September the 27th, 2022 - Istrian camps and hotels are continuing to break records during 2022's post-season, despite the poor weather conditions which are currently causing issues in that and other parts of the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, even the bad weather over the last few days hasn't succeeded in spoiling the excellent tourist results for Istrian camps and hotels during the post-season. For the whole year, compared to the record, pre-pandemic year of 2019, the number of overnight stays is now only 3% behind. Of the 350,000 tourists currently staying in Croatia, about 100,000 of them are on the gorgeous Istrian peninsula, as reported by HRT.

There are now much smaller crowds, the sun is still warm but not brutally hot, and the sea hasn't cooled down all that much either, meaning swimming is still very much a possibility, this combination is ideal for guests from the north. The Fazana camp is still half full, and among the 2,000 guests, the majority are retirees, parents with small children and school groups on trips away.

"The season is better than that of 2019. I can say that cumulatively, in total, the whole year will end with some 10% plus compared to 2019," said Roland Cinkopan, the director of the Bi-Village camp in Fazana.

Even in the camp in Pula, the cottages are still full, and the rent of several hundreds of euros per night is now half the price. "We wanted to stay a few days, but it's beautiful, especially with this view, so we're staying the whole week," said Paola from Germany, and that view extends to a luxury hotel with all the accompanying facilities. Although it has just been renovated, it was immediately recognised on the market and will not be closed even over winter. In the coming months, it will host congresses, and now individual guests, mostly Austrian nationals, are staying there.

Raising the overall level of quality and increasing consumption is part of the strategic plan for tourism development not only in Istria but across the rest of country, crowd reduction is also a top priority.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

September the 27th, 2022 - The Association of Pag cheese producers are seeking VAT reductions on cheese and milk products from the government, given the fact that Croatia has placed particularly high VAT rates on cheese compared to many EU member states.

As Morski writes, in Italy, this rate stands at 4%, in France 5.5%, in Germany 7%, while in this country, VAT on cheese is a whopping 25%. That is why Pag cheese producers and small dairy farms have sent a request to the Croatian Government in which they're asking for a reduction in what they consider to be too high value-added tax rates. If that happens, the consumption of cheese would increase, and its price for the end consumer would also be lower.

Without tax relief, the business outlook for cheesemakers doesn't look great.

''The Association of Pag Cheese Producers, together with the Association of Croatian Small Dairies, has decided to initiate a request to reduce VAT on cheese and dairy products. Croatia has the highest VAT rate on cheese and dairy products of all EU member states. Just for comparison, in Slovenia, the VAT rate is 9.5%, in Italy and Spain it is 4%, in Ireland the VAT rate is 0%,'' said Martina Pernar Skunca, president of the Pag Cheese Producers Association.

''We propose a VAT rate of 0-5%, so we also accept 5% as a kind of normal VAT rate for dairy products,'' said Sime Gligora, the director of the Gligora cheese factory.

''What's illogical is that the VAT on milk is 5% and the state subsidises milk production and encourages it, while on the other hand, the VAT on cheese and dairy products is so high,'' added Pernar Skunca.

I'm tired of the barren bureaucracy, of all of these piles of paper. Most of this could be reduced, simplified, arranged to be simpler, to be easier. A big problem is created by VAT, which takes most of the income for itself. It's clear to all of us that the state also has to live on something and those institutions that are also at our service, don't get us wrong, but I think that this industry should be protected not only on the island of Pag, but across the whole of Croatia because it's now on the verge of extinction,'' said Sime Pernjak, the co-owner of a cheese factory.

This summer's drought has also left unfavourable consequences. The sheep which graze Pag did not find enough food, so the livestock had to be supplemented, and compared to last year, the costs have doubled.

''From the very start when it comes to livestock, feed prices rose. Fodder rose because artificial fertiliser rose. Fertilizer prices have risen due to energy costs. And therefore the price of milk has also shot up. So, the price of milk is 50% higher than it was last year. Energy prices went up, electricity is three times more expensive, gas is twice as expensive, and the costs of packaging, cardboard, foils all went up,'' said Gligora.

It can't get any worse, Pag cheese producers have warned, aware that they cannot replace the increase in input costs with a higher price of cheese.

''The big thing is that we buy milk with 5% VAT, and the output VAT is 25%. The maths here is crystal clear,'' said Pernjak.

''By reducing the VAT rate on cheese and dairy products, our products would be more competitive on the market, their consumption would increase, and this would be good for everyone because there would be a greater inflow into the state coffers. So we believe that in these difficult conditions on the market and in this situation when everything has become more expensive - both raw materials and energy products - that it is really necessary to reduce VAT because it is the highest in all of Europe. As for Pag cheese, it is a premium product, and the point is that dairy farmers on the island of Pag don't live only on Pag cheese. We also have goats, we buy significant quantities of cow's milk from Croatia and goat's milk which also comes from Croatia. The price of hard cheeses has increased. We've minimally increased our prices. All hard cheeses are more expensive products and you simply have to make a compromise so as not to lose customers. Up to a certain point you can suffer at the expense of your own margins, but then there comes a point where you can't do that. If the dairies aren't operating well, who will pay the farmers for milk but the dairies?'' added Pernar Skunca.

''We bring in milk from Lika, Zagorje, Slavonia, Istria...'' noted Pernjak.

''What is very important is that we're the biggest purchasers of cow's, goat's and sheep's milk and, unlike other dairies, we produce the most products that have this high VAT,'' added Pernar Skunca. That's why only with a lower VAT rate can we overcome this never-worse time for cheesemakers, they explained from the Association of Pag Cheese Producers - now they are already worried about their jobs but also the preservation of the centuries-old tradition of cheesemaking on the island, writes HRT.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

September the 27th, 2022 - For the first time, the Zagreb Tourist Board will mark World Tourism Day outside of the capital city, looking to Eastern Croatia and choosing Vukovar.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb (TZGZ) traditionally celebrates World Tourism Day every single year, and this year will be the first time it will do so outside of the City of Zagreb, presenting the long-standing educational high school project "Culture of Tourism" in Vukovar. As such, in cooperation with the Croatian Association of Tourist Journalists and Writers in Tourism - FIJET Croatia, the projects of the students of Zagreb will be presented within the a programme called "Culture and tourism in the revival of the continental tourist offer".

The Director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld, said on this occasion: "World Tourism Day is celebrated on September the 27th under the auspices of the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation), so I'd hereby like to send my sincere congratulations to the entire tourism industry of Zagreb and Croatia. In accordance with this year's slogan, Rethinking tourism, we focused on our "Culture of tourism" project, which we're implementing in cooperation with the City Office for Education, Sport and Youth.

With this project, we're involving young people in participating in environmental protection programmes, raising their quality of life, preserving ethnological, historical and cultural heritage, raising the level of hospitality and creating a welcoming climate, and with their great work, they're showing how well tourism can truly be thought through. With an emphasis placed on year-round tourism, Zagreb has a developed, sustainable, equal and responsible tourist offer and has achieved great tourist results in the previous part of the year. Cooperation with Zagreb's high school students provides the foundations for shaping the future of tourism in a way that makes it sustainable, stronger, more inclusive and empowering both for our city and for the country as a whole."

Through the systematic education of Zagreb high school students for whom tourism and catering are not primary, the Zagreb Tourist Board hopes the "Culture of Tourism" project will succeed in its aim to raise the students' awareness of their own city and introduce young people to its touristic, cultural and natural potential. Over the years, all schools in the City of Zagreb have participated in the project, and this year there were six of them. They will present their projects in Vukovar this year.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

September the 27th, 2022 - Croatia, much like the rest of Europe, is brimming with history from times long since gone by, and every few weeks it seems there is a brand new, very impressive find buried literally under the ground and proverbially by the ages. Zadar archaeologists have now discovered a horse head that is likely to be around 17,000 years old.

As Morski writes, traces of ancient times buried under the soil are frequently stumbled upon in Dalmatia, and Zadar aechaeologists are now on the threshold of an apparently very interesting discovery.

On the official Facebook page of the EpiC project - the Epigravetian Communities of Northern Dalmatia, they published more about their interesting find:

''Maybe it's a rainy Sunday, but even that can't stop the team. Although it seemed that we would stay warm and dry and deal with the administrative part of archaeology, curiosity came calling. At the end of the working day a unicorn appeared! We are waiting for our colleague Radovic to confirm the finding... Joking aside, we are talking about a horse that is probably around 17,000 years old! We are eagerly awaiting your suggestions for a name to give to it,'' the Zadar archaeologists said on Facebook.

''We found a horse-like head and now we are waiting for the confirmation from our other fellow scientists whether it is a species of horse that died out a long time ago or it is the remains of a wild horse. In addition, we also found traces of a hearth and the remains of hunting equipment, which is common for that era,'' research leader Dario Vujevic from the Department of Archeology of the University of Zadar told Radio Zadar.

As it was covered by a layer of earth that dates back to a period even older than 17,000 years, and coincides with the time period during which the last ice age took place, it is obvious that the animal remains also come from that period.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

September 27, 2022 - The fall of Vukovar on November 18 1991 is marked every year all over the country. Some previously unseen footage, including a tour of the hospital, shows the true horrors and suffering of war on that fateful day. 

The horrendous images coming out of Ukraine over the last 7 months have shocked the world, with millions of Ukrainians forced from their towns and villages, their homes destroyed. 

The images have reawoken some brutal memories among people in Croatia, especially eastern Croatia, which experienced similar aggression in the Homeland War from 1991-5. 

I am just back from the east, where I recorded the first TCN video podcast with Englishman Steve Gaunt, who has lived in Vinkovci since arriving in Croatia in 1991 to fight as a volunteer for Croatia in their war of independence. 

Steve has a fascinating story which you will soon be able to watch, as we recorded for more than an hour in his magical English pub, The White Boar, in a field in the middle of nowhere in eastern Croatia. 

Steve was wounded in the fighting, but carried on, despite losing a foot. He was also very active with the media as a photographer and helping out the international media, in particular ITN News. He formed a great relationship with ITN News anchor, the legendary Michael Nicholson, who gave him a lot of the uncut footage of his reporting as a parting gift. 

Steve has decided to publish that footage on his YouTube channel, Steve Gaunt - you can subscribe here. PLEASE NOTE - these images are VERY disturbing.

The videos are all from November 18 1991, the day that Vukovar finally fell after a brutal 87-day siege. The scenes of people trudging through the ruins of the city and being led out into exile are truly harrowing.

Even unedited, the footage is compelling viewing, and the level of detail it captures makes it an important historical reminder of what happened that day.

But the most harrowing is the third video of the three, as Nicholson and his camera crew have a tour of the basement hospital where around 600 patients (including 12 babies born in horrific conditions) somehow managed to exist from day to day, despite there being no basic supplies such as running water for over a month.

The interviews with the heroic doctors are testament to the bravery and dedication of true heroes working in the most appalling conditions. But what makes the footage even more terrifying is what happened next.

The same day as Nicholson and his team visited the hospital, Vukovar fell, and the Serbs entered the hospital. Some 200 were taken away and murdered. According to Steve, these included the heroic doctor in the lead photo. 

The female doctor who gave the main interview survived, as did the injured baby, who is now married. 

September 26, 2022 - The seventh edition of the international bicycle race CRO Race is taking place from September 27 to October 2 through six stages, on a route of more than 1,000 kilometres across Croatia. This year, too, the CRO Race will offer numerous thrills and attractions, and it will pass through some already known as well as some completely new destinations.

As SiB reports, the race starts on Tuesday, September 27, from Osijek at 11:15 a.m., while the finish of the first stage is in Ludbreg. The cyclists are expected to arrive in Ludbreg between 4:42 p.m. and 5:11 p.m.
Temporary traffic regulation will be in effect on the part of the public roads on the roads where the race will take place, and traffic restrictions will be enforced on the mentioned sections in the presence of the Croatian Police employees and the representatives of the organisation. Although the bicycle race will be held under normal traffic conditions with occasional traffic stops immediately before the cyclists meet and pass, it is possible for cyclists participating in the event to lag behind. Hence, it is necessary to increase caution and pay attention to cyclists in traffic.

Temporary regulation of traffic on the first stage from Osijek to Ludbreg will be valid on September 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the roads of Osijek-Baranja, Virovitica-Podravina, Koprivnica-Križevci and Varaždin counties on the route: Osijek-Višnjevac-Valpovo-Podravska Moslavina-Čađavica-Suhopolje-Virovitica-Pitomača-Virje-Koprivnica-Ludbreg. You can find more information about traffic at the link https://bit.ly/3BIo6r3.

The exciting thing is that this year's cycling race CRO Race will also include the third edition of the virtual race for children, Kids CRO Race, which will be held on September 27 from 12:00 in Ludbreg. Thus, children from Ludbreg will also have the opportunity to compete for the title of the overall winner, whose announcement will take place on October 2 in Zagreb.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

September 26, 2022 - Without a doubt, the biggest outdoor festival in Croatia last weekend was the two-day 17^th Vinski Bor Wine Marathon in Zmajevac, for which more than two thousand "marathoners" signed up from Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Germany...

Dubravka Petric / PIXSELL

As Glas Slavonije writes, the first day, according to the tried-and-tested recipe, was reserved for the "Premium Marathon", where visitors had the opportunity to taste the best of the best, top-quality wines from Baranja winemakers. The guests of the premium wine marathon were the singer Tijana Dapčević, who represented North Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest, the Hungarian violin virtuoso, Bernadett Nyári, and The Frajle. One of the "Frajle", Jelena Buča, presented her first book before the concert in the Zajec wine cellar. The premium wine marathon was opened by MP Robert Jankovics, accompanied by two presenters - special guests of this year's marathon, Renata Sopek and Monika Molnar.

Dubravka Petric / PIXSELL

Some of the guests at the opening were led by the consul of the Consulate General of Hungary in Osijek, Zoltán Császár, the director of the Economica Hungarika foundation Hajnalka Palizs-Tóth, and the executive president and vice presidents of DZMH Oliver Matijević, Erik Munk, Janoš Andoči, Kristian Palinkaš and Zoltan Čerepeš. On the second day of the event, on Saturday, thousands of people, with glasses in their hands, "ran" through the surduks of Zmajevac. This year, the marathon runners could also choose where to start their wine adventure, on the red, green or yellow wine road, that is, in Katolički or Reformatorski Surduk, or in Ružina Street.

Dubravka Petric / PIXSELL

For those who could not resist the competitive spirit, a formal winner of the marathon was presented - the one who first visited all the cellars and returned to the start, i.e. reached the finish line with all the stamps. But this is the least talked about, because almost no one goes to Zmajevac to compete, but to have a good time. The wine marathon is, in fact, as if created for the well-known sports saying "it is important to participate". Anyone who has visited the wine capital of Baranja during the Marathon returns again and again. Because every new marathon is a new experience, the excellence of which is guaranteed by top winemakers (this year 22 winemakers offered their wines), breathtaking landscapes, plenty of music and good vibes offered in the surduks of Zmajevac.

Dubravka Petric / PIXSELL

The Wine Marathon is a festival through which the people of Zmajevac simultaneously promote the culture and customs of the Hungarian community, the economic interests of local winemakers, but also the unequivocal interests of promoting tourism in Baranja. And that this is indeed the case, proof is the busy accommodation facilities in Baranja last weekend. According to the estimates of the organisers, during the two-day event, more than 10,000 visitors passed through Zmajevac surduks. The partner countries of this year's marathon were Hungary and North Macedonia.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

September the 26th, 2022 - Much has been said about the City of Zagreb's new and somewhat questionable waste disposal plans for next month, but the Samobor waste disposal ideas are cheaper, smarter, and will likely function far better in reality than the plans here in the capital.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, Zagreb's new waste disposal plans have been deemed good in theory but likely to fail in practice, both in terms of technical feasibility and finances, as well as in terms of legality. Samobor, on the other hand, says that they have devised a much more functional and cheaper system with the use of waste metres that is also applicable in the capital.

Komunalac Samobor is introducing a completely new waste collection system in the first half of next year, and the biggest innovation is the expansion of the separate waste collection area to the entire area and waste metres for multi-apartment buildings.

Collections throughout the city

The Samobor waste disposal plan will be carried out by using large common containers for multi-residential buildings that will record every waste insertion. In this way, the waste metre will monitor the disposal for each user and enable the creation of monthly bills according to the amount of waste actually delivered.

For the first time, separate waste collection is being introduced throughout the city, and residents living in family homes will receive special bins for plastic, paper and mixed municipal waste.

Households will pay 10.60 euros per month for the service, and non-households will pay a slightly higher 11.98 euros. The mayor of Samobor, Petra Skrobot, explained that this is a model that was established by combining good practices that were observed in several locations across Croatia and abroad.

"We didn't research all the cities, but as far as I know, not a single city in Croatia that belongs to the 'big' category has this kind of waste management system," the mayor pointed out, adding that the waste metres themselves will cost around four million kuna, of which one million kuna will be derived from EU funds. There will of course also be other costs involved, she said, such as the modernisation of the vehicle fleet, but they would have to do that anyway because they currently have trucks still doing this job that are over twenty years old.

Komunalac director Renato Raguz pointed out that unlike other cities, especially Zagreb, Samobor's waste management system isn't adapted to the service provider but to the citizens themselves. People don't need to finance the construction of waste boxes from the reserve, as is the case in Zagreb, they don't need to buy plastic bags, and Samobor's Komunalac will take care of the containers, waste metres and system control.

Raguz added that before the preparation of the price list, they managed to make some savings within Komunalac, and even if nothing had changed, the expenses of the waste management service would have been 50% higher than the income.

"With this new Samobor waste disposal system, we foresee numerous price reductions that serve as additional motivation for users when sorting and separating their waste. In particular, the price will be reduced for everyone who composts their waste by 1 to 3 euros, depending on the area, and there will even be a 50 percent reduction of the variable part of the price which will be available to those who have children up to two years old, due to the need to dispose of nappies. The same will apply to adults with incontinence," concluded Raguz.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.