ZAGREB, 31 January 2022 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković presented farmers in Sisak-Moslavina County on Monday with four new contracts for aid from the Rural Development Programme for local projects.

Vučković said that projects worth HRK 1.18 billion had been agreed so far for this county and that most of this amount had been paid out. She said that this had helped farmers maintain and develop their production during the times of the coronavirus pandemic and earthquakes.

An additional HRK 1.2 billion in aid has been paid out from other programmes since 2014, which makes it a total of HRK 2.4 billion, the minister stressed.

Vučković said that new measures for Sisak-Moslavina County were also in the pipeline, including a further HRK6.5 million "to encourage new demographic trends", and additional aid to help farmers cope with increased costs due to the rise in energy and mineral fertilizer prices.

Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivan Celjak said he was confident the ministry would continue to be a partner to the farmers in repairing the earthquake damage, increasing production and marketing their products.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2022 - Five samples tested in Croatia have turned out to be positive for the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant, the Croatian Institute of Public Health confirmed on Monday.

This subvariant has been confirmed in 40 countries, including neighbouring Slovenia.

British scientists have been monitoring it after it was detected in more than 400 cases in the United Kingdom in the first ten days of January.

International data suggests that the BA.2 subvariant might be spreading faster that the Omicron variant, while no differences in severity have been observed.

"Very early observations from India and Denmark suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity compared to BA.1. This data should become more solid (one way or another) in the coming weeks," Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said on his Twitter account earlier this month.

He said that the new subvariant was not expected to diminish the effectiveness of the existing COVID-19 vaccines.

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2022 - "Bračko maslinovo ulje" has been entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, which makes it the 33rd Croatian food product to be entered in the register, the Ministry of Agriculture reported on Monday.

The European Commission published its decision in the EU Official Journal of 31 January, noting that 'Bračko maslinovo ulje' has been entered in the register.

Bračko maslinovo ulje is an extra virgin olive oil obtained exclusively using mechanical processes, with at least 80% of the product being made of the "oblica" variety of olives.

This olive oil can be produced only on Brač Island. Olive growing has become a symbol of the island and its most common variety is the "oblica" or "Brač" olive, which is registered in the world catalogue of olive varieties, the ministry reported.

Croatia now has 33 agricultural and food products registered in the European Union as a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication.

ZAGREB, 31 January 2022 - Opening an online seminar on Miroslav Tuđman on Monday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Tuđman was among the researchers and politicians who in the past 30 years had shaped Croatian society and participated in the adoption of key decisions.

The two-day event, organised by the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences and the St. George association, is being held on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of the prominent researcher and politician and founder of Croatia's security-intelligence community.

Plenković said Tuđman was one of the last actors on the Croatian political scene who had detailed knowledge of the events since 1990 and before, which, he said, had helped him analyse, in a truth-loving way, processes and phenomena the country had been faced with.

He said Tuđman's most important contribution was the establishment of the national security-intelligence system, his role in strengthening relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the equality of BiH Croats in relation to the other two biggest ethnic groups, as well as his role in the 1991-95 Homeland War.

"He participated, along with his father, Croatia's first president Franjo Tuđman, in all key events and is definitely one of the Croatian politicians who formed and shaped society and participated in the adoption of key strategic decisions that secured Croatia's freedom, democracy and integration with the EU and NATO," said Plenković.

As a member of parliament in several terms, Tuđman headed Croatia's delegation at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and contributed to global security also beyond that transatlantic organisation, he said, adding that with his research Tuđman defended "the truth about his father".

With books, facts and arguments he countered attacks by forgers of Croatia's modern history on the legacy of the first Croatian president, said Plenković, pointing also to Tuđman's political engagement in the HDZ party.

Tuđman was among the founders of the Ivo Pilar institute 30 years ago and the founder of the St. George association", a non-government, non-party and non-profit association founded to promote development and research in the field of international, homeland, national and corporate security, it was said at the seminar.

He was the editor of the "National security and the future" magazine for 21 years and was a long-time professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences' Department of Information and Communication Sciences, it was said.

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2022 - Construction Minister Darko Horvat on Monday announced a new round of applications for subsidised housing loans, noting that this year HRK 50 million would be spent for that purpose and that a public call for banks to submit their offers would be published in mid-February while loan requests would be submitted as of 21 March.

A call for citizens to apply for subsidised housing loans could be published in mid-March, Horvat said.

Since the relevant legislation is aimed at encouraging demographic revival, urban regeneration and reducing the number of young families emigrating from the country, the call will be open until the subsidies are spent, Horvat said in a post on his ministry's website.

The ministry plans to invite, on 16 February, a call for interested credit institutions to submit their offers regarding interest rates, as the first step towards publishing a new call for applications by citizens.

The ministry expects to publish a call for applications for subsidised housing loans on 9 March, when citizens will be able to start submitting their loan applications to banks.

On 21 March, banks are expected to submit, on behalf of their clients, requests for subsidies to Croatia Real Estate Agency (APN).

The ministry recalls that 22,169 requests for subsidised housing loans were granted between 2017, when the scheme was introduced, and March 2021.

In the families that use housing loan subsidies, more than 4,600 children have been born since 2017 and 13,130 children under 18 have been reported in the loan requests.

More than HRK 456.7 million has been invested in state-subsidised housing loans so far.

January 31, 2022 - A new survey reveals that Austrian tourists are choosing Croatia this summer, as it is the second most sought-after foreign destination behind Italy. 

According to the survey results on travel plans of the Austrians in 2022, conducted by the association of national tourist organizations Corps Touristique Austria, Croatia is among the top five most sought-after foreign destinations. Italy leads the list with 58 percent, Croatia is second with 46 percent, followed by Germany, Greece, and Spain, reports Dalmacija Danas. 

"The results of the research confirm that, despite all the challenges and circumstances, we have successfully maintained the position of one of the leading and most beloved foreign destinations among Austrians. We are also pleased with the indicators according to which 83 percent of Austrians plan to travel this year, of which about 66 percent plan to travel abroad. Furthermore, compared to last year, these new indicators represent an increase in interest and demand for travel of about 20 percent, which indicates the continuation of positive trends this year," said Branimir Tončinić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board office in Austria.

The results show that Austrian tourists will travel most during the main summer season with a trend of increased interest in holidays in September, while they will most often travel by car (about 77 percent), by plane, and by train.

"Austria is one of the traditionally most important markets for Croatian tourism. Last year, we recorded about 6.4 million overnight stays by Austrians, which took a high fourth place in terms of results. This year we expect even better results and a practical approach to the trends from the pre-pandemic 2019 ", said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić, adding that Austrians spent the most nights last year in Istria, Kvarner, and Zadar County.

The research results show that the demand of Austrians this year will be most pronounced for swimming holidays, city break tourism, wellness, and cultural tourism. At the same time, they will prefer to choose hotels, holiday homes, and apartments. However, the most important criteria by which Austrians will choose destinations include cleanliness and hygiene, safety, and weather and climate.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2022 - In the past 24 hours 1,445 coronavirus cases and 50 related deaths have been confirmed in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

The smaller number of new infections is typical of the beginning of the week because fewer tests are conducted on Sundays.

There are 2,085 hospitalised patients, including 184 on ventilators, while 32,252 persons are self-isolating.

There are currently 54,650 active cases.

So far 4,231,371 people have been tested, including 3,809 in the last 24 hours.

Since the start of the epidemic in March 2020, 937,167 persons have been infected, and of them, 13,827 have died.

To date, 56.53% of the population has been vaccinated, including 67.27% of adults, of whom 64.82% fully.

January 31, 2022 - The hunt for Dubrovnik seasonal workers begins, with chefs and waiters most in demand for the 2022 tourist season. 

Hotel houses and caterers in Dubrovnik are looking to fill the missing workforce ahead of the 2022 tourist season, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

The labor market is flooded with tenders, workers are wanted outside Croatia, and no one wants to repeat last year's mistake when employment was delayed due to fear of closing the emitting markets. As a result, some seasonal workers have gone abroad, and some have been recruited in the northern Adriatic. But what are the salaries attracting labor?

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the average salary in Croatia in November 2021 was HRK 7,333. However, the median net income was HRK 6,149, which means that half of the employees had a lower and half a higher income than that amount. Income in the so-called "real sector" in tourism has always been lower than the national average.

"The lowest salaries in tourism are paid to cleaners and kitchen support staff, around HRK 5,000 net per month. The average salary of a waiter in a Dubrovnik hotel is between HRK 6,000 and 7,500," says Dolores Lujić, commissioner of the Croatian Tourism and Hospitality Union. There is no data for restaurants, but given the high demand for waiters, she is convinced they are not lower. Receptionists are in the rank of waiters.

"Coefficients are generally not applied to them. So, for example, cooks and chefs in a top restaurant in Dubrovnik receive HRK 12 thousand or from HRK 15 thousand to 20 thousand," says Lujić.

According to the Croatian Employment Service advertisements, the most sought-after occupations are chefs and waiters. In Dubrovnik-Neretva County, 67 ads were opened for chefs and 52 for waiters in the entire area. Julijo Srgota, head of the Regional Office of the Croatian Employment Service (CES) in Dubrovnik, says that employers do not rest; advertisements arrive daily from the beginning of the year.

According to the Law on Foreigners, for some jobs, employers must obtain a positive opinion from the CES and the so-called "labor market test", and only then submit an application to the Ministry of the Interior for a residence and work permit for a foreign worker. On the other hand, the tourism sector can obtain work permits for workers from third countries without a labor market test, but only for up to 90 days during a calendar year.

In 2021, the CES office in Dubrovnik received 1,887 applications for employment of third-country nationals. In Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the CES issued 286 positive opinions last year, 10 are being processed, and 1,070 work permits have been issued. On the other hand, the institute refused 71 and suspended 361 work permits. The most significant number of requests related to jobs in construction and catering and tourism, such as building worker, cook, waiter, assistant chef, carpenter, bricklayer, valet, reinforcement worker, civil engineer, and facade worker. Since employers are obliged to enclose income data in their request for the opinion of the CES when hiring foreigners, it turns out that the average salary of a worker who came here from third countries to work as a chef is HRK 5506.9, waiter HRK 5462.6, and baker HRK 4631.8, while employers reported an average salary of HRK 4876 for a maid or HRK 4461 gross for a cleaner.

The average salary of employees in the Dubrovnik Tourist Board in 2019 was HRK 7,724 net. 

The County Chamber of Commerce performed a salary analysis in Dubrovnik-Neretva County companies for 2020. According to their data, the average salary in the provision of accommodation and food preparation services is HRK 4971 net, in trade HRK 4743, in transport HRK 6276, and in administrative and support service activities (90% being travel agencies) HRK 5166.

Compared to 2019, the most significant decline in monthly wages was recorded in accommodation services in tourism and food preparation (22 percent), and the smallest in transport, while in construction it increased by five percent and averaged HRK 4552.

"The highest average monthly net salary was paid in the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning, HRK 6,811. Paradoxically, the lowest average wage in the county is in the field of education, HRK 3,890.

This applies to private institutions and companies, not schools financed from the budget, but it says how we treat this activity. The data are exact, based on the data presented by entrepreneurs in their final financial reports to Fina," says Nikolina Trojić, President of the Chamber.

Commenting that the average income in the Dubrovnik area is lower than the state, Trojić noted that the coronavirus hit a large part of businesses much harder and that many employees depended on government support for job preservation (HRK 4,000).

Through the Dubrovnik Student Center, the student population, in most cases, works in tourism and catering. In 2021, 6878 contracts were signed through the student service. For comparison, in 2020, 4097 contracts were signed through student services, and in 2019, 10,364 contracts.

"Most often, hourly rates for students last year were between 30 and 35 kuna, and the most sought after jobs were waiters, support staff in catering, cleaners, maids, and other hotel housework," says Marko Potrebica, director of the Student Center Dubrovnik.

For more, check out our business section.