March the 12th, 2022 - Croatian food companies are hoping to come out on top and rely on their high quality products as they attempt to break into the extremely demanding Emirates market.

As Novac/Jutarnji/Vladimir Zrinjski writes, more than half a million people walked through the huge Expo complex in Dubai last Sunday. The endless queues in front of the national pavilions were becoming more and more frequent a sight as it all drew to a close, and as tourists were busy studing the various technological advances from around the world, Croatian companies were networking and making new deals.

On the top floor of the building overlooking the bulky Al Wasl dome, a Croatia-Dubai business forum was held, organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), with about a hundred representatives of Croatian companies from across various sectors. Earlier contacts and commitments were deepened and the ground was being prepared for new collaborations, and the Gulf perspective for Croatian companies is particularly bright in the food industry.

For obvious climatological reasons, the United Arab Emirates is highly dependent on food imports, and it is estimated that up to 50 percent of imports of these products are destined for re-export to the Middle East, Asian and African countries. At the same time, large retail chains tend to bypass local importers and distributors and facilitate administration and logistics for exporters (for example, sharing space in containers), which reduces overall costs.

Apple exports, in which Middle Eastern countries currently account for about 14 percent, could prove to be a particularly fruitful niche. The prices of apples in Croatian export terms to that part of the world are more than three times higher than the prices towards the European Union and surrounding non-EU European countries.

The delegation also included Tihomir Peraic, the director of Fragaria, which has been present on the market of the Emirates and neighbouring countries, such as Oman and Saudi Arabia, for years through the export of apples.

''With the arrival of the global coronavirus pandemic and the difficulties with transport it created, which coincided with severe frost damage, everything stopped. This was an opportunity to renew contacts with existing customers and try to find some new ones,'' he explained.

Fragaria already has a contract with the LuLu Group, which has hypermarkets in all of the countries which make up the Arabian Peninsula, as well as with some smaller retailers from the Emirates and Oman, but says there is no relaxation to be enjoyed there because the competition is "terrible" to contend with.

''Nobody can really compete with the Poles in terms of prices, and the French have traditionally dominated this field through Carrefour and other chains, as have the Italians. There is potential, but we need to fight and look for an opportunity to position ourselves with quality,'' added Peraic when discussing Croatian food companies and their chances.

Martina Pernar Skunca, the marketing manager of Paska Sirana on the island of Pag, a company that has also probed the market in Dubai, pointed out the two main advantages of the "business to business" conversation at the forum:

''Apart from being able to open ourselves up to a new market, these types of talks are also an opportunity to connect among the businessmen themselves. We had a few meetings in Dubai, some of them were very specific, so we hope to do business here as well,'' she said.

For more on Croatian food companies and other enterprises, check out our business section.

March 11th, 2022 - At present, 17 Croatian cities have women mayors, and the number of women in local government bodies has also significantly increased since 2021

Two years ago, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions conducted a study analysing the representation of women in 41 European countries and all levels of government, from local councils all the way up to the European Parliament, which showed that women only make up a third of political decision-makers.

Moreover, a measly 15 percent of major European cities have women mayors. Out of 41 European capitals, women only run eight. The Croatian average is slightly lower; out of 128 cities, women run 17 of them: Čakovec, Delnice, Ilok, Komiža, Korčula, Mali Lošinj, Ozalj, Pakrac, Pazin, Petrinja, Pleternica, Samobor, Sisak, Slunj, Supetar, Varaždinske Toplice and Zlatar.

However, in terms of women’s representation in local governments, we seem to be doing better than the EU average. This is reflected in the results of this year’s study on the representation of women in Croatian city administrations, conducted annually by gradonacelnik.hr.

This year’s results are especially interesting in the light of last year's local elections, which led to changes in the leadership and composition of administrative bodies in the vast majority of cities.

Instead of 13 women mayors, as there were in the last term of local government, women are in charge of 17 cities in Croatia this year, and the number of women in leading positions in city administrations and councils has also significantly increased.

The study looked at about 60 Croatian cities, and the results show that women make up at least half of administrative employees in 58 cities, in 23 of which women exceed 70 percent, and in three cities (Popovača, Ludbreg and Sveta Nedelja), women make up over 80 percent of employees in the city administration.

In the top 10 cities in this category are Trogir and Novska with 79 percent, Pag and Lepoglava with 78, Labin with 76 percent, Delnice with 75 percent, and Pazin, Duga Resa and Otok with 74 percent.

Perhaps a more relevant piece of data than the share of women in the overall number of employees is their representation in the leading positions in local government. Since last year, major progress has been made in Croatia in this regard.

Compared to 2021 when we had 16 cities in which all the administrative departments were run by women, this year we have twice as many: there are now 32 cities in Croatia where all administrative departments have women at the helm.

Last year, we had 47 cities where women run more than half of the administrative departments, this year there are 84. In 2021, there were 24 cities where women hold more than 75 percent of leading positions in city administrative departments, this year there are 46, and there are now 37 cities where women hold over 80 percent of leading positions in administrative departments compared to last year’s 19.

There’s less difference compared to last year when it comes to city companies and institutions. Last year, there were 42 Croatian cities in which women held at least 50 percent of leading positions in city institutions and companies, and this year there were 48. The number of cities in which all city institutions and companies are run by women remains the same - six.

Women are least represented in city councils, but this is exactly where greatest progress has been made since the last term. The survey conducted by gradonacelnik.hr in 2021 showed that only one city in Croatia had more than 50 percent of women on the city council (Ludbreg), and that in most cities women made up only a third or had an even lower share in the city council.

In 2022, after last year's local elections, there are 17 cities where women make up more than half of the members of city councils, and four cities where women have a share of over 60% of the city councils.

Finally, an aggregate index was calculated on the basis of all analysed indicators to figure out which cities in Croatia have the highest share of women in leading roles. These are: Sveti Ivan Zelina, Buzet, Popovača, Duga Resa, Labin, Belišće, Crikvenica, Buje, Varaždinske Toplice and Slavonski Brod.

March 11th, 2022 - Did you know that Rijeka once used to host an all-female car rally?

Rijeka and Opatija have a long tradition of motorsport racing, going back to the early 1930s when a race course named Opatija Circuit first started hosting auto races.

Also known as the Kvarner Circuit (Circuito del Carnaro), the race course was 6 kilometres long and had a starting point in Preluk bay between Rijeka and Opatija. The circuit used the streets of Opatija and its environs, offering splendid views of the Adriatic Sea.

The circuit’s claim to fame was the 1939 Adriatic Grand Prix, when the Italian team decided to compete in Opatija instead of the French Grand Prix in Rheims. Luigi Villoresi won the race driving a Maserati 4CL, essentially turning Opatija into a prestigious racing venue overnight.

It soon became apparent that the narrow roads along the coastline, complete with plenty of roadside obstacles, didn’t exactly make for safe driving conditions. On more than one occasion, races on the Opatija Circuit ended in tragic deaths of drivers; although the track remained popular for decades in spite of all issues, auto races were discontinued after the Formula 3 Gran Premio Adriatico in 1968.

The end of auto races kicked off a golden era of motorcycle racing, after the Adriatic Grand Prix became a round of the FIM Motorcycle World Championship.

The 1977 Grand Prix was held in spite of an order from the FIM to improve the safety of the track. No modifications were made prior to the event and the race ended up with 19 injured and 2 fatalities, prompting the FIM to ban all road races from the World Championship schedule. The Opatija Circuit fame came to its end, and a modern replacement circuit was created on the other side of Rijeka - the Automotodrom Grobnik.

A lesser known fact about racing on the Kvarner coast is that Rijeka also used to host an all-female car rally. Named Rijeka Women’s Auto Rally, the racing event was held every year from 1971 to 1999.

Back in 1971, as Auto Club Rijeka was celebrating its 25th anniversary, the club’s executive board decided to hold an all-female race in honour of International Women’s Day.

Held on March 7th 1971, the first rally drew a lot of interest, with 60 drivers registering to take part in the race. The 41 km circuit took the racers from the starting point in Preluk to Lovran, Jušići, Krnjevo, and back to Preluk.

Preluk bay / visitrijeka.hr

They competed in three classes: 850 ccm, 1250 ccm, and 1250+ ccm, won in the first year by Inga Kren, Radmila Valković and Vesna Grgurina respectively.

The Rijeka Women’s Auto Rally soon became an attractive racing event which, together with the international Zagreb rally, formed the basis for the establishment of the national championship for women.

Women were flocking to Rijeka from other parts of Croatia to show off their racing skills. Some of the notable winners were Sonja Kezele and Mirjana Bučić from Opatija with ten victories each, Nađa Cenov from Rijeka who won the race eight times, and Olga Bebić from Split who won seven times.

After a while, 41 drivers who had won in some of the classes or in the overall standings earned the right to compete in a racing event called the Champions’ Cup.

In 1996, Auto Club Rijeka marked its 50th anniversary with a grand 25th edition of the women’s rally, held under the motto ‘50 hours of rallying’ and complete with an entertainment programme that featured something new with each passing hour.

All-female rallies were held in Croatia until 1999. The last, 28th women’s rally in Rijeka was won by Auto Club Rijeka, represented by racers Palmina Alijanović, Smiljka Pavić, Luisa Božićević, Dajana Aračić and Ljiljana Kamenar.

ZAGREB, 11 March (2022) - Croatia has registered 1,538 new cases of coronavirus, out of 5,787 tests, in the past 24 hours and 14 people have died as a consequence while there are 10,015 active cases and 6,857 people are self-isolating, the national COVID response team reported on Friday.

Currently, 819 patients are in hospital treatment, 65 of whom are on ventilators. 

To date, 65.60% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

 For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 11 March (2022) - A €2.1 million contract was signed on Friday for a project that will enable Zagreb Faculty of Science (PMF) researchers to conduct geophysical and seismological research in Croatia's earthquake areas and develop an earthquake prediction programme.

The agreement was signed by Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak and PMF dean Mirko Planinić.

The project will be financed as part of a local development and poverty reduction programme in Norway's 2014-21 financial mechanism in the amount of €1.8 million, while €317,600 will come from Croatia's national funds.

The project will be carried out by PMF in partnership with Norway's Bergen University. It will upgrade the earthquake risk estimate system in Croatia and contribute to enhancing disaster readiness plans and mitigating the danger of earthquakes.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 11 March (2022) - NATO's integrated air and missile defence tracked the flight path of an object which subsequently crashed in Zagreb, an official of NATO told Hina on Friday.

"NATO's integrated air and missile defence tracked the flight path of an object which subsequently crashed in Zagreb. The Croatian authorities have announced that they are investigating this incident," a NATO spokesman, Daniele Riggio, said in his brief answer to HINA's query.

According to some speculations, a Tu-141 "Strizh" reconnaissance drone is believed to have arrived in Croatia from Ukraine, flying across Romania's and Hungary's airspace.

Croatian Defence Minister Mario Banožić said earlier today that the drone had been detected by Croatian radars and that it had been under surveillance as soon as it entered Croatia's airspace.

It crashed seven minutes after entering Croatia's air space, and the fall happened shortly after 2300 hours.

President Zoran Milanović said that radars in Croatia had detected the object which was in the Croatian airspace for a brief period. He also added that no alert information had been provided to Croatia.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 11 March 2022 - A new Croatian Post logistics centre for the Kvarner and Istria region, worth nearly HRK 60 million, was opened on Friday in the Kukuljanovo industrial zone in the Bakar area.

The 4,200-square-metre centre has areas for sorting, transporting and delivering mail, a distribution facility and workshops as well as a post office. Over 300 employees work at the new location.

A modern business centre for the Kvarner and Istria region will improve the quality of delivery in that area. Its construction completed the largest investment cycle of Croatian Post, and Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties now have one of the four most modern sorting facilities in Croatia, including facilities in Zadar and Osijek and the new sorting centre in Velika Gorica.

Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said he was pleased that a state-owned company had been a positive example of business for years and that Croatian Post was on an equal footing with the world's largest posts.

The minister said that global changes didn't surprise Croatian Post and that many investments in infrastructure and digitalisation had turned it into a successful modern company that had a great impact on the economy and encouraged the development and growth of overall logistics.

He said that Croatian Post had nearly 10,000 workers and more than 1,000 post offices, and that its annual impact on the Croatian economy was estimated at half a billion kuna.

The president of the Croatian Post Management Board, Ivan Čulo, said that the opening of the new centre completed the first real investment cycle of over HRK 1.2 billion, underscoring these were their own funds and ideas.

Čulo said Croatian Post was now an exceptionally modern company and that further development was expected.

He pointed out that parcel services were the company's focus and that Croatian Post was one of the highest quality companies in parcel distribution.

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 11 March 2022 - The EU proved to be part of the solution in the COVID crisis and will have to react also in the new situation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, by capping energy prices among other things, including globally to prevent speculation, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday.

"After the Russian invasion, we have three tragedies, the biggest is the one of the Ukrainian people, the second is the big refugee crisis, and the third is the enormous rise in energy prices," he said in Versailles after a two-day informal EU summit.

The EU proved to be very good in dealing with the pandemic crisis by establishing the special Next Generation EU instrument and through common vaccine procurement and distribution as well as job-retention, Plenković said.

"Now it's necessary to help our fellow citizens and the economy again. It's best to cap energy prices, but this must be a global action. It's not good if someone profits from speculative prices, that's immoral."

Energy and food cannot be treated as other commodities, Plenković said. "We have entered a new phase after Russia's attack on Ukraine in which energy and food will be our strategic resources and we should adapt to that."

He said the countries taking in the largest numbers of Ukrainian refugees would need financial aid as a huge refugee wave could be expected.

In just two weeks, over two million people from Ukraine have arrived in the EU, while about a million people came during the 2015 refugee crisis.

For more, check out our politics section.