April the 21st, 2022 - Ever wished that we lived a century or so ago when repairing things was the norm and we lived in a less ''throw away'' oriented type of society? The Rijeka repair cafe, Riperaj, is breathing some life back into those ideals.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Swedish city of Eskilstuna near the City of Stockholm knows how to turn waste back into profit and focus on sustainable consumption and the circular economy, where the second hand shopping centre ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, the world's first centre for recycled and recycled goods, opened back in 2015.

The wildly popular Swedish department store IKEA also opened its second-hand store in the same location two years ago. The centre is located next to the local recycling centre, and the whole concept works so that customers can donate items they no longer need and in return buy something else, either refurbished or repurposed, or from organic and sustainable lines of production. The collected items provided by customers are then sorted and taken to workshops where they are repaired, repurposed or restored.

Then, the sorting in the Returen centre starts selling those items: furniture, IT equipment, clothes, toys, bicycles, construction materials, bookstores, design… Those who are interested can book a guided tour to see how this innovative centre works behind the scenes.

ReTuna hosts various types of workshops, lectures and events dedicated to sustainability issues in the training centre, and in addition to all of this, the whole concept has provided a lot of new jobs, especially for migrants.

IKEA, which opened a similar store, said that back during 2020, more than 80 percent of the donated furniture was in excellent condition, which means that they could offer it again to customers after renovation and cleaning. Thus, in just one year, more than 30,000 IKEA products, which would otherwise end up being thrown away, have regained their purpose, all the more so as this department store has committed itself to achieving a climate-positive business transformation by the year 2030.

Back in 2019 alone, the ReTuna centre earned 14.7 million Swedish kronas (more than ten million kuna) for the sale of recycled products. Given that this business concept has yielded excellent results, ReTuna will continue to work throughout 2022 as an excellent example in practice that has attracted many big players.

Great interest has been shown by the people of Rijeka...

Here in Croatia, there is also a valuable project which is primarily focused on sustainability, and it is important to give a bit of context first. A recent survey by MEP Biljana Borzan showed that people often replace an old device with a new one instead of repairing it because they say that it isn't profitable or beneficial for them, and thus the pile of even more waste grows.

She stated that in case of something breaking, 8 percent of people would just go out and purchase a new device, with a massive 90 percent of people believing that spare parts are too expensive compared to the price of a new and as such often more reliable device.

However, in this regard, the Republic of Croatia does have a few positive examples that defy this problem and contribute to sustainability - this is Rijeka's Riperaj, which was opened back in 2019 in the city centre by the Municipal Society of Cleanliness of Rijeka.

They wanted, as they say, to prevent the generation of waste and to encourage a positive habit of repairing instead of discarding broken or damaged items, with the hope that with a little effort put into repairing and/or repurposing old things, there can be many positive effects.

“We live in a society that is increasingly encouraging excessive consumption, lightly discarding old items and just buying new ones. Consequently, it isn't surprising that minor home repairs and DIY are becoming an extinct skill. We're satisfied with people's reactions, interest and participation because Riperaj was recognised from the beginning and very well accepted as a place for everyone where you can repair damaged items and devices for everyday use for free, with the help of an expert or independently, in a well-equipped space, instead of discarding items and thus accumulating even more waste. The main purpose of Riperaj is to provide all interested people with the space, tools and advice they need to repair small household appliances, objects, clothes or, for example, toys,'' explained Mirta Stipec.

Across Europe, there have been special places called ''Repair cafes'' popping up for many years now, where, with a cup of coffee or tea, those interested can repair their broken or damaged items and things they use every day instead of throwing them away. Riperaj is hopefully going to be setting such an example here in Croatia.

The goal is for the owners to fix their items themselves, but when they get stuck, experts from various fields who share their knowledge and skills also help the users to solve these problems. The users themselves purchase those parts that need to be replaced on their appliances or items. However, unlike other services, users visiting Riperaj don't need to leave their items for repair, but most often walk back out with them fixed that same day.

Since its opening, more than 3,500 items have been repaired, meaning fewer things have been discarded, money has been saved and people have become more aware of their role in creating a sustainable community.

“There are really so many things that can be fixed at Riperaj - from small household appliances (mixers, irons, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners…), to pieces of furniture, clothes, toys, bicycles, umbrellas... to any other item that you just don't want to write off yet.

As such, the very concept of Riperaj implies that the owners of damaged items themselves participate in the repairs, clearly, in collaboration with Riperaj's various experts. Upon arrival, each user gets acquainted with the house rules of Riperaj, and participates in their repair within their own capabilities, using their own knowledge and skills.

In short, an important part of the Riperaj concept is mastering the skill of simple repairs on the example of minor malfunctions (for example, the replacement of hair dryer cables) which can later be applied independently in everyday life. While it may be easier to take a damaged item to a repair shop, you will certainly not be actively involved in establishing a sustainable circular economy, while at Riperaj, you have a unique opportunity to learn how to repair a damaged or broken item and keep it in use for as long as possible.

In Riperaj's own words, you can feel free to brag to your friends about using Riperaj because you're also mastering special knowledge that can be very useful to you at some point. Of course, it's worth pointing out that this saves money spent on repairs and, perhaps more importantly, directly affects the reduction of waste,'' said Stipec.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

April the 21st, 2022 - The post-coronavirus tourism optimists appear to have been correct in their predictions for this year, with Croatian Easter tourism having seen such good numbers that we can hopefully breathe a sigh of relief this summer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, those who predicted good forecasts for Croatian Easter tourism were right, despite the very uncertain geopolitical circumstances that continue to threaten tourism across Europe owing to the war in Ukraine.

According to eVisitor, from Friday, April the 15th, to Monday, there were about 135,000 arrivals and about 493,000 overnight stays realised, of which foreign tourists realised more than 412,000 overnight stays. Last year, a third of that traffic was generated for Easter, due to the difficult epidemiological situation with the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the pre-season was almost nothing to speak of last year, but it's also worth mentioning that Easter itself came two weeks earlier than it did this year.

In the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, Easter came a week later, closer to Labour Day, which always means better traffic. As such, in the same period back in 2019, on the eve of Easter, there were 5 percent more overnight stays realised in Croatia than this year with Easter traffic. Still, this is a result that heralds a good rest of the year, the sector believes. Equal optimism reigns in the rest of the Mediterranean and in neighbouring Slovenia.

"In addition the excellent results achieved during the extended Easter weekend, we're also pleased to note that about 145,000 tourists stayed in this country on Saturday. It's also the day with the largest number of tourists recorded on a daily basis this year, and we expect positive trends in the continuation of the pre-season, ie during May and June,'' said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic.

The Germans were the most numerous over the Croatian Easter tourism period

Traditionally, the best traffic realised during Easter was always up in Istria (about 188,000 overnight stays), Kvarner (more than 90,000 overnight stays), Split-Dalmatia (more than 55,000 overnight stays) and then Dubrovnik-Neretva County (more than 43,000 overnight stays). When looking solely at overnight stays, most were realised in Porec, Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Split, Umag and Zadar.

At the same time, the largest number of overnight stays realised over the Croatian Easter tourism period was realised by guests from Germany, followed by those from the Croatian market and guests from Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Slovakia. Also common for the pre-season, most overnight stays were realised in hotels (more than 210,000 overnight stays), followed by household/private/family facilities (more than 112,000 overnight stays) and campsites (more than 99,000 overnight stays).

"We've exceeded the number of 3.6 million overnight stays since the beginning of the year, which is 120 percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year, but also 95 percent of overnight stays in the same period back in 2019. These results confirm the strengthening of the recognisability of Croatia as a year-round destination of added value, which is our strategic commitment.

Tourists perceive Croatia as a destination in which to have a pleasant and quality holiday, so we focused our activities on maintaining that status, but also on developing Croatia as a sustainably responsible destination,'' said the Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Brnjac.

Veljko Ostojic, the director of the Croatian Tourism Association, says that comparisons of traffic with last year's Croatian Easter tourism numbers aren't so important now, as these results are an indicator of that good trend that we wished for, but with great caution.

''We entered this year with great caution due to the war in Ukraine, but these results show that Croatia is an attractive destination and that people really want to travel. Therefore, we have no reason to be dissatisfied, even though we're facing a challenging May, and we've been equipping tourist companies to open the season at the end of May,'' said Veljko Ostojic.

For more, make sure to check out our travel section.

April the 21st, 2022 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has drastically slashed Croatian GDP growth expectations, with the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russian invasion cited as a significant issue.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has more than halved its growth forecast for the domestic economy to 2.7 percent this year due to the situation with the war in Ukraine. In its regular autumn forecasts for October, the IMF expected Croatian GDP growth of 5.8 percent. In 2023, growth should accelerate strongly to 4 percent.

While Croatian GDP growth will slow down, inflation should almost triple, from 2 to 5.9 percent. Next year, however, the International Monetary Fund estimates that price growth should slow down to 2.7 percent, which would almost return to the levels we experienced back in 2021.

In its latest forecast, the unemployment rate has been slightly adjusted to be lower, so the IMF now expects 7.7 percent, down a little from the previous 8 percent. In 2023, unemployment should still fall, down to 7.4 percent. Last year, that rate reached 8.2 percent, 0.2 percentage points lower than autumn's estimates.

The IMF has positive expectations about the current account deficit, which it estimates will halve to 0.4 percent of GDP. Next year, the current account should be in the plus with a 0.3 per cent GDP surplus.

The Republic of Croatia is in the group of emerging European economies, which is forecast to fall by 2.9 percent, after last year's growth forecast of 3.6 percent. In 2023, the IMF forecasts a recovery of 1.3 percent for emerging European economies.

The Fund also predicts a decline in economic activity for the entire Eurozone, which could rise by 2.8 percent this year (instead of 3.9 percent as was expected in January), and in 2023, it will likely slow down to further to 2.3 percent.

The biggest blow will more than likely be experienced by Germany, which will see its GDP grow by only 2.1 percent this year, 1.7 points less than previously expected. Due to the war in Ukraine, inflation across the Eurozone is expected to reach 5.3 percent and then weaken to 2.3 percent in 2023.

For more on Croatian GDP growth, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

April 21, 2022 - Đakovo is one of the hosting cities of the Ghetto Games Euroleague, a unique street football tournament. It was established as part of the "Medicines for Europe's Ghettos" initiative, with the main idea being the use of street sports as "medicine" for underdeveloped areas in Eruope.

It is supported by the European Union's Erasmus+ program in cooperation with some of the largest street sports organisations in Eruope, including Ghetto Games from Latvia, DGI  from Denmark, Fryshusetfrom Sweden, Malta BMX  from Malta and the Estonian Street Sports Federation. 

As Glas Slavonije writes, the Croatian portion of the tournament will take place at Strossmayer Square in Đakovo, starting on Friday, 22 April at 5 pm. The competition itself takes place in a cage (which is approximately 18 meters long and 10 meters wide), and three such cages will be ready for the competition. Two age groups are participating in the competition, one including ages 16+ and the other focusing on those younger than 16. There will also be a special category for girls/women. As for the entertainment aspect, a competition with the best eight freestylers from this part of Europe is planned. Online qualifications have taken place for this part of the tournament. Additionally, there will be a "1 v 1" competition in a specialized cage, smaller than the others.

The tournament is held in nine other EU cities (Amsterdam, Budapest, Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin, Warsaw, Rome…), which means that Đakovo has now taken a spot on this prestige list as one of the great ones. The arrival of numerous sports participants, clubs, players and influencers from Slavonia is expected. The competition will be live streamed worldwide, and the event will be broadcast on many channels on social networks.

The partners include the EU, Ghetto Games, the City of Đakovo, the Tourist Board of the City of Đakovo, as well as Rafael Spajić, the man who brought Ghetto Games to Đakovo in the first place, after having played street football for over 17 years.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

April 21, 2022 - Osijek is fast developing and is on the road to restoring its glory as the regional centre of eastern Croatia. The city's administration takes pride in the various EU projects which they have been implementing, whether it's infrastructure and development, or education and employment. The latest - free communication skills training in Osijek!

SiB.hr writes about one of the more recent programs of the Osijek City Administration in collaboration with the Algebra University College and the EU Centar Association, which is the continuation of the EU project "Green Jobs and Communication for Work - a Guarantee of a Better Future in Slavonia". Deputy Mayor Dragan Vulin, the Head of the Administrative Department for Social Welfare, Pensioners and Health Romano Kristić, and President of the EU Centar Association Domagoj Vidaković spoke about the next activity of this project.

"I would like to thank the EU Centar Association and the Algebra University College, which are implementing a project worth more than 1.1 million kuna together with the City of Osijek. It has been running from July 16, 2020, and will continue until July 15 this year. It is important to note that the entire project was funded from the European Social Fund. These are wide-reaching funds that remain in our area and are spent for good purposes. Software development training is currently in progress, for a total of 250 hours during four months. We have 28 participants, who should finish the course by the beginning of June this year. Today, we are starting a Facebook campaign or a public call for all those interested in another activity, which is communication skills training. It will last 22 days, starting after May 1. The main goal is to ensure that our participants are more competitive when entering the labour market," said Vulin, adding that these activities will also help provide the economy with staff in the field of development technologies.

According to the head of the Administrative Department Roman Kristić, the contract for this project was signed in 2021 and will be successfully implemented. The City of Osijek helped select the target group of unemployed people who will undergo training in the Python program and education in communication skills, and provided them with top experts and mentors.

Domagoj Vidaković from the EU Centar announced that the communication skills training will be intended for marginalised groups and the long-term unemployed, from 18 to 29 years of age if they have been unemployed for at least 6 months, and those above 29 who have been unemployed for 12 months or longer.

"We invite them to get information about these activities and apply through the project website Zelena zanimanja”, said Vidaković.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

April 21, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as more Ryanair Zagreb summer flights have been canceled, this time in June, after the airline already reduced and canceled many flights in May.

Just a few days after several Ryanair flights from Zagreb were canceled in May this year, this airline has made additional changes in its flight schedule for this summer season and canceled a number of flights on international routes to and from Zagreb in June, too, reports Croatian Aviation.

The Irish low-cost airline has reduced the number of operations for June this year on the following routes:

Brussels Charleroi - two flights a week instead of five, 

Paphos - one flight a week instead of three,

Dusseldorf Weeze - two flights a week instead of three, 

Frankfurt Hahn - two flights a week instead of three, 

Karlsruhe - two flights a week instead of three, 

Memmingen - two flights a week instead of three, 

Corfu - all flights canceled,

Brindisi - all flights canceled,

Milan Bergamo - four flights a week instead of five, 

Malta - two flights a week instead of three, 

Oslo Torp - one flight a week instead of two, 

Malaga - one flight a week instead of two, 

Gothenburg - two flights a week instead of three, 

Malmo - two flights a week instead of three, 

Basel - all flights canceled.

In June alone, more than 190 flights were canceled on 15 of these routes, which is 35,000 fewer seats to and from Zagreb compared to the airline's original plan.

See Ryanair canceled/reduced flights canceled in May below:

From Zagreb to:

Brussels Charleroi - two flights a week instead of five in May,

Sofia - all flights canceled in June,

Paphos - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Dusseldorf Weeze - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Frankfurt Hahn - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Karlsruhe - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Memmingen - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Corfu - all flights canceled in May and June,

Dublin - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Brindisi - all flights canceled in May and June,

Milan Bergamo - canceled flights on Sundays in May,

Rome - two flights a week instead of four in May,

Malta - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Gothenburg - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Malmö - two flights a week instead of three in May,

Basel - all flights canceled in May and June,

London - four flights a week instead of seven in May.

The airline offers passengers the possibility to refund the ticket and change the date of travel according to availability on other flights. 

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

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices rose considerably on Wednesday following positive trends on European stock markets.

The Crobex rose by 0.79% to 2,133 points and the Crobex10 by 1.23% to 1,287 points.

Turnover at the close of the trading session reached HRK 11.9 million, about 6 million more than on Wednesday.

The most traded stock was that of the Valamar Riviera hotel company, turning over HRK 4.8 million. Its price jumped by 6.3% to HRK 35.5 per share, its highest level since February 2020.

The only other stock to pass the turnover mark of one million kuna was the HT telecommunications company, which turned over HRK 2.56 million. Its price went up by 1.31% to HRK 193.5, its highest level since July 2021.

The Varteks clothing manufacturing company recorded the highest increase in the price of its shares, of as much as 27.45% to HRK 6.5 per share, while the Viro sugar factory saw the sharpest drop, of HRK 10.12% to HRK 30.2 per share.

A total of 48 stocks traded today, with 18 increasing, 17 decreasing and 13 stagnating in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.544480)

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - It is difficult to change the position of the international community on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was tailored by the "Sarajevo narrative", especially since the previous (Croatian) governments did not work on that, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in parliament.

Presenting a report on the meetings of the European Council to the members of the parliament, Plenković in particular referred to the discussions on Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressing it was a success that a reference on BiH's constituent peoples was included in the Strategic Compass, at Croatia's insistence.

"Those in charge of the foreign policy before us could also have discussed this topic, but they never did in this way," said Plenković.

MPs of the Bridge party criticised Plenković for not having done enough to change the existing BiH election law, which allows for Croats there to be outvoted due to their small number.

MP Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge) pointed out that a reference to constituent peoples in the Strategic Compass was not a success as that was a fact which was part of the BiH Constitution.

"Equality of constituent peoples did not exist as a reference. That may seem obvious, simple to you, like copying the Constitution, but it is not," said Plenković, underscoring that Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic explicitly opposed it.

According to Plenković, this "speaks of the rooted attitudes in the international community, which was primarily generated by the political narrative of Sarajevo".

"In Sarajevo, there have been no Croats in the political sense for nearly two decades, and this fact is partly the reason why all international representatives who spend some time there ultimately adopt that narrative," said Plenković.

According to him, for years there has been a lack of understanding of the way BiH is organised.

"Changing that after so many years is extremely difficult," said Plenković, adding that his cabinet has done more over the past two years than all the previous governments combined.

PM: I don't think drone crashed in Zagreb by accident

Plenković also commented on the crash of a Soviet-era unmanned aerial vehicle in Zagreb on 10 March, saying that it was indicative that it had exploded during an informal meeting in Versailles, when a statement on Russia's aggression against Ukraine was discussed.

"It is not highly probable that of all the places within the radius of its range, it crashed in the capital of Croatia. I'm not so inclined to believe in the strange aleatory path of that unmanned aerial vehicle considering how likely it was for it to crash in Zagreb," said Plenković.

Davorko Vidović of the SDP said that Croatia, despite all claims of the government's foreign policy successes, "is the only member of the European Union that has been attacked, and we as citizens do not know who attacked us and why".

At the moment, we cannot categorically state whether that was an attack, a mistake or sabotage, said Plenković.

Friendly relations with Ukraine

The Croatian premier also spoke about the EU's response to Russia's aggression and pointed out that the European Union and Croatia "show solidarity, unity and determination" by providing humanitarian, political, military, technical and other aid to Ukraine and with readiness to find alternative energy sources.

"Croatia has sincere and friendly relations with Ukraine. Ukraine was the first to recognise us. We support its sovereignty and integrity," Plenković said.

He noted that Croatia had received 15,000 refugees from Ukraine, that it had supported the opening of an investigation of the International Criminal Court into war crimes in Ukraine, and that it supported Ukraine's European perspective.

"Croatia will help Ukraine, we want it to get a special institutional status with regard to the EU in these circumstances," said Plenković.

For more, check out our politics section.