Zagreb's Franjo Tudjman Airport Signs "Airports We Trust" Charter
January the 21st, 2021 - Zagreb's Franjo Tudjman Airport has placed its signature on an important document which says a lot about the international airport's relationship to protecting the environment.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Zagreb's International Airport (MZLZ), known simply as Franjo Tudjman Airport, along with 22 other airports from around the world, including all those which operate within the Aeroports de Paris Group (ADP), signed the "Airports we trust" charter, announcing cooperation in building a sustainable and responsible future and placing a special emphasis on one of the most important topics of the modern day - environmental protection.
This topic was reported on this week by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, of which one of the partners, ie the concessionaire, is the ADP Group, and in addition to them, the charter was signed by several partner companies of the group - TAV Airports, Airports International Group the ports of Liège, Nuevo Pudahuel (Santiago de Chile) and Ravinala (Madagascar).
All of the signatories to the “Airports we trust” charter are committed to directing their operations towards zero-impact operations, in order to achieve a significant reduction / zero CO2 emissions at all airports by the year 2030, as well as to actively participate in the transition to more environmentally friendly energy use in the aviation sector as a whole and, if applicable, apply this mantra in all airport operations.
Airports, including Zagreb's Franjo Tudjman Airport are also committed to promoting the integration of each airport into the local resource system, reducing the overall environmental impact in airport planning and development projects, working with local communities and stakeholders, and strengthening innovation and reducing noise exposure and more.
By signing this charter, these airports confirm that their social and environmental responsibility is not limited to their employees and service users (passengers, customers, suppliers and other participants in the aviation industry), but that it also applies to all stakeholders in the countries where the group is present.
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Zagreb Population Exceeds 800,000, Population Growing in One Other County
January the 21st, 2021 - The Zagreb population has recorded growth, exceeding the figure of 800,000. Only one other county in the country has experienced similar population growth in the last ten years, and that is Istria County.
As Ljubica Gataric/Vecernji list writes, only has the Zagreb population and that of Istria County increased in the past decade, while all other Croatian counties have lost more than two hundred thousand inhabitants. That's like a city the size of Split or the entire Istria County disappearing in a mere ten years.
Istria has seen a slight increase of only a thousand inhabitants, while the Zagreb population has grown, taking in about 17,000 people from the surrounding areas and growing to 807,000. According to the CBS, the Zagreb population surpassed the so-called magic number of 800,000 inhabitants back in 2016 and has been growing slowly since then thanks to the fact that it is the strongest economic centre in the entire country.
Earthquake-stricken Sisak-Moslavina County lost a concerning 27,000 inhabitants, Osijek-Baranja lost an even more worrying 33,000, Primorje-Gorski Kotar lost 12,000, and close to zero - with a deficit of about 900 people, is the tourist Mecca of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
Until recently, the demographic depopulation of rural areas and smaller Croatian towns created an army of unemployed people who were reserve labour. The long-running economic crisis and unemployment created the illusion of an abundance of human labour potential. For decades now, high unemployment rates across the country have created secure labour reserves. That's why relatively low salaries were possible, especially in occupations which only required lower-level qualifications.
''With the influx of fewer and fewer working-age people, further aggravated by emigration, those aforementioned labour reserves have dried up in just a few years,'' said demographers Anđelko Akrap and Kresimir Ivanda in a large economic analysis of Croatian counties, prepared by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) for the fourth year in a row.
''All relevant demographic indicators show that the inflow to the labour market is decreasing from year to year. Thus, economic policy makers need to take into account the almost progressive narrowing of the demographic framework of labour supply. Continuing the current demographic trends, by 2051, the number of working age population (15 to 64 years) in Croatia will decrease by more than a million inhabitants, the number of young people (0-14 years) will decrease by about 273 thousand and, conversely, the number those aged 65 and over will increase by about 185,000, the demographers say, concluding that Croatia quite simply cannot count on economically sustainable development.
Actual Croatian GDP values show large differences between various economic groups, countries and even regions. More specifically, if we look at the European Union as a whole, Germany, the strongest economy, accounts for approximately 25 percent of total EU GDP and is as many as 260 times larger than Malta, which is economically the weakest. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, the five economically strongest members, generate as much as 70 percent of the EU's total GDP, so it can be concluded that this is a high concentration of production of goods and services in a small number of member states.
Croatia is among the economically weaker member states in terms of actual economic strength, ie in terms of the size of its GDP (from 2019) it ranks 21st and participates in the total GDP of the EU with only 0.4 percent. Comparing the GDP of Croatian counties provides a rather similar picture of such a view of the EU. The economically strongest City of Zagreb, according to the latest available data for the year 2017, generates as much as 34 percent of Croatia's total GDP and is almost forty times economically stronger than the typically neglected Lika-Senj County, which generates only 0.9 percent of Croatia's GDP.
This high concentration is also noticeable when looking at the five economically strongest Croatian counties, which together generate 63 percent of total GDP, while at the same time the five economically weakest counties together generate only 6.6 percent of national GDP. Thus, there are large regional differences to be seen in terms of general economic strength, but Croatia doesn't differ in that sense from a number of other countries.
The economically weaker Croatian counties were most deeply affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, especially the five Slavonian counties and the previously mentioned Lika-Senj county. Thus, the data shows that these six counties generated 14.2 percent of national GDP way back in 2008, 12.7 percent back in 2014, and 12.3 percent according to the latest data for 2017.
When it comes to 2017, it can be noted that the most dynamic growth was achieved in three counties of Adriatic Croatia, namely Zadar, Sibenik-Knin and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties, which can be largely attributed to good tourism performance and little else.
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Milanović After Biden Inauguration: Light Ultimately Triumphs Over Darkness
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović said after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the new president of the United States on Wednesday he was glad to see that the light ultimately triumphed over the darkness.
Writing on his Facebook profile, Milanović said that according to Wikipedia in English, he and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto were the only two European heads of state or government who had openly endorsed Biden's presidential campaign.
"Watching President Biden as he entered the White House, I have to say that (as a non-religious person) I am glad when it is confirmed that faith in the light ultimately triumphs over the darkness," Milanović said.
Earthquake Geo-Information System Presented in Petrinja
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - An earthquake geo-information network was presented in Petrinja on Wednesday providing basic information on the situation in the area struck by a devastating earthquake on 29 December 2020.
The system is the result of the joint efforts of the Central Office for the Development of Digital Society (SDURDD), the Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb and the State Geodetic Administration (DGU). The system will collect data on the effects of earthquakes in the field covering almost six thousand hectares, all communities, farmland and commercial structures as well as data regarding residents' addresses, health institutions and schools.
As Deputy Prime Minister and head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake Tomo Medved said, this is a tool that will facilitate the work and decision making by the ministries of the interior and defence, fire services and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HSGSS).
The application will be systematically updated on the size of the population and their social status for instance. This is a useful tool particularly regarding the removal of damage and reconstruction of buildings in earthquake-hit areas seeing that it contains photographs and information on the situation with the ground prior to and after the natural disaster.
The application is available to services participating in the removal of debris and reconstruction.
Plenković After Biden Inauguration: Croatia and US are Friends and Partners
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said after the inauguration of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday that he was looking forward to strengthening bilateral ties with the United States.
"Congratulations to the new President of the United States Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Croatia and the United States are friends and partners. Looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations and our transatlantic alliance," Plenković wrote on Twitter.
Biden, 78, was sworn in as the 46th US president on Wednesday, becoming the oldest US president in history. Harris is the first black and first woman to serve as US vice president.
Supreme Court Acquits Dražen Slavica of Responsibility for Kornati Wildfire Tragedy
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted former Šibenik-Knin County fire chief Dražen Slavica of responsibility for the 2007 tragedy in which 12 firefighters were killed while trying to put out a wildfire on Kornati island.
Croatia's highest court said that the Zagreb County Court was right to conclude that Slavica was not responsible for the actions or omissions of persons who should have acted in accordance with their powers under the law and that he did not have the authority to lead the fire operation that also involved aviation.
"The accused was not authorised to command the fire intervention. Nevertheless, acting promptly and in accordance with his powers which were not of a command nature, he requested a water tank and air support. The air support came much later for reasons that cannot be attributed to the accused," the Supreme Court said.
Slavica had been acquitted of responsibility for the Kornat tragedy twice before.
There are several theories about the cause of the accident that occurred on 30 August 2007, including a fuel leak from a helicopter and an explosion of leftover NATO bombs. The official theory is that the accident was caused by a phenomenon known as eruptive fire. However, the families of the firefighters killed and some sections of the public think that the real truth about the cause of the accident is being concealed.
The tragedy took the lives of twelve firefighters from Šibenik, Vodice, and Tisno. Some of them died on the scene, while some, who were severely burned in the accident, later died in hospitals in Zagreb and Split. Their colleague Frane Lučić was the only one to survive.
Tourist Boards in Zagreb County Develop Gourmet and Cultural Tourism
January 19, 2021 – Tourist boards in Zagreb County are uniting in two projects – to develop and promote cultural and gourmet tourism.
The new Law on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism encourage the tourist boards' association, both project-wise and formally. Local and regional tourist boards, as well as tourist boards and local self-government units that do not have an established tourist board for their area, may join a project (agreement) association.
Many tourist boards have already taken advantage of this opportunity, such as the Zadar Archipelago and Southern Istria tourist boards, and more recently, the tourist boards in Zagreb County.
Namely, they unite to promote and develop cultural and gourmet tourism. As the Zagreb County Tourist Board director Ivana Alilović points out, their goal is to intensively promote the Zagreb Green Ring region and existing tourist products and programs.
Scene from Zagreb County / Romeo Ibrišević, Zagreb County Tourist Board
"Our goal is integrated quality management of the Zagreb County's tourist destination product, which will reduce the gap between the level of quality that tourists expect and the level of quality that the destination can provide and deliver. Also, we want to improve the quality and content of Zagreb County tourism product, increase tourist satisfaction and tourist spending in Zagreb County and the benefits for entrepreneurship in catering and tourism," says Alilović.
Gourmet tourism in Zagreb County
Local tourist boards of Jastrebarsko, Samobor, and Sveti Ivan Zelina cities have concluded an agreement on the local Zagreb County Tourist Boards' association. In this first project, the joint activity will be the development of gourmet tourism. Wine roads and cheese roads are among the many tourist attractions of rural, eno, and gastro tourism of Zagreb County.
Vineyards and wine cellars in Zagreb County are located on three wine roads – Plešivica Wine Road, Zelina Wine Road, and Samobor Wine Road. Along wine roads, you can find Purtugizec Plešivica and Kraljevina Zelina wines from the Zagreb County brand, as well as Bermet, a traditional and widely recognized Samobor aromatized wine.
Also, there are wines produced from indigenous varieties Plavec yellow, sweet Zelenac, and Šipelj, and many other wines such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon, black, gray, and white Pinot, Rhine Riesling, Traminer, Frankovka, Škrlet, yellow Muscat, Šipon.
Vineyards in Jastrebarsko / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić
The main goals of the association through the gourmet tourism project are:
- The smart specialization of Zagreb County.
- The development of a tourist destination for gourmet tourism.
- Improving the value chain of gourmet tourism.
- Digitalization and application of new technologies.
- Multi-sector connectivity.
- Development of local production systems (Agri-food).
- Positioning and promotion of Zagreb county.
Cultural tourism in Zagreb County
Cultural tourism in Zagreb County is based on protected natural heritage and cultural and historical heritage. Zagreb County has a rich treasury of natural heritage and beauty. It has many protected natural areas, which contribute to the development and success of cultural, hiking, picnic, and sustainable tourism in Zagreb County.
The association project aims to establish a basis for the integrated management of cultural tourism. Alilović says they want to create a recognizable tourist destination product that will be the main instrument for encouraging tourism competitiveness in Zagreb County. She adds that cultural resources are the leading destination's product in the promotion of a tourist destination, and what makes one destination different from the other is its intangible cultural heritage.
Lužnica Castle, Zaprešić / Zagreb County Tourist Board
"Heritage is the essential element by which a tourist destination's management attracts tourists to the destination. It is an attractive basis for branding. Creativity based on traditional intangible heritage thus pushes the boundaries of the mere functionality of a product.
Through the example of a cultural thematic route, we seek to show how myth can become a potential attractive basis for the development of mythological tourism in Zagreb County. The thematic route's stories and locations offer a choice according to criteria of collective and personal importance. Therefore, the thematic route is an open system that can be toured individually or organized with expert tourist guidance.
Special attention was given to the local identity. For example, the customs of St. George and St. John were highlighted, as well as other customs that are traditionally woven into the Zagreb County and surrounding regions," says Alilović.
The tourist offer of Zagreb County abounds in cultural and historical heritage, such as stories and legends, wooden construction, sacral construction, indigenous architecture, and archaeological finds and monuments of its rich past.
Zagreb County can also boast more than 200 cultural and historical heritage sites. Among them, castles Novi dvori Jelačićevi are a unique example of a complete manorial-economic complex preserved to this day. Then there are forts, manor houses, rich wooden sacral heritage, of which the most prominent is the chapel of St. Barbara in Velika Mlaka. A beautiful example of autochthonous secular architecture is the manor house (curia) Modić-Bedeković in Donja Lomnica. A special attraction is the memorial room of Alojzije Stepinac in Krašić.
Krašić, Zagreb County / Zagreb County Tourist Board
Valuable is the archeological finds in Ščitarjevo, not far from Velika Gorica, and Budinjak (10th-6th centuries BC), one of the most important prehistoric archaeological sites in Croatia.
The project area includes the tourist boards of the cities of Zaprešić, Velika Gorica, Vrbovec, and Dugo Selo, the tourist boards of the municipalities of Pisarovina and Krašić, and the tourist board of area of the Sava-Sutla valley and hills.
"Agreements of project association in the Zagreb County Tourist Board are an example of planned activities. It is clear that the destination through joint action has the opportunity to better position itself in the market and develop projects that will stimulate overall economic development," said Alilović.
Alilović concludes that the association should result in numerous synergy effects. Not only in quality but also much-needed cost-effectiveness of promotion and project implementation.
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Vučković: Working Together Necessary to Develop Mandarin Production in Neretva Valley
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said on Wednesday that serious structural and strategic matters needed to be resolved to make long-term development of mandarin production in the Neretva valley possible, adding that that won't be possible without producers amalgamating.
Minister Vučković is today staying in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. In Pojezerje and Ploče she met with local and regional government representatives, local agricultural producers, and buyers.
After the meeting, she said that there were 1,700 farms in that small area, most of which were working with mandarins, which was monoculture farming and an excellent precondition for grouping together.
"The Ministry will assign people specifically to work on the procedure of amalgamation, and representatives of local and county governments and producers should make a contribution. Amalgamation will strengthen their bargaining power and bring them closer to the market. We will also help them financially, for these organisations to be able to purchase equipment," Vučković said.
She stressed that despite the crisis and limited budget, the ministry had provided financial aid as an 'ad hoc' measure and form of support.
Textbooks in Croatian Provided for First Time to Secondary School Students in Serbia
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - For the first time since the formation of Croatian minority classes at the secondary school level 14 years ago, Serbia has provided textbooks in the Croatian language, which are in accordance with the curriculum, Croatian media outlets in Vojvodina said on Wednesday.
Students in the first grade of Subotica Secondary School were the first to receive the textbooks, translated from Serbian into Croatian by Croatian teachers in Vojvodina.
"They are the 14th generation of secondary school students to attend classes in Croatian and they are the first to have textbooks in their mother tongue which are in line with the current curriculum," Margareta Uršal, member of the Croatian National Council in charge of education, said at the handover ceremony.
Teachers and students said that until now they have used textbooks from Croatia which did not completely match the curriculum of Serbia's education ministry, because of which they had to translate textbooks themselves, prepare presentations and improvise.
The new textbooks can also be used by students of vocational secondary schools, Uršal added.
She said that this generation would also have textbooks in the coming years and that as of last year textbooks had been provided for all pupils in Croatian classes in primary schools.
About 500 students attend education in their mother tongue each year, which is available in five primary and three secondary schools in Subotica and one primary school in Bački Monoštor.
PM Says Reconstruction Should Start as Soon as Possible
ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in parliament on Tuesday that post-earthquake reconstruction of the Banovina region could be faster than that of Zagreb due to the fact that a vast majority of damaged units there were family houses that were easier to renovate than apartment blocks in Zagreb.
"To give a reconstruction calendar now would be irresponsible of me but we will do our best for reconstruction to start as soon as possible," he said in response to a question by Social Democrat MP Boška Ban Vlahek during a debate on the government-sponsored amendments to the Act on the Post-Earthquake Reconstruction in the City of Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb Counties, under which the law would be expanded to also apply to Sisak-Moslavina and Karlovac counties, hit by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on 29 December.
Plenković responded fiercely to GLAS MP and former construction minister Anka Mrak Taritaš's remark that documentation for reconstruction in Zagreb was expensive and that if the reconstruction process there was to proceed as it had so far, "we will no longer speak of Banovina or Banija but about a containerland."
"You are the champion of reconstruction in Gunja, where there were no loose ends to deal with," he said ironically, resenting Mrak Taritaš's comment about "containerland."
"How can you say that," he asked the MP who defended the model of post-flood reconstruction in Gunja during her term in office as construction minister, when, she said, 1,100 houses were reconstructed in 13 months.
Marija Selak Raspudić insisted that the government was introducing discrimination between Gornja Stubica and Petrinja, which are in the same category of underdeveloped communities, as it planned to fully finance the post-earthquake reconstruction of Petrinja while covering 80% of the reconstruction costs in Gornja Stubica, to which Plenković said that her remarks were populist platitudes.
He also had a strongly-worded response to MP Tomislav Tomašević's (Green-Left Bloc) comment that one should refrain from arbitrariness and awarding funds for reconstruction according to political preferences.
"Are you delusional, what kind of political preferences are you talking about, do you really think that someone is so crazy to use the criterion of political preference after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake, what do you think the HDZ would gain with that?" he said.
The government has offered the parliament to define a fair model of reconstruction that would also take into account the extent of the damage and the number of houses affected in Sisak, but the law must be defendable and it must not discriminate against anyone, Plenković said, also dismissing the Opposition's criticism that the competent state institutions were late in responding to the 29 December quake.
