As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2020, half a million disposable protective masks were acquired and donated by the Fortenova Group (former Agrokor) to the Directorate of Civil Protection of the Ministry of the Interior. The security equipment, worth nearly two million kuna in total, which was taken today from the Konzum warehouse, is intended for users who carry out anti-epidemic health measures on the ground.

Assistant Minister Ph.D. Damir Trut thanked the Fortenova Group donation and said that it would contribute to increasing the safety of the staff involved in the task of combating the new coronavirus epidemic.

''The donation of protective masks will provide safer working conditions and the further protection for all employees, primarily those in the health system, but also for other members of the civil protection system's operational forces, so I'd like to thank you for this commendable donation. Only through joint efforts can we contribute to reducing the spread of the new coronavirus and increasing the security of all citizens of the Republic of Croatia,'' the Assistant Minister said.

Despite the enormous challenge of procuring equipment that is currently the most sought after commodity in the entire world, the Fortenova Group has been able to import more equipment, some of which is intended to protect Fortenova Group employees, with most of the masks going to those who need them most at the moment.

"Healthcare professionals, police officers, firefighters and everyone else who has been constantly concerned with the safety and health of all of us in recent weeks are invaluable. We at the Fortenova Group know this very well, as thousands of our workers are taking care to make sure there is an unobstructed level of care for Croatian citizens doing their jobs every day. Therefore, we at the Fortenova Group know a lot about the value of safety and health concerns and the importance of investing in this security at this time,'' said Fabris Peruško, CEO of the Fortenova Group.

The Fortenova Group and its companies in Croatia - Konzum, PIK Vrbovec, Jamnica, Zvijezda, Belje and Ledo have all assisted hospitals, the Croatian Red Cross and various care organisations since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. The Group's companies operating in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia have also done the same.

"With this latest donation of protective masks, the total amount of donations from the Fortenova Group so far in the region has reached almost four million kuna in direct contributions to the communities in which we work. At the same time, this is also a way of showing gratitude to everyone who is doing their job every day, regardless of the risks,'' said CEO Fabris Peruško.

Follow our dedicated section for all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia.

April 10, 2020 — A Croatian businessman wanted to treat friends to a holiday in France’s Côte d’Azur, chartering a private jet from London last Saturday then pulling the tried and true practice of “calling connections” to get around a ban on travel. Pandemics, travel restrictions and social distancing rules be damned. French police greeted the group with a resounding “non”, cut short their holiday and sent the group back to the United Kingdom, according to the Guardian.

The nixed vacation comes just as Croatia’s own restrictions on movement and social isolation policy incrementally unravel. Various reports claim cafes and other shops operate around the country in clandestine fashion, religious ceremonies are green-lit despite epidemiological dangers, and even the bureaucracy meant to restrict movement creates loopholes for itself.

Seven men, ages 40-50, and three women, ages 23-25, took the charter flight to Marseille-Provence airport, with three helicopters waiting to fly them to a luxury villa in Cannes. A Croatian businessman who works in finance and real estate chartered the flight, the paper reported. The group was made up of several nationalities, including German, Romanian and French.

Authorities forbade the plane’s arrival while it was still in the sky, but the pilot landed anyway. The group then took nearly four hours to leave.

“They tried to make use of their connections and made a few phone calls,” a source in the police told BFMTV. 

“They were coming for a holiday in Cannes and three helicopters were waiting on the tarmac,” a border police spokesperson told Agence France-Presse. “We notified them they were not allowed to enter the national territory and they left four hours later.”

The helicopters were sent away and fined for ignoring lockdown rules, which banned all non-essential travel since March 17.

The Croatian businessman might have taken a cue from his homeland, where good figures have created a sense of security and an increasingly-lax attitude after weeks of successfully “flattening the curve” through strict isolation measures and limits on travel.

The decision to re-open Zagreb’s open-air market in Dolac drew crowds for the first time since an earthquake sent residents rushing out onto the streets. The government-sanctioned travel system, which uses “e-passes” to allow citizens to travel across municipal borders has become a leaky dam. And authorities let a Catholic Church tradition be an exception to requests everyone stay at home despite the Easter holiday weekend.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2020, Konzum has launched a new service called Pokupi (Pick up) that allows customers to pick up ordered products at Konzum stores. The service is one of Konzum's responses to the increased interest in online shopping as the coronavirus crisis continues to bite, which has in recent weeks led to a massive ten-fold increase in demand and a doubling of the amount of products ordered when compared to regular business.

The Pokupi service is now available in Zagreb at Super Konzum stores in Stenjevec, Gajnice, Spansko, Vrbani, Sarajevska ulica, Dankovečka ulica and Vukovarska ulica, and at Kukuljanov (Rijeka), in the cities of Split and Osijek, and the plan is to make the option available to more Konzum stores in all parts of Croatia.

The purchase process with Konzum's new Pokupi option is very simple. The buyer should first select the Pokupi option when visiting Konzum's online store and then select the products they want, followed by the selection of the location and time they will be picking up the ordered products and then the decision to pay online or when picking up the ordered products. At the agreed time, the buyer should come to the selected Konzum store and contact the security guard at the entrance, who will immediately direct them to the information desk or a specially marked cash register, where they will show their e-mail from Konzum confirming their order.

Konzum, as the only retail chain in Croatia to have its own online store, now enables even more buyers to order products from the comfort and safety of their own homes during the coronavirus crisis, and then pick them up without having to hang around at the store.

Despite the introduction of this excellent service, it is important to keep in mind that the assortment is available through the Pokupi service is less than what is available to customers who choose to have their shopping orders delivered to their home addresses

With Konzum's new Pokupi service, customers are still able to buy products online with delivery options in numerous cities across Croatia and with the Drive-in option in Vrbani in Zagreb.

Konzum notes that in addition to the increased hygiene and coronavirus-spread prevention measures implemented in all of their business units, it has introduced additional measures for its suppliers, who, after every delivery, must disinfect all the equipment they use, including the vehicle and themselves. All of the above requires the extra effort and the engagement of employees dealing with the online store system, whose work is organised in three shifts in order to receive and process as many customer orders as possible.

"We're doing our best to provide even more customers with the online shopping service for groceries, hygiene and household goods and other products they deem necessary. Our warehouses and stores are well equipped and ready to continue with the increased interest in online shopping, but we'd like to ask our customers for their understanding and patience when choosing a delivery or pickup date,'' stated Slavko Ledic of Konzum.

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, follow our dedicated section.

As Novac writes on the 9th of April, 2020, the Croatian company ''Elda'' from Nova Gradiška in Eastern Croatia has decided to start producing a currently very sought-after product - antiseptic.

''The basic prerequisites for the conversion of production were the quality of our premises and the cleanliness we have according to ISO standards. The idea of ​​the whole story or the necessity to turn to new products was born a month and a half ago when we assumed that the whole of Europe would end up in the situation we're now in,'' Dario Marenic, owner of this Croatian company, told HRT, adding that through their business partners, they're ensuring the import of ethanol for the production of antiseptics because there isn't enough of it in Croatia.

''We import it from Albania, Germany and Bulgaria, and with European Union funds, we've invested over thirty million kuna into our operation,'' explained Marenic.

Marenic said that he is convinced that the Croatian Government's economic measures have come somewhat late, by about fourteen days, because many businesses unfortunately laid off workers as they didn't know what was in store for them and many didn't have any reserves.

There are fifty people who work for this particular Croatian company and Marenic said that had he not turned over production and looked elsewhere, it would have cost the state about one million kuna. He said that he has been paying out wages to his employees properly, and he was also ready to pay rewards to his staff as it isn't easy to work under these adverse and entirely unprecedented conditions at all.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for updates and information on coronavirus in Croatia. For more on Croatian companies, products and innovation, follow our business page.

Hospitals in the large cities of Zagreb and Split are receiving generous donations, and Karlovac Hospital has now received a second donation, following the recent one from Heineken Hrvatska.

As the coronavirus crisis continues to bite, many good deeds are being done by companies coming out of the woodwork and stepping forward to do their bit in Croatia's (so far excellent) fight against the spread of the pandemic.

From INA and Heineken Hrvatska to Erste bank, Erste card club and Privredna banka Zagreb, many companies are making generous donations to Croatian hospitals and other health care institutions engaged in the battle with the spread of COVID-19. In this unprecedented situation in which we all now find ourselves, donations from thousands to millions of kuna are more than welcome, as are donations of necessary life saving equipment.

As Novac writes on the 9th of April, 2020, owing to the praiseworthy decision of its owners Ivan Zabcic and Marko Vukovic, the Karlovac company HS Produkt has donated two complete respirators and two monitors for the close observations of the vital functions of hospital patients, as well as a certain amount of protective masks, to help health care professionals working in Karlovac Hospital protect themselves against contracting coronavirus.

According to the local Karlovac-based portal KAportal, in this way, HS Produkt wants to help the City of Karlovac and the wider area of Karlovac County in protecting the health of all of its citizens, that is, to strengthen the capacity of hospitals for the proper care of those who need to be admitted to hospital, as well as for other patients being treated at Karlovac Hospital who are at high risk for contracting the coronavirus infection.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for all updates, information and all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia.

ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - Croatian maritime police are participating in two joint operations of the European border and coast guard agency Frontex at sea in Greece, the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

After in early March this year the first contingent of four police officers was sent to Greece as part of Frontex's joint operation "Rapid Border Intervention 2020", on April 8 a second police contingent was sent to replace the first one and it will stay in Greece until the completion of the operation on May 6.

The first contingent performed all of their duties responsibly and professionally, for which they received written commendations from the FRONTEX director, the ministry said.

The mission on the Greek-Turkish border currently numbers 100 police officers from EU member-countries.

Depending on the circumstances, the duration of the operation may be extended and the police contingent participating in it may be expanded, the ministry said.

In addition to this operation, since 2015 the Ministry of the Interior has been continually providing strong support to Greece through the participation of its maritime police in the joint operation Poseidon, aimed at enhancing the control of the Greek-Turkish border at sea.

Croatian maritime police also help in operations to search for and rescue migrants and refugees at sea.

Croatian police have been helping Greece control its maritime border with two boats.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - President Zoran Milanović said on Thursday that the law on electronic communications, which would legalise a large-scale tracking of citizens' mobile phones in the fight against the coronavirus, should be passed by a two-thirds majority.

"I don't know who can wholeheartedly support such a measure at all. I would expect those who propose it to cry from the top of their lungs that we will all die if that law and those amendments are not adopted as soon as possible. But no, we are seeing a dogged determination to secure a second reading, I guess to wear people down so they give up," Milanović said in an interview with N1 television when asked about the bill on electronic communications.

He said that the insistence on the bill indicated that its sponsor had suspicious motives. "Why in God's name, who needs that? And (tracking would be with the consent) of the person tracked. Why? What is the purpose of the measure if the consent of the person tracked is required," he added.

He warned that people to be covered by tracking - and currently those were all Croatian citizens - had the right to compensation.

"This (measure) is actionable, why expose oneself to unnecessary risks. Adopt the measure by a two-thirds majority and it's a done deal," he said.

Milanović warned that due to the current crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic Croatia would experience a major economic downturn and that unemployment would grow as well, the only question being how much.

He also believes that the government's measures designed to alleviate the economic impact of the crisis are not belated but he also believes that the government has adopted them under pressure.

"When the first set of measures was adopted, I said that it was a work in progress. As for the latest measures, the question is how long they can last, and where the limits of our and everybody else's capacity are. This will hold water for a few months," he said.

He also said that the current crisis was completely different from the crisis of 2008.

The current crisis is a crisis of both supply and demand and if the crisis of supply lasts too long, it will cause inflation, provided people have money, the president said.

"There will be money but there won't be goods, so (the current crisis) is completely incomparable with the crisis of 2008, both in terms of the resilience of the banking sector and citizens and in terms of the unemployment rate, which is much lower than in 2008 in entire Europe. The circumstances are different. The current crisis has shocked everyone," he said.

As for the proposals to cut wages in the public sector, Milanović said that 250,000 people worked in this sector and that actually only minor savings would be made if people for whom it would not be right to reduce their wages were excluded from cuts. He noted that the government was now borrowing and would have to pay back this debt one day.

"Once this crisis is over, the government will have to repay this debt, which means that people working in the public sector will see their next raise in the distant future. That's why it makes no sense to reduce their pay twice," the president said.

Milanović said that banks would profit from this crisis. He recalled that the Croatian National Bank had released HRK 6.5 billion (€855m) to the government, adding that if the interest rate was more than one percent it would be profiteering.

Asked to assess the national healthcare system, the president said that it remained robust and, although a lot of things have been destroyed, it was still "a resilient structure." He warned that the system was strained by the costs of and large debts to the pharmaceutical industry.

Speaking of the situation in nursing homes in Split and Koprivnica where coronavirus cases have been reported, he said that the situation should be investigated.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 10, 2020 - The European Commission on Thursday approved a second Croatian scheme for support to the economic sector in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and the total credit potential of the two schemes is €1.8 billion (more than HRK 13.5 billion), intended for the real sector.

The schemes were approved on the basis of the Temporary Framework for State Aid Measures, adopted by the European Commission on March 19 and amended on April 3, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) said in a statement.

The first scheme, totalling €790 million (HRK 6 billion) and approved by the EC a few days ago, secures credit potential for exporters' liquidity in the form of insurance policies.

In cooperation with the Finance Ministry, a few days ago the HBOR put forward a second scheme, intended for small, medium and big enterprises affected by the coronavirus crisis and in need of working capital.

Under the scheme, the HBOR will provide favourable loans, with interest subsidised by the state. The total credit potential of subsidised loans is estimated at one billion euros.

More business news can be found in the dedicated section.