ZAGREB, July 23, 2020 - Over the past 24 hours Croatia has recorded 104 new coronavirus cases, which brings the number of active cases to 1,112, and three more dead, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.

Currently 132 patients are hospitalised, including seven on ventilators. Over the past 24 hours 1,147 people have been tested for the virus, while a total of 108,222 have been tested to date.

Since February 25, when the first case in Croatia was confirmed, 4,634 persons have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 3,394 have recovered. The death toll is 128.   

July 24, 2020 - The Karlić family was the first in Croatia to offer visitors the experience of truffle hunting. We headed out on this unique and above all demanding activity with a truffle hunter and a dog Lila that has been specially trained to search for truffles. In addition to the experience of hunting on the property of the Karlić family, the tour also included tasting specialties with truffles, and owner Ivana prepared them in front of us.

A small number of people in Croatia are engaged in the production of truffle products. The Karlić family is one of the few families in Istria that is more seriously engaged in their production and distribution, but also in hunting. Interestingly, because of local peoples’ tradition, it is said truffle “hunting”, not harvesting.

More dogs than humans

Truffles in Croatia grow mainly in central Istria, and in the rest of the world, they can be found in Italy and small quantities in France, Germany, Austria, and some other countries. They are mostly used by people in Italy and Croatia.

The Karlić family started their story about truffles when their grandfather started researching them 40 years ago. He quickly passed this love on to his wife and daughter, Ivana's mother. It was strange because, at that time, she was supposed to have a "female“ job, not be in the woods with other guys, but she didn't care. Later, she started a family business. Her children Ivan and Ivana also literally grew up in the woods truffle hunting.

At the entrance to a beautifully landscaped yard in the small central Istrian village of Paladini, I and a few other visitors were greeted by Ivana Karlić together with their seven truffle hunting dogs. She explained that there are more dogs than people living in Paladini, located a 40-minute drive from Poreč. There are only about 40 inhabitants, and about 100 dogs because all the people there are engaged in truffle hunting.

Ivana Karić introduced us to the Istrian tradition of truffle hunting

I was enchanted by the large tasting room for sampling truffles, which perfectly fits in with the nature of central Istria. The panoramic view of the surroundings of Motovun leaves you breathless, as well as the truffle specialties prepared in front of you by Ivana.

Demand for truffles

At the beginning of the truffle hunting tour, Ivana introduced us to the family tradition and we "warmed up“ by tasting homemade truffle rakia – Biska, Teranino, and Medenica.

You can't go truffle hunting in the woods on an empty stomach, so three sequences of dishes followed – slices of sausage and cheese, scrambled eggs, and candied fritters. All the specialties were extremely delicious and filling. That's why it is advised to come hungry. Ivana prepared all the specialties for us in the open kitchen in the tasting room. We could see the whole process of preparing and cooking dishes with truffles. While she was cooking and serving us, Ivana was casually telling the story about truffles and her family.

Truffles and truffle products such as oil, cheese, sausages, rakia, and even chocolate spread can be bought at the shop on the property. Recently they even opened a store in Poreč.

The idea of opening a store came up during self-isolation when they finally had time to think about it, plan it, and realize it. Until now, their products could have only been bought on their property, and their truffles were found in the dishes of many Istrian restaurants, most of which are in Poreč.

"We opted for Poreč because we cooperate with a large number of restaurants here. A lot of people who eat in these restaurants want to buy truffles, but they don't want to come to Paladini only to buy them, so we thought it was a perfect opportunity for guests to buy truffles and take them home,“ says Ivana.

Also, during the lockdown, when they were forced to stay home, and also when the amount of work in tourism was much smaller, they opened an online store to sell their products.

Truffle shop in the Istrian city of Poreč

Training dogs (and people) to truffle hunt

After Ivana fed us well, we went hunting in the woods. Fifteen years ago, the Karlić family launched guided tours with truffle hunting dogs to give tourists a direct insight into how difficult it is to find truffles in the woods. The truffle is, in fact, an underground fungus that grows in symbiosis with trees, at their roots, most commonly oak and hazelnut trees. This makes them extremely difficult to find, so specially trained dogs are needed to search for them.

"Any dog breed can truffle hunt, but the best breed is the Italian Lagotto Romagnolo. They are very obedient and have a good sense of smell. It is easy to train them. Females are much better at truffle hunting because they are focused on truffle hunting all year round, while males are in one part of the year focused on looking for females and are therefore 'distracted',“ explains Ivana.

The Karlić family trains dogs too, as well as organizing courses and exams for future truffle hunters, as people who go truffle hunting are called.

"The training itself lasts one year. We are training them since they are 3 to 4 months old, through the game. We give them truffle treats, we bury truffles, we show them how to dig truffles... The last and most important learning process is the departure of a small puppy with an adult truffle hunting dog to hunt. An adult dog starts digging, gets a reward, a small dog is always jealous of it and then because of his jealousy he will start looking for truffles and get a reward for finding it,“ says Ivana and adds that they only train their dogs.

Karlić family has seven dogs and all of them must be trained every day

Truffle hunters must also pass an exam to know how to behave with dogs in the forest. The license is paid and every year the entrance to the Croatian forests for hunting white truffles must be paid separately.

"We organize exams for truffle hunters in our property. We have about 300 people looking for truffles for us and from whom we buy them,“ explains Ivana.

Kings of gastronomy

A smiling truffle hunter Sanjin, dressed like a real hunter with a small shovel on his shoulder, along with the dog Lila, took us to the woods. The real adventure began. It was great to feel the uncertainty in the search for truffles because every time you go to the forest you never know if you will find truffles.

One tourist took her dog on the tour, which is also allowed, so the hunting experience itself was even more fun as both dogs ran around us in search of truffles.

There are two main types of truffles, black and white. Black truffles grow throughout the year in Istria and are divided into two types – summer and winter. The summer truffle is most often used by restaurants and costs around 200 euros per kilo, but the price always varies, depending on supply and demand.

White truffles grow only from September to January. The peak of the white truffle season is in November and its price is much higher, ranging from 400 euros per kilo to 2,000 – 3,000 euros per kilo, depending on the size and details. With white truffles, every detail counts.

As Ivana says, the white truffle is the king of gastronomy. It is one of the top 10 foods in the world in terms of quality, price, and demand. It is expensive because it grows only in Italy in the area of ​​the town Alba and the province of Umbria. In Istria, it grows in the Motovun forest near the largest Istrian lake Butoniga. That's exactly where we were truffle hunting too.

Commitment to work

The Karlić family was the first in Croatia who tried to cultivate black truffles – and they succeeded. Our truffle hunting tour started right from their black truffle plantation towards the forest. However, it took a lot of time for the first black truffle to grow there.

"It was a big experiment. We waited 8 years to find the first truffle. After 8 years, our hopes that black truffles can be cultivated have been confirmed. A lot of people after us also planted plantations. One would think we might be jealous because it was our idea, but we’re very proud. It favors afforestation and the environment gets cleaner,“ says Ivana, who believes that the cultivation of black truffles was helped by the fact that the plantation was planted quietly next to the forest where they grow naturally.

During the tour, our truffle hunter and guide Sanjin was tirelessly showing us how to truffle hunt. When a dog starts digging, it means he has scented something. When Lila started digging, Sanjin ran up to her to stop her from eating the truffle she found. By the end of the tour, Lila found three truffles, with a little help of one visitor's dog.

As the truffle maker explains, dogs must be in constant contact with truffles, eat them and go hunting for at least an hour every day, so during our tour he allowed him to eat one small truffle he dug up.

A small, well-coordinated team

Sometimes truffle hunting fails. Sometimes no truffles could be found, given that they are very rare and difficult to find, but this does not discourage truffle hunters at all. Sanjin says he goes truffle hunting as early in the morning as 4 am and it never gets boring.

Guided truffle hunting tour in the central Istria

Judging by what I experienced at their property and in the forest, the Karlić family, together with a few more employees, have dedicated their lives to truffles. Ivana is the third generation in the family of truffle hunters. As Ivana points out, the truffle business, from cultivating, hunting, cooking, production, distribution to selling products, is not considered a job at all but a way of life.

"Our team is not big, but it is well-coordinated. We are all like one big family and everyone knows how to do everything. Everyone loves dogs and truffles and it can be seen,“ says Ivana.

Most of the guests are foreign tourists

After spending a day on their property, I realized that the Karlić family members love what they do. Guests, mostly foreign tourists, also recognize it.

"Foreign tourists make up 90 percent of our tourists. For them, our products are affordable, some even say cheap, while for the average Croat our products are expensive, which is clear to me. Truffle hunting justifies our offer in terms of price,“ says Ivana.

An hour at the tasting hall and two more hours truffle hunting were enough to delight me.

Black truffles, straight out from the ground

"People have great food truffle hunting experience. Some people come back to us every time they come to Croatia. They go on the same tour, eat the same menu, only because they enjoy our hospitality,“ says Ivana.

If someone had told me that my most beautiful experience during the summer would be going to the forest to truffle hunting, I would not have believed him. But Ivana and her team managed to convey their love for truffles to all of us visitors.

What makes Karlić family so unique is their passion and unsurpassed knowledge about truffles.

Truffle products

Last year, the Karlić family, in cooperation with the Aura Distillery, launched the first truffle-flavored gin. It's limited edition and a one-liter bottle costs 100 euros. This gin sold out quickly, and as Ivana Karlić says, the price is so high because of the extreme complexity of its production, as well as the taste. Even critics say their gin is top-notch and deserves that price.

Also, the Karlić family was the first in the world to make a combination of chocolate spread and truffles. It resulted in Trufella, a version of Nutella with truffles, made of white and dark chocolate. It is also possible to taste and buy Truffela while on the truffle hunting tour.

“We also have cheese and sausages. We make such products in cooperation with other small manufacturers. We give them our truffles, they already have their well-known product and then we combine it,“ says Ivana, but adds that the best product is fresh truffles that can be added to any dish. She recommends it with traditional Istrian pasta called fuži.

ZAGREB, July 23, 2020 - The Croatian parliament opened its session on Thursday with demands by opposition groups for an hour-long break to allow them to study the programme of the new government before discussing it and voting on it.

After nearly all opposition groups voiced their satisfaction because they had been presented with the programme of the new government less than an hour before the discussion, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic approved a 15-minute break.

He said that the programme could not have been distributed before Wednesday evening because Parliament adopted a law on the new government only then.

"The programme was distributed this morning, but it will be presented by the prime minister-designate and you will be able to hear what has to say," Jandrokovic said in response to objections from opposition MPs.

Not good practice

Milan Vrkljan of the Homeland Movement said that it was not good practice for the opposition to be presented with the programme half an hour before the discussion. He warned that the opposition might agree during the break not to take part in further discussion.

The late distribution of the government programme was criticised by the Social Democratic Party, the green-left coalition, Bridge, the SSIP, Pametnto and GLAS group and the Croatian Sovereignists.

Programme presented during election campaign

Branko Bacic of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said that the government's programme was the programme with which the HDZ had won the election and that it had been expanded to include projects proposed by its coalition partners.

Bacic said that the opposition had had enough time to study the programme because it was presented on a daily basis during the election campaign. "I see this as a performance and not as a serious complaint," Bacic said.

ZAGREB, July 23, 2020 - Prime Minister-designate Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that he was aware that expectations of reform were now much higher than before and that his new government would meet them.

"There will be huge challenges to public health, the economy and finance. Today we have more political experience and that will certainly make our work easier. The government is homogenous, the parliamentary majority is compact, and I count on 76 hands," Plenkovic told reporters outside parliament before presenting his new cabinet to lawmakers.

Asked if he believed his new team would endure the four-year term, Plenkovic said: "I don't know, it's hard for me to say. You start out with this ambition, but in the present time of crisis, challenges and unpredictable circumstances it is difficult to say. I would like it to be that way. We endured this past term, maybe not in the original composition, but we did a good and useful job for Croatia and the citizens gave us their trust for the next term."

Asked to comment on claims by some analysts that the EU funding would be used for some particular interests, Plenkovic said: "22 billion is 22 billion. We have a great responsibility to use this money well and I think it is good to have such a lever after a GDP fall of 10 percent as a result of the crisis (caused by the coronavirus pandemic). It would be much more difficult without it."

ZAGREB, July 23, 2020 - Creating 100,000 jobs, increasing the average and minimum wages and further tax cuts are some of the goals of the programme of the new Croatian government that will be presented in parliament on Thursday.

The programme covers five main areas: social security, a prosperous future, economic sovereignty, stronger statehood and global recognisability.

The new government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic aims to spend HRK 10 billion in creating conditions for opening 100,000 jobs and ensure an average monthly salary of HRK 7,600 and a minimum wage of at least HRK 4,250 by the end of the term.

It plans to spend HRK 3 billion in modernising the healthcare system, build a national children's hospital in Zagreb, revitalise the Institute of Immunology, and increase pensions by at least 10%.

Further tax cuts are also planned. The VAT rate on all food will be reduced from 25% to 13%, and income and profit taxes will also be reduced.

The education reform and digitalisation will continue. HRK 5 billion will be invested in modernising the education system and providing 50,000 scholarships.

Another HRK 5 billion will be invested in innovation, entrepreneurship and new products for the purposes of digital transformation of industry and increasing exports. Investment in research and development will be increased from the present 1% to 2.5% of GDP, and creative industries will be developed.

To promote demographic revitalisation and improve the status of families, the government will subsidise 20,000 housing loans for young families, provide a parental allowance in the amount of a full monthly salary, extend opening hours for another 200 kindergartens and regulate Sunday work.

The coronavirus pandemic and disruptions in the supply chain in the globalised economy have confirmed the need for self-sufficiency in food and energy production in order to achieve economic sovereignty.

To that effect, the government plans to increase agricultural production by 30% to HRK 22 billion, build 20 regional fruit and vegetable centres, double the area of land under irrigation, and adopt a new strategy for development of sustainable tourism.

With the number of cabinet ministries already reduced, the government aims to halve the number of local government officials and ensure the functional linking of municipalities. It will continue the judicial reform, adopt a new enforcement law and continue the uncompromising fight against corruption.

The government will insist on balanced regional development, planning to invest HRK 30 billion for that purpose.

In cooperation with the City of Zagreb and adjacent counties, the government will continue to address the consequences of the March 22 earthquake and adopt an effective legislative framework for reconstruction with the aid of domestic and international financing sources.

The government pledged to continue working on the political positioning and economic strengthening of Croatia. It will promote the national interests, protect the dignity of the Homeland War and veterans, and strengthen the Croatian military and police.

The achievement of the strategic goals - accession to the Schengen area, euro area and OECD - will make the national sovereignty and influence of Croatia in Europe and the world stronger, the government said in its programme, pledging further support for the Croatian diaspora.

The government said it was aware of the challenges facing it over the next four years, including the economic recovery from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb and its environs, and the transformation of the national economy.

The government's priority will be to use the €22 billion from the new EU budget and the New Generation EU instrument for a speedy recovery of the economy and for investment in the priority areas defined by its programme.

(€1 = HRK 7.527377)

July 23, 2020 – Croatia's greatest football coach, Slaven Bilić, secures a return to the UK Premier League for West Bromwich Albion after only one season in charge

Slaven Bilić has secured promotion for West Bromwich Albion from the UK Championship back into the Premier League. From next season, Bilić's side will compete in the world's most competitive national football league and play against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

The former Hajduk Split, West Ham United and Everton player is widely regarded as the current best football coach from Croatia and has previously managed the Croatian National Football team and West Ham United. It is no small feat to have returned West Bromwich Albion to the Premier League during his first season with the club.

The 'Baggies' have enjoyed a terrific run of form under Slaven Bilić's guidance and he was recognised as Manager of the Month in the English Championship League in March 2020, having taken over at the club in only summer 2019. That appointment was the Croat's first return to English football since being sacked by West Ham United in 2017.

Slaven Bilić's first season at West Ham in 2016 was their most successful in living memory. Slaven guided them to their first win over Liverpool in 52 years and earning their second-highest ever finish in the Premier League (7th). They also broke several club records of the Premier League era, including highest number of points in a season (62), highest number of goals in a season (65), the fewest number of games lost in a season (8) and the lowest number of away defeats.


Slaven Bilić pictured during his time as manager of West Ham United © joshjdss

His departure from West Ham can partially be attributed to the club selling star players against the manager's wishes, with a failure to adequately replace them. Since Slaven Bilić left West Ham, they have appointed new managers no less than three times. They were able to narrowly secure their place in the Premier League next season by scoring one point against Manchester United yesterday, but have dwindled at the bottom end of the league all season.

After eight continuous seasons in the Premier League, West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2017–18 season. Bilić has returned them to form in a surprisingly short time and it would come as no surprise to see his contract as manager extended within the next few weeks (he was taken on for an initial two years).

In 1888, West Bromwich Albion were one of the founding members of the English Football League. They have played at their home ground, The Hawthorns, since 1900. The club itself is some 22 years older still. Based in the area of England known as the Midlands, their greatest rivals are local clubs Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City. West Bromwich return to the Premier League alongside Leeds United.

STEMI says that the ongoing coronavirus crisis has increased the prices of inputs by up to 20 and even 30 percent, and extended the procurement deadlines by two to three times. Croatian robots are wanted in the US!

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 21st of July, 2020 the domestic startup STEMI set off on Tuesday with the first deliveries of its robots to California, the state where the famous Silicon Valley is located. More than 50 American schools located from California to Texas and Arizona, all the way to Florida, Connecticut and New Jersey, bought some Croatian educational robots in a package with educational content for STEM education around two months ago.

This is one of the greatest Croatian successes in adapting business to the conditions of the "new normal" that developed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Marin Troselj, the co-founder and director of STEMI, says that he almost had a nervous breakdown in March, because their work simply stopped completely.

Back at the end of last year, STEMI raised 319,000 euros or 2.4 million kuna of capital through Funderbeam SEE in order to expand to the American market in 2020.

"In March, we started selling and in the first three weeks we reached as much as 20 percent of the sales target for this year, and then quarantines started and schools from the USA started calling us and cancelling their orders," Troselj recalls.

He says they immediately changed their strategy that fourth week. They stepped up their communication through digital channels with American schools, introduced a series of changes and prepared for the next opportunity. It opened for them in May.

He states that schools in the US have money, they're very interested in STEM and they continue to invest. Even those who aren't currently buying robots are buying laptops intensively so that their students can work from home. Some schools have therefore frozen their budgets for other things as they wait for September to see how the situation with the coronavirus pandemic develops. Troselj says that the most important thing for them now is to deliver all the contracted orders, and emphasises that, as things seem at the moment, they will manage to achieve that.

"We were also a little lucky, because culturally, schools in the United States are like kindergartens, they also serve to look after children while their parents work so that they're still in function with them," says Troselj. He adds that the transformation of the company in such a short time has been very challenging indeed, not only in terms of sales but also in communication to investors and in production, as well as planning for future development. He states that STEMI now communicates with major investors on a daily basis, and with the bigger ones on a monthly basis. In addition, they are currently preparing to send out a quarterly report.

"We didn't reach the set goals for this quarter, but we couldn't have predicted the coronavirus pandemic. However, investors have an understanding, because we inform them in detail about everything we're doing and that's why we get to enjoy their support,'' says Troselj. In production and planning for future development, he states that the coronavirus crisis has increased the prices of inputs by up to 20 and even 30 percent, and extended the procurement deadlines by two to three times. He points out that some hardware factories in China have had to shut down, others have slowed down the pace of their deliveries, and transportation has slowed.

"The biggest challenge was the fact that we were supposed to start our production in May, and we were just starting a real 'new normal' sale and we couldn't immediately know how many robots we needed to produce," says Troselj.

He explains that they didn't want to overcrowd the parts warehouse, nor did they want to question the deliveries. In addition, before the coronavirus struck Croatia, they planned to go to China for a short time and personally perform some of the necessary tests before delivering the parts.

This way, he says, they had to hire an R&D company from Shenzhen to do the job for them. He adds that they intend to continue to adapt.

"Some schools have even increased their orders from us, because they're conducting education from home, so they ordered additional robots. However, we're already looking for space for growth in programmes that aren't related to hardware,'' concludes Troselj.

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Full-scale reforms and deep cuts from the public and the state to local government units are the last chance for Croatia's prosperity, and 22 billion euros of coronavirus aid and entry into the Eurozone are not so much a gift but a concrete demand for Croatia to finally put its house in order.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Vladimir Nisevic writes on the 21st of July, 2020, we're now in the coronavirus-dominated "new normal" and the fact that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic is returning from Brussels with 22 billion euros in aid has reactivated idea that we can all just sit back and relax because the European Union with its money sack is coming. It's reminiscent of the times when it was the norm to live with debt, stabilis it a little, play around a bit geopolitically, and then the dollars and marks came whenever they were needed.

This and such a mentality, at least subconsciously if not on a tangible level, has misled us many times in thinking that the state will simply manage to solve everything and that these much-needed euros will arrive from somewhere.

What will the situation be now? 22 billion euros are coming as part of a coronavirus aid package, and the question of all questions is - does Croatia even what to do with that sum? It isn't really a question of does Croatia know how to spend it all, launch various meaningless projects or increase the number of bureaucrats needed for the most simple of decisions, but rather whether we ourselves know, with or without the European Union or anyone, else what we want?

Whoever thinks that money from the European Union comes as a gift because of the gorgeous Croatian coast or the green fields of Slavonia, is very wrong indeed. This coronavirus aid money comes with clear and precise requirements that many will certainly not like.

Politically, it will be much easier to hide behind the European Commission in terms of requests for grants, but also the introduction of the euro, than to say clearly and loudly that reforms, and proper onesm are the last chance for this country.

Plenković really has a unique opportunity to put the country in order, but whether he will succeed remains to be seen. The cuts needed should be many and they should be very extensive - from the healthcare sector to the public one, and from the state down to local government units.

There will have to be clear guidelines for agriculture to tourism because the coronavirus crisis in Croatia didn't cause the collapse of the economy but it did bring the fact that the Croatian economic 'system' is well and truly unsustainable to light.

Through 30 years of Croatian independence, the country has slowly but surely become a country of rentiers and buyers. The responsibility is on everyone regardless of their political colours. Export and production didn't appear according to some sort of in depth plan but by chance, through the efforts of individuals, and for that, those individuals should be honoured because they didn't only succeed in their efforts, but they also overcame Croatia's loathsome, masochistic love of red tape.

Let's just look at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in Croatia and the cries of those in the hospitality industry at the moment of closure. Did anyone then wonder why the ones from the service industries were the loudest in the media when compared to others? Of course, Croatia relies heavily on tourism and hospitality, but there's a bit more to it than 'just' that.

While the efforts of the IT sector-led UGP (Voice of the Entrepreneurs) seemed to make sense, their members are largely renters and business owners. They can't be a pillar of the economy, they can only be a nice, shiny ornament at the top of very firmly developed economic bases - and that base doesn't exist at all here in Croatia.

Innovation and development and production and agriculture receded long ago, living in the long shadows of apartments and shops for one simple reason - in a society without a plan, it is far easier to make quick and easy money than to invest and lose out on it for years and often profit when it is too late.

This is not only a disease of Croatia, but of all post-communist countries, because it isn't possible to instill a capitalist way of thinking into someone's brain overnight, and it seems to be a struggle even after decades since the end of the indoctrination of Croatia's former regime.

However, the great crime of all political structures so far remains the fact that even in the free Western society to which we now belong, they have not shown more effort in educating and changing the mentality of those who come after us. There is no entrepreneurship or advanced mindset in schools, at least not in most schools. Raising children in the "semi-capitalist" system we have created is the worst thing that could have happened to Croatia.

Why? For the simple reason that if we have not taught the country's children to start thinking entrepreneurially, through the development of work ethic and innovation, then we remain little more than a country of waiters and taxi drivers.

Yes, we need waiters, but the coronavirus crisis has shown that we certainly don't need them in such numbers. It is similar with agriculture or any other branch - we need young, educated and above all innovative people who will take risks in a country with clear rules and who. when profiting off their efforts, will not feel the need to hide away because of the shame of their own well-earned success, but instead proudly and publicly set an example to all children. These 22 billion euros and entry into the Eurozone are an opportunity for Croatian society to step up to the mark once and for all.

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