September 29, 2020 - The latest coronavirus news, as the Croatian National Institute of Public Health, also known as CNIPH updates recommendations for artistic performances, cultural programs, and events.

The Croatian National Institute of Public Health (CNIPH), in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Media, has developed updated recommendations for holding professional art performances, cultural programs, and events, which relate to ensuring adequate physical distance during the coronavirus epidemic.

Thus, a distance of two meters between performers of singing parts and musicians with wind instruments and a distance of four meters between visitors and performers on stage is recommended.

When arriving and leaving the space, it is recommended to keep the physical distance of visitors, contractors, and staff of 1.5 meters. The physical distance during the program must be provided by the organizer with seats 1.5 meters apart, and exceptionally, during cultural programs and low-risk events, the physical distance between visitors from one seat is allowed, with the mandatory wearing of masks during the program.

Low-risk programs are programs with exclusively seated audiences and active audience engagement, such as singing.

Indoors and outdoors, only seating areas are recommended, which should be marked and at least 1.5 meters apart. The allowed number of visitors indoors is 500 and outdoors 1000 people.

Also, CNIPH states that a dance floor in the function of a dance space is not allowed.

The recommendations also define the required distance between bar tables, their arrangement, method of numbering, and the setting of physical barriers that will create rows of visitors 1.5 meters wide.

In the event you must deviate from the recommendations, the organizer is obliged to request the approval of the competent civil protection service, which will coordinate the final decision with the competent county headquarters.

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September 29, 2020 - The countdown continues: On Wednesday, September 30, Dubrovnik caterers will close for 60 minutes as part of the "3 to 12" action, but they will also invite locals for free coffee the following day.

HRTurizam reports that fllowing the actions "5 to 12" organized by the Caterers Association of Kvarner and Istria, and "4 to 12" organized by the Caterers Association of Split and colleagues from all over Dalmatia, the Dubrovnik Caterers Association, together with caterers from the area, joins the action "3 to 12".

"Numerous companies such as travel agencies, events agencies, shipping companies, laundries, traders, small renters, and, of course, our fellow caterers, without serious proactive measures will not wait until the beginning of next season," point out the Dubrovnik Caterers Association. The Government has really helped their employees to preserve jobs, but now employers also need help to keep those jobs safe until next season.

"If there is no us, there will be no jobs. We do not ask the Government to give us money or give us anything to the detriment of other taxpayers. We just want to be taken for less in the name of taxes in the coming years and to be provided with credit lines that we would of course return through business in the coming, hopefully better years. The widely announced credit lines through Hamag Bicra and HBOR have remained empty letters on paper, and commercial banks do not approve loans to vulnerable companies and crafts in their arrangements," point out the Dubrovnik Caterers Association.

Because of all this, the Dubrovnik Caterers Association, together with colleagues from the surrounding area, decided on the action "3 to 12" and on Wednesday, September 30, from 11.57 to 12.57 to suspend serving their guests in order to draw attention to the seriousness of the situation.

"For the first time, we have decided to activate, unite and ask the Government for concrete measures to save the economy of our city and the whole of Croatia," they emphasize.

The measures required by caterers are:

1. Suspension of VAT collection until March 1, 2021

2. Permanent reduced rate of 10% on all food according to the Croatian Tourism Development Strategy from 2013 (according to the law on food - food, coffee, beer, juices, water and wine)

3. Access to liquidity lines (HAMAG)

4. Access to investment credit lines (HBOR)

5. State guarantees for loans with commercial banks, following the example of other European countries

A survey based on almost 500 caterers from all over Croatia found that almost 60% of caterers recorded a decline in business of more than 50%, and almost 40% face the fact that they will not survive until next season in these conditions. On the other hand, as many as 80% of employers will be forced to resort to terminating contracts with employees.

As a continuation of the action, on the following day, October 1, or World Coffee Day, the locals participating in the action will serve coffee to their guests for free in the same time period, from 11.57 to 12.57.

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As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of September, 2020, hotels on the Adriatic may be able to relax because they have finished with their season with higher-than-expected traffic, which could cover part of the costs and, with the help of state aid, ensure survival until spring. However, the agony for those of us in Zagreb and Zagreb hotels continues, which could be stopped by the reopening of borders within the EU, which is being intensively supported by the European Commission.

The current statistics of Zagreb hotels in September are sad to say the very least. In the period from the 1st to the 24th of September, there were 16,915 arrivals and 29,750 overnight stays realised, ie 19 percent of arrivals and 21 percent of overnight stays realised in the same period last year. So far, the leading market for Zagreb hotels is domestic, followed by Germany, Italy, Israel and the United States. Out of 71 hotels in Zagreb, 59 hotels currently have tourist traffic, 12 are closed, and the occupancy rate is currently at a rather miserable 14 percent. As of Friday, there were 1253 guests staying in Zagreb hotels, according to eVisitor. The Palace, which needs to repair the consequences of the earthquake, is not open, and the famous Hotel Dubrovnik is working at half of its normal capacity.

The Sheraton was recently opened which had several prom dinners and has some guests, but not all rooms are open. Apart from the Sheraton and the Westin, the largest hotelier in Zagreb, HUP Zagreb, as part of Maistra, opened the Zagreb, International and Jadran hotels, and Panorama was closed.

It has been briefly stated that "in these uncertain times, the hotel's operating plan depends on booking and their profitability", which means that any of these hotels could close again if there is no demand. The result is weaker than in the summer months for a number of reasons.

"Most of the hotels that opened in the summer were counting on guests passing through on their way down to the Adriatic, but they were waiting for the autumn in which they hoped for at least a somewhat increased traffic of the business segment and events. Then, at the end of August, the borders were closed, ie Croatia was put in the red zone, and the decision of the Medical Chamber that no rallies or training would be held, which is a segment that was our leader in the autumn months,'' explained Josipa Jutt Ferlan, the director of Zagreb City Hotels.

If this situation lasts, the winter will be difficult for Zagreb hotels, but the opening of the first hotels and resorts at European ski resorts, they hope, could start the opening of borders, flights, traffic and some sense of normality.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 28th of September, 2020, the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport has become active on social networks, through which they plan to strengthen communication with the sector and the public, both in tourism and in the sport segment, which also suffered significantly in the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

After the launch of their pages on Facebook and Twitter, the launch of an Instagram and a Linkedin account is being prepared in the coming days, announced Ivana Crnic, the spokesperson of the aforementioned Croatian ministry who is leading the project.

"The idea is to connect as well as possible with both sectors and the business community, which is very active and wide, to open new channels for communication and publication of our numerous pieces of news and service information that is often nowhere to be seen, from open tenders onwards. In addition, these can be channels for the promotion of numerous business activities in both sectors, good projects, actions, entrepreneurs,'' said Crnic, who is currently very satisfied with the response of users towards the aforementioned Croatian ministry's moves on social media.

For example, this weekend, on the occasion of the World Tourism Day, which is celebrated on the topic of rural development, the Croatian ministry announced a call for the best photo related to the topic, which on Sunday alone attracted about 40 users who sent in their private holiday photos.

There are two rules, the photo must be taken in the Republic of Croatia, and the author of the photo must agree to the publication on the Facebook pages of the ministry. The best author will receive a promo package from the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).

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As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of September, 2020, applications for support for the month of September began ten days ago for groups of employers and Croatian enterprises for whom the Government's job preservation measures (ORM) were extended until the end of the year.

For those Croatian enterprises eligible for part-time support, which was introduced in the middle of the year, the deadline for submitting applications for the period from September to the end of the year expired at the end of August, and applications for support start in October. The Croatian Employment Service, through which certain programmes are implemented within the framework of the ORM measures, has so far paid out a total of 6.6 billion kuna in these grants. The majority of it was paid in the first three months of implementation (salaries for March, April and May), and with the relaxation of epidemiological measures restricting work and the number of employers and employees, the total monthly amount of payments was significantly reduced.

Payments for Croatian enterprises for August are ongoing

In June, a total of 304.7 million kuna was paid out, for the salaries of 78,322 employees to a total of 18,000 employers who fell into the proper criteria with a drop in revenue. According to the latest CES data, 247.7 million kuna was paid to Croatian enterprises in the name of these grants (until September the 24th, 2020). Payments for August, they say, are still ongoing, and 121.7 million kuna has been paid out so far.

Measures to reduce working hours, intended for Croatian enterprises with more than 10 employees and the expected decline in the fund of working hours of at least 10 percent, were used by 143 employers in July who were paid more than 15.2 million kuna in support. So far, one million kuna has been paid out in the name of this type of support for nine employers for the month of August.

The CES stated that 570 applications from Croatian enterprises have been received for this support so far. The majority of payments under ORM measures in July and August refer to those requested by Croatian enterprises according to the criterion of declining income (more than 60 percent) and belonging to the activities most affected by the crisis (transport and storage, catering/hospitality, events, arts and entertainment).

These subsidies amount to 4,000 kuna per worker, more than 185.5 million kuna (for 7,329 beneficiaries) was paid in July, and slightly more than 100 million kuna (for 4,353 beneficiaries) was paid out in August. According to the criteria established after June for micro-enterprises (up to 2,000 kuna), about 11.5 thousand of them received aid in July, and the CES forwarded them more than 46 million kuna, and for August so far, slightly more than 20 million kuna has been paid out.

The latest detailed data on beneficiaries of ORM measures refer to grants for June. The list of the top 10 according to the total amount of co-financing is mostly made up of the largest tourist companies led by Valamar  (9.6m), Plava Laguna (4.86m) and Maistra (4.4m), and in the top 10 users are four more hotel companies. The Student Centre of the University of Zagreb with 3.4 million in grants and two transport companies - Cazmatrans (2.66 million kuna) and Autotrans (2.42 million kuna) were among the ten largest in June. At the same time, as of June, production companies such as AD Plastik from Solin and Boxmark Leather from Varazdin were no longer in that group of Croatian enterprises.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 28th of September, 2020, the Croatian tourism sector is very satisfied with the Slovenian travel decision which will see all of the Croatian counties located along the border with Slovenia placed on the orange list, which means that from these areas, people can enter Slovenia with a negative test and without having to go into self-isolation/quarantine.

Brod-Posavina, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Lika-Senj, Požega-Slavonia, Sibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia, Virovitica-Podravina and Zadar counties have all remained on the Slovenian Government's red list.

"I'm pleased that the Slovenian Government has recognised the efforts that Croatia is making to remain an epidemiologically safe destination, and has removed some Croatian counties from the red list for Slovenia. Slovenes are our dear and faithful guests, a large number of tourists from Slovenia visit Croatia on weekends, come here on day trips, and also visit throughout the year, so I think this Slovenian travel decision will contribute to the continuation of the tourist year,'' said the Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Brnjac. In addition to Slovenian guests visiting Croatia for a holiday, a significant number of businessmen travel from Slovenia to Croatia, which is excellent news for Zagreb's hotels.

The Croatian Tourism Association (HUT) also welcomes the decision to introduce a regional approach to Croatia, which is crucial for enabling the normalisation of the travel regime between Croatia and Slovenia. HUT is convinced that this is only the first in a series of similar decisions, which is in line with the proposal of Germany, which demands that such a travel regime be accepted by all members of the European Union (EU).

''We can see that the epidemiological situation can vary considerably from region to region within a country, so a regional approach to travel restrictions is the only way to simultaneously maintain a level of activity between two member states while maintaining effectiveness in fighting the spread of the pandemic. HUT supports the definition of a common travel regime based on a regional approach, with clearly defined epidemiological criteria that will be valid at the level of the entire EU,'' said Veljko Ostojic, the director of HUT.

HUT believes that such an approach will be adopted as soon as possible by countries such as Austria, Italy and others that are important emitting tourist markets for Croatia.

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September 28, 2020 - As a part of the International Safe Abortion Day, a public action 'I don’t want others to decide about my body' was held today in Split on Marmontova Street for the right of women to a safe and accessible medical procedure for abortion.

Domine is a feminist NGO, a non-profit and non-partisan association aimed at promoting women's rights, which has so far organized numerous protests and public actions to point out the problems that the female population is struggling with daily.

"In the 21st century, after the rights our grandmothers have exercised, we must take to the streets and say - I will not let others decide about my body. This is intended for the Ministry of Health and the irresponsible Government, which is unable to pass a law on the right to abortion, ie freedom to decide on the female body, which they owe us in a more modern way", said Mirjana Kučer, executive coordinator of the Domine Association.

"We want the new law to be passed by the decisions of the Constitutional Court, to be more modern and to improve opportunities for women's reproductive health, and not to be a step backward. It is inadmissible that a woman who has decided to have an abortion is brought in front of a commission and that she starts to reconsider that decision", she added.

The action, among others, was supported by the president of the Smart party, MP Marijana Puljak.

At the meeting, everyone adhered to the prescribed epidemiological measures, such as social distance and wearing a mask, following what was written in the invitation of the Domine association to public action.

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ZAGREB, Sept 28, 2020 - PM Andrej Plenkovic has said that President Zoran Milanovic's invitation to him to hold talks is beside the point and that the new ambassadorial appointment will be the sole topic of their meeting, repeating, in the context of the JANAF affair, that "there are no untouchables" in investigations.

Since the JANAF graft scandal broke Milanovic and Plenkovic have been trading barbs, with the government having told Milanovic that he should stabilise, to which he has responded that he is more stable than Plenkovic, recalling the PM's having lunged at a member of parliament during a debate.

Asked to comment on Milanovic's statements, Plenkovic said during a visit to Sibenik on Monday: "One can see from afar that he has stabilised."

No untouchables

The PM repeated that the autonomy of state institutions was the main topic of the ongoing debate.

"We have to get back to the main topic - the autonomy of the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime and police, the secrecy of preliminary probes and a truly uncompromised fight against corruption. That is the policy of our government, and if there is suspicion that someone has been involved in corruption, regardless of who they are, the party they belong to or their office - they have to answer for it," said the PM.

The government has been and will continue acting accordingly, in line with the law, he said, adding that "the public and all political actors have to realise that there are no untouchables. That is, as far as we are concerned, where the story begins and ends," he said.

Talks only on ambassadorial appointments

Asked by reporters if that meant that there would be no meeting to which President Milanovic had invited him, Plenkovic said that the invitation was beside the point.

"The only meeting we will have is one concerning the appointment of new ambassadors," he said.

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