Split Firefighters Spent the Night Putting Out Fires Caused by Pyrotechnics
January 1, 2022 - Across Croatia, the skies lit up with fireworks to bid farewell to 2021 and welcome in 2022. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to join in the celebrations, such as the Split firefighters, who received multiple reports and calls throughout the night.
On the last day of 2021 and the first hours of the new year, Split firefighters and their colleagues from the surrounding cities extinguished fires caused by pyrotechnics, reports Index.hr. Most fires were on garbage containers. Fortunately, no one was injured and there wasn't any greater material damage recorded.
Members of the Public Fire Brigade (JVP) of the city of Split had to put out a garbage fire in a metal container on Put Mostina at 19:19, while a plastic container was burning in Grabova Street at 23:12, so this required their intervention.
Ten minutes later they had to put out the grass fire in Domovinskog rata avenue, where about ten square meters burned, and only three minutes before the arrival of the new year they were called to Odeska Street, where a plastic box fire broke out on the balcony of an apartment.
JVP also extinguished a garbage fire in a container in Velebitska street. Then, at 1:00, they had to put out a garbage fire in the stone bin in Marmontova, and 13 minutes later they extinguished the fire of a plastic container in Ljubićeva. Garbage was also burning in Burgenland at 1:37, as well as a waste container in Doverska Street at 3:33, and before 5:53 in the morning they had to go to the field in Ljubićeva again, where garbage was burning once more.
Their colleagues from the Voluntary Fire Brigade (DVD) Split also had work to do, and they intervened in the first hour of the year in Nazor's driveway under Marjan, where a garbage fire broke out on a playground.
There was also work for firefighters in Makarska, where a fire broke out in an abandoned building, an old oil mill, at around 5 pm on Friday. In Podstrana, a fire broke out at 11:28 pm near the Tisak kiosk, which was put out by members of the local JVP, then in Klis Varoš, where a garbage fire broke out in a metal container five minutes after midnight.
For more, check out our lifestyle section.
With Croatian Eurozone Entry Approaching, How Will We Exchange Kuna?
January the 1st, 2022 - Croatian Eurozone entry is rapidly approaching, and if all goes to plan, the kuna will enter into the history books early next year. How will we go about exchanging Croatian kuna for the euro, however? There are slightly different rules for coins and for banknotes.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, if anything in the economic field will mark 2022, it will be all of the hurried final preparations for the introduction of the euro and Croatian Eurozone entry in 2023. The green light for a step towards stronger integration into the European Union (EU) should, apparently, be given in the summer of this year when the exact date of the final transition will be revealed.
Replacing the national currency with the European single one is a massive logistical undertaking for which preparations are underway with the assumption that we will be paying for items in euros from the first day of 2023. Credit and other financial institutions have been in talks with regulators for some time about how to change their IT systems and adjust all of their business processes, a cost that, in the case of banks alone, is estimated to stand between 80m and 100m kuna.
According to the experience of other countries that joined the euro in the past, the central bank expects that when exchanging the kuna for the euro, about 36 percent of the amount of coins in circulation will be returned, ie 1.1 billion pieces of kuna coins and 99 percent of the amount of banknotes, ie more than 500 million pieces of kuna banknotes. Banknotes will be able to be exchanged for euros on a permanent basis, but the deadline for coins will be limited to three years from the introduction of the euro as Croatia's official currency.
The experiences of other European Union countries which are in the Eurozone are diverse. Twenty years after the euro emerged as the single currency, it is estimated that there are still around 8.5 billion euros left in the former national currencies, either under people's mattresses, in old jackets or as souvenirs from the past. The largest amount falls on the unreplaced German marks in which the (recalculated) amount stands at a whopping 6.3 billion euros.
It is followed by the Austrian schilling, which accounts for another 505 million euros, and the Belgian franc, accounting for 428 million euros. In neighbouring Slovenia, for example, the former Slovenian tolars account for 80 million euros, according to Bloomberg.
Part of the reason for nostalgia or forgetfulness probably lies in the fact that some countries have left an unlimited deadline to exchange their currencies, like Germany, at least when it comes to banknotes. Spain, France and Austria, on the other hand, have long since closed the door to such a possibility, leaving any pesetas or francs to become collector's items for those nostalgic about pre-euro Europe.
Croatia already has experience in exchanging currencies. When the kuna was introduced after the stabilisation programme on May the 30th, 1994, it replaced the Croatian dinar as a temporary currency issued by the Ministry of Finance with the signature of the Minister. The CNB exchanged dinars on a regular basis until the end of 1994 and subsequently until the end of June 1995. With this being a memory, it's hoped that Croatian Eurozone entry will also be that bit smoother for a country that has been very much in transition in many respects since the end of the Homeland War.
"Since the replacement of Croatian dinars hasn't been possible since mid-1995, Croatian dinar banknotes have exclusively numismatic value," the central bank said. According to their data, 37 percent of the total printed 513.6 million dinar banknotes remained unchanged, so it will be interesting to see how much kuna will remain nostalgically in pockets, down the sides of sofas, under beds and in varying collections of old and foreign money that many people keep.
"Given the fact that after three years, kuna coins will no longer be able to be exchanged for euros and will no longer play a role as a means of payment, they will be able to be adequately disposed of without any risk of reappearing on the exchange. Therefore, cooperation has been initiated with the Ministry of Defense in finding adequate, supervised and protected space that the Croatian National Bank will lease for the storage of withdrawn kuna coins,'' the CNB said, adding that they expect a lease agreement with the Defense Ministry in regard to that.
In parallel with their withdrawal from circulation, kuna banknotes will be successively destroyed with banknote processing systems that have the ability to totally destroy them. Four months before the introduction of the euro, banks will be supplied with banknotes, and a month later with euro coins. When the countdown begins in the last 30 days, the euro will be ready in the offices of Fina and Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta), and the indirect pre-supply of companies and shops will begin.
On the very day of the introduction of the euro, ie Croatian Eurozone entry, the "big bang" approach will be applied to savings and loans. This means that all kuna savings and deposits on current, savings and other accounts, as well as all loans will become euro loans at a fixed exchange rate free of charge. The key assumption is that any change in interest rates (in the case of variable interest rates) must not be to the detriment of the client, while fixed interest rates will remain the same.
The first two weeks after Croatian Eurozone entry will be a period of double circulation in which cash can be exchanged free of charge at banks, Fina and post offices, and then only at banks for which they will be entitled to charge a fee. A year later, the Croatian kuna will be able to be exchanged for euros only at the Croatian National Bank, free of charge.
Since one of the biggest fears that accompanies the whole saga surrounding the euro is the fear of rising prices, which is no longer insignificant in the face of accelerating inflation, it will be crucial to dual disclose the prices that will last at least one year starting in August. An information campaign will follow in which people will be encouraged to deposit as many kuna coins and banknotes as possible to banks in order to easily convert them to euros at a fixed exchange rate and free of charge on the day of the introduction of the euro.
For more on Croatian Eurozone entry, follow our politics section.
Plitvice Mall Opening Up 90 Employment Opportunities for Locals
January the 1st, 2022 - The word ''Plitvice'' might well be synonymous with the stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park, but when it comes to the economy in this part of Croatia, things tend to be very much overlooked and the population is thinning here by the year. The new Plitvice Mall is set to open up some new employment opportunities for local residents who might have otherwise been tempted elsewhere.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in the tourist zone of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, the new Plitvice Mall has been opened to the very many visitors and locals of the Rakovica Municipality, who just before Christmas got a brand new, very attractive shopping centre spanning almost 4,000 square metres of retail space. According to the statement, the construction of Plitvice Mall began back in May 2021.
The new Plitvice Mall shopping facility is located in an area that is visited by several million tourists during the summer months, which includes guests of the famous National Park which attracts people from all over the world, all of whom are flocking to see its stunning waterfalls and nature.
The investor's representative, Pasko Dodic, pointed out that the local region and its residents have been given not only the opportunity to create new jobs and as such boost the local economy, but also a new place of purchase that has not existed in this particular region of Croatia so far.
During the opening of the new Plitvice Mall, the mayor of Rakovica, Mihovil Bicanic, pointed out that the shopping centre will open more than 90 jobs for locals.
"Comparing things in terms of their percentages, the number of employed inhabitants of the municipality of Rakovica at the new Plitvice Mall would be identical to 34,000 employees in the City of Zagreb, and only in one single location. This project will keep young people and families in our area,'' added Bicanic.
For more, check out our dedicated business section.
No New Croatian Covid Measures Currently Planned Despite Omicron
January the 1st, 2022 - Are any new Croatian covid measures on the table now that the festive period of Christmas and NYE are out of the way? As Omicron spreads throughout Europe and with many countries tightening things up, Croatia appears to have no concrete plans as yet.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the worsening epidemiological situation in Croatia has given rise to more questions, especially given the fact that the vaccination rate is still not satisfactory and every second test in Split-Dalmatia County has been positive. While Croatia was busy extending the opening hours of its catering and hospitality establishments during the festive period, Omicron measures have been being tightened across Europe.
The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, said on HTV's "Otvoreno/Open" show that the new strain of coronavirus, Omicron, has been being detected by sequencing, stressing that the number of people infected with Omicron will be continuously reported as the situation unfolds.
''These are still small numbers compared to what's happening in the surrounding countries,'' said Capak.
He pointed out that Croatia has so far been very successful in stopping and slowing down the arrival of new strains of the novel coronavirus, because we were the first European country to introduce a ban on foreigners coming into the country from South Africa to Croatia, and all Croatian citizens and permanent residents coming from those areas were to be quarantined.
''We had cooperation with the border police at Croatian airports. They informed us of the names and addresses of people coming here from those parts of the world. Epidemiologists immediately contacted them and quarantined them for fourteen days, and so we stopped the spread of that strain of the virus. Our figures are very favourable,'' he added.
The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health said that Omicron is still not dominant in Croatia, pointing out that there are more people infected with Omicron in Dalmatian counties than there are on the continent.
The director of the Public Health Teaching Institute of Split-Dalmatia County, Zeljka Karin, emphasised that a record number of new patients in that county had been being set, and that we have to take into account that we have a huge number of tests being taken, so that share is slightly higher than fifty percent. But it was to be expected, because the Omicron variant appeared, it was the festive period in which there are more gatherings, and that all led to an increase in the number of new positive cases,'' Karin reasonably said.
The director of the Public Health Institute of Split-Dalmatia County said that the number of newly infected people in Split-Dalmatia County has been quite high for several weeks now.
''It's known that in this county there is a low vaccination rate compared to other counties across Croatia. These numbers are certainly the consequences of that,'' she said. Karin also pointed out that patients in the past two or three days don't present with a very severe clinical picture, as was the case before.
''That said, we can't estimate what that clinical picture will be like in the future. We have an increase in hospitalisations, and we still don’t know if it’s because of Omicron or if it’s because of the Delta strain. So for now, we can't say anything about what the clinical pictures will become, but the increase in hospitalisations is large, but so is the increase in the number of people on respirators,'' Karin warned.
The head of the Istrian Civil Protection Directorate, Dino Kozlevac, pointed out that there were "consistently high numbers" of positive cases across Istria.
''The numbers have been growing since September. What's happening? We have liberal measures, that should be said clearly and loudly. The whole of Croatia has liberal measures in relation to Europe,'' he said, adding that people should make sure to properly adhere more to all current Croatian covid measures, including maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.
He added that the current situation will be assessed in the coming days, and there is a possibility that new measures for Istria will be discussed in agreement with the National Civil Protection Directorate.
The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, pointed out that the situation is being reviewed on a daily basis and Croatian covid measures are being taken accordingly, and this will be the case in the coming days, although there is nothing concrete yet to speak of. He added that the situation in other counties will be monitored on a daily basis and if the situation worsens, which can be expected due to the arrival of the Omicron strain, in that case some Croatian covid measures may well be tightened.
"Nothing is on the table at the moment," he repeated.
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.
Krizevci Students Present Products and Entrepreneurial Ideas
January the 1st, 2022 - Krizevci students have showcased their ability to come up with innovative product ideas and enter into often challenging entrepreneurial waters.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ivan Tominac writes, with the cooperation of the Krizevci Secondary School of Economics and the Krizevci Entrepreneurship Centre, young people are also showcasing how they too can become entrepreneurs.
Investing in the applicable knowledge of young people is necessary for their growth, and this is exactly the approach taken when it comes to these talented Krizevci students.
They educate young people there for professions in the field of agriculture, and with the initiative of Professor Gorana Pavicic, the cooperation of the Krizevci Secondary School of Economics and the Krizevci Entrepreneurship Centre (KPC), young professionals are upping their chances of success in entrepreneurship.
Thanks to this initiative, fourth grade Krizevci students managed to combine their theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as improve their competencies and skills in terms of establishing and organising business and designing innovative types of agricultural products and services. The fact that these Krizevci students of this school really have entrepreneurial potential is also shown by their ideas, which are both varied and innovative.
In the second half of the year, they will continue their cooperation within the subject "Independent Management", where third grade students will independently develop business plans for the economy and the subject "The Organisation of Agricultural Production" through which they will learn the importance of different measures, incentives and tenders.
This approach, in addition to awakening entrepreneurial potential in young people, solves the big problem of financial literacy among them, too. In this way, young people gain knowledge about proper financial management, which could be a valuable input for them from the moment when they finish their high school education and get acquainted with the demanding labour market.
"If you don't have financial resources and some form of financial background, you don't have the opportunity to realise your business ideas and projects. As part of one of the courses, Krizevci students researched how to finance their business ideas, studied which banks offer which financing opportunities, whether there is any financial support or any measures that would be in line with their chosen economic activities, and there were also ideas floated about financial partnerships,'' Pavicic pointed out.
"This plan and programme exists and it should definitely be adhered to, but it's up to us professors to choose the way in which we'll implement that plan and programme. We want to bring knowledge as close as possible to the students themselves, and I think that the best way to do that is with practical classes, practical exercises and tasks, which is actually a characteristic of our school. Since we have a farming, gardening, fruit growing, cattle breeding, dairy and mechanical practicum in the school, we try to connect theory and practice as much as possible. The great thing in all this is the support of the director Toni Svoboda,'' said Pavicic.
"Expectations at the end of the high school year are certainly the ability and independence of students to start their own businesses, and judging by their dedicated, I believe that when it comes to these Krizevci students, if they decide to take on an entrepreneurial venture one day, they will certainly succeed,'' she concluded.
For more, check out our lifestyle section.
Makarska Earthquake 1962 Full Reconstruction after 17 Months: And Zagreb, Petrinja 2020?
January 1, 2022 - The devastating Makarska earthquake of 1962 damaged or destroyed 12,000 homes. Within 17 months everything had been rebuilt. What was possible in Makarska in 1962 is not possible in Zagreb and Petrinja in 2020 - why?
I normally like to start a new year with a positive, and there are certainly lots of positives in Croatia. As I wrote recently in Improving Croatian Tourism: 8 Key TCN Areas of Focus for 2022, TCN will be focusing on several initiatives this year, several of which I look forward to discussing with Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Brnjac, at our meeting next week. And walking around Zagreb last night was certainly a happy and festive experience, as people put the troubled year of 2021 behind them and hope for a brighter 2022.
But I could just not get the images and conversations of those poor people I saw and talked to in Majske Poljane and Petrinja on the first anniversary of the terrible earthquakes that wreaked so much damage. You can read more in Petrinja Earthquake 1 Year On: Politics, Pain, Problems, But Progress? New Year celebrations in those temporary containers and forgotten, unrenovated houses were probably a lot more muted.
I know that Croatia is very bureaucratic, but is it really so hard to cut through the red tape for a national emergency, such as this? This in a country where the digital nomad permit went from being announced by the Prime Minister in August to becoming law less than 5 months later.
And then someone sent me this article by Boris Dezulovic, which was published last September. Among several issues, Dezulovic looks at the emergency response and complete renovation after the Makarska earthquake in 1962. Some 12,000 homes badly damaged or destroyed. Makarska completely rebuilt 17 months later. And there was not a little irony in the fact that the current Prime Minister (who was born 8 years after the Makarska earthquake) went to school there - his mother probably experienced the quake and aftermath and rebuild.
(8-year-old Ivo returned to a renovated home in Zaostrog in May, 1962)
Thanks to Lauren Simmonds for the translation of the article, which is one of the best things I read last year. And at the end, an interview I did a couple of years ago with a friend in nearby Zaostrog, who described the Makarska earthquake and emergency response through the eyes of an 8-year-old who experienced it. An 8-Year-Old's Memory of the Dalmatian Earthquake of 1962.
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Asked when the first house will be renovated following the Zagreb earthquake of March 2020, the prime minister replied, quoting: "It will happen when it's ready. It will be resolved.'' Almost a year and a half since the Zagreb earthquake. Five hundred and twenty days. Five hundred. And. Twenty. Days. "Nowhere in the world do things move so quickly when it comes to such damage." Nowhere? Really?
On Sunday, March the 22nd, 2020, shortly after 06:00 in the morning, Zagreb was hit by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale. One person died in the devastating natural disaster, and about twelve thousand buildings were damaged: red stickers, as unusable and intended for demolition, and yellow, as temporarily unusable, were received by a total of nineteen hundred buildings.
On the sixth day after the quake, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković toured the damaged city. Asked by reporters how, given the lack of builders, he would solve the problem of urgent reconstruction and demolition of damaged houses, Prime Minister Plenković replied that, and I quote, "the Ministry of Construction will solve it, they will prepare a law on reconstruction."
They didn't rush when it came to passing that law because - as Prime Minister Plenković explained in Parliament - "such a long-term law cannot and must not be passed hastily". And it it most definitely hasn't been: the Law on the Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb was passed by the Parliament almost half a year later. In November - seven and a half months after the earthquake - the Fund for Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb was established, tasked to, and I quote, "perform professional and other tasks of the preparation, organisation and implementation of the reconstruction of buildings damaged by the earthquake, and monitor the implementation of reconstruction measures." The Reconstruction Act. The Reconstruction Fund. The preparation, organisation and implementation of said reconstruction. Seven and a half months after the earthquake.
"This is a symbol of the beginning of the renewal of Zagreb!"
Damir Vanđelić, the then director of the Reconstruction Fund, announced the above on TV, referencing Ruža Sever's house in Gornja Dubrava, the first badly damaged building to be demolished in this utterly magnificent renovation project. The owner of the house could not share the same enthusiasm: her house, "a symbol of the beginning of the reconstruction of Zagreb", was demolished on June the 10th, 2021 - a whole year and three months after the earthquake! - and this poor woman actually died in the meantime.
Until the conclusion of this text, the Ministry of Construction had received about a thousand and a half requests for the removal of severely damaged buildings: of these one and a half thousand requests, the Ministry approved as many as twenty-one. How many have been demolished to date, you might add? Well, if we add in Ruža's house in Dubrava, that figure is exactly three in total. Three demolished houses. Of a thousand and a half. Three. It's much easier to add up the renovated ones: out of twelve thousand damaged buildings, the Ministry approved the renovation of three hundred and sixty of them. A total of zero have been renovated to this date. Or, if it's easier for you, none. Not a single one. Seventeen months since the earthquake.
Knowing that out of as much as five billion and one hundred million kuna from the European Solidarity Fund, Croatia has so far spent only one and a half million in eight months, it is no longer a question of why only one and a half million, but the question of what those funds have even gone to. The President of the Zagreb Assembly, Joško Klisović, therefore announced the other day that a proposal would be urgently taken to temporarily take care of people still being affected by the earthquake in city apartments. A temporary measure. By urgent procedure. Last Wednesday. Seventeen months after the fact.
Finally, aware of minor difficulties in the reconstruction process, Prime Minister Plenković announced an amendment to the Law on the Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb. True, they did need to wait a little while, because Parliament was on a summer break, but "such a long-term law" you know, "cannot and must not be passed quickly'' anyway.
"We will correct it all and the matter will accelerate," Plenković explained briefly, and when asked by a journalist if it all might be a little too late, he replied, quoting: "Well, it will be resolved. Once we look into it, the dynamics of reconstruction will start going. Nowhere in the world do things move so quickly when it comes to such damage." Asked when the first house will be renovated, he replied, quoting: "It will happen when it's ready."
It will happen when it's ready. It will be resolved. Almost a year and a half. Five hundred and twenty days. Five hundred. And. Twenty. Days. "Nowhere in the world do things move so quickly when it comes to such damage." Nowhere? Really?
On Sunday, January the 7th, 1962, Makarska was hit by a strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale. Four days later, on January the 11th, shortly after 06:00 in the morning, it was topped off by another, catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale. In those devastating earthquakes, thousands of tonnes of boulders from Biokovo became loose and fell, ending the lives of two people, about three hundred houses were razed to the ground, and another five hundred and fifty were about to join them: a total of twelve thousand houses were damaged, with almost three thousand beyond repair, just like in Zagreb sixty years later.
Less than an hour and a half after the earthquake, the municipal headquarters decided to evacuate Makarska, and twenty military and Jadrolinija ships - the Adriatic Highway was not yet there - were transporting people to the safety of Split all day. By the end of the day, a thousand and a half tents had arrived by Istranka boat, and two large camps were set up outside the city and four supply centres were organised: by that very evening, only two hundred people remained in the entire city. A total of nineteen thousand people were evacuated from the entire district, and six thousand from Makarska itself, placed in Split, Zagreb and other cities, where children from the affected families were immediately included in school classes so as to not miss out on their education.
On the sixth day, President Josip Broz Tito visited Makarska and other damaged places. When asked by local government representatives how, given the lack of builders, they'd solve the problem of the urgent renovation and demolition of the damaged houses, President Tito replied that, and I quote, "young people and all able-bodied men should be returned immediately to help rebuild."
Ten days later, the County Board organised the first working groups and brigades, and formed the District Headquarters, and the Committee for Reconstruction and Assistance to Earthquake Victims was established, headed by Ivan Gac. The Urbanism Council of the Makarska National Committee then accepted the proposal of geological experts on the location of hotel pavilions for the temporary accommodation of earthquake victims, which would then be intended for tourism: in Makarska and Tucepi, six hundred beds were set up, and in Podgora, Igrane and Zivogosce, four hundred also appeared. The Government of the People's Republic of Croatia, led by Jakov Blažević, then made an urgent decision to grant favourable long-term loans to help the economy of the Makarska Riviera.
And all that by the end of the month. Twenty days since the earthquake.
By July 1962, about four billion dinars of aid had been collected from the budgets of the Federation and the People's Republic of Croatia, and from companies and individuals, and another billion and one hundred million dinars had been reserved for the local economy in the affected area. Considering that the old settlements near Biokovo had suffered the most, a decision was made not to rebuild those old villages, but to instead move the population down, so they'd be along the coast. People received favourable loans, municipalities provided land, building permits and projects without all of the classic, toilsome bureaucratic formalities and taxes, and local cooperatives provided construction loans. By the summer of 1962, about one hundred and eighty building permits had been issued in Podgora alone, between the sea and the newly laid Adriatic Highway.
Only six months after the earthquake had struck - it was announced that more than seven hundred apartments had already been renovated in the Makarska district, about as many were still in the process of renovation, five hundred new apartments were under construction, and another thousand were being prepared. Seven hundred renovated apartments. So much more were also in the process of renewal. Five hundred were under construction. Preparations were underway for another thousand. Six months after the earthquake. Six months.
Finally, after seventeen months, on June the 8th, 1963 - the five hundred and twentieth day since the earthquake! - in Slobodna Dalmacija, a short news item was published that "there are no more traces of last year's earthquake on the coast in Makarska": "The entire pavement spanning two hundred and fifty metres has been renovated and covered with brand new white stone slabs."
It was, as one would say, "the symbol of the end of the reconstruction of Makarska". Five hundred and twenty days. Seventeen months. In Makarska. Before modern mechanisation, before the Internet, before the highway, before tourism. Almost sixty years ago.
There is also someone who remembers it particularly well, even though he was born eight years after the earthquake struck. Namely, his mother is from Makarska, where he himself lived as a boy, and his grandfather Marin and grandmother Mila from Podgora often told him about that terrible day when Biokovo collapsed. Just like those children from back in 1962, he went from Makarska to primary school in Zagreb, and later made a nice political career there and even became the prime minister. When he himself experienced a terrible earthquake in Zagreb many years later, the newspapers were spilling over with his words:
"Nowhere in the world," he said confidently at the time, "do things move so quickly when it comes to such damage."
The original artice appeared in Croatian in Portal Novosti on September 3, 2021.
Read more An 8-Year-Old's Memory of the Dalmatian Earthquake of 1962.
10,000 Tourists in Istria During Christmas and New Year Holidays
December 31, 2021 - About 10,000 tourists in Istria County will celebrate the New Year in fifteen open hotels and two camps on the Istrian peninsula. The Istria County Tourist Board reveals that this is a 3x increase in guests compared to last year.
"Almost ten thousand guests are currently vacationing in Istria, which is three times more than last year when 3,750 guests stayed during the Christmas and New Year holidays, but twice less than the record 2019 when 21,500 tourists stayed in our county," says Istria County Tourist Board director Denis Ivošević, as reported by HRT.
He adds that he is satisfied with the number of guests because "if the epidemiological situation allows it, it is the announcement of a good tourist year in 2022."
During December, 105,000 tourists stayed in Istria, which is 27 percent less than two years ago when there were 142,166.
Most guests stay in Poreč and Rovinj, with domestic tourists in the lead, followed by guests from Slovenia, Germany, Austria, and Italy. According to the Istria County Tourist Board, most guests stay in hotels, almost 60 percent.
Arena Hospitality Group reports that during the winter months, including New Year's Eve, they opened the Park Plaza Belvedere hotel in Medulin and the Arena Grand Kažela camp in Medulin. They expect about a thousand guests who will stay two to three days. Their guests are mainly from Austria and Slovenia, and this year, they noticed increased interest from domestic guests.
Following the epidemiological situation and prescribed measures, Valamar will organize a unique holiday program for guests of its hotels and camps, such as live music and DJ performances, in facilities that operate during the Christmas and New Year periods.
During December and the holiday season in Rovinj, Maistra's Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Lone, Adriatic, Eden, Amarin, then Pineta, apartments Riva and camping Porto Sole in Vrsar were opened.
For more, check out our dedicated travel section.
Ćorić: Negotiations on Buying Back MOL's Stake in INA on Hold until after Review
ZAGREB, 30 Dec (Hina) - Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Thursday the negotiations on buying back Hungarian energy group MOL's stake in Croatian peer INA would be on hold until after a review of an arbitration award to be instigated at the Swiss Supreme Court.
The government today tasked the Economy Ministry with requesting the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to review a decision of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) of 23 December 2016 in order to declare null and void an amended agreement on relations between INA shareholders and an agreement on INA's gas business, both signed in 2009.
The ministry was also tasked with continuing activities concerning Croatia's participation in the arbitration process which MOL launched in 2013 before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Speaking to the press after a cabinet meeting, Ćorić said Croatia had analysed possible courses of action based on a Croatian Supreme Court sentence of six weeks ago against former prime minister Ivo Sanader for taking a bribe from MOL head Zsolt Hernadi.
Based on those analyses, legal opinions, and consultations with the State Attorney's Office, the Zagreb Faculty of Law's private international law department, the Squire Patton Boggs law office, which represents Croatia in arbitration proceedings, and the Swiss law office Lalive, it was decided to request a review of the arbitration award.
In the context of the review and the Croatian Supreme Court sentence, Croatia believes that its legal position is considerably better than it was in 2016, Ćorić said, adding that communication with Hungary on the buyback would be put on hold until after the review. "We believe it's the only reasonable decision at the moment."
The review motion may be filed at the Swiss court until 8 February and a response is expected by the end of 2022.
Ćorić said the review did not mean that Croatia's requests would be granted. "But if the review does occur and the court upholds Croatia's position, only then can an arbitration procedure in this case be relaunched."
First and foremost, this means that Croatia is looking for the possibility of a new arbitration procedure, he added.
Croatia had the money for the 'real price' of MOL's stake in INA
Ćorić went on to say that Croatia had continued to communicate with Hungary on the possibility of a buyback after the Lazard consultant completed its estimate of the value of MOL's stake in INA.
The two sides had different assessments of the value of the company and the stake, he said, "and we failed to reach a decision on the buyback." He would not say how much Croatia offered for the stake nor how much Hungary asked for it.
After a journalist claimed that today's decision by the government was a manoeuvre because there was no money to buy back MOL's stake in INA, Ćorić said Croatia had the money for what it considered was "the real price" of the stake.
He also disagreed with a journalist's claim that the process was suspended for fear that the public debt would increase in the event of the buyback, which would put Croatia's euro area accession at risk.
Ćorić said Croatia launched a review of the UNCITRAL decision before the Swiss court already in 2016, but the legal circumstances were somewhat different because the Croatian Constitutional Court had quashed the ruling in the INA-MOL case before a verdict was delivered.
Responding to questions from the press, he said the cancellation of the agreements from 2009 would presuppose going back to how it was in 2003, when the shareholders were more equal, adding that this would give Croatia more room for manoeuvre in the management of INA.
Whatever any arbitration court decides, he said, it "can't erase the past 18 years of cooperation, better or worse, between Croatia and MOL in the management of INA."
He told MOL that the Croatian government, anticipating the Croatian Supreme Court's ruling from October, had been taking the legal action at its disposal.
He also said that due to the rise in oil and petrol products' prices, he expected INA's business results for this year to be very good.
Anniversary of SNV's "Banija is our House" Humanitarian Campaign Marked
ZAGREB, 31 December, 2021 - The Serb National Council (SNV), with the help of donors from Italy, on Thursday delivered timber to three families in Luščani near Petrinja, where a year ago the humanitarian campaign "Banija is our House" was launched.
In the yard of one of the families still struggling with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, MP and SNV President Milorad Pupovac said that "a new cycle of humanitarian aid is starting today, also in close cooperation and coordination with the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac and the Metropolitanate of Zagreb, and with the blessing and support of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije".
The timber the SNV delivered to the Vranjanin family is necessary for the construction of the first farm building that family will build with the help of the state and other people. According to Pupovac, "the government is expected to do what is necessary, that when a house is planned, a farm building is planned at the same time".
Pupovac stressed that these people needed to resume their farm activities, to have somewhere to put their cattle, cows, sheep, pigs, poultry, because that gave them back the possibility of self-sustainability. He added that he expected the government to "Listen to everyone who knows what is needed here".
He noted that the earthquake was a tragedy that provided an opportunity to do what hadn't been done for decades in that area. "And we are obliged to use that opportunity because of all these people and these areas and the potential they have, and now they stand unused like these demolished buildings," Pupovac said.
He stressed he didn't want to join those who parasitise on the insufficient activity of those in the government who need to address what is being blocked.
Pupovac said he did not want to hear that the stalemate in post-reconstruction was due to a dispute between developers and architects, adding that if that were the case, he would look for another solution.
If I could not find it, he said, I would go to the prime minister and ask him to find someone else for the job.
Saša Umićević, the Serb Orthodox parish priest in Petrinja who constantly visits the areas devastated in the earthquake, said agricultural buildings were the most important to keep young people from leaving.
Cooperating for a year, he said, the Serb Orthodox Church and the SNV have been doing their best and will continue to do so, so that people can have a roof over their heads.
The SNV's "Banija is our house" drive began a year ago in Luščani, with numerous donors from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia delivering aid.
During the drive, HRK 2.143 million has been raised by citizens, legal entities and Serb institutions, which the SNV has used to procure 39 container homes and construction material.
As part of the drive, HRK 4.7 million worth of material has been donated, with 125 containers homes provided, including 86 donated by the Serbian Orthodox Church and 25 by the Serbian Embassy.
The Novi Sad Fund for Refugees and Displaced Persons and for Cooperation with Serbs in the Region has donated HRK 376,500 worth of construction material.
Share of Home Ownership in Croatia Higher than in Denmark and Germany
ZAGREB, 31 December, 2021 - As many as 91% of Croatians live in their own property, which is 21% above the European average, according to a survey by the EU's statistical office Eurostat quoted by the Večernji List daily on Friday.
In terms of home ownership Croatians share the third place with Hungarians, with the percentage of privately owned homes being higher only in Romania and Slovakia.
While in the EU around 53% of the population live in houses, 78% of Croatians live in houses and the house ownership share in the whole of Europe is higher only in Ireland, 92%. The share of apartment owners is the highest in Spain, 66%, followed by Latvia and Estonia.
The average EU citizen has 1.6 rooms in their property at their disposal, with citizens of Malta having the most space for themselves (2.3 rooms per household member), while Croatians have an average 1.2 rooms at their disposal, which puts them close to the bottom of the ranking. The number of members per household is highest in Croatia, Poland and Slovakia (3), the European average being two members.
As for the share of homes where parents live after their children have left, in Croatia children traditionally leave their parents' home later in life. In the EU, there are 32% of empty nester homes, the share being the highest in Malta and Cyprus, around 70%, and Ireland, 63%. In Croatia, the share of empty nester homes is less than 13%.
As for housing conditions, 8.2% of people in the EU could not afford adequate heating in their homes in 2020, 1.5% did not have a toilet, shower or bathtub, and 13.9% had problems with leaking roofs. In Croatia, close to 10% of houses had leaking roofs, 5.7% of homes could not be adequately heated, while only 0.7% of homes did not have a toilet, shower or bathtub, says the daily.
