August 18, 2021 - On Thursday, August 19, the Croatia volleyball team will play the first game of the European Women's Volleyball Championship against Switzerland in Zadar.

The Croatian Volleyball Federation points out that they are ready, and their goal is to advance to the second phase of the competition, reports Gol.hr.

"We are healthy and ready for Thursday; there are still nuances left. We have had excellent preparations. We need to think gradually from game to game. I hope that we will win second place here, which is our goal, and get to the second phase of the competition in that position. I think that in Serbia we have a real chance to stay as long as possible. The first goal is to pass the group and then secure a trip to the World Cup, where we haven’t been for ten years. The girls are motivated and eagerly await the start of the championship," said Croatian Volleyball Federation expert secretary Frane Žanić.

Croatia opens the championship on August 19 with a match against Switzerland, followed by Belarus on August 21, Slovakia on August 22, Hungary on August 24, and Italy on August 25.

Croatia is looking forward to the start of the championship.

"We are only two days away from the start of the European Championship. We are all very excited. We have been preparing for this competition for the last two months, so we can't wait for it to start. We will play the first game against Switzerland. This is a great competition at a high level; I believe that all teams are strong and dangerous. We will give 100 percent in every game. I hereby invite everyone to follow us on TV," said national team member Nikolina Božičević.

"We have been preparing together for almost three months; a very long cycle is behind us. We have played the European League, many friendly matches, and now we have the European Championships waiting for us for the first time. So we are very excited and well prepared," added Lucija Mlinar.

The championship organizers point out that everything is ready for the big sports event in Zadar, which will last until August 26.

"We are in the final details phase, and I can say that we are completely ready. The final inspection of the members of the European Federation delegation is underway. The hall is ready. We only miss our guests, a total of six teams. Together with professional staff and the entire ensemble sent by the European Federation in Zadar, there are 500 people. Thousands of people can stay in the hall at the same time. There are certain contingents of places that must be provided to visiting teams and their family members. The organization is the second part, and one part we must provide for our VIP guests. All those who are interested can contact us; if there is another vacancy, we will be happy to provide it free of charge because there are no regular ticket sales," said Valentina Bifflin, director of the Croatian Volleyball Federation.

Zadar is the host of Group C at the European Women's Volleyball Championship, while Belgrade, Plovdiv, and Cluj-Napoca are the other host cities.

Zadar expects a lot of promotion from EuroVolley and influences young people to start playing volleyball in as many numbers as possible.

"I am glad that we are hosting volleyball. It means a lot to the City of Zadar and the development of sports tourism that we are building. We wish our volleyball players all the best, and we believe they will achieve a good result," said Zadar Mayor Branko Dukić.

The President of the Zadar Sports Association, Snježana Jurinić, also hopes to popularize volleyball.

"I believe that all previous competitions, as well as this European Championship, will popularize volleyball and expand to the entire County and that the City of Zadar will become the leading regional volleyball center. We can already see that women's volleyball has become a sport and enrolls children in volleyball."

The Višnjik Sports Center, where the Eurovolley matches will be played, has shone with new splendor and is fully ready for another big competition. The hall has been decorated and refreshed, along with the auxiliary ones that the national teams will use.

"It is an honor and pleasure to host such a big event. The Croatian Volleyball Federation embraced ŠC Višnjik as its base for preparations and competitions. It shows that all investments in sports infrastructure within ŠC Višnjik are a complete success. The hall looks fantastic and is one of the most beautiful," pointed out the director of ŠC Višnjik Denis Karlovic.

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August 18, 2021 - The Adriatic seawater-powered energy system would produce energy using waves and tides. The sustainable energy system is already recognized as one of the current EU green transition solutions.

By the end of August this year, the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds will announce the first call for incentives for sea energy production projects to receive European Union funds, reports Jutarnji List.

Sea energy production using waves, tides, and special heat pumps with seawater is in its infancy in the European Union. However, along with wind farms, solar, and hydrogen, it is recognized as one of the solutions in the current EU green transition.

"The Republic of Croatia has significant potential for developing renewable energy sources, especially for the application of seawater technologies. One of the solutions that could be especially applicable to Croatia, due to its long coastline, is seawater heat pump systems or SDTMV systems," reads the public invitation of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds, which decided at this stage to encourage the production of energy from the sea to support seawater heat pumps. Namely, although there are several mentioned technologies in the range of sea energy production, the state estimated that the most interest could be for cranes, i.e., as stated in the invitation, for installing heating and cooling systems using heat pumps from offshore energy.

"Since the level of development of marine technologies in Croatia is not high, only SDTMV will be considered, crane systems that provide a generally stable and continuous source of heating and cooling of seawater that acts as a stable and reliable heat source. Therefore, although there may be high investment costs, the pilot project needs to be explored," reads the position of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds. In any case, according to the call's content, it is expected that municipalities and coastal cities, among others, could apply with the associated projects.

According to available data, the technology of sea energy production is already used in several locations along the coast. Currently, its application, among others, is being done by the Istrian Regional Energy Agency (IRENA) in cooperation with the City of Poreč. This is a project to install a seawater heat pump system for the Poreč city administration building. Furthermore, according to IRENA, several other public buildings near the building can be connected to the common circuit of seawater distribution as the main source of heat and thus build an environmentally neutral and financially efficient heating and cooling system in Poreč.

In addition to the coastal city and municipal administrations, marine energy production technology, judging by the experiences from Italy presented at the IRENA meetings, could use ports and marinas to deliver surplus energy to the grid. For example, in the Ancona port, according to the same source, there are plans to install 50 devices that would occupy 200 m of the coastline. The investment worth 670 thousand euros would have a payback period of nine years with an annual production of 670 thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity.

In any case, one and a half million euros are available to interested domestic scientists and investors in the mentioned call, with a minimum (200 thousand euros) and maximum withdrawal limits of 1.3 million euros per project. The share that the state is willing to co-finance in the total project budget varies from 50 percent for small to 30 percent for large entrepreneurs.

"Successfully implemented pilot projects for sea energy production would also increase the capacities and skills of suppliers and developers and consequently contribute to lower costs of SDTMV installations in the future," points out the Ministry.

The project preparation, promotion, and management are co-financed. It is planned that the corresponding contracts on the projects that received co-financing will be signed in May next year at the latest, with the obligation to use the withdrawn money by April 2024.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

August the 18th, 2021 - The very height of the Croatian 2021 season has been going remarkably well in the face of previous worries of a repeat of the dire summer of 2020 which was dominated by the pandemic. With the vaccination rollout continuing and with the epidemiological situation more favourable, things have taken a surprisingly positive turn, much to the shock of many. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, on an almost daily basis, new figures keep arriving that confirm the significant acceleration of the pace of Croatian tourism recovery in the past few weeks.

It can often be heard that more rooms and beds are wanted, and in addition to recording the state of overnight stays and arrivals, we learned recently that 878 thousand vehicles, or a quarter more than last year, were recorded on Croatia's highways, with 49 million kuna in tolls collected, which is 29 percent more than last year.

The encouraging financial signals are provided by weekly updates from the Tax Administration's data on fiscalised turnover across the country. According to the latest such report, the value of last week's fiscalised bills/receipts at the level of all activities is one third higher than in the comparable week last year.

In the tourism sector, ie accommodation and food preparation and food service activities, bills worth 1.68 billion kuna were issued, which is almost 60 percent more than in the second week of August last year, when 1 billion kuna was reported.

As such, the tourism and hospitality sector, measured by the value of issued bills and receipts, has exceeded the pre-pandemic figures for the comparable August week of 2019 by 23.5 percent. A solid positive sign in these comparisons has been being recorded for several weeks now, and even the Minister of Finance Zdravko Maric has referred to this month as ''strong''.

The peak of the Croatian 2021 season in any case looks much better than its beginning or even its pre-season. Apart from the better epidemiological picture across Croatia than in some of its main Mediterranean competitors, the number of foreign tourists in relation to the initial signals was also contributed to by climate disasters in some European tourist destinations.

If we remain ''in the orange'' on the so-called corona-map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), it could easily happen that this year's Croatian National Bank projections of total tourism revenue at the level of 70 percent of those from 2019 prove to be conservative and ultimately exceed the projected figure of around 7.4 billion euros.

These financial indicators come with some time lag, and in the meantime some more rapid signals remain. For example, an interesting aspect regarding the consumption and spending of foreigners in Croatia is provided by the reports of the central bank on non-cash payment transactions in Croatia.

The latest available data within the statistics of international payment transactions refers to the first half of the year, and indicates a significant increase in the reading of bank cards issued abroad.

During the month of June, for example, the value of card transactions by bank cards issued outside of the Republic of Croatia, which includes purchases of goods and services through various devices (from ATMs to POS devices and purchases with e-money) amounted to 1.85 billion kuna.

In the first six months of 2021, on the other hand, transactions worth 3.85 billion kuna were performed with foreign cards, which is about 1.5 billion kuna more than last year. However, in the first half of pre-pandemic 2019, foreigners (more precisely the holders of cards issued abroad) spent more than 6.7 billion kuna on Croatian cards, exceeding one billion kuna in April and 1.5 billion kuna in May.

The peak of arrivals and even the consumption of foreigners usually occurs during July and August. In the pre-crisis and record-breaking 2019, 10.3 billion kuna was spent on foreign cards in Croatia in those two months alone, and in July and August last year, the value of these payment transactions dropped to just 5.9 billion kuna.

These indicators of foreign consumption realised through foreign cards for the peak of the Croatian 2021 season will have to be waited on for a few months yet.

However, the trends indicated by the fiscalisation data suggest a significantly better overall picture of consumption than in the middle of the year, and the spending being done by foreign tourists certainly contributes to this.

If we look at the past two weeks of August in tourism and catering, more than 3.3 billion kuna of fiscalised turnover was recorded, compared to two billion recorded in the same period last year. This year's August is stronger than that of pre-crisis 2019 (mid-month) by more than a fifth or more than 600 million kuna.

These increases were realised on a smaller number of issued bills, which suggests higher average consumption, including the impact of higher prices of certain services. The impact of tourism, of course, is also visible in the trade sector. Over the past two weeks, the turnover in the wholesale and retail trade category was higher by 1 billion kuna (6.55 versus 5.5 billion) than last year, and compared to the comparable two weeks of the previous year, by about 660 million kuna.

The Tax Administration periodically provides a somewhat more detailed picture of spending and consumption by activities. For now, this more detailed data has been available for the end of July. And that information, for example, shows that in restaurants and cafes (ie food and beverage preparation and serving activities) in Croatia last month there was a turnover of 2.59 billion kuna.

That’s 755 million kuna, or 41 percent more cash turnover (which, along with banknotes, includes cards and other payments, excluding remittances to transaction accounts) than last July. Although the data refers to the whole of Croatia, this jump in the turnover of caterers largely reflects the impact of the recovery in tourist spending.

In any case, the July fiscalised turnover of restaurants, cafes and related activities was more or less equal to that seen back in the July of pre-pandemic 2019, in which 2.6 billion kuna in turnover was reported.

If June is counted, over the past two months, caterers have issued bills worth almost four billion kuna in total. Compared to last June and July, this is equal to one billion kuna more, but compared to the same period in 2019, it is still about 10 percent less.

For more on how businesses are doing in the Croatian 2021 season, follow our business section.

August 18, 2021 - The island of Brač has launched its new and highly anticipated tourism product: Via Brattia, a circular hiking and cycling route that runs around the island, attracting both expert and amateur athletes with a passion for exploring.

It lasted, it was carefully prepared, but now that it has finally started life, only one thing can be said: Via Brattia, the circular tourist hiking trail of the island of Brač has opened the island's beauties to lovers of active holidays, as well as those who plan to become one soon.

As reported by HrTurizam, after two years of joint work of all Brač tourist boards, the municipalities of Nerežišća and Pučišća, the Mountaineering Association Profunda, and with the co-financing of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, a new tourist attraction was "born" which will have its forte especially in the pre and postseason.

Via Brattia with its 140 kilometers in length has connected the island, its many exceptional locations, and a large number of small towns and local attractions. The trail is intended for lovers of hiking, running, walking in nature, mountain biking, it is suitable for recreationists and amateurs, but also for all those who want to get to know Brač and its unusual beauties in a different way. The trail has marked markings in both directions and can be joined at any point the trail passes.

You will be guided to all locations by a map and blue and white markers, and in order to make each section even more attractive, visitors will ‘celebrate’ with a stamp. 12 conquered seals, at the end of the road, will create a picture, the coat of arms of the island of Brac, and in it the figure of St. George the patron saint of this island in the scene of the killing of the dragon.

“With the support of all local self-government units of the island of Brač and the Tourist Board of the Split-Dalmatia County, this island trail is a joint project of all tourist boards of our island and the municipalities of Pučišća and Nerežišća. After completing the marking and printing of the map, Brač finally got a long-dreamed, beautiful hiking-tourist trail. Movement, learning, and content are new tourist trends that enrich travelers with invaluable experience, and the sun and the sea are just a bonus in this story", said Ive Cvitanic, director of the Supetar Tourist Board, where Via Brattia begins and ends.

“Via Brattia is an excellent tourist product and a new trump card of Brač tourism, but also of tourism in Central Dalmatia. The Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board has been investing in active tourism projects for years. This type of offer is based on the accelerated expansion, connection, and construction of new hiking and biking trails, climbing areas, and other infrastructure needed for outdoor sports, which are already practiced by more and more people, and with pandemics and closures, the number of guests going to nature is much higher. (...) Within our financial possibilities and marketing activities, we will provide maximum support to the project”, said Joško Stella, director of the Split-Dalmatia Tourist Board. Via Brattia tells the amazing story of Brač and combines many tourist attractions of the island into one whole.

It is interesting how our sea destinations are increasingly turning to outdoor facilities, after Camina Krk, then Camina Imota, Life on Mars on Pag, Istria bike trails, now Via Brattia concept of cycling, hiking, or hiking routes that connect interesting tourist attractions of the entire destination with the cooperation of all tourism stakeholders. A concept that is a win-win for all and that is the future. but it also leads to the ultimate goal, ie the extension of the tourist season and sustainable tourism. The sun and the sea have long been insufficient for the serious development of tourism that is not dependent on seasonality. We are especially looking forward to cooperation in the field and connecting tourism stakeholders and creating joint tourism products that brand and raise the quality of the entire destination.

To learn more about the island of Brac and all the treasures it holds, visit the Total Croatia guide for the best tips and advice for your next trip. Available in your language!

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

August the 18th, 2021 - One popular Losinj hotel group has made quite the serious turn towards the ever-lucrative and promising medical and health tourism sector, which is expected to come on leaps and bounds and rise in popularity in the post-pandemic world.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, with the aim of developing medical tourism, the Losinj hotel group Losinj Hotels & Villas in its Hotel Bellevue has opened up offices for four specialist medical fields - dermatologists, internists, gynecologists and orthopedists, as was reported by Jadranka Hotels.

The guests will be able to have access to the visiting doctor Vedran Franciskovic, university assistant professor and clinician, a specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics, as well as fetal medicine.

Davor Duvancic, a specialist in orthopedic surgery and traumatology who is also a spinal surgeon, who joined the expert team available to the guests of this Losinj hotel group's Bellevue Hotel.

Ana Ivekic Jambrosic, a specialist in dermatology and venereology, will be made available to patients for dermatological, dermatoscopic and venereological examinations, as well as for diagnostic services and the treatment of various skin diseases.

She also performs PRP stem cell therapy, aesthetic treatment for rejuvenation, Ultherapy - non-invasive skin tightening, minor surgical procedures and injection therapy. The team also includes the initiator of outpatient clinics in LH&V brand hotels, Anamarija Margan Sulc, an internal medicine specialist and a master of pharmacology.

''These renowned experts will provide services and implement health programmes using their experiences which are based on research into the health effects of the natural healing factors of the island of Losinj. With their engagement, Hotel Bellevue will be even more strongly positioned among guests who want to combine their time on holiday with medical treatments and stronger healthcare,'' they pointed out from Jadranka Hotels, a Losinj hotel group.

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

August the 18th, 2021 - Croatian toll fees have felt the positive effects of the excellent summer tourist season so far, with a third more in such tolls being taken than pandemic-dominated 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, during the last weekend on all motorways under the jurisdiction of the Croatian Motorways (HAC), a turnover of 878.2 thousand vehicles was recorded and Croatian toll fees totalling a massive 49.01 million kuna were collected, which is an increase of 25 and 29 percent when compared to the same period last year, they announced on Monday from HAC.

During the weekend from the 13th to the 15th of August 2021, traffic on 878,191 vehicles and Croatian toll fees in the amount of 49.01 million kuna without VAT included were recorded on all of the country's motorways under the jurisdiction of HAC, the statement said.

When compared to the same weekend last year, when a turnover of 700,173 vehicles was recorded, and Croatian toll fees were collected in the amount of 38 million kuna without VAT, the number of vehicles has increased by a more than encouraging 25 percent and the amount in tolls collected has risen by 29 percent.

The growth in the number of vehicles on the country's motorways and the Croatian toll fees collected as a result of that increased traffic is a reflection of a much better tourist season than last year, when Croatia found itself in the "red" in mid-August on the eve of a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

HAC also made a comparison with the same weekend of the record, pre-pandemic tourist year of 2019, when 919,666 vehicles were on Croatian motorways under the jurisdiction of HAC, and the total toll fees collected amounted to a massive 52.1 million kuna without the inclusion of VAT.

As such, last weekend, vehicle traffic was lower by 4.5 percent, and the amount of tolls collected was lower by just six percent when compared to the same weekend in 2019.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

August the 18th, 2021 - A large brand new Zagreb shopping centre is set to open its doors to the residents of the Croatian capital city next week, and promises to wow with what it has to offer.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after the technical inspection was successfully completed back at the beginning of August and the centre's permit for use was obtained, preparations for the grand opening of the first Croatian shopping centre of the new generation, planned for August the 26th, are coming to an end.

The opening of more than five hundred new jobs is not the only thing that the people of Zagreb can be satisfied with. The brand new Zagreb shopping centre will offer a completely new concept of openness to the outside, which will give the residents of the city's districts, especially those from the western part of the city, a new place with facilities that no one in the region has acheived and put on offer so far. The facility has therefore already won the European Property Awards 2020-2021 award in the category of the best commercial real estate project in all of the Republic of Croatia.

Two children's playgrounds, a sports field on the roof and an outdoor heated square that connects the shopping centre ''North'' and the retail park ''South'', are just some of the special features of the Z Centre - a mega facility in which more than 620 million kuna has been invested so far. This concept will contribute to the growth of the quality of life of the local population because, as they say from the architectural studio PULS-AR that designed the building, a particularly attractive and spacious central square should become a central meeting place for residents of the surrounding settlements and the location of many events. More than 60 stores will be located on more than 75,000 square metres of gross lease area (GLA) in Zagreb's Spansko district, and the occupancy of the new Zagreb shopping centre is 90 percent.

In addition to the fact that many people can't wait to see what the new generation Zagreb shopping centre will look like, the citizens of Zagreb are most interested in how the new centre is set to open its doors right next to the existing facilities offering the same or similar services.

''When deciding on the location of the Z Centre, the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics prevailed, according to which more than 350,000 people live within a radius of 15 minutes drive from the facility. If we add up the neighbourhoods of the western part of Zagreb, then we come to a large number of families with children, which gave us the opportunity to provide them, as well as those in the area, with new facilities and activities. This is especially true of the large number of young members of Generation Z, of which we have approximately 30,000, who are definitely eager for positive changes and new opportunities in their immediate environment,'' explained Maja Medunovic, manager of the Z Centre.

According to her, vital indices show that among all Zagreb's districts, Novi Zagreb and Stenjevec have the most young families. Therefore, the location of the new Zagreb shopping centre was chosen excellently connected to Spansko.

Among the large number of well-known international brands, many of which have the largest square footage of their stores in the new Z Centre, the LPP Group's fashion brands stand out, now all together in one place: Mohito, Reserved, House, Cropp and Sinsay. Clothing and footwear will also be available in the branches of the CCC, Pepco, KiK and Intersport brands, and premium brands Prahir Fine Jewelery, De’llure, HETA and Optika Anda will be in charge of jewellery and other fashion accessories.

The hypermarket of the tenant Plodine will be a branch boasting a modern sales concept, and the planned food court with 10 restaurants and modern coffee bars is part of the rich gastronomic and catering offer of the new Zagreb shopping centre. The ''South'' retail park on the lower floor will offer a diverse range of home decoration stores as well as creative materials and textiles with brands such as TEDi, Jysk and Hespo. Farmacia, dm, Tinktura, Z House of beauty and Simple. One of the more interesting tenants of the Z Centre is the ''Hall of Game'', the largest gaming arena in all of Zagreb, which will cover more than 1,400 square metres in total.

In addition to more than 1,300 planned parking spaces, the underground garage will house a free charging station for the charging of as many as eight electric cars with MOON chargers, a brand that will open the first regional branch for the sale of electric vehicle equipment right there.

To the delight of more than 250 experts and construction workers who have been working on the new Zagreb shopping centre's construction since the end of December 2019, the preliminary works for the opening of the second part of the facility have already been completed. In addition to the grand opening at the end of August, at the end of October 2021, the opening of a large children's playroom with innovative content and a casino is planned, and all outdoor sports fields will be put into operation. The Z Centre is also introducing a novelty here on the Croatian market, a multi-brand store for men, which is also opening in the second phase, while a multiplex cinema will open in the future, the first of its kind in the western part of the city.

Exceptional earthquake construction provided by the main contractor, Kamgrad, as well as the entire project, was made possible by Croatian capital and in cooperation with Croatian companies. The first view that greets passengers at the western entrance to Zagreb will now no longer be never completed construction from past times, but an impressive facility built to the absolute highest standards, to the satisfaction of the profession and the citizens of Zagreb and its visitors.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

August 18, 2021 - The Champions League play-offs got off to a rough start for Dinamo Zagreb, who looked unrecognizable against Moldovan club Sheriff in match 1 in Tiraspol.

Croatian champions Dinamo suffered a brutal defeat in the first Champions League play-off match against Moldovan club Sheriff in Tiraspol. Sheriff won 3:0 thanks to goals by Traore (45', 80') and Kolovos (54').

Sheriff completely outplayed Dinamo and deservedly gained a big advantage before the return match in Zagreb next week. 

"A disappointing game; Dinamo was not Dinamo today," said coach Damir Krznar. 

"We failed to impose ourselves in our idea of possessing the ball. We failed to gain control of the match, against an extremely aggressive opponent. They didn’t give us air; they didn’t let us breathe; they won all the long balls. Sheriff was the one who had more desire, more strength, more energy today, and they taught us a lesson in fighting spirit and will, and in the end, deservedly won," Krznar pointed out.

"We have to start; we have to change the philosophy in a short time; we have to go back to where we were. Everything Dinamo did, they did because they are an extremely hard-working team. Today we weren’t; today we were trying to be a hacker team from the neighborhood," the coach concluded.

Mislav Oršić and Lovro Majer were among those who gave the least.

"This is the worst Dinamo match since I've been here; I don't know what to say, I have no words. Nothing went, from the beginning everything was bad, we even had some shots in the first half, and in the second half, everything fell apart," Oršić said in a statement for Arena Sport.

"All praise to Sheriff, but I think we failed first. We have to look each other in the eyes and prepare as best we can for the return match, prepare for another miracle at Maksimir; I hope we will succeed," concluded Oršić.

Moldova has never had a representative in the Champions League group stage, and after the first 90 minutes of the clash against Dinamo, Sheriff has come very close to achieving just that. Dinamo will have to play a perfect match on August 25 to compensate for this loss. 

Source: HRT

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