ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) on Tuesday held a video meeting with the Ukrainian Embassy on agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

Croatia has seen increases in both exports to and imports of agricultural and food products from Ukraine over the past five years, which is a good indicator of increasing economic cooperation between the two countries, the HPK said.

Participants in the meeting said that there was room for expanding the cooperation and trade between the two countries, as could be seen a month ago when initial shipments of potato from the northwestern Croatian counties of Varaždin and Međimurje, and later Dalmatian prosciutto and Pag cheese, reached the shelves in Ukrainian supermarkets.

Participants also agreed that there was interest in joint research projects that would be eligible for funding under the EU Horizon programme and in the transfer of knowledge and innovation in the agricultural sector, notably in digitalisation and renewable energy sources, the HPK said in a statement.

Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Kyrylych highlighted the importance of deepening cooperation on new and interesting projects.

Croatia and Ukraine have a great potential for cooperation that has not been tapped enough, especially in agriculture and innovation. That's why both governments strongly support such initiatives and joint agriculture and innovation projects, Kyrylych said.

Croatian Ambassador to Ukraine Anica Djamić said that Ukraine was currently implementing a land reform that would open up new opportunities for Croatian investments in the agricultural sector there.

Tugomir Majdak, State Secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, said that Croatia's agricultural output and exports were not as large as Ukraine's, but that Croatia had a wide range of processed products that were achieving good results on foreign markets.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, said that Ukraine and Croatia had excellent dialogue on agriculture, as could be seen at last year's Ukrainian agricultural forum.

In the first eleven months of 2020, Croatia exported €4.42 million worth of agricultural and food products in Ukraine, while imports from Ukraine reached €4.41 million. Compared with the same period of 2019, exports rose by 45%, while imports decreased by 2%.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that SDP chief Peđa Grbin's comment on Plenković's reaction to a Rijeka cafe owner's Facebook post on barring HDZ members from entering his establishment was "pathetic and politically misplaced."

"Grbin's statement is pathetic, erroneous, wrong, incorrect, and totally politically misplaced," Plenković said in Šibenik when asked by the press for his opinion on Grbin's comment.

"It would have been better had he condemned the statement of that gentleman from the 'Three Monkeys' cafe," Plenković said, adding that Grbin had probably failed to follow the developments and had become involved in the whole affair belatedly and in a wrong manner.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Grbin has said that Plenković's attempt to compare the position of HDZ members to Jews "was below any level".

In mid-February the owner of the Rijeka-based cafe called "Three Monkeys" stated on his Facebook page that he barred the HDZ party's members and sympathisers from entering his property. The cafe owner Tomislav Kovačević wrote on his Facebook account that members and voters of the HDZ "are personae non gratae" in his cafe, citing his feeling of humiliation by the HDZ party.

Plenković said today that "if somebody says that members, sympathisers and voters of the HDZ are not welcome, this amounts to discrimination."

Plenković also underscored that he had responded to the cafe owner's statements after nobody in the public reacted to those Facebook posts.

"If, for instance, a cafe owner who happens to be a member of the HDZ had said that he would not welcome members, sympathisers and voters of SDP, Serbs, Jews, Roma and members (of the Rijeka football fans' association) Armada, to his establishment, this would have caused furious protests," Plenković added.

He said that he had also responded to cafe owner Kovačević's claims that Plenković calls anybody who criticises the HDZ "a Serbian Chetnik".

"He says that of me, after our huge efforts against a series of political actors in the parliament who would like to eliminate minorities from the national legislature, who are against the coalition with minorities in Croatia, who are against reconciliation and against coexistence and the protection of minority rights. I must stand up and say 'No' for the sake of European and Croatian values and the prosperity of the Croatian society and inclusion," the HDZ leader said.

On Monday, Plenković called out SDP senior officials Vojko Obersnel and Zlatko Komadina for their tepid or no response to the cafe owner's posts.

A few days after Kovačević's decision on the ban of entry of HDZ members and voters, the mayor of Rijeka, Vojko Obersnel, called for defusing tensions.

"I can understand the revolt and emotions of the owner of that cafe as well as the feeling of impotence and humiliation prevailing among many restaurateurs and other business owners in other sectors who are suffering from the consequences of this long period of lockdown. However, I appeal for humanity, tolerance and understanding that exist in the hearts of all residents of Rijeka," Obersnel wrote in his statement on 14 February.

He went on to say that the novel virus is at the core of the problem and that the virus is not easy to control and that it is the original enemy, dangerous for everybody.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Tuesday that Croatia was slowly but surely entering the second stage of COVID-19 vaccination, covering older people with chronic conditions.

Speaking to the press at a vaccination point in Zagreb, Beroš said he was "sure that such mass vaccination points will absolutely support the realisation of our vaccination plan and programme."

He said vaccination points were "necessary, perhaps not at the moment because we still don't have the quantities we are expecting."

Beroš said larger vaccine quantities would enhance attempts to vaccinate priority groups and underlined the plan to vaccinate over 50% of the adult population by summer. "That's realistic and I think we can make it happen if sufficient vaccine quantities arrive."

"Such mass vaccination is an easier way to organise and manage vaccine quantities, Beroš said, adding that the epidemiological situation was "relatively satisfactory."

"In terms of the seven-day average of new infections per million inhabitants, Croatia is second (in the EU) after Denmark" with the lowest incidence.

Beroš went on to say that a commission checking hospital documentation on vaccination was meeting today following reports of out-of-turn vaccination.

Commenting on a survey showing that over 15,000 health workers would not be vaccinated, the minister said he was confident that doctors believed in scientific methods and vaccination.

"However, there are many non-health workers in hospitals. Directors have been instructed to influence everyone, not by coercing, of course, but by explaining the need for vaccination."

Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) Krunoslav Capak recalled that family doctors in Zagreb began vaccinating their patients yesterday.

Speaking at the same vaccination point, he said, "This is a contribution to show what we can do and how we will organise vaccination in future when we have bigger quantities which, unfortunately, are still not arriving."

He said that as many people at risk of serious illness as possible should be vaccinated. "After that we will begin vaccinating the general population, younger people without underlying conditions. We hope we will succeed in vaccinating 50% of the population... by June."

Capak said a vaccination registration platform would be launched soon and that it would significantly facilitate vaccination.

He said that in future people would be called to come to be vaccinated so as to avoid crowds. He added that the HZJZ vaccination clinic was demolished in the March 2020 earthquake and that at the moment they could not vaccinate more than 30-40 people daily.

Epidemiologist Bernard Kaić said bars with outdoor terraces could reopen on 1 March. Capak added that he thought there were no obstacles to holding a broader debate on the matter and to allowing them to reopen.

Vjekoslav Jeleč, head of the Zagreb city health office, said about 500 people in the capital were vaccinated against COVID every day.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - The HRK 20 million Adriatic Business Centre, fully financed with EU funds, was opened in Šibenik on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who said that Šibenik-Knin County has obtained a modern office building that will be an incubator of innovative ideas.

Plenković was accompanied by Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić, Justice and Administration Minister Ivan Malenica and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak.

"Šibenik-Knin County has obtained a contemporary office building for about 50 entrepreneurs and it will become an incubator of innovative ideas," Plenković told the opening ceremony.

The business centre is intended for small and medium-sized enterprises and public administration in all business processes and phases: including starting a company, applying for tenders, preparing projects, marketing and branding.

The centre will be managed by the Šibenik-Knin County Development Agency that will organise services for all interested stakeholders.

"This is an example of successful revitalisation of dormant infrastructure," Plenković said, pointing out that the county had bought an abandoned building that was once a light metal factory.

"The ABC Centre will generate new values for this county. It will create vital preconditions for entrepreneurs to come out onto the market. It will encourage progress in SMEs and improve the investment and business climate," he added.

To date, Šibenik-Knin County has been allocated HRK 120 million in grants.

ABC Centre fits into digital and green transformation

Plenković further underlined that the ABC Centre fits into both the digital and green transformation. The centre is on that track and can be a driver of entrepreneurship in the county, in Dalmatia and along the entire coast, said Plenković.

The centre consists of office space and a large conference hall, two smaller halls, common working areas and a large parking lot among other things.

Business-marketing platform for better positioning on the global market

Director of the County Development Agency, Mira Lepur, said that the centre resulted from observing global trends in marketing, design and business.

 "ABC has been conceived as a business-marketing platform which provides users with services in communication, branding and better positioning on the global market," said Lepur.

Šibenik-Knin County Prefect Goran Pauk said that the centre will become a reference point of support, particularly for companies dealing with audio and video activities.

February the 23rd, 2021 - The Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) has published an updated overview of Croatia's digital nomad visa requirements.

The much talked about Croatian digital nomad visa is finally here as Croatia finally opens its arms to the idea, and MUP have clarified some updates to the digital nomad visa requirements.

Temporary residence for digital nomads in Croatia

A digital nomad in Croatia is a third-country national who is employed or is otherwise performing work through communication technology for a company or indeed for their own company that is not registered in the Republic of Croatia. This means that the individual isn't and cannot perform work or provide services to employers headquartered/registered here in the Republic of Croatia.

Temporary residence for this purpose is granted for up to one year (in some cases for less than a year), and cannot be extended. After the expiration of the first six months of the first issued temporary residence document, a request for re-regulation of residence for a digital nomad may be submitted.

Digital nomads who have been granted temporary residence in the Republic of Croatia may be joined in the Republic of Croatia by members of their immediate family (temporary residence for the purpose of family reunification).

Let's delve deeper into MUP's recently updated Croatian digital nomad visa requirements.

The submission of an application for temporary residence as a digital nomad in Croatia

The application can be submitted in two ways, depending on whether or not the individual seeking residence as a digital nomad requires a visa to enter Croatia or not.

If a visa is needed for entry:

In this case, a request for the Croatian ''digital nomad visa'' must be submitted at the appropriate Embassy/Consulate of the Republic of Croatia abroad (a list can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs/MVEP). Prior contact with the competent embassy/consulate is advised due to possible limitations in the work being carried out as result of the spread of the novel coronavirus and by epidemiological measures relating to it.

If no visa is required for entry:

In this case, the same request must be submitted either to the appropriate embassy/consulate of the Republic of Croatia (as detailed above) or to the competent administrative police station according to the place of residence of the individual seeking this permit (a list of administrative police stations by location across the country can be found here). Please note that due to the same situation with the pandemic described above, processing times may be longer and certain functions may not be running as normal.

How to make an application and what sort of documentation you'll need

A copy of the documentation you're required to submit must be submitted in either Croatian or English.

1. Fill in Form 1a and attach it to the request/application:

2. You'll need a copy of your valid travel document (the validity period of the travel document must be three months longer than the period of validity of your intended stay).

3. Proof of health insurance (travel or private health insurance which must have coverage for the territory of the Republic of Croatia).

4. Proof of your purpose for submitting the request.

This can be: (an employment contract or other document proving that your work is performed through communication technology for a foreign employer or for your own company that is not registered in the Republic of Croatia), such as a statement from your employer or from you (as proof that the business being done is through communication technology) and a contract of employment or proof of the performance of work for a foreign employer, or a copy of the registration of your own company and proof that you perform all of the stated tasks through your own company.

5. Proof of sufficient funds to cover your stay in Croatia.

This can be: a bank account statement or proof of regular income, both will be enough to be recognised and accepted as evidence. Pursuant to the Decree on the Method of Calculation and Amount of Maintenance Allowances for Third-Country Nationals in the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette 14/21), which entered into force on the 13th of February 2021, a third-country national regulating their temporary residence in Croatia as a digital nomad must have funds in the amount of at least 2.5 average monthly net salary sums for the previous year based on officially published data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CES), and for each additional family member, or formal or informal life partner, that amount is increased by an additional 10 percent of the average monthly net paid salaries. At the moment, the amount of funds required on a monthly basis is a minimum of 16,142.5 kuna, or if your intended period of stay in the Republic of Croatia is 12 months, it is necessary to prove that you have funds in the amount of a minimum of 193,710.00 kuna..

6. Proof that you haven't been convicted of any criminal offenses in your home country or the country in which you resided for more than a year immediately before your arrival in the Republic of Croatia. (Information on the processes for the legalisation of such documents can be found here).

7. You must state your intended Croatian address.

When submitting the application, you'll be required to state the address of your place of residence or intended stay in Croatia on the form you'll be given to complete. This is important for the purpose of determining the administrative police station that will deal with your application. If your first application is submitted and you don't yet have an address in Croatia, it's been made possible for you to state your temporary address (hostel/hotel if a reservation is booked/confirmed) as the address of your intended stay for the purpose of application processing.

What about after the delivery of MUP's notice approving your temporary residence as a digital nomad in Croatia?

If you require a visa in order to enter the country:

Once you've been informed that your temporary residence as a digital nomad has been granted, you will need to contact the embassy/consulate again to obtain an entry visa for Croatia or a biometric residence permit (please inform yourself in advance about whether or not this is a possibility at your embassy/consulate).

You can also fill in the visa application form online.

All other information on visas (application, required documentation, etc.) can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs/MVEP.

If you don't require an entry visa for Croatia:

Third-country nationals who don't need an entry visa for the Republic of Croatia don't need to take any of the aforementioned steps and may enter Croatia without a visa in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Foreigners (often referred to as the Aliens Act).

An important note: A third-country national must register their residence with the administrative police station responsible for their place/area of stay within thirty days of being granted a temporary residence permit (in this case a digital nomad permit), to ensure that their temporary residence is not revoked.

On arrival in Croatia - Residence registration and the issuance of a biometric residence permit

The registration of residence:

As a third-country national, you're obliged to register your place of stay/residence and an address within three days of entering the Republic of Croatia at the administrative police station responsible for your area of stay.

You'll need to apply using Form 8a with the attachment of a lease agreement or a statement of the property owner confirming the situation.

The issuance of a biometric residence permit:

Third-country nationals who don't need a visa to enter Croatia, as well as those who entered the Republic of Croatia on the basis of needing an entry visa, are required to obtain a residence permit which is a biometric document (it is mandatory to attach photographs and provide biometric data) immediately upon arrival at the competent administrative police station.

What are the costs?

If the application is submitted to a consulate/embassy outside of Croatia, it is paid for at the time of application:

420.00 kuna for a temporary residence permit

460.00 kuna for a visa (with the additional payment of a service fee if the visa application is submitted through the VFS visa centre)

310.00 kuna for the biometric residence permit form (check the possibility of obtaining it at the embassy/consulate)

If the application is submitted in Croatia at an administrative police station, the associated fees are paid after your stay is approved by MUP:

350.00 kuna for a temporary residence permit

70.00 kuna as an administrative fee for issuing a biometric residence permit

240.00 kuna for a biometric residence permit form

Payment of all of the admin fees if the application is submitted at a Croatian administrative police station

Admin fees for temporary stay: 

Via internet banking, the payment of administrative fees for the issuance of temporary residence (350 kuna) are to be made directly to the Croatian state budget, more precisely to the IBAN of the state budget, the details of which are below:

HR1210010051863000160, model HR64, reference number: 5002-713-OIB (if you have an OIB (personal ID number/tax number), then that is entered).

For those who haven't been assigned an OIB, the reference number is: 5002-713-number of your valid travel document.

(An important note: a maximum of 10 numbers, and if the numeric label initially contains zeros (0), they are not to be entered. Do not enter letters, slashes, periods, commas, etc.).
For example, let's say the number of the travel document/identity card of a foreign citizen is AZ004586, then the reference number is: 5002-713-4586 (without any letters and zeros, and with a maximum of ten numbers).

The fees for a biometric residence permit:

Via Internet banking, the payment of a fee in the amount of 240 kuna for the preparation of a biometric residence permit will be made directly to the Croatian state budget, more precisely to the IBAN of the state budget, the details of which are below:

HR1210010051863000160, model HR65, reference number: 7005-485-OIB (enter the OIB only if you've been given one).

For those who have not been assigned an OIB, the reference number is: 7005-485-RKP-case number.

Through Internet banking, the payment of an admin fee in the amount of 70 kuna for the preparation of a biometric residence permit will be made, yet again, to the Croatian state budget, more precisely to the IBAN of the state budget, the details of which are below:

HR1210010051863000160, model HR64, reference number: 5002-713-OIB (again, you obviously only enter your OIB if you have one).

For those who do not have an OIB, the reference number is: 5002-713-number of your valid travel document.

(The same important note written above about a maximum of 10 numbers and no letters, slashes, commas etc applies here, too.)

For more on digital nomads in Croatia, as well as any more digital nomad visa requirement updates, follow TCN's dedicated section.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - Ericsson Nikola Tesla netted HRK 94.5 million in profit in 2020, down 7.8% on the year, while sales revenue grew 13.7% to HRK 2.02 billion, according to the company's consolidated financial statement released via the Zagreb Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Profit before tax was down 1.5% to HRK 106.6 million, while operating profit went up 1.8% to HRK 104.4 million. Gross margin decreased by 8.6%.

Domestic sales accounted for 45.8% of total revenue, services for Ericsson for 42.6% and exports for 11.6%. Domestic sales totalled HRK 926.7 million, up by 86.5% on 2019, while exports, excluding the Ericsson market, dropped by 7.9% to HRK 234.4 million. On the Ericsson market, sales revenue dropped by 16.1% to HRK 861.9 million.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 -The Croatian National Bank (HNB) has warned of three risks - inflated real estate prices, public debt and difficulties in loan repayments, the Večernji List daily said on Tuesday.

Now that immunisation has started there is some hope that the pandemic might be stopped in mid-2021, however the process of immunisation is progressing slowly in the entire European Union which increases the risk of yet another wave of COVID-19 about the middle of the year.

In its latest analysis of financial stability, the central bank notes that the possibility of restrictive measures being tightened or extended and the prospect of yet another weak tourism season are causing growing uncertainty, particularly in the private sector, while expenses related to the Zagreb and Banovina earthquakes are burdening state finances. The central bank says that the year ahead carries a series of risks, the most hazardous potential risk being increased prices of real estate on the back of state subsidies, the increasing public debt and problems with loan repayments.

Even though the economy is expected to recover in 2021, the intensity of the recovery is uncertain. According to the HNB's December forecast, GDP is expected to have contracted by 8.9% in 2020, which ranks Croatia among the more affected countries in the EU (the EU GDP is expected to drop by 7.4%) while a growth of 4.9% is expected in 2021. The HNB's forecast is based on the assumption that the epidemiological situation will be normalised and that most of the restrictive measures will be lifted in Croatia and its main foreign trade partners by mid-2021, which seems quite reasonable at the moment but that does not necessarily mean that that will indeed be the case.

The state's financial position was relieved with increased absorption of EU funds, but the increase in expenditure has led to a cyclic fall in state revenue which has already resulted in a strong fiscal deficit and increased public debt.

Stopping the pandemic and measures to curb it and reducing the risk of illiquidity and insolvency are the main preconditions for the business sector to get back to normal.

However, if enterprises are prematurely left up to the market, which contracted significantly in 2020, and in some cases it doesn't exist at all, that could lead to some enterprises folding and to increased unemployment. On the other hand, one-fifth of the enterprises in Croatia usually record losses and in 2019 the share of loss-making enterprises in the total sectoral revenue amounted to 14%, the newspaper said.

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - In the past 24 hours 343 new coronavirus cases and 13 COVID-19 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis response team said on Tuesday.

Currently there are 2,201 active cases, including 786 hospitalised patients, of whom 67 are on ventilators, and 11,384 people are self-isolating.

To date 1,313,573 people have been tested for the new virus, including 6,879 in the past 24 hours.

Since 25 February 2020, when the virus was first registered in Croatia, 240,360 people have been infected, including 5,462 who have died and 232,697 who have recovered, of whom 240 in the past 24 hours.