficient amount of tests to be distributed to schools" (around three million).

I believe in parents, face-to-face classes must be in everyone's interest

Schools will supply parents with tests, and they will test their children on Mondays, before they go to school, and when necessary, if an infection is reported in the classroom.

Asked how one could control if parents really test their children, the minister said there was no way to control it but that he believed in parents.

"This is in children's interest. Everyone should be interested in having children go to school," he said.

"I believe that most parents will act responsibly," he stressed.

According to the ministry's estimates, the implementation of the latest rule could cost around HRK 70 million, and the tests, to be procured through the Buffer Stock system, will cost up to HRK 20 million.

January 27, 2022 - Croatian photographer Miroslav Arbutina Arbe documented the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in a series of photographs currently displayed in Rijeka

It’s been a little over a year since one of the greatest tragedies Croatia has seen in recent times: the disastrous earthquake that hit Sisak-Moslavina County in December 2020.
Often referred to as the Petrinja earthquake after the town which suffered the worst blow, it ravaged other towns and villages in the area as well, affecting the lives of many.

Shortly after the earthquake, Croatian photographer Miroslav Arbutina Arbe was hired by the Ministry of Culture to document the damage inflicted on cultural heritage sites, specifically in the town of Sisak. The result is a series of 82 black and white photographs that have since been displayed in a moving exhibition commemorating the disastrous event.

While the primary purpose was damage assessment and the photos are thus documentary above all, as a skilled photographer Arbutina aptly captured moments that would have likely gone unnoticed by an average observer. A music school diploma on a wall ripped in half by tremor, handwritten notes tacked above the kitchen sink, a marital bed buried in rubble, and perhaps the most poignant, a calendar forever stuck on the fateful December 29th.

Devoid of colour, framed and displayed in a gallery setting, the photos are loaded with emotion and take on an artistic property. It’s an eerie sensation, recognising an aesthetic quality in images of devastation and loss, but this only seems to reinforce their emotional impact.

This is also reflected in the very title of the exhibition, ‘Between Two Periods of Waiting’, referring to the horrifying uncertainty that people affected by the earthquake have had to live with. As the author himself stated: ‘Those who haven’t experienced such a catastrophe probably believe that losing one’s home is the worst part of it, but it isn’t. To me, the worst was expecting the next earthquake to hit, that period of uncertainty between two quakes.’

The exhibition was conceived by the author and organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the City of Sisak and the Sisak City Museum.

The photographs were displayed in Zagreb and Sisak in late 2021, and are currently on display at the Rijeka City Museum (the 'Kockica' building). The exhibition is part of this year’s Museum Night programme in Rijeka, and will remain on display until January 29th. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge.