ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - There will be no early election, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said during Question Time in Parliament on Wednesday after MP Sandra Benčić (We Can!) said that the government should go because of a string of scandals implicating cabinet ministers and the failure of the post-earthquake reconstruction process.

"We have dealt with all the challenges, and what have you do done in Zagreb about securing funds for the reconstruction?" Plenković said in his response to Benčić, whose party is in power in the capital.

Benčić then congratulated Plenković on yet another issue meant to shift the focus away from important issues of public interest, the request for a pardon for Yugoslav-era secret service officials Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač, who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court in 2016 for their roles in the murder of Croatian political emigrant Stjepan Đureković outside Munich in 1983.

"What do we have to do with Perković and Mustač, why are you looking at us? You should be looking at those who support you. Look at (the President's Office), that's where the orchestra is," the PM replied.

Ivan Karin of the ruling HDZ asked Health Minister Vili Beroš about health care for cancer patients, to which Beroš said that all urgent cancer and chronic patients had been provided with continued care despite the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have done all in power to ensure that all patients can exercise their right to health care during the pandemic," the minister said.

Independent MP Ružica Vukovac expressed concern about the sale of the Russian bank Sberbank's stake in the Fortenova Group to the Hungarian Indotek Group. Plenković responded by saying that the government had no influence on that decision, but that it considered it good.

"We think that Sberbank's decision to sell its 43 per cent stake in Fortenova is actually very good for the company because it is no longer burdened with the image of Russian co-ownership," the PM said, adding that the government had helped both the company and its suppliers to survive with no cost to the government.

Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said that Croatia had sufficient energy supplies and that in that regard it was in a better situation than most EU countries.

Croatia satisfies 80 per cent of its needs for electricity from its own production. As for natural gas, some of it is domestically produced and some imported, with the LNG terminal at Omišalj on the northern Adriatic island of Krk serving as an alternative supply route, and the oil terminal at Omišalj is also an important point of import for this part of Europe, Ćorić said.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - The average net monthly wage for February 2022 amounted to HRK 7,452, up by 5.9% on the year in nominal terms, but down by 0.4% in real terms, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Month on month, the average net wage was up by 1% in nominal terms and by 0.1% in real terms.

The median net wage for February was HRK 6,151.

The highest average net wage was paid in the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations, amounting to HRK 16,787, while the lowest was in security and investigation activities at HRK 4,758.

The average gross wage was HRK 10,109, up by 6.8% in nominal terms and by 0.5% in real terms from February 2021 and up by 1.3% in nominal terms and by 0.4% in real terms from January 2022.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that Construction, Physical Planning and State Assets Minister Ivan Paladina was brought into the government to step up post-earthquake reconstruction and that it was up to him to explain everything concerning his assets.

"He was brought in to step up the reconstruction process, including public infrastructure, private houses and buildings in both Zagreb and the Banovina region. That's his job," Plenković said in parliament during Question Time.

He was responding to Ivana Posavec Krivec of the Social Democrats, who asked why Paladina assumed the full responsibility of a minister when there were so many "unknowns" and suspect questions about him.

Plenković said Paladina had experience in construction and in running projects in the private sector.

"If you appoint someone who is a politician and has legitimacy, who is part of the parliamentary majority, it's not good. If you appoint someone from the public sector who has not earned even one kuna in the government sector so far and who told me he could explain and justify everything he has, then that's it."

Plenković said Paladina came from the private sector and took a risk, adding that Paladina presented a five-point plan to step up reconstruction, that the government and the ministries involved had many meetings, and that he himself made sure that Croatia could spend European Solidarity Fund money for the reconstruction longer than planned.

"That's an incentive so that, with that and other sources, we can deal with reconstruction, which will take years," Plenković said.

He added that he had "great expectations (of Paladina). It's up to him to explain everything concerning his assets because that has nothing to do with either you or me. What concerns me is that he addresses and steps up the reconstruction process or another subject, whether it's construction, physical planning or state assets."

For more, check out our politics section.

April 21, 2022  - On Wednesday, April 20th, the Two Palaces complex in Zadar was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Ministries of Culture and the Regional Development and EU Funds. A new home for Croatian culture and Modern art has settled in the centre of Zadar.

Citizens and tourists of Zadar will finally get into the heart of the old town, a new space intended not only for culture but also for exciting events. The Zadar City Library is returning to the city’s heart, and the Zadar Concert Office and the Zadar National Museum will find their place in the Two Palaces complex.

The Main Entrance of the complex (Image: Total Croatia News)

With the slogan “Past and Future of Culture in Zadar”, the inauguration of the Two Palaces was held in the Great Hall with the participation and exhibition of the hosting organizations: Radio Zadar, Zadar Music School, Zadar Chamber Orchestra, Croatian Singing Music Society Zoranić, Zadar Dance Ensemble, Zadar City Music.

On the first and the second floor, the public can admire until June 20th the great exhibition “Make them face the truth” by the ironic and anti-conventional Croatian sculptor Ratko Petrić.

A Ratko Petric sculpture in the Two Palaces (Image: Total Croatia News)

In the exhibition halls of the Rector’s Palace (ground floor), the public will find a selection of exceptional works from the holdings of the Art Gallery of the National Museum of Zadar (NMZ) through the exhibition Modern – Postmodern (until June 4th).

One of the halls of the exhibition Modern – Postmodern (Image: Total Croatia News)

In the new Polyvalent Hall, through the lens of Ante Brkan, we will take a peek into the life of the Dešpalj family. Finally, in the Rector’s Palace, visitors will have the opportunity to go through a permanent exhibition entitled Six Salon Stories NMZ.

The main outdoor stage hosted the Split duo Banana Sound and Alejandro Buendia & Sons, a project by Saša Antić from TBF. Throughout the evening in the Rector’s Atrium, from 19:30 to midnight, there was an entertaining music program with a concert by Oridano Gipsy Jazz.

During the ten days of celebrating the grand opening of the Two Palaces, a series of concerts, film screenings, workshops, lectures, and literary gatherings are scheduled. Among these, we’d like to highlight the performance of the HRT Jazz Orchestra accompanied by American saxophonist Victor Goines, the screening of “Prova d’orchestra”, a discussion on literature with Julijan Matanović and Pavle Pavličić, and a lecture “On Pavle Dešpalj through the prism of musical contribution in Zadar”. You can find the full program here. 

Most of the space in the new complex is intended for exhibition and gallery activities. At the same time, a large Polyvalent Hall is reserved for music and film events, also thanks to the cooperation with the year-round cinema “Kino Zona”, an independent film association cooperating with Two Palaces since the beginning with its own screenings and programs. 

Find here the official Facebook page of Two Palaces.

For more, check out our lifestyle section

MAY 20 UPDATE - Zagreb Digital Nomad Week has been postponed until Autumn 2022 - More details and finalised dates coming shortly. 

April 20, 2022 - As Croatia continues to develop its digital nomad story, the return of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week is announced. 

It has been quite a journey. 

Two years ago, few people in Croatia had heard about digital nomads, and perhaps even less nomads considered Croatia as a nomad destination. 

Croatia's early adoption of a digital nomad visa/permit and the associated global media interest at the height of the pandemic changed all that, and suddenly Croatia became one of the most talked-about nomad destinations in Europe. 

One year ago, few people would have used Zagreb and digital nomads in the same sentence, as most of the destination interest was on the coast. 

And yet, six months ago, in October 2021, Zagreb was named as the 5th most-liked city in the world in the influential and comprehensive NomadList 2021 survey of its members. Not only fifth in the world, but also the first in Europe!

(Zagreb Digital Nomad Week won two awards at Conventa 2021 in Ljubljana)

A key component of last year's Zagreb nomad calendar was the award-winning Zagreb Digital Nomad Week and Ambassador program, which put the Croatian capital firmly on the global nomad map. At a time when travel was restricted due to the pandemic, Zagreb Digital Nomad Week was one of the first live conferences to be held, with many speakers and participants visibly joyful at the opportunity to meet in person. Seven themes over seven days in seven locations all over the city, the true potential of Zagreb as a nomad destination was revealed. And the visitors were impressed. As keynote speaker Dean Kuchel from Israel noted in his video interview below, the only thing missing in Zagreb for digital nomads was more digital nomads. 

And those nomads are coming... 

And with a good crowd expected in June for the return of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week! The 2022 edition will take place from June 13-19, continuing the partnership between Zagreb Tourist Board, Saltwater Nomads, the Digital Nomad Association Croatia, and Total Croatia News, building on the considerable success of 2021. To get a flavour of last year's event, check out the conference overview video below, as well as the Jolly Wrap Up event in December.

Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022, which conveniently takes place just before the legendary INMusic Festival (this year featuring The Killers) promises to be even better than last year. WIth both Zagreb as a nomad destination, and the conference itself firmly established, coupled with the ease of travel compared to a year ago, this year's event is already attracting some exciting global names as keynote speakers, with many more live attendees expected to contribute to the vibe.  

And with a lively social plan incorporating Zagreb's growing nomad community to complement a stimulating week of presentations and panels all over the city, why are you not bookmarking Zagreb for your travels in June?

More details on Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022 will be released this week. To follow the latest and register your interest, check out the official event website which will be fully updated shortly as well as other news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

April 20, 2022 – The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) has announced its prestige award winners for 2021, based on a decision from 30 March. The awards will traditionally be presented on HAZU Day, on 29 April.

24Sata recaps the winners. For the field of social sciences, the award goes to Dr. sc. Katarina Horvat for the book "Household servants in Zagreb 1880-1914". (Srednja Europa d.o.o., Zagreb, 2021).

Prof. dr. sc. Marcela Hanzer has won the Mathematical, Physical, and Chemical Sciences Award for outstanding recent scientific contributions in the theory of representations of classic P-adic groups and the theory of automorphic forms and the Langlands program, published in a series of six papers from 2018 to 2021 in prestigious international journals.

For the field of natural sciences, the award was given to Dr. sc. Petra Bajo for scientific research on paleoclimatic changes through the past based on the geochemical characteristics of speleothems, published in 24 scientific papers in the last five years, and for discovering the role of Earth's orbital parameters on the development and duration of transitions between colder and warmer periods in the Pleistocene, published in the Journal of Science in 2020.

Prof. dr. sc. Ivana Tlak Gajger was awarded for the field of medical sciences, for scientific achievements by publishing 30 scientific articles in the last five years (2017-2021), which form one thematic unit entitled The Biology and Pathology of Bees.

Prof. dr. sc. Ekrem Čaušević has won an award in the field of philological sciences, for the book "Structure, syntax, and semantics of infinitive verb forms in Turkish. Turkish and Croatian languages in comparison and contrast" (Ibis grafika, Zagreb, 2018).

In the field of literature, the award went to Ivan Lovrenović for the book "Putovi su, snovi li su" published by Fraktura in 2019.

In the field of fine arts, the award was given to Milan Bešlić for authoring exhibitions and promoting the work of art of academician Edo Murtić on the 100^th anniversary of his birth.

In the fields of music art and musicology, prof. art. Mladen Tarbuk was awarded for the composition Sinfonia, which premiered on April 27, 2017, as part of the Music Biennale, at the concert of the HRT Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pierre-André Valade.

Assoc. prof. dr. sc. Jonatan Lerga is the winner in the field of technical sciences for the work "Advanced Digital Signal Processing and Machine Learning", a scientific unit with 28 papers, 13 of which were published in Q1 journals, and 11 in Q2 journals, and Dr. sc. Lerga is the first author of five and the second author of ten works.

The choice for HAZU awards for the highest scientific and artistic achievements in 2021 was made by the Presidency of the Academy at a session on March 30, and the winners will be presented as part of the HAZU Day celebrations on April 29.

Before that, the regular assembly of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts will be held, the first in physical form after more than two years. At the assembly, among others, the President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Academician Velimir Neidhardt, will report on the work of the Academy so far.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

April 20, 2022 - The City of Dubrovnik announced that the new connecting road Tamarić in Nova Mokošica is in its final phase of construction. The new connecting road will relieve traffic in the area and benefit parents who take their children to Mokosica Primary School.

The project of construction of the connecting road Tamarić in Nova Mokošica entered the last phase before the announcement of the public procurement for construction, reports the City of Dubrovnik. At the moment, the final expropriation procedure is being carried out, and for which purpose the City of Dubrovnik has so far paid HRK 2,865,812.50 in budget funds. Until the completion of the entire expropriation procedure, HRK 5,818,319.18 remains to be paid, which is expected to be carried out over the next four months.  

After that, all the preconditions for starting the public procurement were met. Considering that the estimated value of this important investment in road infrastructure is HRK 25 million, the City of Dubrovnik plans to apply for one of the upcoming tenders for financing the project with funds from the European Union.

Let us remind you that the new road that will connect the Mokošica Elementary School with the unclassified road Lozica-Mokošica-Komolac-Sustjepan is planned as a two-way road with a sidewalk and the total infrastructure within the road body. The total length of the project is 895 meters, of which 275 meters is the intersection on the unclassified road Lozica-Mokošica-Komolac-Sustjepan, and 620 meters on the new connecting road. Separate lanes will be formed for left and right turnouts with a sidewalk along the northern edge of the road, and the construction of a crossing over the Tamarić stream on the connecting road is also planned.

Its construction will improve the functionality of the Nova Mokošica road network and relieve the existing intersection with the former county road. The procedure largely solves the long-standing traffic problem of parents whose children attend classes at the Mokošica Elementary School, because the construction of this road will ensure proper traffic to school.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - In the last 24 hours, 478 coronavirus cases, out of 3,861 tests, and 5 related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday. 

There are 3,623 active cases, including 516 hospitalised patients, while 1,878 persons are self-isolating.

To date, Croatia has registered 1,114,141 coronavirus cases, the death toll is 15,757, and 70.73% of the adult population has been vaccinated, including 68.65% who are considered to be fully vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.