ZAGREB, Nov 19, 2020 - Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros has tested positive for coronavirus, the Health Ministry announced in a statement on Thursday morning.

The minister is in stable condition with mild symptoms and will continue to perform his duties in isolation, adhering to all epidemiological measures, the statement said.

ZAGREB, Nov 18, 2020 - Hundreds of red and white candles were launched into the Danube near Eltz Castle in Vukovar on Wednesday in memory of the defenders and civilians who were killed or went missing while defending Vukovar during the war.

The candles are part of the "Light River of Remembrance" project and they were launched on the occasion of Homeland War Victims Remembrance Day as well as Vukovar and Skabrnja Victims Remembrance Day.

Red candles were lit for the Vukovar defenders and civilians who are still unaccounted-for, while white ones were for killed defenders and civilians, said Ruzica Maric, head of the Vukovar City Museum.

In the late autumn and early winter of 1991, 2,717 people were killed in Vukovar during the aggression by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNS) and Serb paramilitary units. Also, 286 persons from wartime Vukovar remain unaccounted for.

Vukovar was occupied by the JNA and Serb paramilitaries on 18 November 1991. About 7,000 POWs were taken to Serbian concentration camps while about 22,000 Croats and other non-Serbs were driven out of the city. The occupation ended on 15 January 1998 with the peaceful reintegration of the Danube river region into Croatia's constitutional order.

About 10,000 patriots from all over Croatia and Croat-populated parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed through Vukovar today as part of the Remembrance Procession, including Croatia's state leaders.

President Zoran Milanovic did not take part in the procession, but laid a wreath and lit a candle at the Ovcara memorial.

A delegation of the Social Democratic Party led by president Pedja Grbin laid a wreath and lit candles at the Vukovar Memorial Cemetery. They did not take part in the procession for epidemiological reasons.

Although announced, the Serbian president's special advisor Veran Matic did not take part in the procession. He visited the Memorial Cemetery in the morning, laying a wreath and lighting a candle.

In a statement for the public broadcaster HTV, he expressed deep regret for everything that happened in Vukovar during the war.

"I came here... where the people of Vukovar who were killed are buried, so that we pay our respects to the victims and show solidarity with the victims' families and to once again vow that we will do our best to trace the missing, so that their families can bury them in dignity, and so that we can set the foundations for establishing trust and reconciliation, normal coexistence, both here in Vukovar and between Croatia and Serbia," said Matic.

"I express deep regret for everything that happened in Vukovar, to the people of Vukovar and everyone who was killed here," he added.

November 19, 2020 - The sale of single-use plastic products banned in Croatia next summer - a look at what that means from July 1, 2021. 

Vecernji List reports that the sale of disposable plastic products such as light plastic bags, q-tips, cutlery, plates, straws, and beverage mixing sticks will be banned in Croatia from July 1, 2021. This is determined by the new Law on Waste Management, the proposal of which was prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development following EU directives.

Under EU directives, Member States have an obligation to ban the sale of single-use plastic products until July 3, 2021, and Croatia has decided to do so on the first day of July next year. This will ban the sale of oxo-degradable plastic products, balloon-attached sticks, and plastic food containers made of expanded polystyrene, such as boxes with or without lids used to hold food intended for immediate consumption that doesn't require any further preparation such as baking, cooking, or heating.

From July next year, containers and beverage cups made of expanded polystyrene, including stoppers and lids, will also be banned. One of the most important innovations, which many will feel when shopping is the ban on light plastic bags. These are carrying bags with a thickness of more than 15 and less than 50 micrometers. Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and the Council on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products with measures for disposable plastic products, which include a ban on selling them, was adopted last year.

EU directives set new, higher goals for waste separation and recycling by 2035, which were also implemented in the new Croatian Law on Waste Management, which is now being adopted. Thus, at least 55 percent of the mass of municipal waste must be recovered by recycling and preparation for reuse by 2025, while that percentage is 60 percent by 2030 and 65 percent by 2035. Also, the amount of municipal waste disposed of in landfills must not exceed 10 percent of the total municipal waste mass produced by 2035. And according to the latest preliminary calculation of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development for the municipal waste separation rate in Croatia, in 2019, it was about 37 percent, which is an increase of six percent compared to 2018.

As for the disposal of municipal waste in Croatia, more than 60 percent is still disposed of in landfills. The bill stipulates, among other things, that 77 percent of the weight of beverage bottles, including their caps and lids, placed on the market during the year must be collected separately by 2025 to recycle disposable plastic products separately. That percentage by 2029 must be 90 percent. On the other hand, companies and entrepreneurs can be satisfied with the novelty of the law, which abolishes the obligation to appoint a commissioner for waste management and a deputy commissioner for legal entities that employ 50 or more persons. Also, the obligation to obtain a certificate of training in waste management is abolished for these persons. These certificates will no longer be required for directors, i.e., natural persons who manage the public service provider to collect mixed municipal waste.

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November 19, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as LOT regularly operates to Zagreb in December this year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Polish national airline LOT has announced its flight schedule for December. There will be only one active line to Croatia, between Warsaw and Zagreb.

LOT's winter flight schedule in 2019 operated on the Warsaw - Dubrovnik line. However, this year, that line will not be in operation. As confirmed to Croatian Aviation by the Polish airline, there was an option of direct flights to Dubrovnik during the Christmas and New Year holidays, but due to the spread of the pandemic, the line will remain out of service.

LOT will thus maintain their presence on the Croatian market with one line, operating between the capitals of Poland and Croatia, Warsaw and Zagreb.

The airline will not increase the number of weekly flights on this route from mid-December, as is the case with many airlines, and one more flight per week is available only between December 7 and 12.

In the first week of December, LOT will operate to Zagreb on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and in the second week, additionally on Saturdays.

In the last two weeks of December, four flights a week have also been announced. Depending on the day, departures are available in the morning and afternoon.

LOT has significantly increased the number of routes to Croatia in this year's summer flight schedule and plans to operate on them next year as well. We will have to wait until January for the final confirmation of the flight schedule for the summer of 2021. Still, the number of Polish tourists in Croatia was relatively high even in the season behind us, marked by a global pandemic and declining demand in tourism and transport.

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November the 19th, 2020 - NP Kopacki rit is known for its beauty and natural wealth, and the birds who already live there are set to find additional reasons to continue to remain as hundreds of species will be totally protected within the park's safe zone.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/HEP writes, NP Kopacki rit is one of the largest wetlands in all of Europe and already very widely known for its bird population. It is also known as a bird's paradise because, acting as a natural triangle of the Danube and Drava rivers, it is a shelter for hundreds of bird species. It is home to as many as 300 different species of birds, which makes up 80 percent of the species recorded in the ornithofauna of all of Croatia.

More than 140 species are regular or occasional nesting birds at NP Kopacki rit. Of particular interest are those that nest in large colonies, such as the gray heron and the majestic river gull. During the spring and autumn migration periods, NP Kopacki rit acts as an important resting place for many wetland birds, and the largest population of woodpeckers in the entire Danube basin nests there.

Given the current climate and environmental crisis, the protection of wildlife on our planet has become more important than ever before. One of the biggest threats to wild bird species is collisions when in flight with power lines that cause thousands of deaths and injuries to birds each year, all of which can be avoided by applying protective measures. In order to protect Croatia's many birds, the “LIFE Danube Free Sky” project was launched, which addresses these threats and is a unique example of broad transnational cooperation along one of the most important migration corridors and wintering grounds for many bird species in Europe - the Danube.

Namely, bird mortality caused by interaction with transmission lines and other power facilities has been documented for over 380 bird species. In the area covered by the project "LIFE Danube Free Sky" there are about 2074 km of overhead transmission lines which are very dangerous to birds. This range of transmission lines poses a serious and significant threat to the wintering and reproduction of the population of 12 target species. By installing bird flight diversions on transmission line conductors and isolating dangerous transmission line poles in 23 special protection areas, as well as across nine important areas for birds, the project will prevent the death or injury of about 2,000 target species (and many more species) from collisions with transmission lines each year.

The project officially started on September the 1st, 2020, and funding from the European Union's LIFE programme has been approved. During the planned five years of project implementation, 15 partners from seven countries will develop strong cooperation and implement the most effective solutions to prevent these existential threats to birds. After this period, the application of protective measures on transmission lines will increase the visibility of bird guides to more than 245 km of sections of the highest priority transmission lines. On top of all of that, more than 3,200 of the most dangerous transmission line poles within the project area will be adapted to ensure bird safety.

With the completion of this project, NP Kopacki rit, as the largest inland Danube delta and the place where this mighty river shares its power with lakes, ponds, ridges and marshes, will become an even safer place for hundreds of fantastic bird species.

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As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 18th of November, 2020, keels for new builds (novogradnje) 543 and 544 have been laid at Brodosplit, the last two ships from the series of coast guard vessels, contracted for the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia.

The 43.16-metre-long and 8-metre-wide coast guard vessels will be equipped with basic weapons used by all coastguards across the world, namely a 30-millimeter-diameter automatic cannon and two 12.7-mm manned machine guns, as well as 4 hand-held portable anti-aircraft missile systems.

''During the visit of President Zoran Milanovic, we thanked him for supporting this Croatian industry and for promoting it abroad, but we'd also like to thank the Croatian Government for finding a way to continue financing the coast guard vessel project. This ship is the most complex product that Croatian industry can produce. The ships we make for export contain 70 percent Croatian components, and from the really favourable price at which we build these coast guard vessels, 45 percent of the amount is returned immediately or in a short time to the state budget,'' stated Tomislav Debeljak, President of Brodosplit.

''For new builds 541 and 542, the production of the bow parts of the steel hull was completed after the keels were laid back at the beginning of September this year. Today's laying of the keels for new builds 543 and 544 is a continuation of the project of building ships for a series of coast guard vessels for Croatia, which will place the Croatian coast guard alongside the most modern coast guards of the world,'' said Leonardo Martinovic, the director of this construction project.

The ships from the series will be equipped with protection against nuclear-biological-chemical action with a special system for NBK filter ventilation and sealing of ship's working and living spaces. They will be equipped with a stern ramp and a 7.7-metre-long rigid hull sailing boat for 6 crew members with a propulsion diesel engine that provides speeds of 40 knots and a sailing autonomy of 60 NM.

The capacity of the ships is 17 people with a sailing autonomy of 10 days. They are very capable of pursuit and achieve speeds of up to 29 knots, which are provided by the main marine engines of 2 x 2525 kW.

A special feature is the optimisation of marine systems where with one fuel injection they can sail 1000 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots. Optimised fuel consumption due to the innovative hull shape design and excellent sailing properties allows for very efficient use, resulting in significant savings compared to similar ships. With the introduction into operational use of the coast guard vessel series, the project of modernisation and development of new capabilities of the Croatian Navy will continue.

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The Rovinj mayor, Marko Paliaga, told local portal Glas Istre that he had decided to put an end to illegal construction and to investors who don't respect spatial plans and dare to build without permits without any problems.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of November, 2020,  said that all Istrian towns and municipalities had signed a declaration asking the competent Ministry of Construction and the State Inspectorate to amend local laws to allow local government units to control illegal construction outside of designated construction areas.

the Rovinj mayor said that they had sent a lot of pictures of illegal construction to the chief state inspector, but there has been reaction and the problems are only accumulating.

''I'm worried because there has been a lot of talk about the second wave of legalisation. This is probably why these incredible situations occur in which tents, awnings and large umbrellas are now being placed on agricultural land, in order to provide shade and create the illusion of an already built facility. We, by the way, record all this with a drone and we can't understand how this is possible. Agricultural landowners do this consciously, intentionally, for the sake of ortho-photo shooting,'' he said.

Illegal builders, he says, are mostly foreigners

''It especially hurts me that these people are often Slovenes, Italians and Austrians. They're the most aggressive, arrogant and don't respect our space. I'm the only minority mayor in Croatia, I'm Slovenian. And that's why I can legitimately say that I'm extremely disappointed in Slovenian politics and actions regarding the issue of illegal construction here in Istria. I'm disappointed in their relationship with us. We're almost fellow citizens, and then they, the Slovenes, behave so irresponsibly and ruthlessly towards our territory! Our Istria is not only ours, but also theirs, it's also Slovenian, all the way to the border with Trieste. Instead of being together, protecting nature’s resources in a coordinated way, they disobey the rules and destroy it. I can’t figure it out and I don’t want to accept it. Both we here and the Slovenes are Istrians together. We should be careful how we treat the land as it's our greatest wealth.

I think that the Slovenes are doing enormous damage to Istria at this moment in time. They showed that on Crveni vrh near Umag, then in Duga uvala, Barbariga… I'm inviting Croatian citizens to visit Barbariga and see how ready these foreigners are to destroy our territory.

We struggle, we work according to procedures, bring all kinds of plans to the table, as well as various studies on the use of space, we conduct public debates and then a Slovene comes, builds a weekend house where he shouldn't and - nothing is said to anyone.

Here, the territory is being exploited in an extremely unacceptable way: it's being permanently destroyed through the construction of houses or villas with swimming pools in the middle of agricultural land. I'm a mayor who would like to be allowed, after being elected through a direct election, to be directly responsible as well. Give us mayors authority and it will be seen who is responsible among us and who isn't, who wants to work and who doesn't,'' the Rovinj mayor said, adding that illegal building is going on around Rovinj every single day.

''It happens every day, literally every single day! In the first wave, someone legalised a 50-square-foot facility, and now it’s being upgraded to 150 square feet! Tourist facilities are being upgraded. If we don't stop this phenomenon, it will take away the competitive advantage and attractiveness of Rovinj in the long run. Traffic in private and hotel accommodation will be lost, spaces will be illegally rebuilt, our infrastructure will be overloaded and we will no longer have what we have, and that's the preservation of space. That's our wealth,'' concluded the Rovinj mayor, adding that in neighbouring Slovenia, such individuals would end up in prison for what they do here, and that there is no end to this ''arrogance'' here in Croatia because they are not effectively punished.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of November, 2020, the Management Board of the Croatian Podravka made a decision on the payment of a one-time award to the company's loyal employees in the amount of 1,000 kuna net based on the achieved business results for the first nine months of this year and as a thank you for their contribution and engagement during these extremely difficult times dominated by the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, in accordance with the provisions of the Collective Agreement of the Podravka Group, every employee of the Croatian Podravka who has a child under the age of 15 who is entitled to healthcare is paid a gift on the occasion of the quickly approaching Christmas holidays in the amount of 600.00 kuna net.

"On this occasion, I would like to especially thank all of our workers for their enormous contribution and engagement in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. During this year, the economy has been exposed to many negative impacts, but we have shown that this company is ready to transform its business in a very short time and respond to the many challenges we face every day. I'm convinced that we will continue to successfully deal with all of these challenges and continue to build an even more successful Podravka,'' said Marin Pucar, President of the Management Board of Podravka.

The Croatian Podravka has already rewarded its employees twice this year. Back in March this year, Podravka's employees in the production and logistics units and directly related services were rewarded with 1,000 kuna net for working in three shifts, given the then increased market needs for Podravka's products, and in July with recourse up to the maximum non-taxable amount of 3,000 kuna net. The company also paid a bonus to all employees in the amount of 1,000 kuna net.

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