Business

ZAGREB, May 19, 2020 - Some 3,500 Croatian seafarers, 800 of who are on cruise ships and whose contracts have expired, are waiting for a return to home but can't because of the COVID pandemic and the difficulties in repatriation, Neven Melvan of the Croatian Seafarers' Union (SPH) told Hina on Tuesday. The union, in cooperation with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Transport Federation (ITF), is working on establishing a corridor for the transfer of seafarers regardless of which country they come from, the union's secretary-general Melvan said. According to SPH there are more than 20,000 Croatian seafarers; some of whom…

ZAGREB, May 19, 2020 - At the end of April, there were 1.527 million employed people in Croatia, or 0.8% more than in March, and the registered unemployment rate also rose by 0.8 percentage points to 9.4%, according to figures provided by the national statistical office (DZS). At the end of April, the number of employed Croatians rose by 1.5% compared to the end of April 2019. The DZS says that "in April 2020, the total number of persons in paid employment in legal entities in the Republic of Croatia amounted to 1,325,632, out of which 631,442 were women." Broken…

May 19, 2020 - Last week, the key international media covering the tourism and shipbuilding sectors announced that the Eclipse II, the sister ship of the Scenic Eclipse, the most sophisticated and elegant ship of its kind, was being built in Rijeka's 3. Maj.    Cruise Industry News reported about the steel cutting of the Scenic Eclipse II in Croatia in April this year. Recall, the company also announced it would build five vessels in the next six years in Croatia.    The independent luxury magazine showcasing the finest and most luxurious things in life, Luxurious Magazine, also published an…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of May, 2020, Croatian Railways (HZ) has ordered twelve new trains for suburban and intercity traffic from Končar's company - Electric Vehicles. The move marks an investment worth a massive 465 million kuna and it is part of the investment cycle of Croatia's much needed railway modernisation, which is being realised with foreign loans and money from European Union funds, writes HRT. This is one of about twenty electric trains that Croatian Railways (HZ Putnički prijevoz) ordered from Končar, and the new twelve brand new modern trains should be in service in a…

The ban on the work of shops on Sundays has been a talking point for quite some time now. With some being firmly for the idea of keeping Sunday a free day on which shops don't operate, and others, primarily Croatian traders, being entirely against it. Many Croatian traders are constantly claiming that such a move further damages an already less than ideal economic situation and that this will only become exacerbated in the uncertain times we're currently living in owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The Croatian economy, much like every other economy across the globe, has been suffering the…

ZAGREB, May 17, 2020 - The Croatian Tourism Ministry has decided to finance six regional competence centres with an additional HRK 388 million (€51.32 million), with Minister Gari Cappelli saying that competence centres were a long-term solution to the problem of labour shortages in the hospitality industry. Eighty-five percent of the funding for the project comes form the European Social Fund and 15% from the national budget. Six regional competence centres - in Dubrovnik, Split, Opatija, Pula, Zabok and Osijek - have applied for HRK 300 million available as part of a tender for the establishment of competence centres, published in July 2019.…

May 17, 2020 - After health tourism came to a halt because of the coronavirus pandemic, the owners of dental offices and polyclinics in Croatia are waiting for the borders to open again. The return of guests from abroad is also desired by other health care institutions that realize part of their income from the provision of services to foreign clients, such as cosmetic surgeons or spas. Novi List reports that it is estimated that the daily consumption of wellness users last year was almost 150 euro, in spa tourism 60 euro, and in medical tourism 240 euro. According to official…

ZAGREB, May 16, 2020 - The Croatian Employers Association (HUP) Trade Sector has said that the ban on Sunday trading currently in force is not an appropriate measure to fight the coronavirus epidemic, calling on the competent ministries to allow shops to work on Sundays and holidays without the disinfection break now in force. In a letter sent on Saturday to the ministries of economy and the interior the sector said that the ban on Sunday trading, which caused more customers to shop on other days in the week, notably Monday, Saturday and Friday, did not apply to other sectors…

As Novac/Viktor Vresnik writes on the 12th of May, 2020, if Croatia had introduced the euro, it would have been much easier for us to cope with the coronavirus crisis, according to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Has Croatia been able to adopt the euro so far? No, it hasn't, so any further discussion of the matter is therefore unnecessary. The second question, of course, is whether Croatia needs the euro today, or perhaps it is better to be more precise and say, does it need it in three years? When it can join the Eurozone at the earliest, provided the…

May 12, 2020 - Medical tourism in the corona age. Bagatin Clinic's inspirational CEO Ognjen Bagatin on how his award-winning clinic is serving its clients safely in the new reality.  It seems an age since I was in Berlin in early December watching Ognjen Bagatin and Andrea Stipanic of Bagatin Clinic take the stage at the International Medical Travel Journal awards for Best International Cosmetic Surgery Clinic 2019. Although it was less than six months ago, such a lot has happened since then that it really does seem iike a different era.  But some things never change, and that includes…