March 30, 2021 - In their 3rd qualifier for the 2022 World Cup, Croatia tops Malta 3:0 in Rijeka.

Croatia met Malta at Rujevica Stadium in Rijeka in the 3rd round of Group H of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Zlatko Dalic's side had a shocking display in Ljubljana on Wednesday, losing to Slovenia to open the qualifications and immediately complicated their road to the World Cup. Recall, only the group winner qualifies directly for Qatar.

Two days later, however, Croatia changed tactics and managed to defeat Cyprus in a comfortable win. Mario Pašalić scored the only goal for the Vatreni during the first half. It surely wasn't Croatia's best performance, but it was enough to secure the team's first three points.

Dalić repeats the 4-3-3 formation used against Cyprus but decided to give many of his players some rest. From the last game, only Livaković, Ćaleta-Car, Pašalić, and Budimir returned the squad. Vida, Kovačić, and Vlašić made a comeback to the starting lineup after being benched the last match. Juranović, Melnjak, Badelj, and Oršić started for the first time. Vida replaced Modrić as the captain.

Lineups

Croatia (4-3-3): Livaković, Juranović, Ćaleta-Car, Vida, Melnjak; Kovačić, Badelj, Vlašić, Pašalić, Oršić; Budimir

Malta (3-4-3): Bonello; Shaw, Pepe, Borg; Mbong, Guillaumier, Kristensen, Camenzuli; Teuma, Satariano, Pisani

Recap

Croatia put a lot of pressure on the opposite team from the start, and it was Vlašić who got the first shot of the game in the second minute that went out, but very close to the post. Both teams started quite aggressively.

In the 14th minute, Vlašić again showed up to dribble past two defenders and put a very dangerous cross into the box. Pašalić hit the ball with a great header, but the shot went against the crossbar. This was Croatia's clearest attempt during the first half. 

Despite the early pressure from Croatia in the first 18 minutes, it didn't seem like enough to take the lead or dominate the ball possession. Shortly after, the Croatia midfield seemed to find the patience necessary to initiate the attacks in a more orderly manner, getting 64% of the possession in the 25th minute.

Although the Croatia side became the superior team in terms of possession and attempts afterward, the Malta defense did not give ground. Once again, a nice combination between Budimir and Vlašić in the 31st minute of the game gave the latter a great chance to put an interesting cross in the box, but no one was there to tap it in.

They continued to look for scoring opportunities through the end of the first half, but despite Vlašić's great first half and Oršić, Pašalić, and Kovačić's individual display; the visitors did not lower their arms and defended their goal fiercely.

Just one minute was added to the end of the first half, but the result did not budge. Both teams reached the halftime break drawing 0-0.

The Vatreni began the second half just like the first one, searching for the lead by pressuring their rivals from the start. And who else but Vlašić, who in the 46th minute shot to goal to complete his third attempt of the night, however, saved by the keeper.

Slobodan Kadic

A couple of minutes later, another great opportunity came for the home team when Juranović's long ball reached Oršić, and the Dinamo midfielder found himself in a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper. Oršić tried to lob the keeper, but he managed to stop the shot.

In the 53rd minute, Dalić decided to make a triple substitution. Modrić came on for Badelj, Brekalo for Pasalić, and Perišič for Budimir.

In the 58th minute, Barišič replaced Melnjak in the left-back position.

Reaching the first 15-minute of the second half, Croatia struggled to find more attempts. However, in the 61st minute, Barišić's entrance delivered more offensive situations, and he managed to put a beautiful cross that found Perišić completely alone in front of the goal. The veteran player scored the first goal of the game and became Croatia's fourth all-time scorer.

Slobodan Kadic

It looked like Croatia lowered the pressure after the goal, but the referee gave the Vatreni a penalty in the 75th minute due to a handball in the box. Luka Modrić, who became the Croatia player with the most appearances for the national team last match against Cyprus, scored the second goal of the match and his first in the qualifiers.

Slobodan Kadic

In the 78th minute, Lovrić replaced Oršić.

In the 90th minute, Brekalo scored for 3:0, which was the final score of the match. 

Slobodan Kadic

Croatia will visit Russia on September 1 for their fourth game of Group H.

Slobodan Kadic

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 30 March (Hina) - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices on Tuesday went up by around one percent, following an increase in the value of indices on European stock markets, with investors focusing on the Podravka food and pharmaceutical company.

The Crobex went up by 0.89% to 1,867 points while the Crobex10 rose by 1.08% to 1,170 points.

Even though many European countries are in lockdown to prevent the third wave of the coronavirus epidemic, European stock markets are growing as investors hope economic recovery will accelerate.

Regular turnover on the Zagreb Stock Exchange today amounted to close to HRK 5 million, around HRK 400,000 more than on Monday.

The only stock that crossed the million kuna turnover mark was Podravka, which generated a turnover of HRK 1.05 million, with its price going up by 2.27% to HRK 540.

A total of 35 stocks traded today, with 12 of them recording share price increases, 6 registering price decreases and 17 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.567224)

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 30, 2021 - After a unique local tourist experience, it's time for fine wine, but what if you only have cryptocurrencies? Say no more. With Ivan Vuković and Sasha Lušić, you can pay for a wine and tourist tour in Dubrovnik with cryptocurrencies.

"Many tourists do not carry cash with them, and people from developed countries do not handle cash at all. Although they have been in circulation for 60 years, cards are still a high-tech thing for us, and we are afraid to embrace the novelties," says Ivan Vuković, a tourist guide of Dubrovnik.

Paying with cryptocurrencies is very simple - you can have a card or a mobile option, which converts all payments into currency. "Simple, contactless - which is important for covid regulations and one more way of paying," says Sasha Lusic, the owner of D'vino wine bar Dubrovnik.

Book a trip and pay with crypto or order your favorite wine and pay for it in the same way - life has become simpler. These two entrepreneurs are also targeting the younger gadget clientele because, as they say, it is sometimes difficult to change the habits of the older clientele.

Ivan and Sasha say the pandemic has given them a chance to reset and turn to slower and more sustainable tourism. "Why not offer something sustainable while letting people know that we follow trends," say these entrepreneurs, adding that cryptocurrencies are gold today.

"Unfortunately, it is easy to be successful in Croatia because people are passive. Sad but true," says Ivan. "Sasha and I are constantly exchanging ideas, thinking, putting things on paper. We are not passive; we follow trends very closely."

After considering the idea, they made a few calls about whether it is possible to charge in that way. When the software engineers confirmed that is possible to do that, they just went for it. Some hotels and gas stations already have this option, but in the circles of wineries and tourist guides, payment in cryptocurrencies does not exist.

Ultimately, they are hoping for a more significant inflow of money, precisely because many people keep their money in various cryptocurrencies. They have to spend the money they earn by trading cryptocurrencies.

"Of course, everything depends on the season, but with this, we are doing a long-term story. Also, we are the first to remember," concludes Ivan.

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ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021- President Zoran Milanović, acting in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces,  on Tuesday decorated participants in 1991's Operation Plitvice, describing them as heroes to whom Croatians owe lasting gratitude.

Milanović presented the decorations at a formal reception in his office, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the operation and in memory of Josip Jović, the first Croatian police officer killed in the 1991-95 Homeland War. 

Jović, 22, was killed and nine other police officers were wounded in a police operation on 31 March 1991 after Serb insurgents occupied the Plitvice Lakes National Park and blocked the D1 state road that connects the country's north and south. Jović was a member of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit.

Addressing the participants in the operation, Milanović said that as the Commander in Chief he would pursue a non-partisan policy.

"A policy that does not recognise either of the two big parties or third parties, a policy that recognises only our interests. And for Croatia and us Croatians to be able to define and realise those interests, the state had to be defended and created first. Without you, none of that would have been possible. May the memory of Josip Jović live, to you we owe our gratitude. Long live Croatia!" Milanović said in his address.

In a statement to reporters after the reception, Milanović noted that no government representative attended the event.

For more about war in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021 - The US Embassy in Croatia has donated a medical device to the Fran Mihaljević Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb that can detect the coronavirus in less than 45 minutes, the hospital's director Alemka Markotić said on Tuesday.

Four samples can be placed in the GeneXpert machine at the same time. However, it is not used for mass testing, but is useful in quickly dealing with certain situations, Markotić said.

US Embassy official Victoria Taylor said that this is not about just a piece of equipment, but also about the partnership between Croatia and the United States.

We are happy that our small contribution can help the Fran Mihaljević Hospital and the healthcare system in time of need, Taylor said, commending all Croatian health workers for their tireless work during the pandemic.

Markotić said that most of the patients in the hospital's COVID ward were between 50 and 65 years old and had underlying conditions. She noted that the hospital was nearly filled to capacity.

Markotić said that for now there was no substantial number of young people infected with the British variant of the coronavirus in the hospital, but noted that this variant was proved to be spreading faster among young people because of "their greater nonchalance, mobility and socialising."

She warned that the number of new cases was growing and called on the citizens to avoid "risky situations".

Markotić expressed hope that patients would not be left without medicines, after wholesale drug suppliers warned last week that they might restrict drug deliveries because of HRK 6.5 billion debt owed by the hospitals.

Drug wholesaler Medika said today it had suspended drug deliveries to the hospitals.

Markotić said that her hospital had sufficient drug supplies for now. "We hope that we will not find ourselves in a situation where we, or rather our patients, will be left without medicines."

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said earlier that Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Health Minister Vili Beroš would meet with drug wholesalers to discuss the debt and that they would be paid a certain amount of money in the coming days.

For more about health in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that with his posts on social networks, President Zoran Milanović "has stepped out of the framework of normal conduct for a president," adding that his hate speech has "practically drawn a target on MP Milorad Pupovac."

Milanović wrote on his Facebook profile on Monday that "before he runs away to Brussels," Plenković would have to render his accounts, with Plenković saying that the President was continuing his ranting and insults.

"These are threats in fact, accusations of political corruption, robbery, criminal conspiracy. I will say once again, he has entirely stepped out of the framework of normal conduct for a president," Plenković told a press conference during a visit to Osijek-Baranja County.

That is not just his style or his being rude, as the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Peđa Grbin tried to downplay, said Plenković who considers that Milanović has resorted to that because he was legally and politically badly defeated in the incorrect procedure which he, without any cause, began with the recommendation of the president of the Supreme Court.

Plenković said that the President's spokesman Nikola Jelić was flustered and warned that he was attacking Hina reporters. Jelić publicly called out Hina reporter Sandra Bartolović on his Twitter account because of her sharp private comments regarding Milanović's behaviour and said that Plenković had referred to anyone who did not think like him as being the "dregs of social networks."

Milanović's posts are the "dregs of social networks"

"That is frightening and striking. I will now explain that to his flustered spokesman who attacks Hina reporters when I said "dregs of social networks," because I see that he and his partners in Bridge do not understand what that means. For me that is hate that is developing and damaging, poisoning society," said Plenković.

"Milanović's statements are the dregs of social networks. What he is writing is hate speech and I will be absolutely explicit - he has practically drawn a  target on MP Pupovac, and Pupovac confirmed that this morning on the radio," underscored Plenković.

He once again called out SDP's candidate for Zagreb mayor Joško Klisović and Milanović's chief-of-staff Orsat Miljenić to stop hiding and say if  they agree with Milanović's "drawing a target on the leader of the SDSS (Independent Democratic Serbian Party)."

"Do we all think that we need to wake up from what he is doing or will we just say 'he's like that.' That cannot be. He can rant on as he likes but he will come across sharp responses from us all who have sound reason," said Plenković.

Asked whether he was referring to hate speech in the legal sense, Plenković answered affirmatively. "What is this, what does this look like? We need to wake up. We have become a little too tolerant," he said and called on reporters and editors to "watch and see who is saying what and make it clear who is who."

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 30 March, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and Health Minister Vili Beroš would meet with drug wholesalers over the debt for drugs and that a certain amount would be paid in the days ahead.

Representatives of drug wholesalers, pharmacists and drug manufacturers warned last week that the supply of medicines could be restricted due to the HRK 6.5 billion debt, and the Medika company today suspended deliveries to hospitals.

Visiting Osijek-Baranja County, Plenković told press this was a usual situation. "Every once in a while, when an important date is due, whether Christmas, Easter or election day, wholesale drug suppliers unanimously start asking for the money they are due."

"We'll talk about it, the ministers of finance and health will meet with them and certain funds will be paid in the days ahead."

Asked about the payment date, Plenković said the ministers would discuss it. "I'm not an accountant to talk with them about the exact payment date."

The CEO of Oktalpharma, Ivan Klobučar, supported Medika's move, telling N1 television that the government, the Health Ministry, the Croatian Health Insurance Fund and Minister Beroš had been ignoring their appeals for a meeting for three months.

He said the situation was such that those responsible would see how difficult the situation was when "patients and others who are not at fault at all bear the brunt." If someone urgently needs a medicine, they will not get it, he added.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 30, 2021 - The talk of the new marina for super yachts in Rijeka, Porto Baroš, brings both the hype of development and concerns for public interest.

Porto Baroš in Rijeka, a marina with the potential of 500 ties, is the subject of a public call to be assigned the concession for the next 30 years. The call offers the possibility of expanding to the travel port's entire area, reports the Rijeka-based Novi List daily newspaper. The call was open a month ago. The decision is expected to be known in the following ten days, after which the Ministry of Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure will decide to assign the concession that will be delivered to the Croatian government.

The trading company ACI-Gitone, owned by ACI (Adriatic Croatia International Club) and Lürssen (German yacht company), answered the public call with an investment offer of 363,7 million kunas.

As Novi List learns, ACI- Gitone plans to ask for the expansion of concession to the area owned by Rijeka Port Authority and currently functions as „the port for big yachts". If approved, the Rijeka marina would become the biggest in all of Croatia.

Oleg Butković, minister of the Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure, is very happy about the offer of ACI-Gitone.

„This investment makes me happy as we know that with such a marina capable of hosting megayachts comes a series of additional services. Rijeka and its surroundings must take such opportunity", said minister Butković.

Mayoral candidate critical of the offer

On the other hand, the left-green party Možemo! (We can!) mayoral candidate for Rijeka Nebojša Zelić is opposed to the investment, says Novi List.

Zelić adds he has no problem with the concession for Baroš, but he has issues with the idea of expanding concession to the larger area of Travel coast and Molo Longo.

Nebojša Zelić, screenshot / Možemo! Politička platforma

„This is against public interest given that the concession is given to a minimum of 30 years and there is a possibility that the citizens could be denied access to the sea. That's problematic as it opposes the law of concessions which forbids changing the subject of the public call and in this case that is the expansion of the concession", said Zelić.

He points out that Rijeka's waterfront and Molo Longo unlike Baroš are not nautical tourism and that experience showed how much these places are valuable to the locals. „If these places are shabby, that's the problem of bad management by Rijeka's Port Authority and citizens can't be the hostages of bad management by the Port and the City of Rijeka", said Zelić. He also accused the leading party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for controlling the most valuable city property through Port Authorities. Zelić's party colleague Sandra Benčić said that the current General Urban plan in Rijeka disables nautical tourism port on Rijeka's waterfront and Moro Longo. She says that can change and that HDZ is counting on it if they get the majority in the city council on the upcoming local elections in May.

„I believe that Rijeka citizens will know to say no to denying access to the sea. We will publicly step out in front of the government to disrupt the expansion of the concession and prevent HDZ's interest being above the public's interest, and we will fight in the parliament too", announced Benčić.

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