November 9, 2020 - The second lockdown introduced by Austria last week has halted plans for Croatian seasonal workers. 

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that in previous years, more than 30,000 Croatian seasonal workers pack their suitcases in early November for another season abroad. This year, many hoped to work the winter season to make up for the losses caused by the coronavirus over the summer and last year’s shortened season in the Alps.

"Their plans have been ruined to such an extent," says Aleksandra Bertelt, owner of a private employment agency from Istria, and added that the start of the season would be postponed for about ten days. However, no winter season in Austria is out of the question.

Some ski resorts planned to open the season in mid-November, while most won't open until the end of this or the beginning of next month. If it had been as planned, most Croatian seasonal workers should have started work in the last week of November or the first in December.

"We're waiting. The summer season in the Alps and Austria, in general, was unexpectedly good. The locals mostly stayed on vacation in their home country, while the Germans, due to the absence of the cruising season, changed their plans and traveled to the first southern neighborhood. The summer season lasted until the end of September or the beginning of October, and then there was a lull in the demand for labor. Our seasonal workers have mostly returned home, even those with year-round jobs because they use vacation or are on 'kurzarbeit,' where their employer pays them 60 percent of their salary, which is later refunded by the state," explained Bertelt and stated that in October and the first days of November, there is a much smaller number of inquiries compared to last year.

In the past two years, she has mediated for about 400 Croatian workers in Austria, mostly in the most developed tourist region of Tyrol and Carinthia, Styria, and Voralberg.

"The problem this year may be in the fact that Austria itself has a larger number of unemployed workers, so it pays more to take them than to pay commissions for bringing in foreign seasonal workers. What can be noticed in everyday work is that employers there respond somewhat more slowly after we submit an offer for the required profile of workers," she added.

Bertelt's agency is currently signing contracts for some 70 workers from Croatia, while a dozen more are waiting for answers.

"Hoteliers are adjusting, given the situation. Some work by taking the number of reservations they currently have for the prime months and adjusting the number of workers accordingly, while others hire the same number as last year. Guided by the experience from the Adriatic this year, when guests booked two or three days before their arrival, I dare to predict that the first will have problems immediately after opening in December. Then we will have a "tsunami" because we will be overwhelmed by the demand for all profiles of workers in a short time. Certainly, we will come or get closer to the figures from last year," Bertelt is optimistic.

This year, working in Austria was administratively easier for Croats, because at the beginning of July, as the last in the European Union, Austria fully opened its labor market to Croatian citizens, who no longer need a work permit. As for the profession that is in demand, nothing has changed.

"There is always a need for chefs, waiters, maids, housekeepers, masseurs... Most importantly, their price on the labor market has remained the same. Chefs depending on qualifications and experience, working 48 hours a week can count on a monthly salary between 1700 and 2100 euro. I'm not talking about a deputy or a chef whose income goes up to 4 or 5 thousand euro. Waiters can count on earnings between 1700 and 1900 euro net, maids around 1600 eurs, and masseurs, craftspeople, beauticians. Everyone is provided with accommodation in a single or maximum double room, and a 13th and 14th salary, or Christmas and holiday allowance, in proportion to the months worked," said Alexandra Bertelt.

Croatian seasonal workers must be tested for COVID-19 at their own expense before going to Austria.

"A PCR test is required immediately upon entering the country. Those who do not have it will have to spend time in self-isolation, which does not help the worker or their employer. While they work, weekly tests will be organized, but this is paid for by hoteliers," Bertelt concluded.

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ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - Slovenian ski resorts are preparing for a full season in conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, counting on foreign tourists, including those from Croatia, in the wake of announcements that the epidemiological situation will calm down within a month.

Last week, the association of operators of ski resort transport devices sent epidemiologists a proposal on how to ensure safety for domestic and foreign skiers on ski slopes and in their facilities at a somewhat smaller capacity than in normal seasons.

Besides the standard recommendations, they suggest increasing the speed of ski lifts and cable cars in order to avoid crowds and lines which would increase the risk of infection. They also plan to ensure a sufficient distance between visitors inside their facilities and on terraces.

The gondola lift at Kranjska Gora can transport 2,400 persons to the top of the ski slopes in one hour at 3.4 metres per second, and if the number of passengers allowed per gondola is halved and the speed increased to 5 m/s, we would still be profitable, Blaz Veber of the Kranjska Gora ski resort has told Slovenian Television.

He is counting on Croatian tourists as usual. "We hope that, by adhering to all the recommendations, our winter season can start in mid-December. We are counting firstly on our domestic guests and skiers from Croatia."

Due to the situation in the UK, this year Kranjska Gora cannot count on UK tourists, who have been among the more numerous visitors, or on skiers from many European countries which have many coronavirus cases and are therefore warning against risky travel abroad.

However, Slovenian ski resorts are confident the strict lockdown in Slovenia will be lifted in about a month and that they will be open, although barely at a profit and with far fewer tourists, notably from abroad.

"Until now, Croats have been the third most numerous visitors during the winter season and thanks to them we have always been full from Christmas to January 10. If the health situation develops as we expect, I believe they will remain faithful, like Slovenians were faithful to Croatian destinations on the Adriatic this summer," Veber said.

ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - A new family pension model, to be introduced in 2022 at the earliest, will enable family members to receive a percentage of their deceased family member's pension and keep their own pension, according to unofficial information carried by the Jutarnji List daily.

According to the current family pension system, 70% of a deceased family member's pension can be inherited, but the new beneficiary, who is mostly the widow, must give up their pension if that is a better option for them, Jutarnji List said in its Monday issue.

Family members, namely widows and widowers, common law partners, life partners and informal life partners, are entitled to a family pension if the union lasted for at least three years and if they reached 50 years of age before the death of their partner, providing that the deceased insured person completed five years of insurance periods or ten years of qualifying periods.

The Croatian Democratic Union and the government made a commitment in their programmes to regulate family pensions in a different, fairer way, and a working group to be tasked with drawing up a bill should be established soon, while the bill should be ready by the end of 2021.

The percentage that a family pension beneficiary will receive is to be determined by the working group, but the request by pensioners' associations for it to be 50% of the inherited pension is not realistic, as it would be too much for the state budget to withstand.

The cheapest version would cost over HRK 1 billion a year, so the government says that the new model could only be introduced once the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is over.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, November 9, 2020  - An estimated 1,000 people gathered in Zagreb's main square on Sunday to protest against the measures passed by the national coronavirus response team.

The protest was organised by a Facebook group which demands the dissolution of the COVID-19 crisis response team and which brings together more than 160,000 people.

The demonstrators started their march outside Zagreb's central Railway Station on Sunday afternoon and walked towards the Trg Bana Jelacica Square disrespecting the anti-COVID rules, such as wearing protective masks and keeping a distance.

They were addressed by a dozen speakers who criticised the national response team, politicians and the media, saying that face masks were not protective, that families were paid to sign a statement saying that their loved ones had died from coronavirus, and the pandemic was referred to as the so-called pandemic.

One of the speakers was a man who on 14 October threatened to attack the head of Zagreb's Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Markotic, while she was giving an interview for the N1 broadcaster. That incident took place in Zagreb when an N1 reporter was about to interview Markotic for N1 television channel's news bulletin and the attacker and one more person stopped next to the television crew and their guest and started yelling, threatening them and hurling insults at them.

The organisers of today's protest also said that the measures were political and aimed at "spreading panic and creating benefits for the ruling party and not the people."

Members of the national coronavirus response team have entangled healthcare with politics to such an extent that they have lost the trust of the people and have turned science into a laughing stock, which will have lasting and indelible consequences for public confidence in the medical profession, the organisers said in the invitation to the rally, adding that such behaviour must stop.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said later on Sunday that the police would file a report on today's rally and after that decisions could be expected whether criminal reports would be filed.

ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - As of next year, Croatia will tax a majority of salaries only 20%, plus local tax, which is four percentage points less than now, Vecernji List daily said on Monday.

The government believes this change will reduce the tax burden on salaries by HRK 2 billion annually, the paper said.

How much each employed person will benefit from the cut depends on their gross salary and deductions for children and other dependent family members.

Income tax is paid by all employed persons as well as the jobless who do part-time work and pensioners whose allowance exceeds HRK 4,000.

Finance Minister Zdravko Maric says two-thirds of those liable for income tax actually do not pay it because their income is below the taxation threshold when deductions for dependent family members are added to their non-taxable monthly income (HRK 4,000) .

Those not paying income tax cannot expect anything from the tax rate cuts going into force as of January 1, which has been a source of numerous frustrations and dissatisfaction for a long time. From every salary, regardless of its amount, is first deducted 20% for pension contributions, while the rest is considered as income. Those whose gross salary is below HRK 5,000 do not pay income tax, only HRK 1,000 for pension contributions.

Additional deductions make the difference even more pronounced. If a worker with a gross salary of over HRK 10,000 has two children who bring an additional HRK 4,250 in tax deductions, there is nothing to deduct, so they cannot expect the reduction of the income tax rate to 20% will result in a higher salary as of January 1.

Children and dependent family members bring big deductions due to which parents with two or more children generally do not pay income tax. Reducing the income tax rate from 24 to 20% could result, for an employed Zagreb resident with an average gross salary of HRK 9,200 without children or dependents, in a HRK 160 higher monthly salary as of January 1, Vecernji List said.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,529 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 38 related deaths, the national COVID-19 response team said on Monday.

The number of active cases stands at 14,942. There are 1,451 COVID patients in hospitals, and 142 of them are on ventilators.

Since February 25, when Croatia reported its first case of the infection, a total of 68,776 people have contracted coronavirus, 832 of them have died, and 53,002 have recovered, including 2,227 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 28,122 people are in self-isolation.

To date, 564,686 people have been tested for coronavirus, including 5,670 in the last 24 hours.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 9th of November, 2020, Silvijo Regvar is the owner of the new, small Zagorje-based brewery in Desnic - Prostor Brewing, and he hopes to further enrich to growing Croatian craft beer scene in Zagorje and Zagreb.

''Despite the fact that I'm from Zagorje, I've always leaned more towards beer than I have to wine,'' said Silvijo Regvar, the owner of Prostor Brewing which recently presented its first Leisure beer in Gresna gorica. Apart from the fact that Zagorje, especially in the autumn time of picking and pressing, has always been on the Croatian wine list, the north of the country has gradually becoming stronger in brewing. Medjimurje's Lepi Decki, which recently opened a new plant in Cakovec and Zagorska pivovara (Zagorje brewery) from Novi Marof are fine examples of that.

Behind Prostor Brewing are Silvijo Regvar and Mario Podboj, with new member Marko Vidovic, and they entered the craft beer world for the first time last March. The works lasted until the spring of 2020 because Silvijo and Mario did everything themselves with a limited budget. Regvar says he has been intensively trying and researching beers in the US and Germany for 7 years.

"Just at that time, Croatia entered the EU and the western market opened up, so you could buy something from the western craft scene in two or three places in Zagreb. I discovered more ''hopped'' ale styles, American aromatic hops and figured out a totally different approach to brewing, and after a year or two I started making beer in the cellar myself. I normally work in the event industry as a sound engineer and working in a production rental company I didn’t really have much time for hobbies, but one weekend a neighbour, who was also brewing beer, came when I was working on Stout. It was hinted that Mario and I would open a small local craft brewery together. A year later, I decided to quit my job, return to Zagorje and combine my profession and hobby with a craft - Prostor Brewing. The plan was that one day it would be a place where beer would be produced for consumption in a pleasant environment with an art programme and an offer of local products from family farms. This is the second phase of the project called Space for Crafts and Arts,'' Regvar explained.

Production takes place in Desinic in an old family building at the foot of the church, where there was also a school, an apartment, a shop and a bar. "This space is very interesting and we tried to change it as little as possible in order to keep the traces of all of the time it has lived through, and in time we'll also leave our own beautiful traces, I hope. For now, the beer is packed in barrels only, the so-called kegs of 25 litres and such can only be drunk on tap, and very soon there will be cans which will be 0.5 litres,'' explains the young brewer who doesn't want to spread out all over Croatia but only locally, so their beer is available in Zagorje, in the north of Croatia and in Zagreb in cafes. All of Prostor Brewing's beers will be unfiltered and unpasteurised, and their ''entry'' beer is a dry hopped blonde ale called Leisure.

''Blonde ale is a light beer with a harmonious taste and a medium body, and we've modernised our version with dry hops and New Zealand hops, which give citrus aromas and freshness. Over time, we're planning to release some more styles as part of our permanent offer, as well as seasonal specials,'' he explained, adding that their capacities can allow them to produce up to 2400 litres per month. If necessary, they will invest in another fermenter, and the default limit they've set is about 7,000 litres of beer per month. They plan to launch a webshop next year. Prostor Brewing's owner believes that today is an opportunity for small independent breweries to find a sustainable niche.

“Large corporate macro breweries purchase smaller craft microbreweries and take the market share with that purchased brand, leading to confusion so consumers can no longer distinguish an independent craft brewery from corporate industrial ones,” he stated.

The Prostor Brewing team have a clear vision - they want to develop and maintain their identity, stabilise their production and business, refine their base beer, create their own share of the market, launch more beers and surprise craft beer lovers with something unexpected.

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As Morski writes on the 9th of November, 2020, this year, much like last year, the Istrian town of Porec will join the praiseworthy action of the collective planting of trees under the initiative entitled "Plant a tree, don't be a stump".

Namely, the Association "Plant a tree, don't be a stump" is continuing last year's successful tree planting campaign across the Republic of Croatia, in which more than 20,000 diverse participants across Croatia planted 60,000 trees in just three days. This year's action, originally planned for the first week of December, was postponed to March due to the epidemiological situation. However, all those who are ready can start planting trees earlier, the Association noted, meaning the action will take place in the aforementioned Istrian town in the week spanning November the 23rd to the 29th, and the plan is to plant and divide a total of 500 seedlings.

''After last year's action earned a lot of public interest, I'm glad that this year we can continue with the positive practice,'' said the Mayor of Porec, Loris Persuric, noting that in that Istrian town every year there are regular activities encouraged to maintain and enrich the the local ecosystem in spring and autumn, and this action will be an opportunity to further improve urban oases and raise awareness of the need to preserve and protect nature.

''It's important for us to take care of our green areas and this is something that Porec has become known for, especially because some trees were damaged during bad weather or had to be removed due to dilapidation or for practical reasons. However, for each felled tree, several new ones are planted, and through the spatial and general urban plan, the balance of green and construction areas is taken into account. In public areas alone, not including private plots, there is more than 50 percent greenery in urban areas, while in the wider area it exceeds 80 percent,'' he stated.

The collective planting of trees in this Istrian town is divided into two parts: the first part takes place from the 23rd to the 29th of November, when the planting of trees begins with local committees. Namely, certain areas were visited and the type of trees and mirolocations for planting were suggested, such as in places where trees were recently damaged by storms, and in children's playgrounds. Of the trees, primarily native cultures will be represented, but there will also be some less represented species planted there.

The second part of the action will take place on Friday, November the 27th starting at 09:00. Over 300 seedlings of indigenous trees will be distributed free of charge to all interested fellow citizens, which they will plant in their areas.

''Last year we were planting trees everywhere: from kindergartens and schools, to playgrounds, promenades and beaches, species such as laurel, palm, pine, holm oak, chestnut, fig, almond and other species were planted. Forests damaged during the summer storms were enriched, and tree-lined avenues were planted in several places. Representatives of local committees, locals and a large number of children took part in the actions. That is why this year we'd like invite all interested parties - whether they be companies, associations, clubs or individuals - to join us and plant a tree to help create an even more beautiful and greener Porec, the shade of which will be enjoyed by generations to come,'' concluded the mayor of this Istrian town.

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