April the 23rd, 2021 - Despite the fact that Croatia's motorways aren't fully of foreign vehicles as would be the norm as summer approaches, the Croatian police (MUP) are still pressing forward with the purchase of innovative and modern new equipment for monitoring the roads and their traffic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the speed camera industry is advancing rapidly, much in the same way that cars and everything they can do with each new model continues to become more and more modern. Police units must naturally follow suit, and technology manufacturers are there to satisfy that need.

Back in 2018, TrueSpeed ​​introduced its pocket radar, which was then in its experimental phase. It has now officially become the inventory of a police unit. Police officers from Le Mans (France) became the first users of these new cameras, writes HAK magazine, and the Croatian police are set to follow in their footsteps.

The peculiarity of this new pocket radar is that it really does fit into your pocket. It is cheaper than other similar items on the market, so Croatian police officers will actually be able to wear it as part of a permanent inventory and even occasionally stand by the side of the road and control a driver's speed.

The radar controls speeds of up to 300 kmh, but that's not all, because thanks to the x7 zoom, the police officer will be able to see right inside the vehicle to check if the driver is on the phone, eating while driving, if their seat belt is properly fastened and if all of the necessary stickers are stuck on the windshield properly.

The range is 640 metres, it allows control in both directions of traffic, even during rainy weather when the visibility might be poorer. However, it only works if the police officer is standing and it cannot be used as a mobile radar. TrueSpeed ​​expects its product to be popular among other police units in Europe, including the Croatian police.

For more, follow our lifestyle page. For all you need to know about driving in Croatia, including laws and regulations updated for 2021, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section.

April the 23rd, 2021 - The Zagreb Gredelj zone has been needing life to be breathed back into it for some time now, and the earthquake of March 2020 presented an opportunity amid the chaos to get the wheels moving on precisely that.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, since yesterday, the City of Zagreb has been hosting a large European conference to make up for the event missed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It regards a two-day European conference dedicated to the Architectural Policies of RE-USE ARCHITECTURE, in which the Zagreb Gredelj zone revitalisation plans are being revealed.

It was supposed to be held here in the Croatian capital in June last year, during Croatia's presidency of the European Union, but due to the epidemiological situation it was moved to April the 22nd and 23rd this year. It is otherwise held twice a year, as part of each EU member state's presidency, and it is even more interesting that the premiere presentation of the project of unique development potential for Zagreb, a new city within the city, through the revitalisation of the huge space of the former Railway Wagon Factory, the so-called area of Gredelj.

According to the announcements regarding the presentation of the Zagreb Gredelj project, which will bring a new modern urban block to the City of Zagreb, modelled on Western European capitals, a video presentation of the urban revitalisation of the former Gredelj factory, an area between Zagreb's main railway and bus station, along Branimirova street, is expected.

The film is based on studies and public presentations that many experts from various fields have worked on since back in 1995: Zagreb's Studio 3LHD, the Dutch-Croatian studio De Architekten Cie., PwC Advisory, Colliers International, HDC, Institut IGH and MS Partners.

At the initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the developed solution includes the new construction and revitalisation of industrial heritage covering as much as 420,000 m2. The Zagreb-Gredelj zone study was conceived as a link to the reconstruction of the city centre after March 2020's earthquake, which will finally connect the north and south of Zagreb.

It is set to be presented to the public by architect Marko Dabrovic, one of the members and procurator of 3LHD, who after last year's earthquake presented the Zagreb Gredelj zone in media appearances, adding that it was an opportunity to solve one of the biggest urban connection problems in Zagreb.

"Zagreb deserves a large, international urban tender for the Gredelj zone in order to expand the debate and look into it all as much as is possible, and ultimately choose the solution that is of the highest quality and optimal," Rajka Bunjevac said, adding that major natural disasters hit Croatia last year (the earthquake of March 2020 in Zagreb and its surroundings and the earthquakes on December the 28th and 29th, 2020, with an epicentre about 60 kilometre south of Zagreb) showed all the maladaptation of our urban structures to natural disasters and the vulnerability of our architectural heritage.

They show, she added, the uneven level of development of parts of the country, decades of lack of systematic access to the urban renewal of cities, the consequences of emigration from rural parts of the country and the quality of construction which is unacceptable for the 21st century.

Sustainable urban development and urban renewal focused on various aspects of use, ie the reuse of urban ''tissue'', are the open topics of the conference, which is expected to discuss issues of reconstruction and revitalisation, the activation of abandoned areas, the breathing of life back into neglected zones or individual buildings and their circular management.

The European Conference on Architectural Policies is otherwise important in the context of guidelines for improving the quality of an area, and following these findings, Croatia adopted its national architectural policies for the period from 2013 to 2020.

For more, make sure to follow our lifestyle section. For all you need to know about Zagreb in 2021, make sure to bookmark Zagreb in a Page.

April 23, 2021 - The Total Croatia Travel INFO (TCTI) Viber community, in partnership with Manjgura and Mediacor, has won the 2021 HUOJ International Grand PRix Award for Crisis Communication.

It was a project with no money, an unbelievable amount of work, and no official recognition, interest or thanks. 

Blood, sweat and tears, with a total investment of just 2,000 kuna (US$320) that generated more than 10 million euro of tourism spend for the Croatian economy in 2020. 

And that is without counting the free PR for Croatia, including a visit organised for ABC News, which led to 6 features on Dubrovnik, including one by Good Morning America - watched by 12.5 million people. 

It was one of the biggest and more significant learning experiences of my digital life, and a key factor in my thinking to create my own national tourism portal in 10 languages that launches in Dubrovnik on May 1 (you can get a sneak preview here). 

I have already written the story of how the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community came to be, after Manjgura and Mediacor were shortlisted as one of three finalists for the presitigious PR award in the category of Crisis Management. You can read the whole story here. 

The postscript to that article is that last night, the winners were announced, and TCTI won the category for the best project in the category of crisis communication, beating the official Koronavirus.hr project (with a price tag of 1.1 million kuna). 

Although the award is associated with TCN, it actually goes to the partners with whom I worked, Croatia's oldest and (in my opinion anyway) best PR agency, Manjgura, and Mediacor. You can check out Manjgura services here, and Mediacor here. 

The project was conceived by Manjgura founder, Kreso Macan, who had the vision to see the need, and the determination and drive to pull off the project. It was a masterclass of how to achieve the goal. 

Macan brought others into the team to expand the functions, and Aleksandra Djermanovic from Mediacor and chatbot queen Jelena Sipusic Jurcic from 4app.hr were beyond magnificent. 

A huge thank you to Marina Mandic and the team from the Croatian Border Police. Their efforts to assist were truly outstanding, and I have never seen a public institution which works as effectively as MUP. 

Massive thanks to the Manjgura and TCN interns, the legendica that is Iva Tatic, and also special thanks to Ivica Mrkoci from MUP, who is volunteering his time to answer questions - superb effort, and we are very grateful. 

And a big thanks too to all members of the community, whose feedback and participation allowed us to provide the very best information to people at a time when there really was none.

You can join the TCTI Viber community here (you will need to download the Viber app)

ZAGREB, 22 April, 2021 - As a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic and earthquakes real GDP in the first half of 2020 contracted by 7.8% year-on-year, due to a drop in personal consumption, investments and exports, while government spending rose mildly, Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujčić said on Thursday.

Vujčić said this in parliament while presenting the Croatian National Bank's (HNB) annual report on the financial situation and price and monetary policy stability in the first half of 2020.

He recalled that in the first half of 2020 a strong contraction of the global economy was recorded due to the spread of coronavirus and the introduction of restrictions. He added that the fall in real GDP in developed countries was the most pronounced during the peak of the spring pandemic wave.

Personal consumption contracted by 6.8% on the year, reflecting a decrease in available income due to negative trends on the labour market, a fall in the consumption of services whose provision of limited due to epidemiological restrictions as well as citizens' being less inclined to spend due to the need for physical distancing to avoid the risk of being infected and a decrease in consumer optimism. Those trends were also reflected in the lower indebtedness of the population, said Vujčić.

The annual inflation rate slowed down from 1.4% in December 2019 to -0.2% in June 2020 under the impact of the decreased prices of oil products, caused by the fall in global demand. The spread of the pandemic led to a decrease in inflationary pressure overall, notably in services related to tourism due to a significant drop in the number of passengers, and in durable consumer goods, due to a drop in investments. Basic inflation slowed down mildly from 1.2% in December 2019 to 1.1% in June 2020, which was mostly due to a drop in annual rates for individual food products and catering and accommodation services.

The contraction of economic activity due to the pandemic resulted in the import of goods falling at a significantly greater rate than exports, and the current and capital accounts in the first half of 2020 recorded a decrease in the deficit compared to the same period in 2019. On the other hand, the current and capital accounts were adversely affected by a significant drop in the net export of services, notably due to the situation in tourism.

HNB promptly adapted its monetary policies, using all the available measures with the aim of preserving the stability of the exchange rate and favourable conditions to finance citizens, the corporate sector and the state, said Vujčić. HNB sold a total of €2.7 billion to banks after which the kuna exchange rate was stabilised, he said.

Thanks to this and other measures kuna liquidity reached record levels and the state and private sector were able to continue taking loans with domestic banks under virtually the same terms as before the crisis, however, the weaker economic activity and demand for loans resulted in stricter terms to approve loans as a result of which consumer lending slowed down.

The budget deficit of HRK 13.2 billion in the first half of 2020 reflects the negative impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic on the economy and budget revenue. Temporary measures designed to relieve the consequences of the pandemic, such as the writing off of tax obligations and job-keeping support measures, also contributed to the fall in revenue. This is particularly obvious in the second quarter, when the deficit amounted to almost HRK 10 billion, HNB's report notes.

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

ZAGREB, 22 April, 2021 - Justice Minister Ivan Malenica on Thursday asked the Supreme Court and the Chief State Prosecutor to say whether the existing law is sufficient for adopting decisions on precautionary measures for convicted persons, after Zoran Mamić requested to serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I'm writing you with the wish to continue the joint cooperation with the aim of building a better judicial system and an effective normative framework in the area of criminal law," Minister Ivan Malenica wrote in a letter a day after the prime minister claimed that it is necessary to clear up whether the existing legal framework is good enough for issuing precautionary measures or whether omissions are made.

"These days we have witnessed a situation where a convicted person, prior to being sent to serve his sentence, left the territory of the Republic of Croatia and is asking to serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This refers to Zoran Mamić, who was convicted to 4 years and 8 months in prison, in a case in which his brother Zdravko Mamić was sentenced to prison too. I remind you that one day prior to the delivery of a trial verdict, Zdravko Mamić too left Croatia and since then he is unreachable to Croatian authorities," Malenica wrote in the letter.

He underscored that this isn't the only case where convicted felons with dual citizenship have managed to avoid serving their sentences in Croatia.

Situations which undermine citizens' trust in the system 

"From the above it transpires that this is a systemic problem, that is situations which recur and which will probably occur in the future," said Malenica, adding that these situations justifiably undermine the trust of citizens in the judicial system and of the perception of the judiciary's efficiency and equity.

"They are also in contradiction to the objective of the criminal procedure which is carried out to determine, as stipulated by the law, whether a crime was committed and if it was, to punish the perpetrator or apply another appropriate measure. In situations like this, that purpose, from the aspect of applying punishment, is brought into question and it is not certain whether it will be met entirely or at all," said Malenica.

In his letter, Malenica asks what the executive authority can do to enable the judiciary to ensure that convicted felons cannot leave the country to avoid serving their sentence.

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

ZAGREB, 22 April, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said at a government session on Thursday that as of 1 May, 230,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be arriving in Croatia on a weekly basis, calling on citizens to register for vaccination.

"The pressure on hospitals has been growing, notably by younger patients. The number of hospitalisations and patients on ventilators continues to grow. The average age of hospitalised patients is 66.7, 15% are people under the age of 50, 15% are people aged 50-59 while the rest are people above 60," said Beroš.

Third vaccination phase to start soon

The minister noted that the arrival of a larger quantity of vaccines during May and June would facilitate the process of vaccination.

Public health institutes have been instructed to include in the vaccination process all health institutions and private medical workers in the public health service network, and to organise, along with vaccination in family medicine offices, mobile vaccination teams and a sufficient number of vaccination points as well as to use civil protection, army and other resources in the process.

The vaccination plan for priority groups will be finished next week and the third phase of vaccination will begin, Beroš said.

So far, 902,670 vaccine doses have arrived in Croatia and 80% of them have been administered. A vaccination rate of above the average 14.2% has been achieved in age groups above 60, he said.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković called on elderly people to register for vaccination, saying that a half of the country's adult population should be vaccinated by June 30.

"There will be enough vaccines, I call on all citizens to call their family doctors, register on the vaccination platform so that we can contribute together to health security," Plenković said.

"As many as 77% of people who have died of COVID-19 in Croatia since the start of the pandemic were aged above 70 and 93% were people older than 60. We call on all citizens who are above the age of 60, 70 to register for vaccination," the PM said.

The head of the national coronavirus crisis management team, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, said that there had been no changes to epidemiological restrictions at the national level, that existing restrictions had been extended, as had been most of those introduced by local crisis management teams.

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

ZAGREB, 22 April (Hina) - Diplomatic representatives of Croatia and Israel met with local cantonal authorities in Široki Brijeg in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday to discuss joint economic projects for which Croatia has earmarked funds this year.

Non-resident Israeli Ambassador Noah Gal Gendler said after the meeting with government representatives and businessmen that he was exceptionally pleased with the talks.

"The objective is to exchange ideas and after that to include the private sector because they know how to very quickly recognise potential. As the state of Israel, as the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as cantons and naturally as the Republic of Croatia, we will support those efforts," said the ambassador. He expressed satisfaction that Israel will help the development of this area by sharing its knowledge and experience.

Diplomatic advisor in the Croatian Embassy in BiH Mladen Glavina underscored that this is about connecting business people and exchanging ideas between the three countries.

"Our aim is long term, to achieve in the next few years as many contacts as possible between business people on the three sides," said Glavina. This all started last year with contacts between the foreign ministries of Croatia and Israel and is continuing today, with concrete cooperation to follow, said Glavina, announcing that the Croatian government will assist in this trilateral cooperation and that certain funds have been allocated for it.

West Herzegovina Canton Prime Minister Zdenko Ćosić said that together with businessmen he would visit Israel in an effort to make way for their cooperation.

Representatives of Croatia and Israel visited three cantons in BiH that border with Croatia over the past three days in an effort to motivate economic cooperation between the three countries.

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

ZAGREB, 22 April, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange indices gained on Thursday, the Crobex by 0.30% to 1,883.42 points and the Crobex10 by 0.16% to 1,173.71 points, while regular turnover was HRK 8.5 million, twice as much as on Wednesday.

The most traded stock was Končar - Electrical Industry, turning over HRK 1.7 million. The price of its share was stable at HRK 685.

Forty-three stocks traded today, with 20 going up in price, nine going down and 14 staying the same as on Wednesday.

(€1 = HRK 7.567595)

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