Krunoslav Capak Announces a Shortened Isolation Period of 10 Days for COVID-Infected
September 17, 2020 - In the latest coronavirus news in Croatia, Krunoslav Capak announces a shortened isolation period of 10 days.
Novi List reports that the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, said on Wednesday that Croatia was ranked 10th in the European Union when it comes to deaths from COVID, and announced a decision to shorten the isolation period for coronavirus-infected people from 14 to ten days by the end of the week.
"The mortality rate in Croatia is about 55 per million inhabitants. We are in tenth on the list of EU countries, we are somewhere in the middle of the EU in that respect," said Capak for Dnevnik Nova TV, talking about coronavirus mortality.
He confirmed that it was decided to shorten the isolation period of the infected to ten days, while the self-isolation of their contacts would remain for 14 days. He expects a document to be passed at the end of the week.
"The most likely option is that the isolation period of infected people will stop after ten days because it turned out that they are no longer contagious. We would not shorten the self-isolation for those who were in contact with the infected. This would stay for 14 days," said Capak, adding that this follows the international trends in determining the length of isolation.
He also commented on the number of newly infected in recent days, stating that there is a slight downward trend in the number of patients.
Asked if he still thinks that the number of newly infected will decline at the end of September, Capak said that "the situation is improving".
According to the evidence, if they were to come into contact with an infected person, those who have already recovered from the coronavirus should not isolate three months after they were infected, Capak said.
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Adris Group to Demolish Infamous Hotel Marjan in Split, Plans Announced for 2022
September 17, 2020 - Hotel Marjan in Split, which has been out of function since Zeljko Kerum took over in 2006 and was bought by Rovinj's Adris Group at the end of last year, will be completely demolished.
T.portal writes that the investors have hired 3LHD studio from Zagreb and the famous Italian architect and designer Pier Lissoni to lead the new hotel project, and they are currently in the process of obtaining a location permit.
After its reconstruction, the former Split tourist pearl and one of the recognizable city symbols will be equally as tall as the building today, but with one floor less due to the desired higher floor height. According to unofficial announcements, in this renovation, the hotel will be reduced by about 6.5 thousand square meters and for the most part, aim to be closer to the original form from the 1960s, i.e., an attempt will be made to neutralize the consequences of the never completed renovation fifteen years ago, when the investor was Zeljko Kerum and designer Jerko Rosin.
Among other things, two large hotel annexes, which are called apartments, will be removed, and there will no longer be the eyesore that is the double glass facade. A large inner courtyard, or atrium, will be formed, and the facade itself will follow the ideas during the original design of the West Coast, which includes even the color of the stone.
Adris Group said only briefly that in cooperation with the City of Split and the relevant institutions, they are preparing the necessary documentation for the renovation of Hotel Marjan. After the renovation is completed, it will be in the group of their luxury hotels (Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Lone, Hilton and others). Still, they did not want to reveal the planned amount of investment and completion deadlines.
As it was unofficially found out, the original plan was to complete the documentation by the end of this year and start work next year, in which most of the planned two billion kuna of the company's investment in the tourism sector would be spent. As the decision was made at the group level to postpone it for a year due to the corona crisis, it is realistic that Adris Group will take its first major step into the Dalmatian market in 2022.
"The fact is that the coronavirus pandemic affected the course of our investments, but we will be able to talk about the deadlines and details of the project itself, which 3LHD and the famous Piero Lissoni are working on, when the project is completed," the Adris Group confirmed.
Leading Split conservator Rade Buzancic said that talks had been held with investors and designers and that his service was so far satisfied with what they had seen and heard.
"These are top experts who have set themselves the task of making a serious redesign, but almost reminiscent of the original project. They want to get closer to the original of the Marjan hotel and focus on quality instead of quantity, and that is a novelty in behavior in our area," Buzancic said.
Hotel Marjan itself is not individually protected as a cultural asset. Still, it has become part of the recognizable image of the city, especially from the sea, and an actor of a kind of subtle dialogue with Diocletian's Palace - both in area and height. According to the project of Lovro Perkovic, the former industrial zone with quarries and cement plants on the West Coast has been 'sanitized', and as Buzancic explains, in a successful modern style.
"The recent intervention was not particularly successful, and the construction of the double façade even increased the size of the tower and lost the cantilever, which gave the impression that the tower was floating in the air. Investors are very cooperative and are willing to restore most of the delicate image lost in the reconstruction fifteen years ago, and even balconies with bars. The project is currently going in the right direction," confirms the leading Split conservator.
Hotel Marjan, the former pride of Split tourism, was bought by Zeljko Kerum fifteen years ago for 170 million kuna, paying three times more than the requested starting price. He promised and announced a renovation, even signing a contract with the Hilton chain, but it turned out that this investment ran his entire business empire to the ground. The purchase was guaranteed by his retail chain Kerum d.o.o., which the banks blocked, and he announced lawsuits against them.
At the end of 2017, Adria Resorts from the Adris Group bought receivables secured by mortgages over Hotel Marjan from the Austrian Heta Asset Resolution Group. They previously did the same with receivables from hotel annexes and claims of 72 former hotel employees. Therefore, at the end of last year, Marjan was bought for three-quarters of the estimated value, HRK 324 million, by an electronic auction.
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55th Vinkovačke Jeseni Becomes Folklore Festival of the Future
September 17, 2020 – Beginning today, one of the country's largest and oldest annual folklore events - Vinkovačke Jeseni – finds new ways to continue the music, dancing and preservation of Croatian culture
Of all events requiring a serious rethink because of epidemiological guidelines, folklore is perhaps the most problematic. The traditional folk dancing of Croatia requires participants to be in close proximity. Often, groups are joined by the hand – and hundreds can join in. But, not this year.
Being one of the largest traditional folklore events in the country, Vinkovačke Jeseni (Vinkovci autumn) has had a lot of thinking to do. Having been enjoyed by inhabitants of the eastern Slavonia town every year continuously for over half a century, not to mention many thrilled visitors, cancellation was a last resort. And it's one they have thankfully not reached.
The 55th Vinkovačke Jeseni is going to look very different to previous editions,. But its colourful costumes, wonderful dancing, great music and preservation of Croatian culture can still be enjoyed by all. Only this year, you'll be enjoying it on TV.
Instead of inviting visits by hundreds of folklore societies (KUDs) from across Croatia, for the 55th Vinkovačke Jeseni, the event has visited them. From August 27 to September 4, a special film crew visited all of the counties in the country and made short films with local KUDs about the traditions, culture and customs of each region. These will be shown as video postcards at the ceremonial parade. Made by Plave Vinkovačke televizije (Blue Vinkovci Television), they will also be available for anyone to watch internationally until September 20.
The physical event in Vinkovci will still have its traditional parade of participants, and horse-drawn carriages will still parade through the town, although this year there will only be around 30 KUDs from the wider Vukovar-Srijem County in attendance. The opening event will take place on the main square and this year there will be no large tent for nighttime revelry.
All photos from previous editions of Vinkovci Autumns © Vinkovačke Jeseni
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Flights to Croatia: Lufthansa Announces Frankfurt-Rijeka in 2021
September 17, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Lufthansa announces Frankfurt-Rijeka in 2021.
Croatian Aviation reports that Germany's Lufthansa announced on Wednesday that it would introduce 14 new international routes from its base in Frankfurt in the summer flight schedule in 2021. Among others, the Frankfurt - Rijeka line is being introduced.
In the summer flight schedule, Lufthansa operates to five destinations in Croatia from Frankfurt: Zagreb, Pula, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, and from next summer season, the sixth destination in Croatia - Rijeka Airport will be added to the list.
On the line from Frankfurt, Ryanair used to operate to Rijeka, which moved its operations to Hahn this summer season, so Rijeka was without a direct flight with the main Frankfurt airport.
On the line between Frankfurt and Rijeka in the summer season of 2019, the German Condor also operated twice a week, but this year it did not launch that line due to the global pandemic. It will be interesting to see if this German airline returns to Rijeka in the 2021 season.
The new Lufthansa line will operate in the evening: departure from Frankfurt is scheduled for 17:35, and arrival in Rijeka at 19:00. The return flight will depart from Rijeka at 8 pm, while the arrival in Frankfurt is planned at 9:30 pm. The company leaves the possibility of adding more weekly flights on this route, which will primarily depend on the state of bookings. This company operates on the Munich - Rijeka route in the summer flight schedule, but this year it is not in traffic due to the impact of the global pandemic.
Tickets on this new line are already on sale on the Lufthansa website, and all tickets purchased through December 31 this year are flexible which means passengers are entitled to an unlimited number of travel date changes.
This is the third completely new line announced for next year's summer flight schedule. We remind you that Ryanair previously announced a new line Vienna - Pula, while TAP Portugal announced the introduction of the Lisbon - Zagreb line a few days ago.
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Ferencvaros Knocks Out Dinamo in 3rd Qualifying Round of Champions League
September 17, 2020 - Big Croatian football news as Ferencvaros knocks out Dinamo in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League.
Dinamo Zagreb will not play in the Champions League this season after they lost in the third qualifying round in Budapest to the Hungarian champion Ferencvaros 1:2. Dinamo will continue their European path in the final round of the Europa League qualifiers.
Ferencvaros took the lead in the 80th second of the game with a goal by Gerg Lovrencsics. Still, Dinamo equalized in the 23rd minute after an own goal by former Lokomotiva player Myrt Uzuni. Ferencvaros reached a new advantage in the 65th minute with a goal by Uzuni, who redeemed himself for Dinamo's equalizer.
The Hungarian champions retaliated against Dinamo for last season's defeat, also in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League.
Recall, Dinamo was knocked out by a Hungarian club for the first time in their European history. Until Wednesday night's match, Dinamo played against Hungarian clubs seven times and passed all seven times. Three times they knocked out MTK, twice Ferencvaros, and once ZTE and Gyor.
With the victory against Dinamo, the Hungarian champion advanced to the Champions League play-offs in which they will play against the winner of Karabakh - Molde, but also secured European autumn. If they win in the final round of qualifications, Ferencvaros enters the group-stage competition of the Champions League, while with a defeat, they move to the group-stage competition of the Europa League.
With this defeat to Ferencvaros, Dinamo dropped out of the Champions League qualifications, and their European story will continue in the playoffs or the last qualifying round of the Europa League.
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Span Opens Doors to 1500 Companies on Six Continents for Infobip
As Bernard Ivezic/Novac writes on the 1th of September, 2020, Infobip, the first Croatian unicorn startup, and Span, the largest Croatian software exporter and one of the ten largest IT companies in Croatia, have entered into a sales partnership. Infobip became famous on the market for its SMS services, and now Infobip and Span are a force to be reckoned with.
As a result of previous business moves, the Croatian unicorn, Infobip, which is led by Silvio Kutic, has more than four billion end users and more than seven billion monthly transactions. The business, in turn, collaborates with huge clients such as Facebook, Google and Uber.
In the meantime, Infobip has expanded its offer and, in addition to SMS solutions, created complex IT solutions called Moments, Conversations and Answers. In addition to making it easier to reach a billion-dollar valuation, the new software products forced the Croatian IT ace to start building new, global sales infrastructure. That's where Span comes in.
Aleksandar Daic, strategic manager for users and partners at Infobip, says that today there is no organisation that isn't moving towards digital transformation. He stated that in cooperation with Span, he will accelerate the digital transformation of existing and new clients.
"That's why we believe that technology companies should join forces and bring their expertise together in order to deliver the best communication solutions to customers and accelerate business change," explained Daic.
Span is, much like Infobip, a global company. It has more than 1,500 clients on six continents. In Croatia, Span, led by Nikola Dujmovic, is one of the ten largest IT companies in terms of revenue, the largest software exporter and the longest-serving partner of Microsoft in Croatia, ie the longest-standing partner of the largest software company in the world. This means that it has vast experience in selling not only simple bundled software but also the most complex IT solutions.
This year, Span was even recognised as Microsoft Partner of the Year in Croatia. It is a title for which more than 3,300 companies from one hundred countries competed. The partnership with Microsoft is additionally interesting to Infobip, because Span has proven to be a great sales partner that is both very efficient and innovative in the way it sells solutions based on Microsoft technology. It is a winning combination that Infobip also wants to achieve.
The company Span is atypical for Croatian conditions. About 15 years ago, Span's management bought the company from the then owner, the Hungarian Synergon, for 10.56 million kuna. It was the first buyout management in Croatia. Soon, Span became one of the biggest cloud players in Croatia, boasting global contracts with the likes of McDonald’s, Heineken and eventually Rolls Royce Marine.
Infobip, on the other hand, is the fastest growing Croatian software company. In 2019, it had revenue growth of 38 percent to 602 million euros. Infobip has been growing at a similar pace for years, so it is on the list of the ten fastest growing companies that develop subscriber software which is purchased over the Internet, so-called SaaS. Atlassian, Salesforce and Slack are on the same list. This explains why Infobip has to look for new ways to sell its software and why Span is precisely the company to help them do it.
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OPG Narandja: Croatian Family Honey Business Succeeds in Europe
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 16th of September, 2020, ten years ago, beekeeper Marijan Narandja, the owner of OPG Narandja, acquired his first 20 or so hives in Veliko Trojstvo near Bjelovar, where he later founded what is now his OPG in which up to two tonnes of honey are produced annually in about 85 bee colonies. He is assisted by his wife Vlasta and his daughter Ela, an "intern beekeeper" who told spoke in more depth about the family business.
''OPG Narandja's dominant product is acacia honey, we also have linden and flower honey, and every year we send samples for analysis to the Central Laboratory for Honey Quality Control and we achieve the highest marks. Acacia was awarded a gold medal for quality, and linden honey got a silver medal in 2017 and in 2018 from the Beekeepers' Association of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. Our Super Honey is also really popular, it's an ‘immunobomb’ of three types of honey, propolis and raw pollen. We also sell honey in honeycomb, propolis, pollen, pure beeswax, and handmade wax figurines,'' stated the young beekeeper.
Markets, fairs, but also Facebook...
The products are sold at the Bjelovar market and in the City of Zagreb, they're also present in Bjelovar's primary school system through the Med programme which takes place in schools and of course on School Honey Day, as well as on several websites for family farms, on Facebook, Instagram and even on LinkedIn. OPG Narandja accepts orders online from Zagreb, and sends larger quantities by bus throughout Croatia.
"We're at fairs several times a year, in Bilogora and Medjimurje. This year we decided to drive our honey down to Dalmatia. Our honey is also present all over Europe thanks to friends who buy it from us - from Markaryd in Sweden where honey is eaten from the honeycomb, through to Munich and Neunburg vorm Wald in Germany - they love linden and flower honey, all the way to Klagenfurt and Ljubljana where classic acacia does best, as does our Super honey,'' they stated from OPG Narandja. This Croatian family company advises people to buy honey from proven Croatian honey producers.
When it comes beekeeping, Ela says, there are large investments, from the constant renewal of the number of bee colonies, the purchase of equipment and new hives, the replacement of queens, the treatment for the bees, preparations for strengthening the bees' immunity, the purchase of national jars, printing labels, down to sending honey away for expert analysis…
Many give up...
Therefore, as Ela explained, people who start beekeeping unfortunately tend to quite quickly give up because they don’t realise it’s not a temporary job or hobby.
"During the season, a beekeeper should be out in the apiary every day, he should be constantly educated, he needs to follow trends, be active in beekeeping associations, be present at fairs, on markets… The challenges are also external - recently there was a case of bee death in Medjimurje because a negligent farmer treated his crops with an agent that harms bees,'' they explained from OPG Narandja, whose family doesn't have such problems, but they do heavily depend on the weather conditions.
If there has been a frost or too much rain occurs in May when it comes to the acacia honey, the amount of honey obtained can drop by more than 50 percent.
''The worst was back in 2019, and the best was in 2018 when we got almost two tonnes of honey. This year is roughly somewhere in between,'' they state from the family business. Although they sell less at the Bjelovar market because the number of customers has decreased, they are doing excellently in Zagreb because people, as they say, have turned more to purchasing Croatian products.
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Croatian Banks End Coronavirus Measures, No More Debt Freezing
September the 17th, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic might still be taking the world by storm, with a predicted rise in the number of serious cases in the upcoming colder months as the virus crosses paths with flu season, but not everyone is keeping their coronavirus measures in place. Croatian banks are one of those institutions set to scrap any special benefits garnered as a result of the pandemic,
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of September, 2020, Croatian banks will no longer freeze debts as they chose to do during the pandemic, and the deficits in citizens' accounts will be determined according to the last three months, depending on their employment status, the amount of their income and the regularity of their repayments.
Croatian banks are, as such, abolishing the popular measures they introduced in an attempt to soften the already dire financial blow caused by the spread of the new coronavirus.
The deadline for debt repayment and the amount of overdraft depends on the policy of each individual bank. Thus, some announced changes to their permitted overdrafts for as early as October, with the possibility of payments made in installments.
Some Croatian banks are starting with changes as of next year.
"In accordance with the General Terms and Conditions, as of September the 7th, 2020, clients will be notified of the announcement of the updates of the amount of the overdraft they're permitted to have, which will be performed on October the 10th, 2020," OTP banka said in regard to the overdraft.
"If the reduction in income is what is bothering people, then the solution can be found in extending the loan repayment period, which causes a reduction in the monthly loan obligation. And, the possibilities of easier repayment, which is in line with their new level of income,'' said Dario Gabric from Erste Bank for RTL.
Addiko Bank will start making changes next year.
"At the beginning of November 2020, we'll inform clients about the new amounts of their overdrafts on their current accounts, which will be available from the 1st of January, 2021," read a statement from Addiko Bank.
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Finance Minister Zdravko Maric Reveals Plans to Abolish Unpopular Tax
September the 17th, 2020 - We recently reported on the fact that the much anticipated abolition of an extremely unpopular tax had been reconsidered by Finance Minister Zdravko Maric, who explained that those who believed the change was due to come into force at the beginning of 2021 had got their wires crossed.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of September, 2020, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Wednesday that the abolition of property transfer/sales tax is indeed planned during this government's term, and that it has never been specified that this will happen on the first day of next year, which is something that people have somehow begun to believe.
As Finance Minister Zdravko Maric told reporters recently, there is no "rethinking" on this issue because "the Government never said that it would come into force on January the 1st, 2021", but its programme does state that this government plans to abolish the unpopular tax during its mandate, but without any sort of specified time period, much less a specific date.
''Property transfer/sales tax, value added tax and food tax, these are all measures that we also put in the programme, but we didn't define when, ie, when during the mandate we'd get rid of them,'' explained Maric.
The property transfer/sale tax amounts to three percent of the market value of the purchased piece of real estate, this tax is income for cities and municipalities, and as some media portals, wrote yesterday, its abolition caused a revolt among various Croatian cities and municipalities, and finally a delay.
However, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric vehemently denies this, adding that in the current round of tax changes, the abolition of that tax was not originally envisaged.
He explained that from the first day of next year, there will be changes to income tax, ie lowering rates from 24 to 20 percent, or 36 percent down to 30 percent, as well as lowering the corporate income tax rate, from 12 to 10 percent, for all Croatian enterprises with a turnover of up to 7.5 million kuna.
In the context of a fairer distribution of the tax burden, and regardless of all previous tax changes, Maric pointed out that Croatia is still at the very top of the countries in terms of the share of VAT revenues in GDP.
Journalists also asked the Finance Minister about the postponement of the payments of leases, which was also appealed to by the employers' associations, to which Maric said that these were civil relations between private individuals and business entities. He suggested that financial institutions themselves, following the example of the Croatian Government's previous measures, should take additional measures to be accommodating towards enterprises and other clients.
Asked about the possible further prolongation of the moratorium on executions, Maric reiterated that this was down to the relationship between debtors and creditors, and that the state, for its part, had extended the deadline for another three months.
''We need to think and talk not only about the rights of debtors but also about the rights of creditors. But the creditors, who have these opportunities, should certainly follow the example of what we as a state have done, to enable some kind of repayment, or installment payment, or some other mechanisms that will make it easier to avoid great pressure in a short period of time,'' stated Finance Minister Zdravko Maric.
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SDP MP Willing to Teach Math to Pupils Who Don't Attend Religion
ZAGREB, Sept 16, 2020 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) lawmaker Arsen Bauk on Wednesday called on the Education Ministry to organise Religion classes in school timetables so that children who do not attend that optional subject should not stay in their classrooms during those classes.
Addressing the parliament on behalf of the SDP bench, Bauk said that with the organisation of classes in circumstances marked by the outbreak of coronavirus, some schools demand that children who do not attend Religion should remain in their classroom during that class.
"It is a horrible practice," said the SDP math teacher-turned-politician, adding that he was willing to teach those children math during those classes.
He called on the ministry to solve the issue and help avoid situations in which such children could feel "as second class pupils".
Bauk recalled that the children's ombudswoman Helenca Pirnat Dragicevic also stated that Religion classes should be scheduled as the first or the last period in a school timetable.
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