ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices on Thursday continued rising and the stock market saw a turnover of HRK 12.5 million, of which HRK 6.2 million was generated by a block transaction with Atlantic Group shares.

The Crobex rose by 0.35% to 1,887.88 points and the Crobex10 by 0.21% to 1,185.88 points.

The main indices rose for the second consecutive day, reaching their new highest levels since the end of February 2020.

Regular trading amounted to HRK 6.3 million, 2.8 million more than on Wednesday.

Another 6.2 million was generated in a block transaction with Atlantic Group shares.

Only the HT telecom operator turned over more than one million kuna in regular trading, around 1.02 million, with the price of its shares falling by 0.26% to HRK 193.

(€1 = HRK 7.567065)

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery complex is one of the seven European most endangered monument localities in 2021, Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said at a news conference on Thursday.

The Culture and Media Ministry, in cooperation with the City of Zagreb, the City Institute for the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage and the Zagreb Holding multi-utility conglomerate nominated the cemetery for the European Seven Most Endangered Programme, taking into account its specificity and value as the most important multiconfessional cemetery in Croatia and an exceptionally valuable cemetery at the European level, as well as the huge damage caused to it by the March 2020 earthquake, the minister said.

She recalled that the programme, implemented since 2013 by Europa Nostra in cooperation with the European Investment Bank Institute, each year puts emphasis on seven European localities.

That way experts and funds are mobilised so that together we can renovate the European cultural heritage, said Obuljen Koržinek.

She noted that a number of European experts, notably earthquake reconstruction experts, had offered various forms of help over the past year and that they would all be involved, notably in complex reconstruction projects.

"The preliminary work on the Mirogoj complex alone, to be financed from the European Solidarity Fund, has been estimated at HRK 97 million," she said, adding that this includes emergency repairs acceptable for financing under the European Solidarity Fund.

Those funds have been approved, documents are being collected and work will start relatively soon, she said, noting that it was clear to everyone that the renovation of Mirogoj would be a long-standing project requiring great professional engagement considering that the cemetery had not been renovated since its construction.

She said that at today's Europa Nostra presentation it was said that everyone would mobilise to help Croatia collect the necessary funding.

The other six most endangered monuments and localities of cultural heritage in Europe in 2021 are the Achensee Cog Railway (Tyrol, Austria), Five Southern Aegean Islands (Greece), Giusti Garden in Verona (Italy), Dečani Monastery (Kosovo), the Central Post Office in Skopje (North Macedonia) and the San Juan de Socueva Chapel and Hermitage (Cantabria, Spain).

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - The government on Thursday made decisions on the implementation of programmes for financing local infrastructure and rural development projects in areas populated by national minorities, for which HRK 20 million was earmarked in this year's budget.

The programmes pertain to areas that are markedly below the national development average in which national minorities make up at least 5% of the population according to the 2011 census.

Regional Development Minister Nataša Tramišak said the programmes would ensure the minimum standards of municipal and social infrastructure as well as financial instruments for family farms.

The government also adopted a regulation on the financing of national minorities' public needs to enhance their rights and protect as well as promote their cultural, national, linguistic and religious identity.

Waters Act amendments

Also today, the government sent to parliament amendments aligning the Waters Act with EU legislation.

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 (Hina) - President Zoran Milanović on Thursday extended greetings on International Romani Day, saying that equality must not be a constitutional abstraction.

Today, in independent Croatia, the Roma have their state, a state which wants them as equal fellow citizens, but also a state which, aware of the unique fate and living conditions of the Roma, besides formally recognising their minority status, must also assume special responsibility for improving their living conditions, the president said in his message.

The problems which have always plagued the Roma minority have not disappeared, somewhere they have been alleviated, but somewhere they are still very evident. What can help the most in solving them is patient and organised common work, he said.

The education of Roma children and youth, from kindergarten to university, is closely related to employment, housing, healthcare and access to culture, Milanović said.

We can clearly gauge equality by the number of Roma children who attend school and university, by the social and municipal standard of Roma families, and by the possibilities of employing Roma in various segments of social and economic life, he added.

The cultural promotion and scientific affirmation of the Roma language as well as the political affirmation at every level are the components of the same mission and goal. That's why observing International Romani Day in Croatia is culturally and politically important for the entire Croatian society, and not just symbolically, the president said.

Milanović's advisor on human rights and civil society Melita Mulić was his envoy at a ceremony held at the Zagreb National and University Library to mark International Romani Day.

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Homeland Movement leader Miroslav Škoro said on Thursday that if elected Mayor of Zagreb, he would deal with the problem of the city's Jakuševec landfill and close it down.

"We should do all we can to ensure that the residents in this part of Zagreb no longer have to live near a landfill with an unpleasant smell in the air," Škoro said in Jakuševec.

He said that about 110,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste is disposed of in Jakuševec annually, including 60,000 tonnes of household waste that produces an unpleasant smell in the air. "There is no need for that," he added.

Škoro said that Zagreb had such potential for compost production that it could earn HRK 35 million from it annually. He also warned that Zagreb spent HRK 25 million on disposal of plastic waste, while with proper management it could earn HRK 100 million from it.

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April 8, 2021 - Preparations for the upcoming uncertain season in Croatia continue.  A look at the latest in Kvarner. 

During Easter, two virtual presentations of Kvarner were held for Italian agencies and journalists, organized by the Kvarner Tourist Board, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ), HTZ Representation in Milan. If the COVID-19 restrictions allow, Italians will be able to reach Kvarner by catamaran!

During the presentation, Kvarner tourist destinations have a long tradition in health tourism - Opatija, Crikvenica, and the island of Lošinj - were presented through short promotional films. The Italian market is one of the most important for Kvarner and Croatia, but the epidemiological situation is not good there either, and the pandemic has impoverished the Italians. Among other things, emphasis was placed on the offer of health tourism in Kvarner, a key, traditional, and essential tourist product this year.

Regarding the situation in this important market, the director of the CNTB's representative office in Milan, Viviana Vukelić, said there was a mini lockdown in Italy from April 3 to 6 and that travel between regions was banned.

Novilist.hr reports: "There are no tourists in Italy itself, the resumption of tourism will be extremely slow and associated with the gradual easing of measures, vaccinations, the opening of airlines, border measures, and more. Given the above circumstances, the tourism industry's focus in Italy is currently on locals and guests from the surrounding countries.

In general, tourists from Italy will decide on travel at the last minute, prices will be looked at, and the key criterion will be health security," said Vukelic, adding that the projections of what will be the tourist flows this year, with constant restrictions and introduction of sudden and new travel measures, difficult to articulate. 

"However, when we talk about Croatia, there is interest in traveling to our country, which numerous partners confirm. In these uncertain times, it is important to maintain market presence and visibility.

For example, in cooperation with the Kvarner Tourist Board, we held two virtual presentations of Kvarner intended for Italian partners, tour operators, and representatives of B2B media. In addition to the beauties and motives of Kvarner, the emphasis in the presentation was placed on all measures implemented for a safe stay in the destination, as well as on the health offer of Kvarner, active tourism, and gastronomy.

The presentations were very successful and gathered 80 participants, and the largest number of questions related to post-COVID treatments in Kvarner, sports tourism, travel with families and children, beaches, said the director of the Milan CNTB Office and pointed out that it is clear that everyone is looking for security and free space to distance themselves.

With this aim, the implementation of the Safe Stay in Croatia campaign will soon start on the Italian market, followed by a B2B campaign in specialized tourist media, and after that, the implementation of the main invitation campaigns. The BIT virtual fair in Milan will be held on the Italian market at the beginning of May, while the BMT fair in Napoli has been announced for May 28.

Although in Italy the focus is on the domestic guest, among other things, because Italy did not even have a winter ski season, some agencies are thinking about Croatia. Thus, Paolo Gorini, owner of the Gomoviaggi agency, which last year had a catamaran connection between Lošinj and Italy, told us that even though the situation is still very uncertain, they are preparing a program for the summer of 2021.

This summer, they plan to focus on the most favorable holiday period for Italians, and they also plan to introduce some innovations. They have already contracted a Dash 8Q400 Croatia Airlines aircraft for the line between Split and Ancona.

With a capacity of 76 passengers, the aircraft will fly from July 31 to August 28, with three flights a week. In Split, they also rented a small cruise ship with 15 cabins, so their guests can use the flight plus cruise if they wish. We also find out that they are in negotiations with Italian and Croatian shipowners about renting catamarans.

"We intend to work with two lines. The first is from Pescara and Cesenatica to Lošinj, Novalja, and Rovinj. From mid-July to the end of August, two weeks of travel to Rovinj, two trips a week to Lošinj, one of which will continue to Novalja on Saturday.

The second line we are planning is from Civitanova to Lošinj and Hvar, again from mid-July to the end of August, with two trips a week to Hvar and one to Lošinj. Of course, all this will depend on the development of the situation with COVID-19, which made a bad joke with us last August.

Namely, we were forced to stop the line in mid-August, when we already had hundreds of reservations that we had to cancel. But let’s hope for the best this year," Gorini concluded.

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

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 3,217 new cases of coronavirus infection, which is almost twice as many as on Wednesday when there were 1,649 new cases, and there have been 36 deaths, according to data from the national COVID-19 crisis management team released on Thursday.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 12,767. There are 1,756 COVID patients in hospitals, 171 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 285,765 people have contracted coronavirus, 6,185 of them have died and 266,813 have recovered, including 1,775 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 28,763 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,610,669 people have been tested, 11,216 of whom have been tested over the past 24 hours.

As of 7 April, 533,409 doses of vaccine have been used, and 432,601 people have been vaccinated. Of them, 330,142 people have received the first dose, and 100,808 have received both doses. For 1,651 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday congratulated the Roma national minority in Croatia on the 50th anniversary of International Romani Day.

"The Republic of Croatia has from its beginning been committed to the full protection of members of national minorities, which has also been strengthened by the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities. Since then we have been working intensively with members of the Roma community on social integration and affirmation of Roma in the Croatian society," Jandroković said in the message.

He underscored that the Roma are today active participants in political life and have their representative in the Croatian parliament.

Also, the Croatian parliament was part of the initiative to establish the World Day of Romani Language on 5 November, which further contributes to preserving Romani culture, the parliament speaker recalled.

"Our common task is to continue helping, in a systematic and concrete way, members of the Roma minority in Croatia to become more strongly involved in society, and children and young people in the education system," the message said.

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