Friday, 4 September 2020

Juraj Orehovec's Duck Pate from Veliki Bukovec Gains in Popularity

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 3rd of September, 2020, Juraj Orehovec, a breeder of various types of poultry in Veliki Bukovac not far from Ludbreg, has been successfully building a business for 20 years. In order to achieve the most natural way of raising poultry, the stables on his farm are open, and they built everything right next to the river Plitvica so that they could dig water lagoons for their ducks and geese.

In the years which followed, they also started raising chickens, and a stable was built on the farm, where the chickens stay indoors for the first few weeks, and later have access to rich grassy areas. According to owner Juraj Orehovec, the focus of the business is primarily on free cultivation, which achieves high product quality.

They are launching an entire range, including indoor chickens and free-range chickens, roosters, ducks and geese, and recently a new brand of premium duck products called Royal Duck, which includes duck meat and liver pate, dried duck breast (Le Dame) and duck and goose fat (FATe).

''In 2020, through investments, we planned regular investments in the vehicle fleet, a regular overhaul of production capacities, preparation for obtaining an IFS certificate at our slaughterhouse, a packaging plant, a cutting plant and meat processing facilities. An application for support through EU funds was also made, which would provide new modern equipment for packaging and declaring meat,'' Juraj Orehovec revealed.

As much as 80 percent of the sales made are poultry (chickens). They successfully cooperate with the Metro retail chain and several smaller distributors.

"We have continuously invested in our production for 20 years, so we have the capacity to grow, slaughter and process about 1,500 tonnes of meat a year. In the last two years, we've been achieving organic growth of 5 to 10 percent,'' explained Juraj Orehovec.

Their open-type poultry farm covers 100,000 square feet and includes canopies, water lagoons, and uninterrupted access to grazing and daylight for the animals. In order to achieve a complete production cycle, the poultry feed is made partly from farming from their fields and partly for them by farmers from the surrounding areas. The most common crops in the composition of the mixture are corn and soybeans.

Owner Juraj Orehovec explained that in this way, they can claim that more than 90 percent of poultry feed is of local origin, and in addition it is certified as GMO free.

The closed farms consist of several modern stables, each with a capacity of 20,000 chickens. The last significant investment in the business was intended to expand the capacity of the open farm through the construction of a space for the preparation of poultry mix and in the space for hot meat processing within the slaughterhouse and packaging plant.

''At the beginning of the coronavirus era, the demand for meat grew, but given that poultry fattening is a branch of industry that needs to be organised about half a year in advance, we simply couldn't supply so much, there was an extraordinary level of demand. We worked at a level of capacity that was determined on the basis of the trends and that would be sufficient under normal circumstances, so we can't say that our sales increased because it was not feasible to adapt to such unpredictable market disruption so quickly. Shortly after, the market situation stabilised and the supply of goods, for now, is functioning well. The tourist season partially failed through May and June, but July and the first half of August were at the level of last year,'' said Orehovec

The totally free-range poultry are raised on their own, while when it comes to the indoor poultry, there is cooperation with other farms.

In addition, they process all of their poultry within their slaughterhouse and distribute it through their own logistics chain. Last year, they raised about 50,000 ducks and about 50,000 free-range roosters and chickens, while in the slaughterhouse they processed about 1,000 tonnes of meat.

Juraj Orehovec's farm is very much appreciated in neighbouring Hungary...

"Most of our production is placed on the Croatian market through our own chain of butchers, trading houses and shops, as well as through private butchers. One of the export markets is Hungary where we place live chickens from indoor breeding in cooperation with a company that helps us organise breeding and production.

Our Croatian chickens are valued in Hungary for being GMO free. Negotiations on entering the German and Austrian markets are still ongoing for the products of the new Royal Duck line. In the near future, we're planning for additional investments in our production capacities in the slaughterhouse, increasing the production capacity and maintaining the existing quality with the placement of new products on foreign markets.

As one of the goals, I can point out the positioning of the Royal Duck product line on European Union markets alongside the esteemed French and Spanish pates,'' concluded the ambitious Juraj Orehovec.

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Friday, 4 September 2020

Tesla Arrives in Croatia and Advertises Jobs

Friday, 4 September 2020 - After promising to open branches of his company here last September, Elon Musk is now looking to employ team members in Zagreb as Tesla arrives in Croatia

Elon Musk and his Tesla company are advertising the first two job opportunities to work at their forthcoming set-up in Zagreb. Tesla arrives in Croatia at a time of uncertainty for many businesses and investors, but the forward-thinking clean energy firm seem always to be thinking two steps ahead. The positions currently advertised are 'Tesla Advisor' and 'Sales & Delivery Manager.'

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Screenshot from Tesla website

Musk revealed his plans to begin operations in the country in September 2019, when responding on Twitter to a question about Slovenia. The company co-founder and CEO replied that he was looking forward to establishing the company, which takes its name from Croatia-born inventor Nikola Tesla, in the 'countries' (sic) of his birth.
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This is literally the second time in a month that TCN has been able to announce Tesla arrives in Croatia. Following a 30-year absence, a famous statue of Nikola Tesla – currently seen in both Belgrade and America – is finally being brought back to Gospic, his home town.

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Tesla's best-selling Model 3. The company currently has the largest global share of the electric car market, roughly 17% © Vauxford

Tesla, Inc. is an American electric vehicle and clean energy company based in Palo Alto, California. They are most famous for their electric cars and have several models on the market. Croatian motorways were last year equipped with electric refilling stations across its entire network, in order to facilitate pan-Croatian travel in the increasingly popular vehicles.

The company also manufacture batteries, solar products, other green energy solutions and services associated to them. As Tesla arrives in Croatia, a country with a proven track record in green energy, such as hydroelectricity and wind farms, it's coming to a suitable home. Tesla is the world's best-selling manufacturer of plug-in and battery electric cars.

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Friday, 4 September 2020

Entrepreneurial Mindset 2020 Conference Speakers: Meet Jan de Jong

September 4, 2020 - Next week sees the second edition of the Poduzetnik Mindset (Entrepreneurial Mindset) conference, a wave of positivity for Croatia 2.0. TCN will be interviewing a few entrepreneur speakers of the event. First up, Dalmatian Dutchman Jan de Jong. 

Can a positive entrepreneurial mindset make a positive difference in Croatia? The growing eco-system of Croatian entrepreneurs certainly believes so. One of the most positive and inspiring conferences of 2019 was the inaugural Poduzetnik Mindset conference in Zagreb (read the TCN report on last year's event - Croatia 2.0 Cloaked in Positivity at Entrepreneurial Mindset Conference in Zagreb).

This year's event will be online due to the corona situation, but with some 10,000 people already registered, its reach will be a lot bigger than last year. Among the many great speakers is man of the moment, Dutch entrepreneur Jan de Jong from Split. Having sent an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on July 11 asking for a digital nomad visa for Croatia, just 44 days later, the PM tweeted that his government would introduce such a visa, and it was formally introduced as an amendment to the Foreigners Act the following day. 

TCN caught up with de Jong ahead of the conference to learn more about his entrepreneurial mindset and perspective at this exciting time for the development of Croatia 2.0.

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1. You make it look so easy. You arrived as a student, started a company which employed 400 people, sold it, then started another one which is doing very well. Meanwhile, you send an open letter to the Prime Minister asking for a digital nomad visa, and 6 weeks later it is introduced in Parliament. Croatian bureaucracy is supposed to be impossible. What's your secret?

My secret is: Ask nicely. You will be surprised how often people say “yes” when you just ask them nicely. Let me take you back 19 years. I was 17 years old and working in a call center where I had to sell products and services over the phone. With my voice as my only weapon, you give potential customers arguments why they should buy your product/service…all over the phone. What made the biggest difference between a well-performing and non-performing sales agent was that the well-performing sales agent would at the right moment kindly ask for acceptance of the proposal. Do we agree on this? <yes>

2. How is the perception of an entrepreneur different in Croatia and your native Holland?

I wrote about this once in one of my LinkedIn posts. I am sad that in Croatia entrepreneurs don’t always get the credit they deserve. From my point of view, entrepreneurs are often very passionate individuals, who dream of a better tomorrow and who strongly believe that their company can help us all to get to that “better tomorrow” by providing their products and/or services. 

Entrepreneurs are individuals who cheer for each other’s successes. Individuals who support each other to reach goals and avoid obstacles. You being a winner doesn’t make me a loser. We can all win – through collaboration.

I am always super excited when I meet young entrepreneurs. I will be the first one to offer a helping hand where I can. In my LinkedIn post I wrote that (successful) Dutch entrepreneurs are often seen as show-offs, successful American entrepreneurs are looked at as stars and successful Croatian entrepreneurs are looked at as semi-criminals.

You hear people in Croatia gossiping. Who did he have to bribe to get that contract? You don’t want to ask a successful entrepreneur how he made his first million. He probably pays really bad salaries…profiting off of his poor, hard-working employees.

It’s sad that this happens, because if I would only look at the amount of time I have invested into my businesses to get to where I am – I should already almost be entitled to retire – and I am only 36 years young.

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(Photo credit Drazen Tomic)

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a foreign, rather than a Croatian entrepreneur here?

I believe its always good if you have the ability to differentiate yourself from your competition. Differentiating yourself and your company you can do in many ways, but in my case – being Dutch in Croatia already makes me different. At least, most of my meetings we can start with a casual talk and answering the question “How on Earth did you end up in Croatia?”

4. Your LinkedIn following is growing and it has become a beacon of social media positivity. You claim that you only see opportunities here, while so many are emigrating. Why are others not seeing what you see?

Because many people have blurred vision as a result of being surrounded by toxic people who also have blurred vision. If you spend a lot of time with people who only complain about how the weather in Ireland is better than in Croatia – then before you know it, you will start believing that Ireland is a nice sunny place. Whatever people complain about, whatever people think is not good enough – all of those are business opportunities. It just takes the right entrepreneur to start solving those issues and start charging for that solution. 

I believe that starting a business in the Netherlands is equally difficult as starting a business in Croatia – just for different reasons. The Dutch market is known for being very innovative, with a lot of competition and competition that has big budgets to fight you. In Croatia, you have a chance to soon become a market leader if you find a product or service that allows you to be a first-mover in Croatia.

I am all about being first with something and using first-mover advantage. When I started my contact center business in 2007, we were among the first professional call centers in Croatia. When I started Webpower Adria in 2016, we became the first locally present company specialized in email marketing & marketing automation. Both industries were already highly saturated in the Netherlands with strong local competition. In the Netherlands, I would not have stood a chance by opening such businesses. In Croatia, I became market leader with both companies.

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5. Are you seeing much change in the entrepreneurial scene in Croatia over the last couple of years? In which ways, if yes?

Yes! I see more and more young entrepreneurs entering the scene and building amazing companies that are solving global problems. Take companies like Include from Solin with their smart bench, Agrivi revolutionizing the AgriTech scene, Nanobit. We even have our first unicorn with Infobip. There have been more and more success stories in Croatia – which creates wonderful employment opportunities in Croatia.

6. The eco-system of Croatia's entrepreneurs is getting stronger, and initiatives such as Glas Poduzetnika have certainly helped. What should we be focusing on in the next year or two to improve things in your opinion?

I am supporting the efforts made by Udruga Glas Poduzetnika from day one simply because I believe that governments should listen more to their entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are the driving force of every economy and I am putting my money on Croatia's entrepreneurs to move this country forward. 

Our focus should be on making sure that we don't create a situation where it looks like “entrepreneurs against the government“. Both entrepreneurs and the government should want the same for Croatia. Being able to have constructive conversations between entrepreneurs and the government – where we can see Croatia progress as a result of joint efforts - that will be a key component in making Croatia a better country to live in for the next generation.

7. And I am sure a lot of our readers will be curious - what's next for Jan de Jong once you have finished with the digital nomad visa?

My heart right away wanted to share some huge news, but my mind was stronger this time. I am currently working on something really big and exciting, something that will require large capital investments in Croatia, something that will help Croatia to increase export figures, something that will provide employment to many people, something that won’t easily be affected by events like Covid-19, and something that Croatia is traditionally very strong at. 

Please, be patient. I hope I will be able to make a big announcement soon. If you want to be among the first ones to know what I am working on…follow me on LinkedIn.

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To learn more about the virtual Poduzetnik Mindset 2020 conference on September 10 - and to register - visit the official website.  

Friday, 4 September 2020

Vineyards of Slavonia and Baranja Revived!

September 4, 2020 - A new season is nearly here, which can only mean one thing - the beginning of the wine harvest! The vineyards of Slavonia and Baranja have been revived.

Pickers entered the Feravino vineyards to pick grapes for sparkling wines that need a little more acid in the first days of September. It begins at dawn with the sun's first rays; a common toast symbolically marks the beginning of the harvest toast. Toasts were made with Francesco and Grasecco sparkling wines and fine plum brandy and cider brandy, which was given by Ivan Ergović, President of the Management Board of Nexe grupa d.d., who himself attended the harvest.

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Slobodan Kadic

First came Frankovka and Graševina, and the harvest will continue with the varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Graševina, and red varieties Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah.

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Slobodan Kadic

"Each wine-growing year has its challenges, and each is special in its own way. The winter was mild and without precipitation, and the movement of vegetation in the spring was accompanied by a large number of sunny hours and a small amount of rainfall," says Lucija Kužir, harvest coordinator, emphasizing that there was no quarantine and work from home for vineyards.

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Slobodan Kadic

However, at the beginning of August, the Našice area, where they have two vineyard sites, was hit by a storm that left its mark on the vine and the crop. The remaining grapes in these locations are in excellent condition, and the final stage of ripening is going very well. In addition to the permanent employees of Feravin, the vineyards are harvested by about a hundred seasonal workers who, in addition to organized transport, also have a hot meal this year.

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Slobodan Kadic

"We are building two new cellars so that the capacity for controlled fermentation and aging of wine will not be lacking. One basement is equipped with stainless steel tanks with a capacity of 570,000 liters. The other has wooden barrels of various volumes of 1000-6000 liters, with a total capacity of 147,000 liters," explains Ivan Maričić, director of Feravina, emphasizing that quality is ahead of quantity.

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Slobodan Kadic

Other winemakers from Slavonia and Baranja have also started harvesting. Most of them are satisfied with the first results and hope that the 2020 harvest will be successful and the wine flawless. The folk song says: I pick grapes, red and white...

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Slobodan Kadic

And it'll always be wine in the end - tell your story, red, white or maybe rosé!

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Slobodan Kadic

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Friday, 4 September 2020

US Open: Donna Vekic and Marin Cilic Advance to Third Round!

September 4, 2020 - Donna Vekic and Marin Cilic join Petra Martic and Borna Coric in the third round of the US Open!

It was an extremely convincing performance by Donna Vekic in the 2nd round of the US Open, as it took the Osijek player only 69 minutes to win against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (88th on the WTA list) with only three lost games - 6:2, 6:1.

The very beginning of the match suggested that Donna would have a far harder job, as Tig came to a break in the third game and took the lead with 2:1. But after that, her game quickly fell apart, and Donna lost only one more game by the end of the match.

During the match, Vekic scored four aces with a first-serve percentage of 66 percent, and used five of the nine break points. Her next opponent will be Bulgarian Cvetana Pironkova (a player with a protected ranking), who surprised the 10th seed, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, in the 2nd round.

It took Marin Cilic more than three hours to advance to the third round of this year's US Open. Namely, Slovak Norbert Gombos (104th on the ATP list) proved himself in the 2nd round match as an extremely strong and challenging opponent who almost took the match to the fifth set.

Namely, at 1:2 in sets, Gombos had a 5:4 lead and two set points on Marin's serve, but he failed to realize them. After that, Cilic came to a break, and then to the victory - 6:3, 1:6, 7:6 (2), 7:5. It seems that the key to the outcome of the match was the third set in which Gombos led with 4:2, but Marin still managed to return and reach a 2:1 lead in the tie-break.

He scored 15 aces with a first-serve percentage of 63 percent and used four of the 12 break points. Marin now awaits the 2nd seed and 3rd best tennis player in the world, Austrian Dominic Thiem. They have played twice so far, and Thiem has celebrated in both matches.

Petra Martic will play her third-round match against Russian Varvara Andreyevna Gracheva on Friday, while Borna Coric will face Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Source: HTS

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Friday, 4 September 2020

Flights to Croatia: Qatar Airways Cancels Zagreb Service, Again

September 4, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia with as Qatar Airways cancels Zagreb once again.

Croatian Aviation reports that Qatar Airways has again canceled flights on the Doha - Zagreb route in the next two weeks, just as it was in July and August this year.

Just a few days after we learned about the percentage of canceled flights on the Doha - Zagreb route, new bad news followed - Qatar Airways has canceled all flights on this route until September 19 this year.

On September 2, the company operated a flight on this route and due to low demand, canceled all planned flights until September 19 this year. The Qatar Airways Doha - Zagreb line primarily serves a large number of tourists from Asia who use it to come to Croatia in the summer season (but also outside it). It is already generally known that there are no passengers from the Asian market this year, and due to its favorable prices and numerous destinations, Qatar was also the choice of many Croatian and Slovenian citizens for trips to distant destinations, but few choose such trips today. 

It is for these reasons that Qatar Airways is unable to achieve a satisfactory charge of its aircraft on this route which ultimately leads to frequent cancellations. As has been stated several times, the companies generally adjust their flight schedule in the period from 2 to 3 weeks in advance, so Qatar Airways did the same, canceling all scheduled flights on this route in the next two weeks.

The question is whether Qatar will return to Zagreb this fall and winter. If in July, August and September they cannot achieve a satisfactory load factor (percentage of occupancy of the passenger cabin), then it is almost certain that this will not be possible in the months ahead, when the average occupancy on the line is already lower than summer months.

If Qatar Airways decides to maintain this route anyway, one thing is for sure - numerous cancellations of individual flights will continue, as has been the case so far. And until when? Until the recovery of the market, which will certainly not happen in the months ahead.

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Thursday, 3 September 2020

Aladrovic: European Funds to be Used to Finance Jobkeeping Measures

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Josip Aladrovic said on Thursday that the plan is for jobkeeping measures, which will continue for the next four months, to be primarily financed from European funds.

"About HRK 800 million is foreseen for the measures we adopted today for the next four months without shortening the working week. Our forecast indicates that that is about HRK 200 million a month, which is enough for 60 to 70,000 workers. We will see what the future will bring in the next four months. The main source of financing will primarily be European funds," Aladrovic said after a cabinet meeting while responding to questions from the press after Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced that support to the economy amid the coronavirus crisis would continue including jobkeeping measures and ensuring liquidity and Covid loans.

Aladrovic said that advance payments would be made from the state budget, adding that funds agreed over the past month at the EU level were available and that a portion of the €10 billion can be used at the moment to finance this.

"We actually plan to cover the cost of financing the measures for the next four months entirely from European funds," said Aladrovic.

He noted that the measures can be financed from current liquid funds but that it is important to know the source of funding. "The source of funding is vital and not current liquidity. At the moment, current liquidity is not in question as far as the budget is concerned but the matter at hand is the source itself. It is important that the source of funding is not tied to our internal capacities in the budget but that we transfer as much as possible to EU funds, which naturally is direct support to our economy," he explained.

 

Coric: Measures to date have certainly brought results

Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Coric believes that the jobkeeping measures implemented over the past few months have definitely produced results.

He said that currently there are about 150,000 people unemployed in Croatia. Despite the fact that the majority of European and global economies recorded a fall in activities and were hit by a huge increase in unemployment, that did not occur in Croatia.

"We believe that this successful measure needs to continue. The fact that we have planned for it to continue until December, that is over the next four months, is aimed at anchoring the expectations of businesses and the real sector and that is precisely the direction we want to go in," said Coric.

He added that several portfolios would for that entire time monitor the effects of these measures on the economy and in that way take possible decisions if needed for additional measures to support the economy.

Coric underscored that in addition to the jobkeeping measures, credit lines would continually be available to settle liquidity, primarily through the SMEs agency Hamag-Bicro and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR).

For that reason more than HRK 1 billion has been allocated to Hamag-Bicro to continue providing loans to the business sector, recalled Coric.

Asked whether in addition to writing off wage contributions, taxes too could be written off, which was one of the measures that had been in force, Coric said that that measure had been planned to apply for several months prior to the summer. Such a decision has not been made for the time being and if and when that will be, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric will inform the public.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said that she was exceptionally pleased that the measure would ensure the survival of the tourism sector until the end of the year and that further plans could be made, with everything that awaits us with the new Multiannual Financial  Framework, which is extremely important for the tourism portfolio.

 

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Thursday, 3 September 2020

Slovenian Official Says Croatia's COVID Situation Dramatic

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - The Slovenian government's spokesman for COVID-19 said on Thursday that due to the rise in infections in neighbouring states, Slovenia would next week revise its list of safe countries and that the daily rise of new infections in Croatia was dramatic.

Jelko Kacin ruled out the possibility of Croatia being put back on the green list of countries either as a whole state or some of its counties.

He was responding to a question from the press in Ljubljana about the situation in Croatia and the possibility of relaxing the current border crossing regime in light of suggestions of a regional and differentiated approach based on the epidemiological situation in each county.

The epidemiological situation in Croatia is rapidly deteriorating and becoming dramatic, Kacin said.

Croatia will soon have 100 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, which is red list level. Split-Dalmatia County could have 200 and the number of infections in Istria County is also rising, he added.

Asked about the possible relaxation of border crossing measures for Croatian citizens wishing to visit the graves of their dear ones in Slovenia, notably in the border area, Kacin said the government was considering the possibility of an "elastic" solution.

That primarily refers to All Souls' Day, when the graves of predecessors are visited, he added.

 

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Thursday, 3 September 2020

Ministry of Tourism and Sports to Invest in Construction of 23 Sports Venues

ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - The Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to invest almost HRK 10 million this year to co-finance the construction or refurbishment of 23 sports venues throughout Croatia following a call for applications advertised on 31 December 2019, the ministry said on Thursday.

Despite the circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this year the ministry will co-finance the reconstruction and construction of sports venues from Dubrovnik to Vukovar in an effort to support local communities and maintain sports infrastructure.

The total amount to be granted is HRK 9,684,096.64.

Since 2018 the reconstruction or construction of 25 sports venues has been conducted including the largest project to build an athletics track in Knin.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which previously was in the remit of the State Central Office for Sport, has invested a total of HRK 21,292,575.70  and with this latest call for applications the investments will amount to HRK 30,976,672.60, the ministry said.

 

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Thursday, 3 September 2020

Euro Qualifiers: Croatia U-21 Squad Tops Greece 5:0 in Varazdin

September 3, 2020 - The Croatia U-21 national football team remained in the game for a spot at the 2021 European Championship after toppling Greece 5:0 in Varazdin, inflicting their first defeat in the group.

Goals for Croatia were scored by Nikola Moro (1), Lovro Majer (5, 24), and Petar Musa (14, 52).

After recording two defeats in the first four rounds, and two home defeats at that, the Croatia U-21 national team did not have the chance to take Greece lightly.

The young Vatreni started the qualifying cycle for the European Championship with home defeats to Scotland and the Czech Republic and away victories against San Marino and Lithuania. There was a several-month break due to the coronavirus epidemic, and the continuation of the qualifications brought perhaps two key matches. The first against Greece has been settled, and in four days, Croatia is expected to play against the leading Czech Republic.

After coach Igor Biscan tested positive for the coronavirus and the entire professional staff ended up in self-isolation, the team was led by the main instructor of the Croatian Football Federation, Petar Krpan, and the coach of the Croatia U-17 side Tomislav Rukavina. While Biscan was the brains behind the composition, Krpan and Rukavina executed flawlessly.

The match was essentially over already just 24 minutes in as Croatia went up by four goals.

Croatia took the lead in the 45th second of the game. Sosa pulled up the left side and pushed into the middle; the ball bounced to the edge of the penalty area where Moro scored fantastically for 1:0. Just four minutes later, it was 2:0. Moro curved the ball into the penalty area where Majer headed in for the second goal. In the 14th minute, Musa was among the scorers, assisted by Spikic. Majer completed an incredible 25 minutes with his second goal on Sosa's assist.

In the continuation of the match, the rhythm dropped as expected, and the only goal was in the 52nd minute. Erlic ideally found Musa, who went around the goalkeeper Antonios Stergiakis and scored in an empty net.

With this victory, Croatia broke through to the third place of the group with nine points from five matches. Greece has a point more, while the Czech Republic is in the lead with 14 points from six matches.

The winners of nine groups and the five best second-placed teams will qualify directly for the Euros.

Source:  HRT

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