ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - Saturday's breaking news about a police investigation in Minister Darko Horvat and Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević over alleged abuse of power in grant disbursement prompted Opposition politicians to make immediate comments about the developments on social networks.

Anka Mrak Taritaš of the GLAS party ironically tweeted that "a new curse has appeared: Avoid Anka Mrak-Taritaš-sponsored motions of no confidence!" She thus referred to the fact that the motion of no confidence against Minister Horvat, she tabled in the parliament, would be on the parlaiment's agenda next week.

Bojan Glavašević of the Green-Left parliamentary bloc, also commented that it could be (in)suitable to have that motion of no confidence next week.

According to unofficial information, the probe is about Horvat's alleged abuse of power in the case of awarding grants to businesses when he served as economy minister, while the opposition now demands his resignation over his incompetence in conducting the post-quake reconstruction.

Krešo Beljak of the HSS party said that the news about a minister of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) cabinet being implicated in a scandal is nothing new.

Nikola Grmoja of the Bridge party writes on his Facebook account that Horvat will soon be fired and that the next minister to be fired is (Economy Minister Tomislav) Ćorić "against whom we have initiated a vote of no confidence".

It is high time this corrupt government led by Plenković should be ousted and new elections should be called, Grmoja said.

Dalija Orešković of the Centre party called for timely and effective investigations rather than follow-ups to some old stories.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković could run for the leader of the European People's Party (EPP) this spring when this political group is supposed to elect new presidency, the Zagreb-based Večernji List daily reported on Saturday.

The daily newspaper recalls that last week, PM Andrej Plenković received his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and that their meeting in Zagreb was actually a meeting of the only two current premiers from the EPP group. After the departure of Angela Merkel from the position of German Chancellor and the resignation of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz following accusations about his involvement into alleged corruption cases, Plenković is the only EPP official who is currently serving the second term of his premiership.

The current EPP president Donald Tusk seems not willing to vie for his reelection and the EPP's election convention is likely to be held this spring, according to the daily newspaper.

The daily says that three possible candidates are German MEP Manfred Weber, and the Croatian and the Greek premiers.

However, a source from the government has told the newspaper that Plenković is not thinking at all of competing in that race.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb (Hina) - A source close to the ongoing investigation into possible abuse of power by a few office-holders told Hina on Saturday morning that the police were conducting the probe into Minister Darko Horvat and Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević, however, Labour Minister Josip Aladrović, was not implicated.

The source said that another two suspects are Velimir Žunac, a state secretary in the regional development ministry, and Katica Mišković, who is at the helm of the office for economically assisted areas.

Furthermore, a former minister Tomislav Tolušić, is also among those suspected of abuse of power.

On Saturday morning, media outlets reported that the police were searching the flat of Construction Minister Darko Horvat in connection with his former aide Ana Mandac implicated in the scandal dubbed wind parks where the main suspect is a former state secretary Josipa Rimac.

According to the unofficial information, the ongoing probe relates to the allocation of grants under an aid scheme for crafts and SMEs in the areas populated by ethnic minorities.

There are speculations that the disbursement of grants did not follow the criteria, and it has not yet been revealed the amount of the concerned money.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 -The Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HNS BiH)  started an extraordinary convention in Mostar on Saturday to draw up a document calling for the continuation of electoral reforms and warning that conditions have not been met for an election this autumn.

In a statement to the media prior to the convention, HNS BiH leader Dragan Čović said that the aim for Croat parties to gather was to "ensure complete constitutional equality of the Croat people with the other two constituent peoples in BiH."

"We want to make sure that Croats can elect legitimate political representatives at all levels of government in BiH," said Čović.

Asked whether HNS BiH would insist on the establishment of a third entity if the election law is not amended, Čović said that he did not wish to comment on speculation.

"Our message will be a sign of unity by representatives of the Croat people in BiH," he added.

The leader of the HDZ 1990, Ilija Cvitanović, who is also a member of the HNS BiH leadership, said that the conclusions of today's convention would be in line with the country's Constitution.

"With this, we are giving BiH a chance and offering our hand in an effort to define our relations on the basis of equality," underscored Cvitanović.

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - The police in the City of Zagreb reported on Friday that one more ATM machine was blown up in the early hours of Friday in a wider area of the capital city.

According to the police reports, the accident that happened at Brezovička Cesta Road, south Zagreb, and this was the 10th cash machine explosion robbery since the start of this year, while in the whole of 2021, there were 29 such criminal offences.

The law enforcement authorities reported that of those 10 cash machine explosion robberies so far this year, three cases have been solved.

February the 19th, 2022 - With rising energy costs, with a particular emphasis being placed on fuel and gas continuing to pose issues to both business owners and average citizens alike, just how will government inflation measures really affect the average Croatian household budget?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after the government presented its inflation measures to attempt to mitigate the impact on people's standards, the country's residents, especially those who use natural gas for their heating, have begun to calculate precisely how much each of these measures will have an impact on the average Croatian household budget.

It should be noted that the government has decided to lower the VAT on gas from 25 down to just five percent, and that will be the case from April the 1st this year to March the 31st next year. After that period, gas and heat will remain permanently at the VAT rate of 13 percent, meaning that they will both be equated with the costs of electricity. In addition, the government will subsidise the price of gas to all households, with direct support of 10 lipa per kilowatt-hour, or about 20 percent of the projected price of 66 euros per megawatt-hour. The measure related to this subsidy will cost 600 million kuna.

Guided by this data, Glas Slavonije/The Voice of Slavonia writes that when it comes to gas, it would have been as much as 76 percent more expensive as of April the 1st, but with these recently revealed government measures, this increase will amount to a maximum of 20 percent, depending on stock market prices.

The average family in Croatia now pays 4,950 kuna a year for gas. Without any government intervention, this annual cost would increase by a worrying 3,762 kuna, meaning that the average Croatian household budget would need to allocate a much higher 8,712 kuna or 726 kuna per month for gas. Only by lowering the VAT rate from 25 percent down to five percent would bills grow by 48 percent, or by 2,376 kuna, and with a direct subsidy to households, the increase would be up to 20 percent. This means that as of April the 1st, the average Croatian household budget will have to allocate up to 990 kuna more for gas, or 82.50 kuna more per month.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

February the 19th, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has managed to secure a Croatian EU fund absorption extension until the summer of 2023 owing to the unusual circumstances surrounding the natural disasters which struck Central Croatia back in 2020 in the form of devastating earthquakes.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Commission (EC) has stated that when it comes to Croatian EU fund absorption, more precisely money from the Solidarity Fund, it will be sympathetic towards the circumstances surrounding it.

Those of us living in the City of Zagreb and who remember the earthquake happening and the sheer amount of time it took for any sort of real clean up to begin will have a particular understanding of the circumstances that have caused the Prime Minister to request an extension. Many obstacles, mainly in the form of paperwork and a slow administration which wasn't helped by the pandemic continue to exist on the road to post-earthquake recovery, particularly in Sisak-Moslavina County following December 2020's horrific earthquake.

"Glad to meet with Andrej Plenkovic today. We discussed reconstruction work supported by the European Union after the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquakes. Given the exceptional circumstances, the Commission will look favourably at the request to align deadlines for absorption of EUSF funds to June 2023,'' she wrote on her Twitter.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also took to Twitter and spoke about the meeting.

"Following the arguments presented by Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission will approve the use of EUSF funds to repair the damage from the Zagreb earthquake until June 2023, which is in line with the period for the use of the Banovina earthquake allocation (of funds) due to progressive damage," he wrote in his own tweet.

For more on Croatia and the EU, as well as Croatian EU fund use across various sectors, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

February the 19th, 2022 - The Zagreb Grand Expo Fair has high hopes this year, hosting multiple exhibitors from across Croatia's immediate region and expecting to attract a massive 80,000 visitors.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, can the construction industry meet the challenges of today? Is Croatia ready for energy transformation? Can the country adapt spatial planning and communal services to meet all of the needs of the 21st century? What do investors and buyers actually expect?

When it comes to these and many other issues in the field of construction, architecture, restoration, real estate, the wood processing industry, furniture, energy, mining, metal and the electrical industry, industrial electronics and robotics, ecology, landscaping and utilities, the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair will try to offer answers.

The first session of the Programme and Organising Committee of the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair was held in the city on Wednesday, February the 16th. It consisted of representatives of a number of state institutions, business and professional associations and businessmen from as many as 10 countries from across Croatia's more immediate region and the EU. The organisers of the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair are the Perspektive (Perspectives) International Economic Forum from Zagreb, the Promo Global Zagreb Association for Marketing and Business Services, and Delfin - Management Development Zagreb.

"At the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair, according to the set goals, 200 exhibitors from about 10 countries from across the region will present their products, services, innovations, novelties, as well as investment opportunities, and about 80,000 visitors are expected to turn up. Additionally, as many as 7 professional conferences and a donor conference to help earthquake-affected areas in the Republic of Croatia will be held at the fair,'' said Vinko Curo, President of the Board of Directors of Perspektive.

''We want to connect science and the economy''

Prof.dr. Velimir Srica, President of the Programme Committee of the Perspektive International Economic Forum spoke about the importance of reviving the fair industry for economic recovery and development.

"This is actually a kind of waking up from hibernation imposed on us by the coronavirus pandemic. The desire of the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair is to awaken everything that has died off over the last two years, in the whole region and beyond. We also want this fair to be a catalyst for the revival of traditional communication relations, the affirmation of large and important projects in thematic areas of the fair and an incentive for all who want to get out of this pandemic crisis as soon as possible. In addition, through this fair, we're going to strive to connect science and the economy in dialogue on the development and progress of these areas. In the search for acceptable solutions, as well as when it comes to actually offering solutions, people must meet up, talk and network,'' said Srica.

Prof. dr. prof. Dr. Sinisa Zaric, a full professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Belgrade, who has extensive experience in organising the Belgrade Fair, spoke about the importance of business connections and networking.

“Construction, energy, air conditioning and other areas that will be at the heart of the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair are advancing rapidly and continuously offering a lot of news. It is much more important to see and try out the news from these areas live than to watch them on ads or virtually. The power of events is still important, people are eager to experience them. The Zagreb Grand Expo Fair will provide a large stage for numerous scientific and professional events where experiences and knowledge from the economy and technology will be exchanged,'' said Zaric.

Vinko Curo emphasised the importance of the Zagreb Grand Expo Fair for the local community, the City of Zagreb and the wider area of Zagreb County in the context of tourism promotion, but also for the state as a whole and thanked both state and local institutions, including six ministries and the City Zagreb, for their ongoing support.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.