ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, Croatia has logged 146 new COVID-19 cases after conducting 5,485 tests, and two infected persons have died, the national COVID-19 response team said on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 801 active cases in the country, including 349 hospitalised patients, of whom 28 are on ventilators, and 4,774 people are in self-isolation.

To date, there have been a total of 358,823 registered cases of the contagion, 8,162 people have died as a consequence while 349,860 have recovered.

A total of 2,092,201 people have been tested for the virus to date, including 5,485 in the past 24 hours.

As of 15 June, a total of 2,196,552 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 1,427,566 people receiving at least one dose and 768,986 people receiving both vaccine doses.

For more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

 ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - The GONG NGO said on Wednesday that the newly-elected Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević had betrayed his pre-election promises by appointing members of the Management Board of the Zagreb Holding utility conglomerate without competitions for the posts.

Appointments made without a competition are not the path citizens chose in the elections, wanting a change in the way Zagreb is run, although it is indisputable that the City and Zagreb Holding (ZGH) have huge debts and that it is necessary to act as soon as possible, GONG said in a press release.

The NGO thinks that Tomašević should have kept the promises and standards announced in the election programme if he really wants to change the model of governing Zagreb and after 20 years of Milan Bandić's rule stop the practice of non-transparent employment.

The new model of governing Zagreb, announced by the Možemo! platform, explicitly stated that members of the management board of Zagreb Holding (and other city companies) would be selected in a public procedure, with the obligatory publication of their programme. This has not been done so far, and public calls will only serve to select additional members of the ZGH management and supervisory boards, GONG said.

For years, GONG has been advocating obligatory public calls for the selection of management staff in public and city companies, with adherence to the principle of competence.

We think that there is a high risk of corruption in public companies which have large budgets and a large number of employees, GONG said.

Explaining on Tuesday why he resorted to the direct appointment in ZGH although in the run-up to the elections he and his party (We Can!) promised the appointment of executives and management members of the city-owned companies only through public calls, Tomašević said that the situation inherited from the previous local government forced them to react quickly and the direct appointment was the most responsible solution.

Commenting on ZGH's loss of HRK 305 million, Tomašević said that the current city administration had two options: to keep the incumbent management that obviously failed to put the situation under control or to dismiss them and leave ZGH without management several months for the duration of the selection procedure.

The mayor elaborated that the minimum number of members of the management and supervisory boards of ZGH were directly appointed and promised the advertisement of public calls for the remaining three members in the management board and the remaining members of the supervisory board.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - A delegation of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on Wednesday laid wreaths on the grave of HDZ founder and first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman to mark the party's 32nd anniversary, with the party leader, PM Andrej Plenković, saying the HDZ was the strongest political party in Croatia even today.

At the start of day-long events commemorating the party's 32nd anniversary, HDZ officials, led by Plenković, paid their respects at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery to Franjo Tuđman, whom Plenković described as "a statesman, a visionary, the man who led Croatia to freedom, independence, with the plebiscite support of the Croatian people, and with the courage and bravery of Croatian defenders."

"Even today, 32 years later, the HDZ is the strongest political force in the Republic of Croatia, in Croatia in which we have achieved all basic national goals - freedom, democracy and the protection of human and minority rights, and have built institutions. Now in the fourth decade of our independence, the goal is the economy, demographic revitalisation, social inclusion, following key global processes and the fourth industrial revolution, but also the green transformation and the digital transformation," Plenković said in a statement to reporters.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Tuesday at the forum "Human Rights in the Coronavirus Crisis" that encroaching on the intimate space of human freedoms required a decision of the parliament, which he would have let it make if he were prime minister during the crisis.

Milanović said at the forum at the Faculty of Law that "in this crisis, we are not talking about human rights but about fundamental human freedoms."

"My right to breathe, to sneeze, to walk, to move - that is my human freedom. In order to affect that deeply intimate space, it is necessary to have a decision of a representative body," Milanović said.

In his presentation, he referred to Articles 16 and 17 of the Constitution and said that the coronavirus situation had met the conditions for declaring a state of emergency.

"Article 17... refers to a state of emergency, imminent danger of war or a natural disaster. It doesn't matter if this virus, and a virus is a natural fact and attacks a living organism, originated as a fact of zoonosis or was released by the Chinese or escaped from the laboratory, it makes no difference. That is a serious matter. It puts lives in danger. If that doesn't meet the conditions (for declaring a state of emergency), nothing does," Milanović said.

He added that if the coronavirus crisis had happened during his term as prime minister, he would have let the parliament vote in the relevant decisions, which would result in greater public trust, instead of having a COVID-19 response team do it.

Everything we watched for a year and a half was surreal, he added. He praised the fact that the vaccine was produced so quickly, adding that everything else was wrong.

Ombudswoman: Citizens had numerous complaints

According to Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter, during the pandemic citizens had questions and complaints related to passes, self-isolation, access to health care since family doctors were not available to them and their examinations were cancelled, and they also sent questions related to the right to work, that is, to work from home or work in the office.

In the past few months, the ombudswoman has been receiving questions about vaccination and in the past few weeks, about COVID passports.

She also said that the frequent changes in the anti-epidemic measures and vague recommendations had led to an increase in dissatisfaction and fear among citizens, which had further undermined trust in institutions.

The ombudswoman said that there were solutions and that her report for 2020 had been discussed in the parliament, and now she hoped that the recommendations would be implemented.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

June 16, 2021 - Fans at Spaladium Arena will be allowed for the Olympic qualifying tournament, which is great news for the Croatia basketball team. 

Great news for basketball fans in Split and beyond - the Olympic qualifying tournament at the Spaladium Arena (June 29 - July 4) will be held in front of spectators, reports Slobodna Dalmacija. 

At the request of the Croatian Basketball Federation and with the support of the Chief of the Split Civil Protection Headquarters, Bojan Ivošević, consent for the presence of fans in compliance with epidemiological measures was given by the County Civil Protection Headquarters.

In other words, there are certain rules that need to be followed.

Physical distance must be implemented, i.e., a distance of at least two meters must be maintained, and the spectators, technical and organizational staff present must meet one of the following conditions: that they received the second dose of vaccine more than 14 days ago, that they overcame COVID-19 in the last 180 days, that they had recovered from COVID-19 and were vaccinated with a single dose, or that they had been negative on a PCR test, no older than 72 hours, or tested negative in the past 48 hours on a rapid antigen test.

The organizer, the Croatian Basketball Federation, is responsible for controlling the measures and conditions.

The Croatia national team will thus get the desired support from the stands, which could ultimately be its advantage for a spot in Tokyo.

Croatia, Tunisia, and Brazil will meet in the group stage of the qualifying tournament in Split in June, which crosses over with Germany, Russia, and Mexico. The Split tournament and the other three hosted by Belgrade, Kaunas, and Victoria in Canada are scheduled from June 29 to July 4, 2021. Only one winner qualifies from each tournament, 

The competition format has changed in Tokyo. Instead of how it was previously held, in which 12 national teams were divided into two groups of six, where the four best from the group stage continued to compete in the quarterfinals by a knockout system, the new system divides the teams into three groups of four.

The first two national teams from each of the three groups will advance to the quarterfinals and will be joined by the two best of the three third-placed teams. With this system, each match of the group stage becomes even more important, and to win an Olympic medal, it is now necessary to play six instead of the previous eight matches.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

June 16, 2021 - The 2021 Golden Boy award boasts three young Croatian football talents this time around - Stipe Biuk, Joško Gvardiol, and Antonio Marin. 

There is no need to worry about the future of Croatian football, as the passionate football country always finds a way to produce new talent. 

For years, we have read that young players from England, France, Italy, and Brazil are worth ten million euros each, even though they were teenagers at the time, while Croats would often be placed in the rank of players of several hundred thousand euros. But times are changing.

Namely, Stipe Biuk, Josko Gvardiol, and Antonio Marin are Croatia's representatives for this year's Golden Boy award!

Joško Gvardiol, a member of the Croatia national team for EURO 2020, was sold to RB Leipzig for 16.5 million euros, while Antonio Marin, a well-known Dinamo talent who was in Monza and returned to Lokomotiva, is the 'ten' of the U-20 national team and a player that should bloom next season. Hajduk wonderkid Stipe Biuk is a new miracle who delighted the Split club in spring last season, and immediately drew attention to himself thanks to a penalty he earned for Croatia against Spain in the U21 EURO.

Turin's Tuttosport traditionally conducts the poll, led by the editor of the column Massimo Franchi who compiled a list of the greatest young footballers worldwide. 

This prestigious award was first given in 2003 when it went to Rafael van der Wart. After him, the same award went to Rooney, Messi, Aguero, Isco, Pogba, Sterling, Mbappe, de Ligt, Felix, and the latest winner is now worth more than €100 million - Erling Braut Haaland. This year's favorites are Pedri, Bellingham, and Musiala. 

This is Tuttosport's nineteenth consecutive selection for the best young football players in the world. On June 15, 100 of them are announced, then in mid-July, the list is cut to 80, in August to 60, in September to 40, and on October 15, 20 of them enter the final race for the "Golden Boy."

So far, 100 footballers have been nominated for this award, including three Croats. For comparison, Serbia has only one (Ivan Ilić), while Slovenia and BiH have no players nominated for this prestigious award.

You can vote for Golden Boy HERE.

Source: Germanijak

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

June the 16th, 2021 - A team of Croatian designers are set to design A1 Croatia's workwear in a brand new tender which works to keep locally made products in mind.

With the coronavirus pandemic having highlighted, among other things, that we can't always rely on imports and that trying to produce as much as we can locally is the best direction to go in, A1 Croatia have their eyes set on talented Croatian designers, of which there are plenty. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, Telekom A1 Hrvatska/Croatia has announced a tender for Croatian designers to apply for. The tender invites them to design new work clothes for their employees, with a prize fund for the best solutions amounting to 30,000 kuna.

As they explained from the aforementioned company, the whole process, from the selection of the design solution to the very execution and application will be carried out in cooperation with Naftalin, a Croatian company which deals the production of workwear. By making this business move, A1 Croatia wants to give an incentive to Croatian designers and companies.

“The choice of such a company was prompted by the desire to show how some support for a creatively strong part of society can easily enable it to become more visible and to improve and develop its business.

We're aware of the exceptional importance of local production for every community, because we can only grow when the community in which we operate is also growing,'' said Iva Ancic, head of brand and marketing communications at A1 Croatia.

The panel for the selection of the design of the new work clothes also provided a place for one of the employees who, with his advice and first-hand knowledge, will help make the new clothes created by Croatian designers as comfortable as possible and according to the wishes of the employees themselves, the company explains.

For more, make sure to follow Made in Croatia.

June the 16th, 2021 - The Pula Fizio Tech startup, which is a med tech startup specialising in the aid of people with various problems regarding walking, has attracted attention from not only here in Europe but even from Asia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, in its three years of existence, the Pula Fizio Tech startup has presented prototypes of its two technological solutions for healthcare to help people with walking problems - the Hip Rehabilitation Device (HRD) and Restep.

The Fizio Tech startup team includes mechanical engineers and development team leaders Filip Sironic, Martin Matijasic and Filip Nikolic, full stack developer Ivan Lakovic, electrical engineer Ariana Milasincic, PhD student in neuroscience Dea Salamon, and Petra Josipovic, the co-owner and project manager, who has a PhD in public health at the Medical School of the University of Ljubljana, she also graduated as a neurophysiotherapist and is a certified consultant for EU funds.

She began the story behind the Pula Fizio Tech startup as a project with Sironic during her studies when they developed the first functional prototype of HRD, a device for the therapeutic traction and vibration of the hip. The device was intended for use by people with painful hip conditions themselves, as well as for professional use for physiotherapists dealing with patients with such issues.

However, financial resources and time were needed in order to better dedicate themselves to the development and realisation of the idea, which they didn't have at the time. However, back in 2018, they founded a startup and started applying for tenders for the opportunity to get their hands on some money.

Market placement

A year later, they won the Moj Zaba Start competition, thanks to HRD.

“When we started with the HRD project, we invested everything we had on our own and started building value. When we got the resources from Moj Zaba Start, we decided to invest 120,000 kuna to apply for EU funds and provide 15% of the resources we had to cover, because the EU gives 85% in non-refundable cash.

The value of the project was 943,681.54 kuna. With these resources, we covered the IP application at the EU level, developed prototypes of HRD and Restep, developed a technical map for Restep and implemented QMS according to the ISO 13485 standard.

For HRD, we're currently developing a prototype iteration and conducting a clinical efficacy trial in people with coxarthrosis. We're looking for partners and resources for further development and commercialisation. We've also filed a patent application at the EU level for HRD, and for Restep, we're the owners of the right to a consensual patent,'' explains Josipovic.

Restep is a biofeed device for the treatment of orthopedic patients who have some damage to the leg.

It can also be used by physiotherapists when planning individual patient therapies, because Restep offers the possibility of an application that has the option of analysing gait parametres, which is very important for physiotherapists when coming up with a proper treatment plan.

"Restep can now theoretically be put on sale as a subject of general use, but what we still want is to improve the design and electronics according to the standards for medical products,'' explains Josipovic, who, along with the team, wants to place Restep on the market before the end of 2021, considering that due to the pandemic, business processes are still slowed down.

The Pula Fizo Tech startup works with the Technical Faculty in Pula and the Faculty of Health in Rijeka with which they made a Proof of Concept study, proving that the device works, and they're also present in Urban Rehabilitation surgeries in Pula, OrtoSpina Rijeka, the Kinetic Centre in Pula, Istarske toplice, the Special Hospital in Rovinj, and ReLab in Umag.

The founders of the Pula Fizio Tech startup state that they are open to cooperation with all institutions. There is also interest from potential partners from outside of the Republic of Croatia, agreements are underway with institutions from Slovenia, where they are already cooperating with a nursing home for the elderly. So far, they have received letters of intent from Croatian institutions, and they are also coming from Slovenia, Austria and Serbia. They're even negotiate with potential partners from as far away as Asia.

At the Pula Fizio Tech startup, they plan to hire a sales person soon and at least one more individual to assemble the devices, and there is no shortage of anything when it comes to their plans and ambitions for the future.

“We want to become a leader in the development of physiotherapy and rehabilitation equipment here in the region and beyond. Our long-term goal is to expand the business to prototyping services for clients and quality physiotherapy services where we'll apply our innovations, ie, in a healthcare institution that has its own clinical and research part along with production,'' concludes Petra Josipovic.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.