March 31, 2022 - Telegram revealed that the Ministry of Economy awarded a security company with a hydroelectric power plant in Croatia. Ćorić gave 30-year concession to the 007 Miletić company through a tender that was announced on the eve of last Christmas and was not published on the Ministry's website.

Some entrepreneurs claim that they were ready to give twice the amount, but they simply did not see the tender. Despite everything, Minister Ćorić signed the decision to award the hydroelectric power plant to the company 007 Miletić for 30 years, reports Telegram.hr.

The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Tomislav Ćorić, awarded a concession for the use of the hydroelectric power plant on the Jadro river in Solin to the local security company 007 Miletić, which was registered for the production and distribution of electricity three months ago.

This is the end of the tender for the award of a 30-year concession for this small hydropower plant, which has a capacity of up to 5 megawatts and which, according to Ćorić's decision, was awarded to a company that has not been involved in the energy business. The competition was out of the public spotlight because it was announced on Christmas Eve and only in one place, which is why there are now complaints about its regularity.

What has 007 Miletić been doing so far?

The company 007 Miletić, chosen by Ćorić, has been known in the security sector for years, and in 2014 it received a 30-year concession for filling water in Vrlika. The founder of the company is Nediljko Miletić, while his wife Zdravka, also appears as a procurator.

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has not wanted to answer Telegram for 11 days why Mr. Miletić and his company were chosen. While the tender was still in progress, they explained to Telegram that it was "based on the Law on Concessions and the Decree on the Conditions for Granting Concessions for the Economic Use of Water".

The competition was announced last year on Christmas Eve

It was also noticed the fact that the tender for this concession was published on December 24 last year, on Christmas Eve, and only on the pages of the Electronic Public Procurement Notice (EOJN). Numerous announcements about concessions can be seen on the official website of the Ministry, which is the grantor of the concession, but this tender, mysteriously, has not been published.

It was not in other media either, which is now being questioned by companies complaining about the tender. Quite precisely, the Law stipulates that such a tender is published in the EOJN, and it can also be published "on the website of the concession grantor as well as in other media." The Decree on the Conditions for Granting Concessions for the Economic Use of Water stipulates that “a public invitation shall be published in the Electronic Public Procurement Notice of the Republic of Croatia, and the day after on the website of the concession grantor”.

Appeals against the decision of Minister Ćorić

The Ministry of the Economy and Sustainable Development told Telegram that they respected the Law on Concessions when publishing, and the Decree on the Conditions for Granting Concessions for the Economic Use of Water when compiling tenders.

However, two complaints that have now reached the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures point to a number of omissions. Among them is the controversial announcement of the tender only in the EOJN. One should not lose sight of the fact that this is a concession for as long as 30 years.

By the way, as a one-time fee for the concession, the Ministry asked for HRK 228,608, and another percent per year of the realized average price of electricity produced in each year of use. The Ministry determined HRK 14,288 in the tender as the minimum amount. Complaints about the selection of 007 Miletić point out that these concession fees are too low given the price of electricity, and that some bidders were willing to pay twice the amount. But they just didn’t see the competition. Despite everything, Minister Ćorić is signing a decision on the selection of a security guard company from Solin which has only recently re-registered for the production and sale of electricity.

Miletic's wife also competed

Telegram found out that in addition to Miletić, the companies Primula company, owned by his wife Zdravka Miletić, and the company Starac doo from Kaštela also applied for the tender. Primula company also registered for energy production and trade only in January this year, while Starac doo is not even registered.

How seriously Ms. Miletić entered the fight for the concession on the river Jadro is evidenced by the fact that despite the estimated value of HRK 228,608, she was willing to pay only HRK 56,200. The company Starac offered 300 thousand kunas, and 007 Miletić 265,200 kunas. As the commission of the Ministry determined that the offer of the company Starac was not correct, since the documentation was not properly numbered or bound, Miletić remained the only one who met the conditions.

However, the company Starac states in the complaint that the Ministry did not ask them at all to supplement or clarify their bid, nor to clarify it within at least five days, as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act. They consider the Ministry's explanation that their offer was not properly bound to be insufficient.

For more, check out our politics section.

March the 31st, 2022 - A set of brand new public services for Zagreb County bus transport have been presented, with the actual needs of the wider county's inhabitants properly taken into account when it comes to public transport.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, along with the representatives of Zagreb County, the Municipality of Kravarsko and the Coordination of Internal Public Regular Road Passenger Transport at the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), some new public services for Zagreb County bus transport was presented.

It is a model that enables the introduction of new and the renewal of some old bus lines with the aim of providing better transport connections and ensuring more mobility of the local population. Despite the secured budget funds of the state, Zagreb County is the first county in Croatia to provide its resident population with a larger number of lines and departures and ensure the better connectivity of more rural areas. According to the representatives of the local community, as well as the bus carriers themselves, this model is crucial for the survival of smaller rural areas that are threatened by an ongoing demographic catastrophe. Kravarsko is, as they point out, an example of how public transport can offer momentum and provide a spring in the step for a population that faced a devastating earthquake two years ago.

The mayor of Kravarsko, Vlado Kolarec, stated that residents of the area over which he governs have been using the new services of the Zagreb County bus transport offer for three months now.

"The public bus transport service is necessary for the long-term perspective of our municipality. Our locals are better connected, they're mobile, they can stay in their homes where they grew up. I'm glad to see the positive changes that public transport has brought with it,'' said the Mayor, praising the cooperation with the county and local bus carriers who showed unwavering readiness to help during the height of the coronavirus crisis.

A new Zagreb County bus transport timetable which meets the real needs of the local population

In Kravarsko, the population uses Autoturist buses from Samobor, whose procurator is Franjo Grguric: "Locals rely heavily on our buses because there's been no alternative transport for them to use. Several times, after the announcement of the abolition of certain lines, we received desperate calls from people who quite simply could no longer go to work or provide education for their kids. We want to continue to unite Croatia, so thank you to Zagreb County for recognising this need. I hope that others will follow that example."

"Better and more accessible public transport services, especially in rural areas, is the reason why we were the first in Croatia to sign almost 90 million kuna worth of two-year contracts with our bus carriers," said Zagreb County Deputy Prefect Damir Tomljenovic, who added that their lines are constantly growing and that the Zagreb County bus transport system's timetable will continue to be adjusted to meet the real needs of the population.

All of the legal preconditions have been provided for the implementation of this public service model in Croatia, as have the necessary financial resources - 428 million kuna per year from the state budget. It is a model that operates very well across almost all EU countries and systematically solves the problem of both bus carriers and people.

Hrvoje Mestrovic, President of HUP-Coordination of Public Line Passenger Transport, pointed out that bus carriers continue to be in a crisis situation, and rising fuel prices, inflation and the pandemic are endangering the work of the transport sector as a whole. This public service model, Mestrovic explained, therefore helps the local population, but also the bus carriers themselves, to continue performing activities which are of wider social interest.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March the 31st, 2022 - The ongoing issues with continuing inflation across the country and indeed the rest of Europe is expected to drive up favourite Croatian meat prices.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Union (EU) is still currently unable to predict precisely how much pork prices will rise in the future due to the extremely uncertain situation on the global market, but it is quite certain that a price shock is definitely expected.

Prices are expected to rise soon in order for the sector to be able to continue to survive on the market. There are fears of further consequences and impact on the market due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which will have the greatest impact on the increased costs of animal feed, but also on the prices of energy, fuel and so on.

These are the conclusions from the meetings of the Group for Civil Dialogue for Products of Animal Origin - Working Group for Pork of the European Commission, which was attended by representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture.

"The price of pork across the EU began to recover only at the end of 2021, and stronger growth was expected at the end of the first and the beginning of the second quarter of 2022. The projected growth of prices in 2022 compared to 2021 is approximately 13 percent, but this can be considered a relatively conservative estimate given the Ukrainian crisis and volatility in the accompanying markets, so the growth of pork prices by the end of 2022 could actually be much stronger,'' it was announced after the meeting from the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture.

The meeting concluded that the future of the sector is extremely uncertain and this of course poses an enormous challenge for all producers, but it is considered an opportunity to develop better conditions for pork production in the future, as well as for the development of better conditions for livestock production.

Help for the sector

Next week, a meeting of the working group of the European Copa Cogeca Association will discuss measures to mitigate the situation in the sector.

Some of the proposed topics and measures to help the sector out are to initiate the development of measures to ensure strategic stocks of animal feed, to increase domestic feed production, to activate available support mechanisms for the sustainability of the three essential pillars - economic, social and environmental. There will also be measures to support farmers who want to leave pork production. It will also be necessary to work together on strengthening promotion programmes for the internal market and for third countries, the effective control of large traders and their attitude towards consumers, as well as concluding long-term production contracts, as well as initiating measures to motivate young farmers to work and invest in pork production. On top of that, we need to design new credit lines for this sector.

The pork sector here in Croatia represents an important segment in the total value of agricultural production of the country with a share of approximately 25 percent (recorded back in 2020). The consumption of pork per capita in Croatia stands at approximately 50 kg, which is far more than other types of meat. The fact that Croatian meat prices are likely to increase is naturally an additional burden for both producer and consumer.

Although pork production here in Croatia grew by 3.7 percent back in 2020 when compared to 2019, the number of sows decreased from 99,000 to 88,000, and the number of gilts decreased from 26,000 to 24,000. This is proof that a large part of pig production in Croatia depends on imports of live animals.

“The official data for 2021 hasn't yet been published, but the number of pigs is expected to fall by approximately 2 percent annually here in Croatia. Such an assessment can be considered somewhat conservative, given that the sector faced a number of problems during the last period, such as rising prices for basic inputs and record low prices for meat in the common market. In 2022, a further downward trend in the number of pigs in Croatia is expected for similar reasons, except that the estimated decline in the number of pigs of 3.25 percent could be higher than expected if the current volatility in energy and basic input markets fails to stabilise,'' they concluded from HPK.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March the 31st, 2022 - The Zagreb kids escape room is set to open in another location, this time away from the continental part of the country down to the Adriatic coast.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, the Zagreb kids escape room, a game which involves thinking, research and solving tasks, which was designed here in the Croatian capital and led by Kruna Josimovic at the Zagreb Fair, is set to open its doors down by the sea in Vodice.

This is the second location for this escape room in the Republic of Croatia, and the third in total (it also exists in Podgorica, Montenegro), and this unique concept in Europe will be available to tourists, too.

“We are opening it in cooperation with Matilda Beach Resort, and from June the 1st, just before the height of the summer tourist season, a themed room will be arranged on the promenade in Vodice. This is part of long-term cooperation with this resort, as well as a probe into the local terrain. Because the Zagreb kids escape room in Vodice will most likely remain open there throughout the year, we'll only change the topics from season to season,'' explained Josimovic.

Last year, this innovative Croat announced a breakthrough in the market ''across the pond'' in the United States of America. Preparations for placement in Chicago and Philadelphia are still ongoing, and it has taken quite a while, Josimovic can readily admit.

"Due to the rigorous regulations there, we've been finding it a little harder to find space, to be in one apartment block, but to be responsible for several of them, we're also busy trying to solve paperwork, which is more commonplace in the USA than even here in Croatia," said Kruna Josimovic of the trans-Atlantic move.

The opening of the American franchise of the Zagreb kids escape room, she says, will not be happening before the summer.

She is extremely satisfied with last year's business results, as the year 2021 was phenomenal, even better than the record pre-pandemic year of 2019, and the business continued on an upward trajectory, with both children and adults showing a lot of interest,'' concluded Kruna Josimovic.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

March the 31st, 2022 - The Global Finance magazine has declared Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ) as the best Croatian bank.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Global Finance magazine has declared Privredna banka Zagreb d.d. (PBZ) a member of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, the best Croatian bank for the second year running.

Global Finance has announced its annual award for the world's best banks for the 29th time in a row in its list entitled the World's Best Banks 2022. The full report on the awarded banks will be published in the May print and digital edition of the Global Finance magazine and online at GFMag.com, with winners selected in more than 150 countries and territories across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Central America, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and Western Europe.

The winners of this year's awards are those banks that have carefully monitored the needs of their clients in demanding markets and achieved strong results while laying the foundations for future success.

''During these challenging times, when we've been working in very difficult conditions for the past two pandemic-dominated years, and now in further increased global uncertainties and turmoil due to the war in Ukraine, this Global Finance award isn't only a confirmation of our business excellence, it also further encourages us to continue to be a better support to our clients because of which we constantly strive to be as good as possible. I would also like to thank all of the employees of the PBZ Group for their commitment and contribution to achieving these successful results,'' said Dinko Lucic, President of the Management Board, on the occasion of PBZ having been declared the best Croatian bank.

The selection decisions were made by the editors of the Global Finance magazine after consultation with corporate financial managers, bankers and banking consultants, and analysts around the world.

In selecting the best banks, Global Finance took into account a number of factors, from quantitative objective indicators to informative subjective ones. The objective criteria considered included: asset growth, profitability, geographical reach, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation. The subjective criteria included the opinions of capital market analysts, the credit rating analysts, banking consultants and others involved in the industry.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March 31, 2022 - The 2022 World Cup draw will be held on Friday, April 1, at 18:00 Croatia time. A look at who the Vatreni could face in the group stage. 

The last spots at the 2022 World Cup are slowly filling up. Earlier this week, we learned about seven new national teams that will compete in Qatar. Portugal and Poland have qualified from Europe, while Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, and Cameroon have passed through the African qualifiers.

The draw for the World Cup will be held on Friday, April 1, in Doha, and Croatia will be in the second strongest group (Pot 2), which means that Croatia will avoid some powerful national teams such as Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico, Uruguay and Denmark in Qatar.

The first strong group is the world's football superpowers - Brazil, France, Argentina, Spain, Belgium, England, and Portugal. The absolute best choice for Croatia would be to draw the host Qatar.

National teams such as the African champion Senegal, Serbia, and Poland threaten the third strong group. Finally, the last fourth strong group includes Canada, Cameroon, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, and three other national teams that have yet to qualify for the World Cup.

Teams from the same confederation cannot be in the same group except those from Europe because 13 European teams are at the World Cup.

The World Cup is played from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar.

"I have no big wishes. Our goal is to pass the group. I want to avoid France, and it would be better to draw Asian teams than European ones. But I am optimistic, and I believe in us no matter which team we draw," coach Zlatko Dalić said after Croatia played two friendly games in Doha against Slovenia and Bulgaria, drawing to Slovenia 1:1 and beating Bulgaria 2:1. 

"Congratulations to the boys on the victory that ended our successful seven-day stay in Doha, even though it was difficult to win, much harder than expected. It is good that we returned to the game after 0:1; all in all, we must be satisfied. The main goal was "team-building," but also the result. Everything turned out well; we kept our place in the second strong group. We will certainly make a more detailed analysis of these two games and prepare for June," Dalić said. 

The 2022 World Cup draw will be held on Friday at 18:00 Croatia time on HRT's Second Program.

Source: HRT

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

March 31, 2022 - The Luka Modrić Entrance at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium would be entrances #10 and #19, according to a fan poll by Spanish national daily sports newspaper Marca. 

Entrances 10 and 19 at the soon-to-be renovated Real Madrid stadium would be named 'Luka Modrić,' according to an online poll by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca published on Wednesday, reports Gol.hr.

In March, Marca offered readers between three and five names of former and current Real Madrid footballers for each entrance to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

The captain of the Croatia national team, Luka Modrić, competed with four other players who once wore the #10 on their jerseys.

Forty-six percent of readers voted for the current center midfielder of Real Madrid, Luka Modrić. Ferenc Puskas, who played for the Royal Club from 1958 to 1966, received 44 percent of the vote. Luis Figo received six percent, and Ricardo Gallego and Manuel Velázquez received two percent. 

The poll garnered close to 40,000 votes, Marca reported.

However, Luka Modrić could also get entrance #19 as he wore that number from his arrival at the club in 2012 to 2017. In the competition for that entrance, Luka received 55 percent of the vote, José Antonio Reyes 39 percent, and Esteban Cambiasso two percent.

Modrić is Real Madrid's oldest player at 36 and hopes to extend his contract, which expires in exactly three months, on June 30, 2022. 

At the same time, work is underway to rebuild the stadium in the north of the city. Real Madrid, the leading team in the Spanish championship, did not report whether they would actually name the entrances to the Santiago Bernabé after their players, but it isn't a bad idea. 

According to a poll conducted on the Marca website, the number one entrance would be called Iker Casillas, honoring the former goalkeeper and captain.

Other entries would be: Chendo (2), Roberto Carlos (3), Sergio Ramos (4), Zinedine Zidane (5), Vicente del Bosque (6), Cristiano Ronaldo (7), Michel (8), Alfredo di Stéfano 9), Paco Gento (11), Marcelo (12), Thibaut Courtois (13), Guti (14), Fernando Morientes (15), Gabriel Heinze (16), Van Nistelrooy (17), Aitor Karanka (18), Vinicius (20), Santiago Solari (21), Di María (22), David Beckham (23) and Claude Makelele (24).

In the competition for #16 was Croatia national team player Mate Kovačić, who wore the Real Marid jersey from 2015 to 2018 before moving to Chelsea. Kovačić garnered 18 percent of the vote, James Rodríguez 32 percent, and winner Gabriel Heinze 50 percent.

Former Croatia striker Davor Šuker, who played for Real Madrid from 1996 to 1999, was not offered among the best #9 players. Poll winner Di Stéfano, Karim Benzema, Ronaldo Nazario, Santillana and Hugo Sánchez competed for the famous number. 

Real Madrid, which has won the European title 13 times, marked its 120th anniversary this month.

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

March 31, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 20 more summer flights to Croatia kick off from April 4 to 10, 2022. 

In the second week of the summer flight schedule, from April 4 to 10, several old flights will resume, and new routes to Croatian airports are being introduced. More than 100 lines ran in the first week of the summer flight schedule, and Croatian Aviation is looking at those kicking off next week, from April 4 to 10. 

Pula Airport:

Munich, Lufthansa, from 9 April,

Rijeka Airport:

Frankfurt, Lufthansa, from 9 April,

Zadar Airport:

Hamburg, Ryanair, from 4 April,

Frankfurt, Lufthansa, from 9 April,

Munich, Lufthansa, from 9 April,

Oslo, Flyr, from 9 April,

Vienna, Austrian, 9 April.

Split Airport:

Paris Orly, Transavia, from 8 April,

Frankfurt, Condor, from 8 April,

Marseille, Volotea, from 10 April,

Nantes, Volotea, from 10 April.

Dubrovnik Airport:

London Gatwick, British Airways, from 4 April,

Helsinki, Finnair, from 6 April,

Osijek, Croatia Airlines, from 7 April,

Brussels, TUI, 9 April,

Marseille, Volotea, from 9 April,

Nantes, Volotea, from 9 April,

Rotterdam, Transavia, from April 9,

Stuttgart, Eurowings, from 9 April.

Osijek Airport:

Dubrovnik, Croatia Airlines, from 7 April.

Brač Airport has no announced new scheduled (or charter) routes in the mentioned period. However, the number of lines will increase significantly just before Easter.

The 2022 Zagreb Airport summer flight schedule also kicked off on Sunday, March 27, connecting the Croatian capital to 60 destinations - 22 airlines flying to six domestic destinations and 54 destinations in international traffic (30 countries) which can be viewed here: www.Zagreb-airport.hr.

Just yesterday, Croatian Aviation listed all the operations of Croatia Airlines and Ryanair for this year's summer flight schedule (from March 27 to October 29 this year). 

In the mentioned period, the Croatian national airline is planning 559 return flights with A320 aircraft, 1866 return flights with A319 aircraft, and 3139 return flights with DashQ400 aircraft. As a result, a total of 1,209,068 seats are currently available from or to Zagreb on all Croatia Airlines flights. 

Ryanair is announcing a slightly smaller number of flights. In the same period, 2219 return flights with A320 aircraft, 104 return flights with B737-800 aircraft, and 51 return flights with 737 MAX 200 aircraft are planned. A total of 858,552 seats are currently available from or to Zagreb on all flights Ryanair.

Croatia Airlines is currently the largest airline at Zagreb Airport in terms of seats, offering 350,516 more seats than the other Ryanair during the mentioned period. According to current announcements, these two airlines have a total of 2,067,620 seats from and to Zagreb Airport, respectively.

For more, check out our travel section.