August 8, 2020 - We are in the midst of another peak summer weekend in Croatia, with big crowds forming at the Split Ferry Port and in Supetar on Brac.

Index.hr reports that summer congestion has been reported at the Split Ferry Port on Saturday, and even bigger crowds were created on Brac.

Namely, cars can be seen waiting in a long column to board the ferry to Brac, but also in Supetar on Brac for the ferry to Split, where a kilometer-long column has been formed. Due to the large crowds, extra lines were also introduced.

"Traffic has increased since yesterday. As for this weekend, we expect 70 thousand passengers and 16 thousand vehicles. Yesterday we had two extra lines to Supetar, as for today we had one at 11:30 and we will have another one at 13:30. For now, two extra lines. We are at 70 percent of the traffic compared to the same period last year," said Jelena Ivulic of Jadrolinija.

There are also traffic jams on the roads to the sea and vice versa.

Traffic has increased on important roads: A1 Zagreb-Split-Ploce and A6 Rijeka-Zagreb motorways, A2 Zagreb-Macelj and A3 Bregana-Lipovac, A7 GP Rupa-Diracje junction, Rijeka and Zagreb bypass, Adriatic highway (DC8) at tourist entrances centers along the coast, especially in the area of ​​Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Stobrec, Podstrana, Omis, Makarska, the Istrian Y, the Krk Bridge and at border crossings.

There are also occasional traffic jams, driving on certain sections of motorways - near rest areas and at the entrances or exits of motorways, on the approaches to tourist centers along the coast, border crossings and on sections of roads on which due to works driving with temporary regulation.

Due to the wind, on the Adriatic Highway (DC8) between Senj and Sv. Marija Magdalena, traffic is prohibited for double-decker buses, vehicles with caravans and motorcycles (Group I vehicles).

Strong wind also slows down traffic on the part of the A1 motorway from the Sveti Rok tunnel to the Bozici viaduct (driving at a speed limit of 60 km/h) and in places on the A6 Rijeka-Zagreb motorway between Kikovica and the Tuhobic tunnel.

Today, HAK expects the same number of vehicles in both directions, towards the sea and inland, and will drive as on previous Saturdays with frequent traffic jams and delays. The longest columns in both directions are expected at the Lucko toll on the A1 / A6 motorway, at the entrance in the direction of the sea from 4 am to 3 pm, and at the exit towards Zagreb from 9 am to 6 pm.

Significant crowds during the weekend, and especially on Saturday, are expected at the border crossings with Slovenia (Macelj, Bregana, Kastel, Plovanija and Rupa) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Stara Gradiska, Slavonski Samac, Slavonski Brod, Maljevac and Jasenovac).

At the Trakoscan toll station on the A2 Zagreb-Macelj motorway, on Saturday afternoon, columns are expected at the exit towards the Macelj border crossing, which could last until night hours, which is why vehicles may turn off at the Krapina junction.

On Sunday, August 9, and Monday, August 10, there will be increased traffic all day on all road routes, mainly in the inland direction. Crowds are expected again at Lucko (exit from the A1 / A6 motorway), Istrian Y, Krk bridge, as well as on the A2 Zagreb-Macelj motorway (Trakoscan toll) and A4 Zagreb-Gorican, and on the A3 Bregana-Lipovac (Zagreb-east toll) ).

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ZAGREB, Aug 8, 2020 - Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic has said that the extension of the Istrian Y motorway concession agreement between Croatia and the company Bina-Istra until 2039 envisages €197 million worth of investments and that the motorway is expected to be completed to the Ucka tunnel by 2021.

The second tube to the Ucka tunnel and the full profile of the motorway should be completed by 2024, the minister said.

The concession agreement will be prolonged until 2039 even though we believe that the loans will be repaid somewhat sooner and the investment will be repaid by 2037, after which Croatia will become the owner of the motorway, Butkovic said.

This is the continuation of construction and investments in big infrastructure projects, notably transport, Butkovic said, stressing that currently around 25 billion kuna worth of investments, mostly financed with EU funds, was underway.

The European Commission on Friday approved, under EU State aid rules, Croatia's plan to prolong the Istrian Y motorway concession agreement with the company Bina-Istra. This will allow €197 million of new investments by the concession operator to go ahead while limiting distortions of competition, the EC said.

The EC said that the motorway is a 145 km long motorway linking the Istrian region with the rest of Croatia. The motorway is operated under a concession agreement from 1995, which was awarded to Bina-Istra until 2034.

The prolongation will allow Bina-Istra to finance the construction of a second carriageway (one more lane in each direction) between Vranja Interchange and the Ucka tunnel/Kvarner portal - an 8km stretch on the north-eastern side of the motorway.

ZAGREB, Aug 8, 2020 - A reform of the Croatian police force is about to be launched and it will cover the entire system, with emphasis on digitalisation and faster work, Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic has said in an interview with Hina at the start of his second term in office.

"The reform will primarily put emphasis on the use of funds, digitalisation building on the potential shown by the Ministry of the Interior during the coronavirus crisis, and consequently faster work procedures and defining of operational procedures for police officers," said Bozinovic.

He added that the reform would connect the existing information systems with new European information systems, which, he said, would, among other things, increase internal border security.

The system of civil protection is also expected to be upgraded and a new law on civil protection is to be adopted, while staff will be rejuvenated and the issue of pensions and severance packages for police officers who meet retirement conditions will be regulated, said Bozinovic.

The purpose of the reform is to cut red tape as much as possible, enable the use of modern equipment and enabling police to focus on dealing with crime, making them more visible in the streets, in city neighbourhoods, said Bozinovic.

Asked if police would in the future film their work, Bozinovic said that that would be one of the reform moves, primarily for the sake of removing what are most often unsubstantiated accusations about police conduct towards citizens or foreigners on the state border.

Bozinovic went on to say that a reform of the Police Directorate was aimed at increasing the number of staff in police stations, with emphasis on operative staff.

The minister also announced a reform of the Ministry of the Interior's administrative affairs, to shift some of the administrative duties performed by the ministry onto local government bodies or legal entities with public authorities.

He said that he believed the Ministry of the Interior should only stay in charge of issuing citizenship certificates, weapon licences and regulating the stay of foreign nationals.

Asked if the reform would contirbute to border protection considering that entry into the Schengen area is one of the national priorities, Bozinovic said that considering migration trends, equipping border police would be one of the priorities of Croatian police as well as the entire EU in the years to come.

We will additionally enhance the technical protection of the border and in that process we count on considerable money to be absorbed from EU funds, he said.

Asked about the current situation with migrations, Bozinovic said that after a lull caused by the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, migrations had started again following the relaxation of epidemiological restrictions and restrictions on the movement of migrants outside camps in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The number of illegal entries into Croatia today is 14% higher than in the same period last year, the minister said, noting that Croatia did not expect the pressure on its borders to cease but that every day it was technically and personnel-wise better prepared to protect its borders and prevent illegal entries.

August 8, 2020 - Now a symbol of the Split Riva, the first palm tree was planted on the famous waterfront promenade exactly 100 years ago. 

HRT reports that the waterfronts of Croatian coastal towns and cities were regularly planted with mulberry trees until the 1920s. Mulberries not only grew quickly, but in the summer, their canopies provided pleasant shade, and in winter, bare and pruned, they let in light and warmth. However, as tourism developed on Croatia's coast, palm trees began to be planted.

And a fun fact? We learn today that the first palm tree was planted on the Split Riva exactly 100 years ago! Today, there are precisely 105 palm trees on the Riva. In 1930, 84 palm trees were counted on the Split waterfront, which were planted in several stages.

"They wanted to have a southern Mediterranean flair, so the idea of planting palm trees came to mind, and in 1910, the first palm trees were ordered from Vis," said Stanko Piplovic, an architect and art historian.

One of the two autochthonous European species, which are a rarity today, was among the first to be planted on the Riva.

"On the Split waterfront, we have five species of palm trees, more precisely from two families of European fan and feather palms. We have three species from the feather palm family, two from the silver family and a date palm among them," said Dr. Mirko Ruscic, director of the Botanical Garden in Split.

A few years ago, due to extremely high, almost tropical temperatures, dates were ripe for the first time!

Palm trees have become a trademark of Split, so it is not surprising that many citizens were worried about their health when the palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus parasite appeared, which is one of two species of snout beetle known as the red palm weevil, Asian palm weevil or sago palm weevil. 

The people of Split are lucky to enjoy the 100 palms that decorate the Riva today!

You can see the full video on HRT here. 

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August 8, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik.

Croatian Aviation reports that low-budget German airline Eurowings plans to connect Dubrovnik with four destinations in Germany in September this year.

Eurowings has launched its lines to all destinations in Croatia except Dubrovnik, but the company plans to change that from the end of this month. Namely, Eurowings will launch four international flights to Dubrovnik Airport this summer season, but with a minimum number of weekly flights on the following routes:

Dusseldorf - Dubrovnik, from August 30, once a week (Sunday),

Cologne - Dubrovnik, from September 6, once a week (Sunday),

Berlin - Dubrovnik, from September 6, once a week (Sunday),

Hamburg - Dubrovnik, from September 6, once a week (Sunday).

A319 and A320 aircraft are planned on all routes, the backbone of the airline's network on flights within Europe.

Eurowings was significantly present in Dubrovnik last summer, but in this year's summer flight schedule, it did not run routes to this airport. However, in September, the company will, although only once a week, connect the four German cities with Dubrovnik Airport.

Furthermore, Hainan Airlines, one of the largest Chinese airlines, landed at Dubrovnik Airport on Friday!

The A330-200 aircraft took off from the Chinese city of Chongqing at 3:22 pm local time, transporting approximately 150 Chinese workers who will be engaged in the construction of the Peljesac Bridge. The plane was scheduled to land at Dubrovnik Airport at around 7:30 pm, after more than 10 hours on a direct flight from China. The plane will take off from Dubrovnik to China Saturday morning.

The aircraft with registration number B-5963 is only 6 years old and can carry a total of 214 passengers (36 in business and 178 passengers in economy class). This is the first direct flight from China organized exclusively for workers from the Peljesac Bridge.

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August 8, 2020 - The second-largest nature park in Croatia, Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, continues to develop its tourist offer guided by the slogan "Discover the Undiscovered".

HRTurizam reports that as of this weekend, two solar-powered boats will sail along the Strug River from the port in the village of Plesmo. These are almost silent vessels that will enable tourists to discover the beauty of the hitherto self-contained tributary of the Sava River.

"Discover the undiscovered - is the slogan with which we encourage guests to come to Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, but also which directs us in the development of visitor infrastructure and content. Namely, we who work in Lonjsko Polje, as well as those who live here, know how important perspective is for experiencing the beauty of the local nature. That is why we want to provide visitors with a unique view of Lonjsko Polje - both the one from the lookout point and the one from the river," said Ivor Stanivukovic, director of the Public Institution Lonjsko Polje Nature Park.

Tomislav Kor

In addition to solar-powered boats, canoes await visitors at the Plesmo pier. Important information for travel agencies is that boats will be able to be used on weekends and holidays with prior reservation, and during the week by appointment. Also, from the Krapje Visitor Center to the pier in Plesmo, visitors will be driven by an oldtimer tractor with a trailer.

"Solar-powered boat rides on the Struga allow tourists to sail silently into beautiful nature. They will pass by beaver habitats, see cattle grazing, experience the flight of birds for which Lonjsko polje is known among ornithologists around the world," concluded Stanivukovic.

Lonjsko polje Nature Park is the second-largest nature park in Croatia. In order for visitors to leave it with as many fond memories as possible, great attention is paid to the development of the visitor infrastructure and content.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ivan Tominac writes on the 7th of August, 2020, the Croatian company Infinity luxury is the very first in the entire world to make an outdoor portable shower with an inverted L design made of stone, ceramic or HPL that has its own power supply and as such consumes less water.

Today, sustainability is the primary focus of the economy, entrepreneurship and society in general, and the main backbones of any sense of sustainability are technology and environmental protection. The connection between these two concepts is becoming the key to success today, and Infinity Luxury, a Croatian company that manufactures smart showers, knows that very well.

Their most important goal is to point out the global problem of drinking water consumption, and to be part of the driver of awareness of this problem, as such, they focused on developing a system that will save water. ”Through three years of business, with many ideas as well as failed attempts, we were able to come up with a solution that allows for water savings of between 50 percent and 75 percent. We achieved this by reducing the water pressure inside the shower and by activating a motion sensor,'' stated Stefano Ladavac, Infinity Luxury's director.

Young entrepreneur Stefano Ladavac started thinking about this idea, noticing that the showers on the beaches in Rovinj, Istria, are quite outdated and consume a lot of water when used. He confirmed his thesis at the beginning of 2017 by working at a hotel in Opatija where the situation was very much the same. It was these situations that prompted him to start thinking about an outdoor eco-friendly stone shower.

“I had no idea how to create an outdoor shower that needs electricity, but that doesn't have to depend on it. Then I saw the brilliant idea for a smart bench from Ivan Mrvos that uses solar energy for power. In this way, I came up with the idea that the product design should be the inverted letter L, in order to place solar panels for the production of electricity on top,'' explained Ladavac.

For the realisation of such an idea, it was necessary to establish a company, and as Ladavac notes today, the goals and thoughts about entrepreneurship that he had back then are very different from those he has at the moment. At times, they even considered giving up, but with support such as that from European Union funds, they continued despite the obstacles in their path. The desire for success wasn't an easy road to take, and they often were dogged by fear and made some bad decisions, but the company now employs five people and two external associates, and the goal is to have ten employees by the end of this year.

For success today, it isn't important to be the best, but different - this is the mantra that has accompanied Infinity Luxury over the past few years of the company's constant growth and improvement. Their showers are special for their sensor-activated water activation system, which not only reduces water consumption, but also increases the hygienic conditions of the shower by reducing the possibility of bacterial transmission, it also independently produces energy via its own solar panels. Additionally, they can boast of being the first in the world to make an outdoor portable shower with a special inverted L design from stone, ceramic or HPL.

Before launching their product on the market, Infinity Luxury tried to convince potential customers of its quality and functionality. For this reason, in the first years of operation, they has their showers tested out in public locations and on a test specimen by a pool.

“After it turned out that the product did in fact meet all of the conditions, we launched it on the Croatian market. The first customer of our smart shower was the nCroatian ational team member Dejan Lovren, for whom we installed a personalised shower by the pool of his hotel, hotel Joel in Novalja. After that, we started to record better results here on the domestic market and we decided to present our innovation on the foreign market.

The first partners came from England and Italy, and now we're expanding our business to America, Asia and Dubai. Cooperation with a manufacturer of ceramic tiles called Marazzi has opened the doors of the world market to us, so we've set a goal to be present across twenty markets by the end of 2020,'' added Infinity Luxury's director.

The price of the product is dictated by the choice of materials and functions, and the starting price is 2000 euros.

The installation of the product, as they say from the company, is quite simple, and before the delivery, the customer receives a draft of the foundation that needs to be prepared for the shower. Although the price, especially here on the domestic market, can be a problem, Infinity Luxury's sales and marketing department makes every effort to justify the price. ”Our partners receive training and receive all the necessary materials to be able to handle our product properly. The installation of ceramic and HPL showers is less demanding than those made of stone, solely because of the weightm'' added Ladavac.

They are currently focusing on the development of the new Adaquo brand, which will focus on sustainability and water saving, and together with Marazzi, they're developing a luxury brand of outdoor showers.

”The plan is to continuously develop new products that will contribute to environmental protection. Its our R&D team that is completing the prototype of the shower that we will present at Idea Knockout, and it's an outdoor shower that will have an advertising screen, and it will be controlled through applications,'' concluded Infinity Luxury's director.

For more on Croatian innovation, follow Made in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes on the 7th of August, 2020, the Zadar-based company Pelagos net farma, co-owned by Croatian General Ante Gotovina, as a major tuna exporter, is also coming into focus due to its investment-related plans.

Ante Gotovina's company claims that it hasn't really suffered as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the devastating effect it has had on the global economy. Given the company's annual report, it seems that despite this new situation in which we all find ourselves and in which many companies are struggling and even going bust, they are in fact facing a new wave of investments, which, in addition to the well-established tuna business in the Balabra farm near Murter, intends to expand into the area of ​​blue fish.

According to the annual report of the Management Board for 2019, signed by President Nenad Horvat and member of the Management Board Leo Mandic, Pelagos net farma will continue to modernise its business throughout the remainder of the year 2020, with the aim of increasing efficiency and improving the achieved results, regardless of the difficult economic situation that has taken hold.

However, in addition to new investments in the continuation of the modernisation of business processes, additional investments are planned regarding the purchase of new ships for Ante Gotovina's company.

While one vessel will be used for mariculture work, the other will be involved in catching small blue fish. The amount of investment in question isn't specified in the report, so it remains to be seen in practice the pace of investment as well as the relationship with the plant that the company already has for processing anchovies with a maximum capacity of 1000 tonnes.

Former General Ante Gotovina's company is doing well and boasts a respectable number of employees - there were 106 at the end of 2019, and at the same time, the company is reaching its maximum profit levels, thus achieving close to 8 million kuna in net profit, which marks an encouraging 10 percent growth when compared to the previous year. Back in 2019, the company realised impressive total revenues amounting to 74 million kuna, ie 35 percent more than was realised in 2018.

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