August the 31st, 2020 - Croatian railways aren't often in receipt of much praise. The train journeys are typically much longer than they should be, and the infrastructure system requires a lot of work. That being said, the Croatian railways investment has been going on since spring this year, and it isn't due for completion until 2022.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of August, 2020, works on the reconstruction of the Zagreb Zapadni kolodvor - Savski Marof railway have been underway since back in May this year, the value of which amounts to almost 366 million kuna without VAT, and most of which is being financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

This Croatian railways investment is part of a much larger investment cycle in transport infrastructure involving up to 20 billion kuna, half of which is going to the railway system, which, as stated, is in need of an upgrade. The works are expected to be completed by the summer of 2022, and the site was recently visited by the longtime Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic.

The eighteen-kilometre-long railway was last overhauled back in 1974, and this ongoing renovation should strengthen it, increase the carrying capacity and the level of safety and speed of trains to 120 km/h, and maintenance costs should be reduced in general. About 170 trains run on the line daily and it is located on an important corridor for international freight and urban-suburban transport.

During his visit, the Minister recalled the fact that the reconstruction of the Zapresic - Zabok railway saw an investment of around 900 million kuna in that micro-location alone.

He announced the continuation Croatian railways investments, and next week he will sign yet another contract for the purchase of 22 new trains for HŽ Putnički prijevoz (Passenger transport), worth more than one billion kuna in total.

He also stated that the traffic in the current part of this year is at the level of about 50 percent of last year, while cargo rail and passenger traffic didn't actually suffer much damage as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For more on investments in Croatia, follow our business page.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August the 31st, 2020 - This small country is abound with talent. From the sporting world to the arts, medicine, science and beyond - Croatia excels in its ''production'' of great minds and impressive skills. Croatian scientists are absolutely no exception and a group from Dubrovnik are developing something that will help to reduce the worrying amount of waste that ends up in the Adriatic sea. Meet the MARLESS project.

As Morski writes on the 30th of August, 2020, the University of Dubrovnik is one of the partners in the praiseworthy MARLESS project - "MARine Litter cross-border awarenESS and innovation actions", which began back on June the 1st, 2020.

The MARLESS project will address the problem of waste in the Adriatic sea from various aspects, which includes monitoring the amount of waste in the sea, raising citizens' awareness of this problem, pilot activities aimed at testing experimental processes of removing waste from the sea, as well as transboundary management to reduce waste which reaches the Adriatic sea, according to a report from the local Dubrovnik Portal.

As many as thirteen partners from several regions of the northern and southern Adriatic are participating in the project worth a massive 4,244,726.00 euros. The main partner is the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection and Prevention of Veneto, and the project involves the regions of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Apulia and Emilia-Romagna, the University of Bologna and the Cetacea Foundation from Italy, while the Croatian team consists of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Centre for Marine Research of the Ruđer Boskovic Institute, the University of Dubrovnik, the Regional Development Agency of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the Istrian Regional Energy Agency and Istria County.

The scientific team from the University of Dubrovnik consists of teachers from the Department of Aquaculture and members of the Laboratory for Intelligent Autonomous Systems from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computing. With a budget of 399,860.00 euros, they will develop an autonomous mobile network for floating waste collection and contribute to activities which will work to properly monitor the amount of waste in the Adriatic sea and raise citizens' awareness of this growing problem.

This strategic MARLESS project lasts from the 1st of June 2020 to the 31st of December 2022, and is implemented within the INTERREG cross-border cooperation program Italy - Croatia 2014-2020.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August the 31st, 2020 - It perhaps isn't a very common headline to read, but for the beautiful Lika region, often referred to as Croatia's green heart, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has actually created a little added value.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of August, 2020, the global pandemic brought some positive changes to the Lika region, known for its many decades of emigration and economic troubles. Namely, the demand, sale and even the price of real estate and agricultural land jumped. Wealthier people from big cities are buying farms and similar such land, and due to financial insecurity in the city, young families are returning to their roots and to the sort of peaceful rural life the Lika region offers so readily.

Due to the outbreak of the pandemic, the Pernar family sold their Zagreb studio apartment, bought a three-storey house in Lika with a garden and orchard, and returned to their parents' idyllic neighbourhood.

"Given the fact that we have a small child, and given that there is general insecurity about everything at the minute, we thought it was the best solution," Ana Pernar told DNEVNIK.hr, adding that they have absolutely no regrets about the decision.

The price of land in the Lika region is rising as a result of the ongoing pandemic

Emigration has been going on in Lika for decades, and sadly this truly gorgeous area has dropped to less than 10 inhabitants per square kilometre. This was also reflected in the price of real estate. Land could be bought for one to two kuna per square metre, and now, due to higher demand, the price has risen to 15 kuna per square metre.

Real estate agent Ivan Bizanovic has sold 200 properties in the last year alone, which is a big jump compared to the annual average of 50 sales. Today in Lika, for 300 thousand kuna you can buy a house covering 300 square metres with an orchard and 3,500 square metres of land attached to it. Of particular interest are the reasons for the jump in demand during the pandemic.

"People from Zagreb, Rijeka, Zadar and Sibenik come to us, they buy smaller farms and plant a garden on those plots to have healthy food and their own production. The biggest reason is that people are afraid of going hungry,'' said Bizanovic.

Land in the Lika region is also sought and bought by investors who would build glamping camps. It is a new tourist trend that offers accommodation in luxury tree houses, all while enjoying the peace and quiet of nature. In these trying times in which social distancing has sadly become the norm, the Lika region is perhaps the ideal place to be.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2020 - The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) warned on Tuesday about the shortage of workforce in the wood processing industry, which was, besides young people leaving to work in the EU and insufficient interest in vocational schools, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The shortage of workforce is an old problem in the domestic economy, and it is especially pronounced in the wood processing industry. There are several reasons for that, from emigration and the reluctance of young people to move to rural areas where most facilities are, to insufficient interest in enrolling in vocational schools and working in the occupations for which they studied. The older generation are increasingly retiring, and young people go to other EU countries because of higher salaries," the HGK said in a press release.

Vice-president of the HGK Dragan Kovacevic noted that it was also difficult to find a skilled workforce outside Croatia and the pandemic was making it even more difficult to find and bring a workforce from abroad.

The HGK underscored that judging by the interest of young people, the labour market would not satisfy the demand for wood processing workers any time soon. The list of the 20 most popular vocational schools for the next school year does not feature occupations that are most sought after in the wood processing industry.

The three most popular programmes are those for auto mechanics, media specialists and beauticians. There are, however, no carpenters, locksmiths or machinists on the list.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Sunday, that a blueprint of the plan for the recovery from the corona crisis could be expected in October, and added that the 15.1-percent contraction of Croatia's Gross Domestic Product in Q2 was within expectations.

The government is due to have the basic outlines of the recovery plan until 15 October, Plenkovic informed the press after a conference on the occasion of International Day of the Disappeared.

"It is our idea that we have the outlines of that plan drawn up until 15 October. After that we will fine-tune the document in communication with the European Commission, just as all other countries. The adoption of those documents is expected at the beginning of the next year," said the Croatian premier.

The recovery plan is being adjusted to the targets from our National Reforms Programmes, the Convergence Programme and the agenda of this cabinet, he added.

The sum of 22 billion euro which is put at disposal to Croatia in seven years is an excellent lever for the start of a robust economic recovery in 2021, he recalled.

Commenting on the 15.1% decline in Q2 GDP,  Plenkovic said that it was within expectations considering the COVID-19 lockdown in that period. He recalled that Q1 saw some growth and that one should wait for results in Q3 and Q4.

"This is a specific year, and globally, this (fall) is within the average of EU member-states," Plenkovic said adding that the H1 GDP was actually at -7.5%.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2020 - A report provided by the State Election Commission (DIP) shows that HRK 78.5 million was spent on organising the country's parliamentary elections on 5 July.

However, the incomplete report does not include all the costs incurred during the election process.

The previous parliamentary elections in September 2016 cost slightly over HRK 122 million.

The structure of the costs seems the same in 2020 as four years ago.

For instance, the biggest outlay was for remuneration for polling committee members, HRK 57.9 million on aggregate. Furthermore, material expenses accounted for HRK 20.6 million.

A polling committee member is paid 300 kuna for this job on the election day in Croatia. Chairpersons and deputy chairpersons are paid HRK 400, which was 50 kuna more than four years ago.

Remuneration per committee member for their work aboard is somewhat higher.

There are also outlays for compensation for experts hired for the organisation of the election process.

(€ 1 = HRK 7.5)

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August 30, 2020 – Should Croatia join the Euro? No, says Nobel prize-winning economist. And Coronavirus is exactly why.

Should Croatia join the Euro? To be honest, we thought this had already been decided upon. But, new comments made by Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz on Saturday 29 August open the question again within the new perspective of the Coronavirus era.

We say new comments, but that's not exactly true. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel prize for economics in 2001, has long been an opponent of the Euro. He is of the opinion that joining the single currency removes a country's ability to respond to crises. While it is true that joining the single currency removes a country's ability to change the exchange rate and deprives it of monetary policy, and thus of changing interest rates, the rub is that Euro countries get more favourable loan deals.

On 10th July 2020, Croatia and Bulgaria joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), a necessary step in joining the Euro. Both must spend at least two years in ERM II before joining the single currency. Croatia will be eligible to adopt the Euro in January 2023. But what will be the situation with Coronavirus and its economic fallout at that time? Should Croatia join the Euro?

The Euro is the currency for only 19 of the 27 countries in the EU. Some EU countries, such as Sweden and formerly the UK, have flatly refused to introduce the Euro despite many years of EU membership, believing that having a national currency is absolutely necessary to manage economic policy.

"I think that every country that retains its flexibility is well advised," said Stiglitz, in an online exchange during this year's Alpbach European Forum. Stiglitz, a former World Bank chief economist and former economic adviser to US President Bill Clinton, is of the opinion that grants available to EU member states should instead be used to deal with times of crises, rather than cheaper loans facilitated by being a member of the single currency.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August 30, 2020 - HNS Executive Director Marijan Kustic explained the current situation in HNS, after they announced that members of the U-21 national team staff are coronavirus-positive.

Gol.hr reports that COVID-19 has entered the Croatian Football Federation. HNS issued a statement on Saturday:

"Two members of the youth national team staff, including coach Igor Biscan, are positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus (without symptoms), so the current coach will not lead the U-21 national team at the upcoming September gathering.

Due to close contact with the infected, other members of Biscan's staff, in addition to Renato Pilipovic, have to go into self-isolation for 14 days,” reads the HNS statement, among other things.

Nova TV reporter Milan Stjelja discussed the topic with HNS executive director Marijan Kustic.

"For the sake of prevention, we tested the staff of the senior and youth national teams. Unfortunately, we have now heard that the coach of the U-21 national team, Igor Biscan, is positive for the coronavirus, as well as another member of the staff. We heard from each other on several occasions today, Igor has no symptoms, but the result is positive, so he and his staff have to go to self-isolation for 14 days due to close contact,” Kustic said in the introduction.

The young national team will play two important matches in the Euro U-21 qualifiers at the beginning of September. Who will replace Biscan on the bench?

"We only had consultations today, in which Biscan also participated by phone. We agreed that the U-17 national team coach Tomislav Rukavina and the HNS chief instructor Petar Krpan would take over.“

Luckily, there are no positive results in the headquarters of the senior national team.

"It is gratifying, the entire staff headed by coach Dalic is negative. For the sake of prevention, we tested everything so as not to get into a situation where the virus, God forbid, spreads at the gathering, to bring playing the matches into question.”

What about the players?

"They must come to the gathering with negative results that must not be older than 72 hours."

Certainly of interest to the Croatian public is the HNS decision to play an exhibition match in Donji Miholjac between the veterans of Jedinstvo and veterans of the Croatia national team, which also featured the president of the Federation Davor Suker, with a limited audience.

When we know that HNS decided to play the end of the season without spectators, and there are currently no spectators in the new season,  was the wrong step taken?

"I can only say that the club Jedinstvo from Donji Miholjac, on the occasion of their anniversary, asked veterans of the Croatia national team to come and enhance their jubilee. Of course, before that, they had a meeting with the local Civil Protection Headquarters, with the obligation to respect all epidemiological measures. I am convinced that this was the case,"  concluded Kustic.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.