May 7, 2021 – PM Plenkovic has stated the ruling coalition is planning to propose changes to the Trade Law that would limit retail companies from working Sundays.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced yesterday the ruling coalition is working on changes to the Trade Law. Among other things, the law regulates allowed working hours. Plenkovic stated they are considering limiting work on Sundays for the retail sector. Apparently, the idea is to allow the retail sector to work a maximum of 16 Sundays a year. This is taking into account the tourism season months. Retail stores would close for the other Sundays of the year.

Working on Sundays is a long-time hot button issue for Croatian politics and business. The idea behind the regulation is simple. If you ban stores from being open, retail companies will give their workers time off to enjoy Sundays with their families. The Catholic Church is a big proponent of this regulation. In fact, Index.hr reports the initiative for the change in the law might have been a part of the promise made to the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) by the ruling coalition. Church has been vocal in asking for public support in this initiative for the past several years. The same article by Index.hr reveals the justification for the law proposal stems from supposed research by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. After several inquiries into the matter, the ministry finally admitted they don't have any such research documented.

Does the Croatian Economy Need more Restrictions?

It seems like a far-fetched concept in today's world, banning companies from working. While some might argue retail sector sometimes overworks and underpays its employees, it seems like the solution to that problem should be better controlled over the worker's rights and fair business practices. Many Croatians are in favour of the proposed change in the law. This is a fact that no one should dismiss. Still, regulation disabling companies from working for a part of the year seems like a relic of times long past. The mere fact the PM has stated they would allow 16 working Sundays to accommodate for the tourism season is worrying. It screams of a concept of tourism Croatia is supposedly trying to get away from. 16 weeks of tourism per year sounds like a counterproductive move in a country struggling to shed the image of a seasonal destination.

We will know soon enough is this new concept of Trade Law will be proposed and accepted. For now, it remains as a controversial concept for an economy yet to feel the full effects of the lockdown-related drop in business figures.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 7, 2021 - The DUMP Association of Young Developers invites you to the jubilee fifth edition of the DUMP Days conference. The largest IT conference in this area will once again bring together the Croatian IT community, but this time in an unprecedented hybrid edition.

DUMP Days will be held on May 14 and 15, partly at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture in Split, and partly online. As always, it will offer numerous opportunities to share knowledge and experience and create new business connections.

The DUMP Days, Dev, Design, Marketing, and Tech conference returns this year in a new guise. All IT enthusiasts will join the conference from their laptops on May 14 and 15 and come to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture in sunny Split. For two days, DUMP Days will become a gathering place for students interested in exchanging knowledge and socializing with representatives of leading IT companies in Split and its surroundings.

Josip Svalina

After days as a student, it is not at all easy to get started. DUMP Association of Young Developers realized that students are not well acquainted with what they will need to use in practice, so this conference is an ideal opportunity for students to be educated about current problems and market demands and get acquainted with IT companies, which offers the opportunity to make many quality acquaintances and business collaborations.

Josip Svalina

The main program of the conference, as in previous years, will be rich and diverse. Experts will hold a series of lectures and 2-panel discussions that visitors will be able to watch online from their laptops from the comfort of their own homes. The latest IT trends and technologies will be presented, and visitors will be introduced to topics such as the future of marketing, how to create your own development agency or what challenges someone may encounter when working on their own application. Visitors will be able to apply their knowledge in workshops that top IT experts will also lead.

Josip Svalina

Those who are a little braver will not be disappointed by the schedule this year either. Fly talks will be held again - short one-on-one conversations between the student and the employer that provide insight into the knowledge and skills needed to find the ideal job in the IT sector. Of course, the difference from previous years is that these events will be in an online format!

Finally, several regional companies will showcase part of their work atmosphere and business culture in their showroom and allow visitors to find out all the information about their opportunities, whether in employment or internships. Although DUMP Days are a blend of education and business experience, the rich sweepstake is an integral part of the conference, so a relaxed atmosphere and fun will certainly not be lacking.

Josip Svalina

"This year, our primary goal is to bring the business world closer to students who see themselves in the IT sector, so we envisioned the conference as an event where representatives of the most prominent Croatian IT companies will be able to meet their future employees in an informal atmosphere and share key knowledge. For a successful career, in addition to the business side, the DUMP Days conference will introduce students to the various opportunities offered by the IT world and thus help them to be competent workers in those areas that interest them soon," said Alex Amanzi, one of the conference organizers.

The potential of the DUMP Days conference has always been recognized by a large number of IT companies in Croatia, which this year also provided assistance and support to the Association during the organization. Among them, the companies ExtensionEngine, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, and Fortuna Entertainment Group stand out. Many others, all of which are connected by the desire to improve the local IT community.

Join the jubilee fifth edition of the conference on May 14 and 15, 2021!

All interested can register on the conference website days.dump.hr. More information and the official website can be found on the social networks of the conference.

Press release author: Klara Bruna Tomić 

For more, follow our business section.

May 7, 2021 - River cruises in Brod-Posavina County are slated to be the next tourist hit in Slavonia. 

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, of the five Slavonian counties, Brod-Posavina recorded the highest growth rate of tourist arrivals, averaging 14.8 percent per year. When travel starts again, this trend should continue, and river cruising, an increasingly popular holiday, could also contribute to the growth of tourist traffic, reports HRTurizam.

To create basic preconditions for the development of nautical tourism, the Brod-Posavina County Tourist Board and the Slavonski Brod Port Authority last summer presented the Study of Sustainable Development of River Cruises in the county.

In addition to all procedures and legislation related to the construction of port infrastructure as well as prerequisites for cruise development, the Study linked the tourist attraction base of Brod-Posavina County with the locations of future ports, following examples of good practice from the environment, the structure of visitors to river cruises and motives.

"Our county lies along the entire length of the Sava River and it is time to use this natural tourist potential in the best way. After that first step, the project was implemented, so now the Port Authority is about to obtain a construction and location permit for the construction of an international passenger port worth more than 17 million kuna, and the Ministry of the Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure is working intensively on solving the critical section of the waterway - Novi Grad, which will create a precondition for the development of river cruising on the Sava," said the prefect of Brod-Posavina County Danijel Marušić.

Due to problems with navigability, the tourist potential of the Sava has been untapped for years. For comparison, on the Danube and Drava, one-day excursion tourism and navigation by excursion boats are developing, and in 2019, more than 600 river cruisers docked in passenger ports on these rivers.

The modern passenger port in Slavonski Brod should be ready by the end of 2022. It is part of a large project co-financed by EU funds, which will include the renovation of an old ship with a restaurant, meeting room, educational hall for students, and a souvenir shop. The ship, as one of the biggest attractions of Brod-Posavina County, will be anchored in the new port.

The Sava River, but also the traditional heritage as well as the valuable inhabitants of this part of Croatia known in history as border guards, inspired the new visual identity of the Brod-Posavina County Tourist Board.

Ružica Vidaković, director of the county tourist board, points out that she is extremely pleased with the largest project in the county, which will finally valorize the Sava River for tourism.

"Today, our county is known as a destination for cultural, active, and rural tourism, but also as a paradise for gourmets with indigenous flavors based on healthy local foods. Modern tourists ask for it the most. The trend is green, unspent, and honest for tourism, and these are our strongest assets. Brod-Posavina County is mostly a rural area, less than two hours away from Zagreb, and yet it is far from the crowds and asphalt, a corner of green paradise where you can experience silence. Rarely do they have that," says Vidaković.

Danijel Soldo / Ružica Vidaković, TZBPZ director

Although the rapid growth of tourist arrivals came to a halt ahead of the lockdown in March last year, she deeply believes the positive trend will continue once all this passes. She says that in crisis situations, flexibility and adaptability are the most important, so all campaigns, special presentations, and study trips for the past two years are focused exclusively on domestic guests, the only ones who can travel or come on day trips at this time of limited movement.

“We offer them new places, a new kind of adventure, a holiday without the crowds, a break in interaction with nature, a warm local story. I can experience all this on more than twenty family estates, ranches, and farms that are ten kilometers away from each other," concludes Vidaković.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 7, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Iberia flights from Madrid to Zagreb, Split, and Zadar have been announced for the summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that in the summer of 2020, the Spanish national airline operated to only one destination in Croatia instead of the usual four - Dubrovnik Airport. This summer season, the company intends to operate at all four airports in Croatia, the same as in the summer of 2019.

Namely, Iberia will run regular lines from Madrid to Zagreb, Split, and Zadar. The line to Dubrovnik is already in traffic.

Line to Zagreb

The regular Madrid - Zagreb - Madrid flight has been announced since the beginning of the summer flight schedule (end of March), but flights are continuously canceled due to the epidemiological situation. Iberia currently plans to establish traffic between the two capitals from Friday, June 4.

As of that date, the company currently offers three flights a week between Zagreb Airport and Madrid, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with A320 aircraft.

The company intends to increase the number of rotations to Zagreb in July by introducing the fourth flight of the week, every Tuesday. The schedule for July and especially August is still subject to change. The company will certainly analyze the state of booking and the demand on individual flights as we approach the peak of the summer season.

This is a significantly smaller number of flights of this carrier to Zagreb compared to the summer of 2019 when Iberia operated on this route twice a day. Still, given the overall situation, it is certainly positive news that they plan to return this summer to Zagreb airport.

Line to Split Airport

From June 1, Iberia plans to renew the Madrid - Split - Madrid line. Three flights a week have been announced on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from the mentioned date.

In the second week of June, a flight is added on Wednesdays, and as of June 21, 6 flights a week have been announced, every day except Thursday. The flight schedule for July differs from the schedule for June, but the company will likely make more operational changes on this route by July.

Line to Zadar Airport

Iberia plans to re-establish the Madrid - Zadar - Madrid route from June 29. This route should be in operation until the end of the summer season twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, operated by A320 aircraft.

Line to Dubrovnik Airport

Flights between Madrid and Dubrovnik have been operating regularly since the beginning of the summer flight schedule. The company has recently increased the number of operations on this route, so flights are available on Fridays and Sundays throughout June.

From the beginning to the middle of June, four flights a week have been announced (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays), and from June 18, the line will operate daily. In July, Iberia plans an even larger number of operations to Dubrovnik, which will primarily depend on well-known factors. 

Apart from Iberia, no other airline operates on a direct route between Croatian airports and Madrid. Along with travelers whose final destination is Madrid, Iberia has for many years been one of the first choices of many travelers who continue their journey to South America (destinations such as Bogota, Lima, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, etc.).

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 7, 2021 - A tough draw - Croatia handball against Serbia, France, and Ukraine at the Men's EHF EURO 2022, to be played from January 13 to 30 next year. 

The Croatia handball team will play the first part of the 2022 European Championship in Group C, hosted by Szeged, against the national teams of Serbia, France, and Ukraine, the draw revealed in Budapest on Thursday.

The hosts of the handball Euro, which is scheduled for January 13-30 next year, are Hungary and Slovakia. Twenty-four national teams will compete for medals, divided into six groups, played in Szeged, Debrecen, Budapest, Bratislava, and Košice.

LIVE DRAW: Here are the final groups of the Men's EHF EURO 2022 ? The Battle for the Throne can start ⚔️ First reaction? ?
Group A: ????????
Group B: ????????
Group C: ????????
Group D: ????????
Group E: ????????
Group F: ????????#ehfeuro2022 #watchgamesseemore

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) May 6, 2021

The Pick Arena in Szeged, where Croatia will play their first-round matches, has a capacity of 8,143 spectators, and the Budapest Arena in the Hungarian capital, where second-round matches and the final part of the tournament will be played, can accommodate 20,000 spectators.

The Croatia national team will play the first game in the group on January 13 against France. Two days later, Croatia will meet Serbia. The last game of the first round will be played on January 17 against Ukraine.

The two best national teams from each of the six groups in the first round will advance to the second round, in which the teams from A, B, and C groups will merge into one group, and the other from D, E, and F. The second-round matches will be played in Budapest and Bratislava.

The first two national teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, while the third-placed teams will play a match for fifth place.

The semifinals are scheduled for January 28, and the final and third-place match on January 30.

"We have an exciting group ahead of us. As always, what we repeat is that we hope to be healthy and ready. We have seen many times that there is no weak opponent at the European Championship, and every game will be interesting and difficult. Of course, we have to think only of ourselves, we have to prepare well, and we must not be relaxed at any point. As always, we will go from game to game and do our best," said captain Domagoj Duvnjak.

“Of course, I watched the draw. For me, it’s an excellent group. There is no need to waste words on France because we all know how strong they are. Serbia has great players on paper, and with the new coach, we saw in the qualifications that they have become a serious team. Ukraine only seems the easiest at first glance, but let's not forget that Motor, from which most players come, is practically a permanent participant in the Champions League. I can't wait for the championship to start, and I hope with fans!" added Marin Šipić. 

2022 European Championship groups:
Group A (Debrecen): Slovenia, Denmark, Sj. Macedonia, Montenegro
Group B (Budapest): Portugal, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands
Group C (Szeged): CROATIA, Serbia, France, Ukraine
Group D (Bratislava): Germany, Austria, Belarus, Poland
Group E (Bratislava): Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Bosnia, and Herzegovina
Group F (Košice): Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Lithuania

Source: HRS

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

May the 7th, 2021 - The Croatian postal service, Croatian Post/Hrvatska posta has set out to explain the differences between using their company's standardised packaging and boxes customers have lying around at home following talk of price increases.

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the price of sending packages has remained the same for all users who use standardised packaging when sending mail through the Croatian postal service, whether they're branded Croatian Post boxes or any which happened to be owned at home, Croatian Post explained when asked to clarify speculations that people sending packages in their own boxes from home could end up being twice as expensive when compared to those shipped in a standardised Croatian Post/HP box.

However, they also explained that with the increase in the price of the universal service of sending packages weighing up to 10 kilograms, a discount in the same amount for the use of packaging of standard dimensions was introduced in parallel.

“Shipments and packages that aren't adequately packaged or deviate in size from the standard measures create significant costs across all segments of the delivery process - from receipt, sorting, to the very transportation to delivery. Shipments that aren't properly packaged are much more difficult to pass through automated systems and they end up slowing down the sorting process and making it difficult to make maximum use of space in the post office and in our vehicles. In addition, shipments of non-standard dimensions more often cause problems during transport and damage other shipments, which, in addition to increased costs, also affects the quality of service and customer satisfaction with our services. For example, an inadequately packaged bottle of oil or wine that breaks, damages other shipments as well,'' said Jo Kempen, the executive director of the Croatian postal service's Corporate Communications Office.

Croatian Post added that the standardisation of packages is a practice carried out by all logistics distributors in the European Union (EU) and as a result it has a faster and higher quality of service for customers. Standard boxes can be purchased at post offices or other stores that sell the company's packaging. If users send items in such boxes, their own or purchased at the post office, the final price for them doesn't actually change, meaning that it will remain the same as it was before May the 1st this year, they emphasised from the Croatian postal service.

The dimensions of standardised boxes that can be purchased at Croatian post offices can be found by clicking here.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

May the 7th, 2021 - The Vodnjan giant Infobip is very well known at this point for its wild success and seemingly almost constant acquisitions. The company has since announced its third large acquisition in just seven months.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Vodnjan giant Infobip has announced a new, third acquisition in just seven months. This time it is the Irish IT company Anam Technologies, the world's leading provider of SMS firewall services. Infobip and Anam will now jointly provide technical solutions for more than 700 mobile operators globally, covering 64 percent of the world’s mobile devices.

The value of this acquisition remains unknown, and payment was made by a combination of cash and Infobip shares.

As they have pointed out from the Vodnjan giant Infobip, the acquisition unites the strengths of both companies in the segment of security in message traffic and monetisation with an even more complete portfolio of solutions from which both mobile operators and end users will benefit. Anam's team is now to join Infobip's department in charge of strategic partnerships with mobile operators.

Their business customers will thus have at their disposal a better and more comprehensive offer, which includes continuous 24/7 professional support, more detailed analysis and more accurate reporting, with an even greater number of direct connections to mobile operators from around the world.

"With the acquisition of Anam, we've strengthened our leading position in providing a high level of security and protection of messages to mobile operators and helped them increase value within their own sector, but also improve relationships with end users. I'm looking forward to our mutual future successes,'' said the executive director of Infobip, Silvio Kutic.

Infobip's communication platform processes more than 14 billion user interactions per month through a number of communication channels, in more than 190 countries around the world.

Business users of both companies will have at their disposal a rich offer of services, a connected solution for a superior end-user experience and a better solution for monetising A2P (Application-to-Person) traffic. Together, both companies will now provide the most complete supply chain globally in the A2P SMS segment.

This sense of excitement is also shared by Anam itself, whose CEO Darragh Kelly pointed out that this acquisition is a confirmation of the importance of mobile messaging in a growing digital environment.

“The security and integrity of mobile networks are key parts of the messaging ecosystem. In order for the industry to continue to grow, it's necessary, on the one hand, for the messaging channel to be successfully protected from spam and fraud, and, on the other hand, for the position of mobile operators, businesses and end users to be protected. We believe that we're achieving this by joining the Infobip family, which brings together the two best messaging companies in the segment of A2P communication security. Our joint product portfolio provides a rare and exceptional offer to mobile operators. By joining Infobip, we intend to continue our growth and provide added value to our users,'' said Darragh Kelly, CEO of Anama.

Both companies are consistently at the top of the global ROCCO report in the A2P SMS Firewall segment and are winners of the Juniper Future Digital Awards. The company also points out that Infobip and Anam share the same values ​​and culture based on team spirit and innovation with a strong focus on the experience of both employees and users.

To briefly recall, the Vodnjan giant Infobip took over the leading regional technology conference Shift less than one month ago, and in 2020 they concluded a sales contract with IT company Amdocs to take over the American company Open Market, a leading B2B provider of mobile messaging solutions.

For more, follow our dedicated business section.

May the 7th, 2021 - Zvonimir Sostar, the director of the Zagreb Institute of Public Health, has stated that the vaccination rollout and the amount of people vaccinated will of course hold a strong influence over any relaxation of Croatia's current and future anti-epidemic measures.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in an interview with RTL Direkt (Direct), the director of the Zagreb Institute of Public Health, Zvonimir Sostar, commented on the current epidemiological situation across the country and the increasing demands for the further relaxation of anti-epidemic measures.

"I don't think it's time to ease the measures yet, we've had 600 new cases of infection just in Zagreb. That's much better than it was a month ago, the circulation of the British strain, which infected about 98 percent of those who fell ill, is slowly coming to an end. The fourteen-day incidence is still very high in Zagreb, standing at around 600. When it drops to around 150, then we can talk about easing some of the measures,''

“A balance needs to be found, our psychologists and psychiatrists working with young people have one-month waiting lists for the first time ever. Of course young people cannot live locked inside their four walls, and school is just one way of them socialising. I think we can slowly release the measures regarding high school, but that will have to be the decision of the Zagreb Civil Protection Directorate. We're going to follow the numbers and decide,'' he said (read more on that here).

The number of vaccinations administered will absolutely affect the easing of the epidemiological measures. If we're looking at the percentages, the most people in all of Croatia which have been vaccinated are in Zagreb, over 25 percent of them who are over 18 years of age. Today, about 7,400 people have been vaccinated in Zagreb,'' said Sostar, adding that they're still having no problem calling enough people to come to be vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.