ZAGREB, 25 January, 2021 -The Croatian Red Cross (HCK) said on Monday that it had received 68,378 donations for victims of the 29 December earthquake, totalling HRK 44,305,655.

HCK registers 3,368 people who left their homes after earthquake

The HCK Search Service has so far registered 3,368 people who have been evacuated to temporary accommodation centres or have left for other parts of the country.

HCK employees and volunteers have been helping the earthquake victims restore contact with their families as well as locate persons whose whereabouts are not known to their families and who have not been evacuated to temporary accommodation centres.

HCK teams work in evacuation centres and visit earthquake victims on a daily basis.

More than 580 tonnes of food, 94 tonnes of toiletries distributed

The HCK has so far distributed more than 580 tonnes of food, 94 tonnes of toiletries, 46 tonnes of clothing, 2,174 heaters, 2,602 blankets, 114 power units, more than 3,000 packages with baby food and equipment and more than 260 packages for animals.

Also, more than 7,200 services of psychosocial support have been provided to earthquake victims, the HCK said.

For the latest information on the earthquake emergency, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

January 26, 2021 - Andrej Kramaric has surpassed Ivica Olic to become the top Croatian scorer in Bundesliga!

Croatia national team player Andrej Kramaric scored two goals in Sunday's (3-0) Hoffenheim victory against Cologne, resulting in a stellar 74 Bundesliga goals - the most of any Croatian footballer in the German league, reports Index.hr.

Kramaric scored both goals from penalty kicks, the first in the 7th and the second in the 75th minute. Goalkeeper Timo Horn flew in the wrong direction on both penalties, and Kramaric scored his 11th and 12th Bundesliga goals of the season. Kramaric played for Hoffenheim only 19 times in the new season, and in addition to the goals, he also recorded two assists.

Kramaric has thus become the top Croatian scorer in the Bundesliga 74 goals, two more than Ivica Olić.

Ivica Olic scored 72 in his Bundesliga career, followed by Mario Mandzukic (53), Mladen Petric (51), and Ivan Klasnic (50). However, while the legendary Olic needed 238 games for 72 goals, Kramaric reached 74 goals in only 146 matches.

"Even before the game, I knew that with one goal, I would reach Ivica Olic and become the most successful Croatian scorer in the history of Bundesliga. I never thought in my career that I would achieve something like that, this is a great honor for me, and I am very proud of this success," said Andrej Kramarić (29), for 24 Sata.

"I have to admit, I was motivated by Ivica Olic's figure, I really wanted to reach him. I play all the time for Hoffenheim, while Olic and Mandzukic had the opportunity to play in much bigger clubs like Bayern, so I reached this number with a lot fewer games played. I believe that all this adds value and even more importance to my success. None of them have congratulated me on this record yet, but I know the guys will get back to me soon."

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January 26, 2021 – Siniša Topalović, a tourism consultant, spoke for HTV's Studio 4 show about why it is illusory to expect a pre-season, why Central and Southern Dalmatia will have the most challenging recovery, and where the future of Croatian tourism lies.

In the previous years, the media would already have been full of articles about preparing for the tourist season. Croatia has the largest share of tourism revenues in GDP in Europe, which reaches almost 20 percent of GDP and employs 11 percent of people. During the coronavirus crisis, the state still has high expectations, as it is an important source of tax revenue for it. However, tourism workers mostly complain and have black forecasts.

'The further north we go, the better tourism results'

When asked about official estimates that say Croatia could expect 60 percent of the income from tourism realized in 2019 this year, Topalović said that he believes that such an expectation is still too optimistic according to financial criteria.

"Between 60 and 70 percent of the physical traffic, we had in 2019 is achievable this year. If we talked about 70 percent of overnight stays and arrivals, everyone would sign that result at the moment. Still, when we talk realistically about the financial performance, it is probably about 50 to 60 percent of income," says Topalović, tourism consultant at Horwath HTL.

He added that Croatia does not expect an "even" recovery of tourism, but the results will vary geographically.

"As last year showed, the further north we go along the coast, the better our result is. The reason for this is the geographical position of Croatia. We were lucky that Istria, Kvarner, and the northern Dalmatian counties have relatively good access by road, and people took advantage of that. From Split to the south, the Makarska Riviera, and towards Dubrovnik will continue to have a more difficult situation this year, because the air connection will still not recover," explains Topalović.

He assessed the actions of the state during the pandemic as good and timely.

"Essentially, in 2020, the state reacted well in terms of maintaining employment in the tourism sector. Job-saving measures came relatively quickly, halting a potential wave of layoffs in the hotel industry. Both the management and the staff were protected, and there were no excessive losses. If the measures are extended until April, they should be sufficient to preserve the stability of the tourism sector," says Topalović.

'Now is the time to restructure Croatian tourism'

He says the expectation of a wave of tourists during the Easter holidays as in previous years in these conditions is illusory. Easter comes earlier this year, he says, so traditionally, the pre-season would be weak. But with COVID this year, there shouldn't be pre-season at all. The first wave of tourists is expected during May, and more intense from mid-June.

When choosing between quality and quantity, Croatian tourism has always gone in the direction of quantity. In 2020, it turned out to be the wrong direction.

"Last year denied populism, where the state, through tax systems and everything it did or did not do, allowed an uncontrolled increase in private accommodation of medium and lower quality. Those who were thinking a step further with quality accommodation this year scored and ensured their stability," says Topalović.

He added that quality has won this year, regardless of the type of accommodation, and thinks that this is a sign to those who decide and work on legislative frameworks that the state should encourage quality tourism with all its arsenal. Now is the time, he added, to restructure Croatian tourism.

"It's never a good time for us. When we grow, then we don't change anything because everything is good. When there is a crisis, we don't change anything because we need help. The crisis here has shown in which direction the market is going. Croatian tourism has no future if it stays on the concept of a low-budget mass market, which we currently have," explains Siniša Topalović.

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January 26, 2021 -  We experienced nothing short of a Croatia handball fiasco on Monday night, which resulted in Croatia's worst placement in World Champs history. Will coach Lino Cervar stick to his resignation?

After losing to Denmark, the Croatia national handball team said goodbye to the World Championship in Egypt. Apart from the debacle in the decisive match for the quarterfinals, Croatia has achieved its worst placement in the World Championship history.

The Cowboys thus finished in 15th place, behind Russia and ahead of Switzerland.

Before this World Championship in Egypt, the worst Croatian ranking at the World Championship was 13th place from the Japan tournament in 1997.

At that tournament in Japan, Croatia lost to Russia 31:20, which was the heaviest defeat for Croatia at the World Championships until now. Croatia lost by 12 goals (38:26) to Denmark on Monday. 

Recall, after the defeat by Argentina, which seriously complicated Croatia's quarterfinal path, coach Lino Cervar resigned in a heated post-match interview. But will he stick to his resignation? Cervar revealed his plans after the Denmark defeat, as reported Gol.hr. 

"I said they were the favorites; they are world champions, especially without our core players who are not here. It was difficult for players who play less to resist Denmark. We played well in the first half, and later we ran out of strength. I want to congratulate our players on their wishes and will," said Lino Cervar and continued:

"I want to say something. When I love someone who loves us, it’s not some merit. We should love those who do not love us. These are people who want to humiliate and minimize us, but I don’t think that’s good. I’ve loved people in my life who hated me, and that’s why I got better. We cannot be better off without mercy; it is important for our future.

In this situation, Denmark was stronger. This is not a failure for me; this is a real situation. I am a little sorry that I hurried with that statement," pointed out Cervar about his resignation and continued:

"You cannot forget about the Croatia that played handball in 2020. You watched the Euro matches where we were the best national team; then we were very prepared. Duvnjak is the best player in Europe; he was sick, he had corona, and the other day he had a fever. Karacic still has that pain, but he wanted to help. Stepancic and Cindric are not there; what did you expect, that the young player from Nexe will be the one to solve it? Martinovic is a great talent, but he is not ready to overthrow Denmark yet; he has to train for a long time. I thought it was better that we went with the younger players to this championship; many national teams have rejuvenated their national team, they were in decline, and today they are moving towards the top. Let's have a little understanding.

I would say to all our clubs and the federation that we have to help the clubs. People think we will win gold here, we have to have a lot of strong clubs that produce new players, new Duvnjaks… It will take a long time for new ones to come; we have a small base," said Lino and ended in a positive tone:

"I will not completely leave handball while my head is working. I look older, but my head is working, sometimes I wish I would play better in defense," said Cervar.

Croatia will gather in March for the Olympic qualifying tournament in France. 

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January 26, 2021 – Firefighter Srđan Botica from Slano near Dubrovnik was inconsolable after his hero Petrinja rescue dog Alice was poisoned a few days ago. Although irreplaceable, Srđan's friends could no longer stand by and watch him grieve undeservedly, so they bought a brand new Belgian Shepherd puppy to cheer him up

Srđan Botica was inconsolable after the death of his dog, Alice. Although she was still quite young, Alice and Srđan had built a strong bond between them. The training required for a dog like Alice to become a specialist search and rescue dog will have that kind of effect. The relationship Srđan established with Alice was strengthened both in his workplace, where Srđan is a firefighter and at home, which is where Srđan brought Alice each evening.

The final test of the pair's attachment was to be the rubble left in the aftermath of the Sisak Moslavina earthquake. Srđan volunteered to travel from Dubrovnik to help in the response. Alice became a Petrinja rescue dog, scouring the damaged and fallen buildings for survivors. The inseparable pair stayed for six days undertaking their work.

Srdan and Alice at work after the earthquake

As TCN was saddened to report over recent days, the partnership of Srđan Botic and his Petrinja rescue dog Alice was tragically cut short within weeks of their return. Alice was poisoned on the streets of her home in Slano, near Dubrovnik.

Though Petrinja rescue dog Alice was one of a kind and can never be replaced, the friends of firefighter Srđan Botica could no longer sit by and watch his undeserved grief. Over the last couple of days they clubbed together and bought Srđan a new dog. Srđan's new housemate goes by the name of Amy and she's still just a puppy. Amy is a Belgian Shepherd, the exact same breed as Petrinja rescue dog Alice.

It is probably still too early to say whether Amy will follow in Alice's pawsteps to become a search and rescue dog. But, Belgian Shepherds are one of the best-known breeds for this kind of work. They are used as search and rescue dogs by firefighters and mountain rescue in many countries, and as police and military dogs. They have a good reputation as sniffer dogs, particularly in the field of finding illegal drugs. Several Belgian Shepherds have been decorated for bravery and they are very protective of their owners and handlers.

The US Secret Service, Israel Defence Forces, Indian NSG commando unit and Royal Australian Air Force use Belgian Shepherds in their work. The breed is second in number only to the German Shepherd for use across the whole of the US Armed Forces.

January the 26th, 2021 - Will Croatian establishment owners end up taking to the streets to protest the ongoing measures banning their work, or will they opt for a situation in which everyone opens and begins working again despite what the National Civil Protection Headquarters say?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian establishment owners who are banned from working have stated that they are very much ready to start working again as soon as possible, claiming that people are now running out of energy, bars are having to permanently close every single day and that as a sector they are thinking about the possibility of taking to the streets in protest or all simply re-opening in groups on the same day.

Marija Bubas, Assistant Director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Dino Kozlevac, Chief of Staff of the Istria County, Ivan Vestic, President of the Athletics Federation, and Drazen Biljan, a Croatian establishment owner, all said their piece recently for an HRT programme.

The topics included easing the current strict anti-epidemic measures and Croatia's now favourable epidemiological situation.

In the introductory part of the show, Bubas said that the Croatian epidemiological situation is only getting better, but it isn't what you'd call great yet. She believes that just as measures should be introduced gradually, they should also be gradually relaxed in the same manner, and she doesn't know what the first thing to be eased up will be because it is still being very carefully considered.

As for the measures, she said it's difficult to satisfy everyone, but that public health always comes first. She added that economic activities, education, and also the public health interest in not putting pressure on the healthcare system must be preserved as much as possible and that healthcare services must be provided to all those who need it, when they need it.

Asked in which segment the anti-epidemic measures will be eased first, she said it's difficult to choose. She believes that a new set of measures will be introduced, but she has stated that she doesn't know which sector will be the first to breathe a sigh of relief.

Biljan believes that all sectors in the hospitality industry should be equalised, but that ''serving coffee to go is a mere few crumbs in terms of their survival". They asked for the possibility of deliveries, but that makes up less than 3 percent of the income of such facilities, which will not help them in almost anything. He talked about the consequences of lockdown, saying that Croatian establishment owners are now on the floor and have no one to pick them up and help them at all.

It was announced that children could go to sport training again and that gyms would be re-opened, Vestic said that these measures leave long-term consequences - sport clubs have been losing children for months now. After the first lockdown, it took six months for his club to have the same number of members and for the children to actually return. He believes that some sportsclubs shouldn't have been closed - especially those which take place outdoors and where children aren't in direct physical contact.

Many clubs are complaining about unequal treatment. Vestic said the measures were selective, accusing them of even involving lobbying. The head of Istria's Civil Protection Headquarters also demanded that gyms and sport clubs be opened.

Kozlevac asked for the work of gyms and sport clubs to be allowed, he is satisfied with the announcement that this will happen, but he says that they are being very careful and monitoring the epidemiological situation. He said that the number of patients in Istria County had been falling for five entire weeks and that they could now start easing the measures. They estimated, he added, that sport centres and individual sports can now be allowed. He expects the profession to find a solution and that the measure will be adopted from February the 1st, when the review is due.

Students in Istria County are still taking their classes online and this decision is also valid until the end of January. They're assessing the situation and will decide how to proceed in the coming days. They don't want to jeopardise the good epidemiological situation and believe that the measures must be gradually relaxed.

A Croatian establishment owner: We're now considering a group opening

When asked how long the Croatian establishment owners and their businesses such as cafes can last in these harsh and restrictive times, Biljan says that they're now finished and that they want to start working as soon as possible. According to official data, 1,098 Croatian cafes have been closed down since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. A long return of guests awaits them, he said. They are skeptical and think that it will take a long time for them to return to anywhere close to normal. All Croatian establishment owners should, Biljan said, be permitted to open their doors again at the same time, it isn't good to divide them up.

"We're not an island within Europe, we have to monitor the situation in the area," said Bubas. She added that the experiences of other countries should also be looked at.

"Sport has suffered more than you think," said Vestic. He warned of illogicalities regarding the measures in force.

Protests by Croatian establishment owners under the slogan "I will open" have been going on for days in nearby Italy, and Biljan says that here in Croatia, business owners are also very close to that because they have had enough and are now more than ready to work.

"We've fully respected the measures agreed with the Civil Protection Headquarters. I think the vast majority of restaurants are a safe place for guests. We're here to respect the measures to the maximum, in agreement with the Headquarters. We're ready to start working as soon as possible, people are running out of energy, tills are empty, bars are closing down every day and we're thinking about the possibility of going out onto the streets or organising a group opening, where we all open again on the same day,'' warned Biljan.

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January the 26th, 2021 - Just how has the Croatian healthcare system coped under the heavy strain of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic when compared to other countries in the area?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak wries, when compared to other countries in the Mediterranean and Central Europe, the Croatian healthcare system has relatively good results in the quality of staff, hospital care, emergency care and private care, which was felt and continues to be felt in the coronavirus crisis.

At the same time, electronic regulations in Croatia are very widespread, with 80 percent of prescriptions in pharmacies now being electronic.

However, the mortality rate of patients with acute myocardial infarction is relatively high, which implies that hospital admissions should be of better quality, and waiting lists are a particularly difficult problem, according to a new report by the Italian foundation Fondazione Farmafactoring, supported by the factoring company BFF.

The report is based on statistics and surveys among healthcare staff and users, and data on healthcare debts, waiting lists, services and per capita allocations, all of which have been placed in the context of the pandemic, albeit focusing on the first wave of the pandemic which hit back in the spring of 2020.

The report, which compares nine healthcare systems in the EU (Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain), shows that the Croatian healthcare is just behind Italy in terms of healthcare debts, and that in the Czech Republic, although have stabilised finances, the level of available services is much lower than it is in Croatia.

Croatia is the country with the lowest spending on healthcare, although in relative terms it is in third place in terms of its share in GDP, following both Poland and Slovakia. Experts stressed the need for a larger share of private funding and cost sharing.

They also noted unequal access, the late treatment of chronic diseases, poor coordination, and the general overburdening of general practitioners. In addition to that, the geographical distribution of the Croatian healthcare system's services and other such resources varies greatly across the country, the analysis points out.

One of the main issues concerns the inefficient allocation of resources, which often, instead of planning in advance, concentrates on retrospective loss financing, which is why the BFF has made its services available to institutions in Croatia.

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As January the 26th, 2021 - When it comes to news about Petrinja since the end of 2020, there has been very little good. The devastating earthquake which struck Sisak-Moslavina County back in December saw Petrinja all but ruined entirely, but some good things are still happening despite the tragedy, thanks to Agro Simpa.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, despite the natural disaster which hit Petrinja at the end of a pandemic-dominated, economically terrible year, causing absolutely catastrophic consequences and the loss of multiple lives, life and entrepreneurship didn't stop, as has since been evidenced by the company Agro Simpa from Sisak, which announced that it will soon open a new laboratory for the analysis of honey and beeswax in he central Croatian town.

The new Agro Simpa honey laboratory will be located in the very centre of Petrinja, the part of the town that suffered the most terrible damage from the earthquake, and this company has pointed out that despite the problems they encounered, he sill managed to repair the material consequences of the disaster and are continue with the business goals they had previousl set.

As they explained, the new Petrinja laboratory will be equipped with some of the most modern equipment for honey analysis and will be able to perform all analyses according to the honey quality regulations, and they have also purchased a special device, an infrared spectrophotometer FTIR, which will be able to analyse beeswax and its level of purity.

They added that they hope that this is a small step towards the post-earthquake recovery of Petrinja and believe that other entrepreneurs and business owners will also start investing in earthquake-affected areas.

The company Agro Simpa is otherwise the largest chain of agricultural equipment stores in Sisak-Moslavina County, and their range includes the sale of tools and raw materials for agriculture, beekeeping, gardening and household duties.

They are also the distributors to some renowned animal feed factories such as Inberg, TSH Cakovec, Sano, seed corn BC Institute, KWS, Agricultural Institute Osijek.

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