February 25, 2022 - As the remote work revolution continues, meet the Zagreb hotel co-working space which is proving to be a huge hit with digital nomads - Canopy by Hilton. 

Have you ever been to a hotel that feels like it is a living part of the community?

A place where you pop in for a meeting and find a hive of activity from a wide cross-section of society?

A hotel which has the look and feel of a living room, rather than a 4-star hotel chain?

It is less than a year since I first visited Canopy by Hilton Zagreb in the Branimir Centre. We were on the hunt for some cool locations in the city to host Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2021 - 7 themes, 7 locations, 7 days. A few people had told me that the vibe at Canopy was different, and that it might be a great choice for the opening day. 

And so it proved. 

June 21, 2021 was an historic day in the Zagreb digital nomad story, with the opening of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, an opening attended by Zagreb Tourist Board CEO Martina Bienenfeld and State Secretary for Tourism and Sports, Sandra Herman, among others. Less than 4 months later, the Croatian capital had been named in the top 5 most-liked cities in the world for nomads in the influential 2021 Nomad List survey.

And so the digital nomad love affair with Canopy by Hilton began.

There was that very scary presentation on cybersecurity by Marko Rakar, which will not be quickly forgotten by anyone who attended. This took place in one of the several themed conference rooms in the hotel. A hotel which really does feel like home. 

And so when September's Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador, Dean Kuchel, wanted to host a community-building event, Canopy was his number one choice of venue. Over 50 nomads, locals, expats and wannabe nomads came to enjoy the Canopy hospitality and a great evening of fun. 

An enjoyable evening with friends in a large living room.  

But the thing that has really struck me was how many remote workers are drawn to Canopy as a great place to remote work. Four-star hotels are perhaps not the most obvious co-working spaces, but Canopy has managed to attract a growing chunk of the market. All six of our Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassadors tried co-working at Canopy, and they all loved it, so much so that one of them, Anna Maria Kochanska, even organised a co-working day there. 

In addition to the facilities on offer within the hotel, the gym and restaurants at Branimir Centre were additional reasons to co-work there. 

But perhaps the biggest endorsement of Canopy by Hilton as a co-working space came yesterday, as I was working there with colleagues, and this young man came to say hi. 

Hermes Arriaga is a titan in the Croatian remote work scene. Originally from Mexico, Hermes co-founded the very first co-working space in Croatia, back in 2013. And Impact Hub has been a major player on the scene ever since. The pandemic has necessitated a change in business strategy, and Hermes is not on the lookout for a new space for Impact Hub. And as he searches, he has found a fantastic option for co-working.

"I love Canopy," he told me, and I have been coming since September and spend 2-7 hours a day working here, maybe 3 times a week. 

"It is different from any other co-working space in Zagreb in that it is public - or at least semi-public - and I find the ambiance really cool. And there are lots of interesting characters. It has a very international feel, with lots of foreigners, but also local students preparing for their tests. It has a really great atmosphere, and there is definitely a sense of community.

"Last week, there was an international start-up company here for a week, 7-8 of them with two local staff. The service is really good, and an espresso is not that much more than elsewhere. I really recommend it."

And I do too. A wonderful institution, and a great place to get a sense of the local community against the backdrop of a hotel stay. 

For more information about Canopy by Hilton Zagreb, visit the official website. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, visit the dedicated TCN section.  

February 25, 2022 - After being eliminated to Sevilla in the playoffs, the Dinamo Europa League earnings have been revealed. 

Dinamo was knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night. Although they beat Sevilla 1-0 at Maksimir, they failed to make up for the two-goal deficit from the first Europa League play-off match. Recall, Sevilla won 3-1 in the first leg last week and went on to the next round with a 3-2 aggregate. 

Despite the relegation, Dinamo has reason to be pleased, which is the state of the club's coffers. Thanks to good performances in the Europa League, the Zagreb team earned a hefty amount that will give them a significant boost in the fight for the First HNL and Europe next season, reports Gol.hr.

By losing to the Sheriff in the Champions League play-offs, Dinamo earned 5 million euros. In comparison, they made a slightly smaller amount for placing in the Europa League group stage - around 3.6 million euros.

For every point won in the Europa League group stage, Dinamo earned several hundred thousand euros. Specifically, the Croatian champion won ten points as the second-placed team in the group and thus earned 2.1 million euros. That is 210,000 euros per point.

By securing a place in the second round of the Europa League, UEFA rewarded Dinamo with another million euros.

But that's not the end.

Thanks to the excellent coefficient in European competitions, Dinamo earned an additional 3.7 million euros.

When everything is added up, Dinamo has earned close to 15 million euros, or 14.6 million euros this season in Europe. This considerable amount will surely grow even more when the money from television rights enters Dinamo's account.

Dinamo will now fully dedicate themselves to the fight for the First HNL title. The first exam awaits them this weekend in the 25th round of the First HNL against Osijek at City Garden Stadium. 

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

February 25, 2022 - RTL Danas spoke to former Croatia national team captain and current Shakhtar Donetsk sports director Darijo Srna in Ukraine. 

RTL reporter Leona Šiljeg appeared live on RTL Danas with Darijo Srna on Thursday, the former Croatia national team captain and current Shakhtar Donetsk sports director, where he also wore the captain's armband as a player for years. 

Shakhtar has not played in Donetsk after the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, and since 2020 they have been in Kyiv. 

"It was certainly not pleasant; I was awakened by the sound of a siren around 4:30 in the morning. The situation is not very good, but we gathered with many Croats, we stick together, we are in touch with the embassy, and we are waiting for further instructions," Srna said for RTL Danas.

"We are currently in a hotel, the entire professional staff. Knowing myself, I have always been first in line. There is no chance of me leaving this ship first. This is our second country; we will do our best to be peaceful and not spread panic. I want to thank all the people who send messages and call."

Srna has always emphasized that Ukraine is his second home and says that it is difficult for him to see the current situation in Ukraine, which has been unthinkable for him until today.

"I couldn't imagine that we would find ourselves in this situation. This is the third war in my life. We have to be strong; we have no other choice. Now it's all about Ukraine; the situation is not good," said Srna, commenting on experiencing the Homeland War and the Crimean War, which moved Shakhtar from Donetsk. 

The former national team defender revealed that he is in constant contact with another former Vatreni member, Ognjen Vukojević, the assistant coach of Dinamo Kyiv.

"We hear from each other every 20 minutes, and today we were even thinking of going on our own, but that is a big risk. I repeat, we have no choice but to be calm and not spread panic. We were supposed to start the championship on Saturday; everything was disrupted by what happened last night," the former Croatia captain concluded.

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

February 25, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Flyr Oslo-Dubrovnik flights will run this summer, and Condor increases capacity on its Dusseldorf-Rijeka line.

Flyr, a new Norwegian airline based in Oslo, has announced a new line between Oslo and Dubrovnik this summer, reports Croatian Aviation.

Namely, Flyr will introduce its third flight to Croatia and the first to Dubrovnik Airport this summer. The new Oslo-Dubrovnik line will start operating on June 13 and end on August 12 this year. Two flights a week have been announced, every Monday and Wednesday, while the number of weekly rotations will increase to three from July 1, with the introduction of regular flights every Friday.

On 25 return flights in the mentioned period, Flyr offers a total of 9,450 seats between Oslo and Dubrovnik. The new route will be operated by B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of up to 189 seats in the cabin. 

Recall, this airline has already announced two lines to Zadar Airport.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Condor Airlines is introducing two routes to Rijeka this summer, from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. In the meantime, there has been a change of aircraft to offer a significantly larger number of seats from Dusseldorf! 

Instead of the previously planned A320 aircraft, which has a capacity of 180 seats, B757-300 aircraft with a capacity of 275 seats will fly to Rijeka every Wednesday, from the end of May to the end of September. This is a significant increase on the line that will soon start operating. On the second weekly flight between the two cities (every Saturday), A321 aircraft with a capacity of 220 seats will operate.

From May 21 to September 28, Condor Airlines offers 21,560 seats on the line between Dusseldorf and Rijeka.

In addition to the Condor, German Eurowings will also operate on this line from May to October. In the peak summer season, three weekly flights are expected on which A319 and A320 aircraft will operate. In addition, Eurowings offers 16,500 seats between Dusseldorf and Rijeka in the upcoming summer flight schedule.

In total, these two carriers will offer 38,060 seats between Dusseldorf and Rijeka, and direct flights are available from May to October.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

February the 25th, 2022 - Croatian ecological agriculture has taken a rather unimpressive 8th place in the European Union (EU), leaving a lot of room for improvement in a sector that many now have their eyes on.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, areas under organic agricultural production across the European Union (EU) are increasing from year to year, and although this trend is also being recorded here in this country, with a share of these areas in total utilised agricultural area account for (currently) ​​7.3 percent, Croatian ecological agriculture ranks at a mere 18 on the EU27 scale.

According to Eurostat, at the European Union level under organic production back in 2020, there were 14.7 million hectares or 9.1 percent of the total utilised agricultural area of the bloc.

For example, back in 2012 there were 9.5 million hectares in the function of organic production, which means that there has been a marked increase of 56 percent in just eight years, and the only EU member state in which this share has not increased at all is Poland.

By far the largest share of areas under organic production, of as much as a quarter of total agricultural in the EU has Austria, followed by Estonia (22 percent), Sweden (20 percent), Italy (16 percent) and the Czech Republic/Czechia (15 percent).

In contrast, the share is less than five percent in eight EU member states, including Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, but also Ireland and the Netherlands.

Here in Croatia, for example, back in 2013, the year in which the country joined the EU, there were 40.6 thousand hectares or 2.6 percent of the total utilised agricultural area under organic production, and back in 2020 more than 110,000 hectares compared to more than 1.5 million hectares of UKPP.

In the register of entities engaged in organic production back in 2013, there were less than 1800, and today that same register boasts 5565 such producers.

For more on Croatian ecological agriculture, check out our lifestyle section.

February the 25th, 2022 - The well known Croatian shipyard Brodosplit is busy with the construction of an innovative, modern electric passenger sailing ship.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, this week at the Brodosplit shipyard, the consolidation and joining of the sheets and the construction of sections for a passenger sailboat with zero exhaust emissions, for which electric motors will be the main drive, began.

This zero-emissions passenger vessel will be 63.5 metres long, 10 metres wide, 5.35 metres high to the main deck, and will be able to accommodate up to 24 passengers. The hull and superstructure will be made of steel, and the masts will be made of aluminum alloy.

When not using the sails, the ship will be powered by two 150 kW electric motors each powered by a system of batteries that are continuously charged from different sources, and when it reaches a speed of six knots, it will only need 60 kilowatts of power, which is quite an inconspicuous amount of power for a 500 GT boat.

The ship will be equipped with 30 tonnes of batteries with a capacity of max 2300 kWh, but due to regulatory requirements it will also have two diesel units that will be turned on only in case of need or in an emergency. According to DIV, which owns the famous Brodosplit shipyard, the very idea of ​​a zero-emission sailing ship came several years ago and with the growth and advancement of the DIV group in the field of new technologies has matured to today's realisation.

They stated from Brodosplit that work on the project began back in early 2020, and is being co-financed by European Union (EU) funds.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

February the 25th, 2022 - The Croatian Fortenova Group has successfully sold of Zagreb's famous Cibona tower. The tower was synonymous with the former Agrokor, and the move has shaken off even more chains of the past for this large company.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Fortenova Group and the Agram concern have signed an agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate previously owned by the Croatian Fortenova Group within the Cibona business tower in the heart of the City of Zagreb. This regards office spaces spanning the sixteen floors of this well known tower and a garage space, which makes a total of about 6700 square metres. According to the contract, the purchase price will remain a trade secret.

According to the press release, the Cibona Business Tower is one of the most representative business buildings in all of Zagreb. It is located in the centre of the city, in a prestigious and easily accessible location, and from the moment it was built for the Universiada back in 1987 as part of the sports hall complex, it has become one of the city's most recognisable symbols.

"After mostly concluding the sales processes of companies that are not part of our parent business, we focused on the sale of real estate that isn't part of the core business. We are pleased to have found a partner in a very short time who, I'm sure, will provide the necessary investment for this very well-known building,'' said James Pearson, the CEO of Fortenova's Finance Group.

"The Cibona tower is an iconic building of the City of Zagreb and fits perfectly into the real estate portfolio of the Agram concern. Recognising this investment opportunity, we're going to continue to invest in the domestic economy, and this acquisition also goes hand in hand with the 30th anniversary of the successful operation of the Agram concern,'' said M.Sc. sc. Ivana Bratanic, Vice President of the Agram concern.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

February the 25th, 2022 - The Croatian computer game Drawize, a drawing-based game created by the Zagreb company Lomboos, is now available on Steam.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Drawize word-drawing game, designed and developed by Zagreb-based Lomboos, is now available on Steam, the leading PC game distribution platform with 28 million users worldwide.

The Croatian computer game Drawize has otherwise been on the market for five years now, but so far it has only been made available on the Internet as a mobile iOS and Android application (app). Now that it has been made available on the wildly popular Steam platform, the price of this game is a mere 5.99 euros.

“Being put on the Steam platform as the leading platform for computer games is a big step forward for Lomboos, and it offers players the pleasure of playing completely without any ads interrupting them. On top of that, additional Steam-specific features are integrated into the game, such as collecting achievements and the ability to easily invite contacts to play together,'' they said from Lomboos in Zagreb.

The Croatian computer game Drawize can be played in "public rooms" of seven players who alternate in drawing and guessing, or a private room can be created for up to 100 participants, and it is possible to compete in a daily challenge on the game.

According to the owner of the company and the main developer of the game, Tomislav Lombarovic, so far, Drawize has been played by more than four million people who have drawn 50 million drawings in total. In addition to Croatian, the game is available in seven other languages ​​- English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian and Russian.

In addition to fun and creativity, the Croatian company Drawize is also commonly used as a teaching aid, as it is educational as well as fun. Companies are using it for virtual team building, and Lomboos says the practice has further increased as more and more people have started working and studying from home since pandemic-dominated 2020.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.