Culture Minister Presents New Copyright Bill
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - The COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating impact on the creative and cultural industries which, along with air transport, were hit hardest, Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Koržinek said in parliament on Thursday while presenting the new bill on copyright and related rights.
The adoption of the bill is crucial for the development of Croatian cultural and creative industries, the minister said, adding that before the crisis they had accounted for 4.6% of total employment and for 6.3% of GDP.
Obuljen Koržinek said that these industries had performed better in terms of exports than some other sectors, and the coronavirus crisis had forced them to move many of their activities to the digital sphere. That's why this bill focuses on better protecting copyright and related rights in the digital environment, she added.
Lawmakers welcomed copyright protection, but said that the bill needed further elaboration because there were still those unhappy about how this matter was dealt with.
Among them are journalists who do not like the fact their employers are the sole owners of the copyright on the work done in their environment, said Marija Selak Raspudić of the opposition Bridge party. On the other hand, performers are critical of inconsistency because journalists exercise their rights collectively, while they cannot, she added.
Obuljen Koržinek said that the situation between journalists and performers was different, adding that the bill would ensure that journalists and publishers were paid for the content they produced. Journalists will be able to agree through their collective organisation a percentage for redistribution, the minister said.
Davor Ivo Stier of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) also drew attention to unfair situations, saying that if a person writes an article for a newspaper, they get paid for it by the publisher, but if the article is picked up by news websites or large digital platforms, only the publisher gets paid, while the author does not.
The bill provides a framework to redress such injustices, Minister Obuljen Koržinek said, expressing confidence that the new law, with its clear rules, would ensure greater legal security for all holders of copyright and related rights.
Croatian Community in Luxembourg Sends Earthquake Relief
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - The Croatian community in Luxembourg has sent 2,000 tonnes of various food products, clothing, footwear, heaters, and sanitisers for families living in earthquake-struck areas in Glina and Petrinja in addition to a donation of €7,000 for the children's ward at Sisak Hospital.
The community in Luxembourg immediately stepped into action and sent humanitarian aid to the Jukinac NGO that is active in the Glina area, a press release said.
"We watched the news every day and saw the tonnes of food, clothing and footwear being sent to Sisak, Petrinja and Glina from all of Croatia and abroad. We did not wish to send anything that there would be too much of and for local authorities to not to know what to do with it. That is why the information we received from the Jukinac NGO was very important because we knew what is needed the most and where and then we collected and sent that," said Ivana Filipović Schumacher, who is one of the organisers of the voluntary humanitarian drive along with Mladen Lamza.
She added that the response was fantastic. About fifty Croatian volunteers who live and work in Luxembourg responded and donated and then sorted everything so that packages can be immediately handed over to families who are in need. Filipović Schumacher underlined that not only Croats donated but many Luxembourg citizens did too.
Numerous companies too donated goods like ActionWear, Breger & Kevric, Streff, Asja Trevisan from Green Line Transport, Ponistralux and the Eutherm company from Vinkovci. Filipović Schumacher expressed special gratitude to the director of the Ponistralux company, Tomislav Tomi Brkan, who made storage space and transport available during the humanitarian campaign.
PM Reassures Croatians that Restrictions Will Ease if Trends are Good
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday called for patience and caution in bringing the life and the economy back to normal, and said that there would be no hesitation in relaxing the anti-epidemic rules provided that the trends were good.
"We are trying to overcome these (remaining) weeks of the winter and in the spring, immunisation, the responsible behaviour of citizens and the measures we are taking will make it possible for us to have a normal life, to bring the economy to life and to have a tourist season, also," the premier said at the start of his cabinet's meeting.
Plenković said that he had understanding for frustration and discontent, however, he called on the Croatians to have patience for some time still and then they could be looking forward to a normal life.
He explained that 15 February will be a new date for the assessment of the whole situation and if the trends were still good, restrictions could be relaxed.
Commenting on Wednesday's rally organised by the Voice of Entrepreneur business association, when an estimated few thousand restaurateurs and business owners gathered to protest against the restrictions which they deemed discriminatory, Plenković recalled that many European Union member-state had tightened their restrictions, while Croatia was able to gradually ease some of the measures and allowed the return of students to schools.
Protests and demonstrations are normal in a democracy, the government is at ease with that, Plenković said.
However, the same protagonists who recently tried to pressurise the government to impose a total lockdown, now want the immediate reopening of everything. This is impossible, not because we do not want that but because it is not realistic, he said.
Croatia's Coronavirus Update: 516 New Cases, 18 Deaths, 450 Recoveries
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 5,930 coronavirus tests, and of them, 516 (8.7%) have returned positive, while there have been 18 deaths linked to COVID-19, the country's coronavirus crisis management team reported on Thursday.
Currently, there are 2,974 active cases, including 1,196 hospitalised patients, of whom 101 are on ventilators.
Croatia's COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 5,106.
Since the outbreak of this infectious disease in Croatia in late February, 1,212,302 tests have been performed, and 234,153 persons have tested positive.
To date, 226,073 people have recovered from COVID-19, including 450 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
A total of 14,218 people are self-isolating.
OVI Index: Labour Demand Falls 33% in January
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 2021 - The Online Vacancy Index (OVI) for January 2021 indicates that labour demand was 33% lower than in January 2020, which is the biggest drop since May 2020, the Institute of Economics Zagreb (EIZ) reported on its web site.
"The labor market at the beginning of 2021 still proves to be under the strong influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures designed to curb the pandemic. OVI index for January 2021 shows that labor demand was 33 percent lower than in January 2020, which is the biggest drop since May 2020, caused by stronger restrictions of the economic activity," EIZ said on its web site.
In December 2020, OVI fell by 25%, November by 30%, October by 21.5%, September by 27.8%, July by 18% and in June by 26% due to restrictions during the pandemic. The most extreme drop in OVI was recorded in May (57.4%) and April (74.7%).
Huge drop in demand in the services sector
Labour demand for occupations in the service sector, which are traditionally the most sought after – sales person, cooks and waiters – was 54%, 76% and 90% lower respectively in January 2021 year on year.
However, some occupations recorded a significant increase in demand, with the demand for teachers, doctors and dentists doubling y-o-y. Demand for construction and mechanical engineers rose by 64% and 20% respectively.
A noticeable fall in demand for student and seasonal jobs evidently fell by as much as 72%, while fixed-term and permanent contracts dropped by 25% compared to January 2020.
The Online Vacancy Index (OVI) is a monthly index of online job advertisements developed by the Institute of Economics, Zagreb in cooperation with the web portal MojPosao.
Another Aftershock Jolts Petrinja on Early Thursday Morning
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - An earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale jolted Sisak-Moslavina County on Thursday morning, Croatia's Seismological Survey reported on Thursday.
The latest tremor in a series of aftershocks that followed after the 29 December 6.2 strong earthquake, was registered at 5.59 a.m. with its epicentre about four kilometres southwest of Petrinja.
The latest quake had the Level IV intensity on the EMS scale.
World Class: New Dubrovnik Sports Hall For 2025 World Handball Comp
February 4, 2020 – The new Dubrovnik Sports Hall will have world-class facilities and be multifunctional, capable of holding cultural events as well as sports. It will be completed in time for the city joint hosting the 2025 World Handball Championship
The City of Dubrovnik has revealed plans for a new world-class Dubrovnik sports hall. The venue will have ultra-modern facilities and will be a multifunctional space, allowing it to be also used for cultural events such as music concerts. The city will apply for European funds to help pay for the new Dubrovnik sports hall.
In February 2020 it was announced that Dubrovnik would be one of the hosts of the World Handball Championship in 2025. The announcement and impending visit of the competition is the impetus for launching the project of the new Dubrovnik sports hall. Croatia is one of three countries - alongside Denmark and Norway - that will jointly host the World Handball Championships in 2025.
The new Dubrovnik sports hall is planned as a multifunctional sports and congress hall and cultural centre, which will sit next to the existing sports hall in Gospino polje. The old hall and the new Dubrovnik sports hall will be connected, creating a venue capable of holding some 4200 spectators. It will be a complex containing three handball courts for competition or recreation, alternatively to be used as a congress hall or for music concerts, at which the capacity would be 4000 guests.
© Grad Dubrovnik
Plans for the new Dubrovnik sports hall were presented jointly by Mayor Mato Franković, Head of the Administrative Department for European Funds, Regional and International Cooperation Zrinka Raguž and Director of the Sports Facilities Dubrovnik Lukša Klaić. The city aims to obtain building permits by the end of 2021 and complete construction by the end of 2024.
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Glina has So Far Received €453K in Donations for Earthquake Relief
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - In one month since a devastating earthquake struck Sisak-Moslavina County, the City of Glina has received just under HRK 3.4 million in donations for earthquake relief.
The local authorities opened a bank account specifically for earthquake relief and every ten days they report on how much has been received.
The majority of the donations or HRK 2.2 million was deposited in the first ten days after the 29 December quake and a further HRK 545,000 was paid in the period from 11 to 20 January and another HRK 616,000 from 21 to 31 January.
The Glina authorities have not released information about donors, however, they have noted that these funds do not include money the city received from the allocations the government approved for Sisak-Moslavina County to be paid from budget reserves.
Over 23,500 Housing Units in Sisak County Inspected So Far
ZAGREB, 4 February 2021 - A total of 34,056 reports about properties damaged by the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Sisak-Moslavina County on 29 December, have been submitted, and of them, 23,513 have been examined, show the updated ArcGIS data.
A total of 279 are unfit for use due to the danger of adjacent buildings collapsing, while a further 2,857 are unusable due to damage caused by the quake.
Following a detailed examination, 2,395 buildings have been declared as temporarily not fit for use while 2,835 buildings that are temporarily unusable require urgent intervention.
A total of 576 buildings were left unscathed while 5,393 have been declared fit for use without any restrictions because they sustained no or only minor damage.
However, 9,178 buildings have been declared fit for use on the condition instructions given are complied with and recommended repair work is carried out, Sisak-Moslavina County reported on Thursday.
Expats in Croatia/Pandemic Edition: Janette Buba from France in Split (VIDEO)
February 4, 2021 - The global pandemic rages on and we’re still locked down with restrictions and social isolation. Some people are surviving and others are thriving. What’s their story? Episode #2 with… Janette Buba from France.
It’s almost one year since the World Health Organization declared covid-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Nobody expected what came next and certainly nobody expected things to last this long. But here we are, wondering when it will be over and hoping the vaccine will restore some sense of normalcy.
In the meantime, how are people filling their days? When it’s all said and done, how do they want to remember this time looking back? In this new series we’ll hear from all sorts of people in Croatia about their pandemic experience and their predictions for the future.
Episode #2 with… Janette Buba from France.
Something I’ve noticed about people who have roots everywhere is that they tend to have heart—for life, people, and community. Janette Buba is one such soul. She was born in the Philippines, where her family originates, raised in Texas (USA), and has been living in France with her Czech husband Ervin. After falling in love with Croatia during a sailing visit, the couple decided to stay for a while. It was a perfect place to escape France’s hard lockdown and severe covid-19 restrictions.Janette is an early retiree; her previous professional life includes marketing management with Johnson & Johnson. Now she considers herself a professional “volunteer,” assisting in various community outreach programs and helping where needed. She met a special VIP during a reforestation project with the Croatian Scouts Association (you have to watch the video to find out who) and she’s a regular at the No Kill Animal Centralis shelter. It seems that having a passion for people, building networks, and kindness are pretty great retirement skills.
Story and photographs ©2021, Cyndie Burkhardt. https://photo-diaries.com
For more of Cyndie's experiences, check out her Croatia Through the Eyes of a Digital Nomad column.
Are you an expat in Croatia who would like to share your experiences during the pandemic in Cyndie's video series? If yes, please contact her on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We are also keen to interview any digital nomads who have successfully applied for the new visa, after the first success in Istria - Meet Melissa Paul, Owner of Croatia's First Digital Nomad Visa. Please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Nomad Visa.
