January 22, 2021 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Iberia plans Dubrovnik and Zagreb services in March. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Spanish national airline Iberia has confirmed that it plans to return to Dubrovnik and Zagreb in March this year.

In the 2020 summer season, Iberia operated on only one line to Croatia, connecting Madrid with Dubrovnik. All other routes to Croatian airports did not operate last summer due to low demand.

As confirmed to Croatian Aviation, Iberia plans to return to Zagreb and Dubrovnik at the end of March, and flights will operate depending on restrictive measures and the epidemiological situation.

The Madrid - Zagreb - Madrid line will operate its first flight this year on March 27. The airline plans to operate on this line 3 times a week until the end of April, mostly on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. A320 and A321 aircraft have been announced on the route. From the end of March to the beginning of May, the airline plans to offer over 5,700 seats between Zagreb and Madrid. An increase in the number of weekly flights is expected from mid-May, while in the peak of the summer season, Iberia should operate on this route at least once a day.

The Madrid - Dubrovnik - Madrid line should launch a little earlier, on March 25. The company initially plans three flights a week on this route, but there are already certain dates with ad-hoc flights on other days of the week. From the end of March to the beginning of May, the airline plans almost 20 return flights on this line, and slightly more seats are available for sale compared to the Zagreb line, over 6,500!

We remind you that Iberia did not operate to Zagreb, Split, and Zadar in the summer flight schedule last year, and judging by the current schedule, it will operate to Dubrovnik and Zagreb this year. Of course, changes are still possible. The airline has confirmed that it plans to operate on routes to Croatia according to the specified flight schedule, but this will, once again, depend on restrictive measures and the epidemiological situation that directly affects demand on flights. Routes to and from Madrid in that sense are no exception.

Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., the operator, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the largest Spanish airline. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Madrid. With its fleet of over 70 aircraft, it flies to more than 70 domestic and international destinations. Their central airport is Barajas in Madrid, and as a second base, they use El Prat Airport in Barcelona.

Iberia has a developed network of destinations. With one transfer, it is possible to travel from and to Boston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Chicago, New York, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Lima, and many other destinations in North and South America.

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January the 21st, 2021 - Remember the fuss around Bitcoin? People might not be obsessing over it quite as much as they used to anymore, but it is still very much present and continuing to gain in importance. One Cakovec perfume producer, of all people, has ''mined'' the very first Bitcoin perfume, right here in Croatia.

As Ivan Tominac/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Bitcoin perfume symbolises the future, it contains 20 percent essences and is placed in a handmade leather and wood box. This is the first such perfume in the entire world, and it was created by no less than a Cakovec perfume producer and the owner of the Levy brand, Dejan Levacic.

With all of the various substances used by perfume creators, such as oils, alcohol, essences, flowers and plants, during the process itself, this Cakovec perfume producer believes, the most important thing is ones imagination in regard to those places, events, moments and plants that are incompatible and can be imagined through procedures that no one uses.

Like most good things, it occurred by chance

This time, the desire is to tell a story that will evoke the power of money and transactions that will appear in the future, without being something already seen such as perfumes bearing the names of various world currencies. According to Levacic, the notes of the perfume have remained a secret, and there will be 2,100 copies of the 50 millilitre edition and one of 210 litres on offer from this Cakovec perfume producer.

"Quite by accident, a friend drew my attention to bitcoin. After a few days of research, I realised that only bitcoin has an identical way of creating, just like the way in which I create perfumes. It regards my unique creation process that I’ve been using for the last six years. I leave perfumes in the mine shafts so that nature can give them notes that no one can create,'' said Levacic.

Levacic is, among other things, the owner of a license confirming the breaking of the Guinness world record for the world's largest perfume, has collaborated with several tourist boards, and seeks to transform his work into an oasis of all lovers of a good scent.

His interest in creating perfumes dates back to 1985, when in the 5th grade of primary school he started going to Pliva where his mother Zlatica was in charge of cosmetics production. He spent every moment with her and absorbed the knowledge that makes him an expert perfume producer today, as well as a person capable of thinking outside the box. This is how Bitcoin perfume was created. The first copy was created by Levacic back in 2015, when the value of this virtual currency was 300 US dollars.

Six years later...

Today, six years later, Bitcoin is accepted as a secure, fast and unquestionable method of payment and is used by serious players and big investors, world banks and insurance companies. Its value has skyrocketed again in recent months, reaching more than 40,000 US dollars last week and being traded at 37,120 US dollars just a few days ago.

"I chose Bitcoin because only it has a unique story of mining a new type of gold, which in the future will allow everyone to pay and use the currency in an unprecedented way. PayPal has enabled 346 million users to use bitcoin every day,'' added Levacic.

All of this Cakovec perfume producer's perfumes will be numbered with the serial number B300 - B2100 max, and the added value of the perfume is identical to the purchase of an art painting that will increase in value many times over in the future.

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January the 22nd, 2021 - Employment has never carried any positive connotations with it when it comes to Croatia, sadly. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, the number of unemployed Croatian residents has only increased.

As Novac/Marina Klepo, the coronavirus pandemic has caused profound and probably permanent changes to the labour market, the collapse of certain sectors, the rise of new ones and increasingly widespread work from home trends. Going back to our old ways, many experts believe, is just a misconception because the pandemic has fundamentally changed companies and workers in almost all countries. The International Labour Organisation warned recently that the huge job losses "creates a fiscal gap that could further deepen inequality between richer and poorer countries." When state aid is excluded, he warns, labour income fell by 10.7 percent in the first three quarters of last year compared to the same period back in 2019. It remains to be seen what will happen once state aid measures expire. What is Croatia doing in this new world of work, and just how many unemployed Croatian residents have been counted?

Construction and communication

Ten months after the beginning of the crisis, says Iva Tomic, chief economist of the Croatian Employers' Association, we can conclude that not much has changed yet, despite announcements of a complete change in the functioning and appearance of the labour market as we know it.

The total number of insured persons, those who pay pension contributions, according to HZMO, at the end of December amounted to 1,536,300 persons, which is only 0.6 percent (8892 persons) less than in December 2019. The average number of insured persons during the year, on the other hand, was 1.2 percent or 17,940 persons less than the year before. There was a significant increase in the construction and information and communication sectors, while, as expected, the number of insured persons decreased the most in the accommodation, hospitality and catering sector.

"This situation on the Croatian labour market is largely a consequence of the introduction of support for job preservation, because the co-financing of part or all of the salaries by the state certainly enabled those companies that found themselves in a bad situation due to the coronavirus crisis to keep their workers," Tomic said.

In the first months of the pandemic-induced crisis of 2020, more than one third of all Croatian employees used government aid, and a certain percentage still depends on this aid, in November there were 120 thousand such people.

However, the number of unemployed Croatian residents is increasing, and on January the 15th, 163,807 people were registered at the Croatian Employment Service, 3,962 more than were registered in December. Back at the end of 2020, 28,000 people were out of work, or 21 percent more than a year earlier. Although we don't yet know the structure of the increase in the number of unemployed Croatian residents in the first two weeks of January, Tomic says that it is very possible that certain companies concluded earlier this year that they couldn't manage to keep all of their workers or even some of them, and as such simply decided to shut down.

Dismissals

''It's possible that certain companies, despite the state aid, just won't be able to maintain business operations, which means certain layoffs in 2021. So far, there are no indications of a significant closure of companies or a larger dismissal of workers, although at the beginning of this year, the number of unemployed Croatian residents began to grow significantly,'' explains Tomic.

However, the concrete consequences of the coronavirus crisis, he adds, could be realised only after the expiration of the current state aid measures, which, in addition to aid for job preservation, includes the possibility of covering fixed costs, but also delays and write-offs of certain state benefits and moratoriums on loans. According to the chief economist of HUP, this could primarily be "suffered'' by companies in the service industries, which are most affected by the pandemic, and production isn't exempt from the impact of the crisis either, given that it depends not only on domestic but also on foreign demand.

On the other hand, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the process of the digitalisation of business, and the demand for workers in the information and communication sector is expected to continue, as it likely will in regard to construction workers, given that part of infrastructure investments are "pending" due to the recent earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina, as well as the one which hit Zagreb in March 2020.

As a slightly better tourist season is expected this year than what was experienced last year, the growth of demand for workers in that sector is also somewhat more likely.

An adequate workforce

What could prove to be a problem is labour shortages in those sectors where there will be a need for new employment. In a survey conducted by HUP among its members at the end of last year, almost a fifth (19 percent) of respondents believe that the biggest challenge in doing business in 2021 will be the lack of adequate labour in the Croatian labour market. The list of deficit occupations adopted by the CES Board last week also suggests that there is a shortage of workers in the domestic labour market in the sectors that currently employ the most people - construction and ICT.

As the coronavirus crisis has significantly affected changes in business organisation on the whole, one of the lasting consequences, it seems, will be increased teleworking. When asked where you work during the coronavirus crisis, according to a Eurofund survey in June and July, almost 31.5 percent of Croats answered that they work from home. Before the crisis, only 1.4 percent of employees worked from home, while the EU average stood at 5.2 percent.

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January the 21st, 2021 - Croats might well be famous lovers of a good drop of wine, but just how much are they willing to spend on a good Croatian wine? A study reveals all.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, women prefer red wines, sparkling wines and rosé wines significantly more than men. This was shown by a study of sociodemographic and individual characteristics of Croatian wine producers and consumers, first conducted in Croatia. The research was conducted by doctors of science, economist Djuro Horvat, psychologist Katarina Sokic and agronomist Robert Brkic.

Although a total of more than half of Croatia's consumers prefer white wines, a third opt for red, while rosé and sparkling wines are preferred by two to five percent of consumers, it is different for women: it is interesting that 67 percent of men and 40 percent of women prefer white, and 42 percent of women and 26 percent of men red wines. Women are more frequent consumers of rosé and sparkling wines, while an equal number choose predicate wines - 3.5 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women.

"It's likely that women have a different choice because of the fuller, stronger and sweeter, often fruity taste that these wines have. White wines are perceived as sour and harsher, which, of course, often doesn't correspond to the truth, but such a perception is common," explains Katarina Sokic.

More educated and wealthier consumers

Within the project entitled "The influence of motivation, preferences and emotions of producers on success in wine production, branding and marketing", whose holder is the Effectus study of finance and law - University of Zagreb, a study of sociodemographic and individual-emotional and motivational characteristics of good Croatian wine producers and consumers was undertaken. The study of wine consumers included 570 participants: 318 men and 252 women.

The frequency of consumption shows that most participants consume wine several times a week, and a fifth of them doing so on a daily basis. In terms of frequency of consumption, there are significant gender differences among everyday consumers: 29 percent men and only eight percent women.

Sokic notes that in addition to the demographic, socioeconomic and psychological characteristics of wine consumers, it is very important to establish contextual factors of consumption, because in this way the offer can be adjusted to consumer needs, "especially because wine consumption is far more emotional than it is rational. According to our results, 62 percent of respondents cannot imagine festive moments without drinking wine. Almost as many think that wine improves mood and reduces tension. It is obvious that consumers associate wine with emotions, both positive and negative ones. For example, a third of them believe that in a state of sadness and disappointment it is best to drink a glass of wine. Finally, wine is sung about in many sad, love songs,'' points out Katarina Sokic.

The research showed that more than half of wine consumers are highly educated. Wine consumers, as many as 70 percent of them, mostly rate their financial situation as mediocre, and as many as 24 percent perceive it as being somewhere above average.

Consumers and their preferences

There is a significant positive association between belonging to a particular wine region by birth and preference for a particular wine region. Consumers, 33 percent of them, are most inclined to the good Croatian wines of Slavonia and the Croatian Danube region, while for 40 percent of the participants the geographical origin of the wine isn't important. The preference of Slavonian wines is also noticeable among those consumers who belong to other wine regions by birth. It is interesting that only those consumers - 74 percent of them - who by birth belong to the region of Slavonia and the Danube region prefer good Croatian wines from this region, while the percentage of consumers who prefer wines from other Croatian wine regions to which they belong by birth is much lower.

"The price is extremely important for making business decisions of strategic and tactical importance for good Croatian wine producers. Having a balanced price-quality ratio is a key factor in choosing wine for 34 percent of respondents, so we can conclude that price is very important in today's market economy and for consumers. Significantly, 60 percent of the respondents don't regret spending money on good Croatian wine, which means that the price of wine must be consistent with its basic features and characteristics, strongly correspond to its quality, design, packaging and faithfully reflect the productivity of wine producers through the cost, and the end result is consumer satisfaction,'' Horvat points out.

Socio-demographic factors explain the importance of the percentage of variance in the emotional experience of drinking wine and attitudes towards good Croatian wine, namely 13 percent relates to experiences and 17 percent relates to attitudes.

General sociodemographic factors such as age and gender are significant predictors of the emotional wine drinking experience that links wine consumption to comfort and relaxation. Age, place of birth, status in terms of assets and preferences towards certain wine regions are also significant predictors of attitudes towards good Croatian wine.

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January the 22nd, 2021 - Following an entire decade (yes, you read it right) of works, one of the most modern Croatian schools is now nearing its final phase. The new smart school is set to open its doors in just a few months.

As Barbara Ban/Novac writes, not long from now, after ten years of works, the students of the Pula Medical School will finally enter their new "smart" school, one of the most modern Croatian schools to have been built. They will be greeted by smart boards, a dental and biochemical laboratory, and specialised chemistry and biology classrooms. The new school will also boast a central control system for all energy sources and lighting that can be controlled by mobile phones, twelve classrooms, a multipurpose hall, a professional kitchen and dining room and much more.

The students deserved the construction of this modern Croatian school after they left their former school in 2010, which was demolished in 2012 because it was deemed unfit for use, and since then the students have been engaging in their studies in the building of the former surgery of the old General Hospital and at the Public Open University. The new school will be able to accommodate up to 450 students, and currently has 350.

Now the works on one of the most modern Croatian schools, which sprang up on the site of the old school in Pula, and is worth 52 million kuna, are finally nearing completion. A few days ago it was visited by the Istria County prefect Fabrizio Radin and the mayor of Pula Boris Miletic. The works on this large public investment didn't stop for even one day, despite the coronavirus crisis and the difficulties in procuring certain materials, equipment, as well as the problems surrounding the labour force. Due to that, the completion of the construction works will be a bit late, but they're still scheduled for spring.

''About 75 percent of construction work is now completed. We expect that part to be finished during the spring of this year. This will be followed by the equipping phase and I believe that despite everything, we're now seeing the end of this investment. Our investment policy in education follows the demands of the labour market. We lack medical staff of all profiles and this is how we intend to solve this problem in the future,'' said Istria County's prefect Fabrizio Radin, who believes that the modern Croatian school's capacities will be filled by the time the next school year rolls around. All the more so as the new Pula General Hospital, which is located just across from the school, is also being completed.

Miletic added that this is one of the most modern and best-equipped schools in the entire country.

''If someone is thinking of enrolling in medical school next year, now's the time to decide. This is all the more important as at the end of it, that person will have a job at the Pula General Hospital,'' said Miletic.

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ZAGREB, 21 January 2021 - The Croatian Catholic Mission (HKM) in Berlin has collected close to half a million euro in earthquake relief for the Banovina region.

During the mission's fund-raiser for earthquake relief for Petrinja, Sisak and Glina, €427,000 was collected, of which €315,000 was paid via PayPal, €93,605 was paid into the mission's bank account and €18,500 was collected in cash, the Mission said.

This does not include a donation of 10 container homes valued at around €30,000 and 1,000 family packages with essential commodities valued at about €35,000.

"We are currently obtaining hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers..." the mission said, adding that the funds collected would not be used for that purpose except possibly for transport costs if that was not resolved in some other way.

"Now, fast and quality aid for the most vulnerable follows. We will have information about all end-users and if necessary, we will publish information on each centre," HKM said on its web site.

January 21, 2021 - Croatia tops Bahrain (28:18) in the first match of the 2021 World Handball Championship main round. 

Croatia met Bahrain in the first match of the main round of the 2021 World Handball Championship in Egypt. 

Croatia entered this match as a big favorite in the fight for the quarterfinals of the tournament. Recall, Croatia transferred three points to the second round (main round) and is in second place behind Denmark, which transferred a maximum of four. Bahrain did not transfer any points because they lost to Denmark (34:20) and Argentina (24:21). They advanced thanks to a 34:27 victory over DR Congo. In the group stage, Croatia drew with Japan (29:29) and beat Angola (28:20) and Qatar (26:24).

Croatia v. Bahrain Recap

Strlek scored the first goal of the match to give Croatia the 1:0 lead in the first minute. Mamic scored for 2:0 just under 3 minutes in.

Maric scored for 3:0 in the 4th minute. Sego kept Croatia's goal clean in the first five minutes of play.

Horvat scored a 7-meter throw for 4:1 in the 6th minute. Duvnjak made it 5:1 in the 8th minute. Sebetic increased Croatia's lead even more - 6:1 in the 9th minute. 

Cupic scored from 7-meters in the 10th minute (7:1). Mamic scored for 8:2 in the 14th. 

Maric scored his second goal of the game in the 15th minute (9:2). Horvat scored with a lob for 10:3 in the 21st minute.

Maric scored his third goal of the game for 11:4 two minutes later. Mandic scored for 12:6 in the 25th. 

With two minutes to go in the first half, Horvat made it 13:6. Croatia went into halftime up by 5 goals - 13:8.

Horvat's famous lob made it into the gal to open the second half.

Croatia was up by six goals in the 35th minute - 16:10. Cupic scored for 17:11 two minutes later.

Maric scored his fourth goal of the game in the 39th minute for 18:12. Jaganjac scored for +7 - 19:12.

Martinovic scored an upper-corner rocket in the 42nd for 20:13 - and again for 21:14.

Yet another lob by Horvat made its way into the goal for 22:14 with just over 10 minutes to go. And Horvat's fourth lob made it 23:17 in the 53rd.

Martinovic scored moments later to make it 24:17. 

Mandic scored in an empty goal with five minutes to go (25:18). Horvat scored in another empty goal seconds later for 26:18 - Croatia's biggest advantage of the game.

Mandic scored with a minute and a half to go for 27:18. Croatia ended the game +10 thanks to a goal in the final seconds (28:18). Marin Sego was named the player of the match!

After Bahrain, Croatia will play against Argentina (Saturday) and Denmark (Monday). The best two teams will place among the top eight.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, 21 January 2021 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Thursday Sisak-Moslavina County prefect Ivo Žinić would have been a burden to the party ahead of local elections had he not resigned as county branch president due to lack of clarity regarding his properties.

"Žinić resigned because of the current situation concerning him, his assets and housing, because we believed that, in these circumstances, his staying at the helm of the county organisation would have been a burden to the HDZ ahead of local elections," Plenković told the press.

There are two courses of action in this situation, he said. One, he explained, is that Žinić remains involved and supports as prefect until local elections (in May) all the activities in the reconstruction of Sisak-Moslavina County after the earthquake.

The other, Plenković added, is that Žinić adequately resolves every question being raised about his properties.

"That was more than enough for him to assess that running the county organisation before local elections in these circumstances was not realistic. That's what the party's inner leadership concluded," he said, adding that, considering the number of local government units, there were not many cases like this.

Asked if he took issue with how Žinić was using state-owned properties, Plenković said Žinić must clear up everything. "How these processes unfolded over the past 26 years has nothing to do either with me or the party. It's up to him to explain."

Plenković said the HDZ had still not initiated Žinić's expulsion because all the circumstances had to be established first. "As a party, we don't have a mechanism to hire the SOA (Security and Intelligence Agency) to vet people under every aspect. If the Tax Administration is doing something, it keeps it to itself. It doesn't give it to us."

Plenković said he found out only yesterday that the Croatian Peasant Party asked about Žinić's flat in parliament a year ago. "There's been an oversight, evidently. I didn't know," he said, adding that said question was not put to him.

Plenković said he did not know if Veterans Minister Tomo Medved knew about this for some time but added that the War Veterans Ministry commented on the matter.

Commenting on the case of Požega Mayor Darko Puljašić, who resigned as an HDZ MP after the media reported that he took part in fixing tenders for energy efficiency in the city, Plenković said the party decided to dissolve the county branch and that this was done.

He said the party formed a commission and that it had enough time to prepare for local elections with a new team.