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ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - President Zoran Milanović said on Thursday that the procedure for the purchase of fighter jets was very strict, but he would not reveal details of today's Defence Council meeting or the type of aircraft Croatia would go for. "The process has been good so far. It hasn't been compromised, there have been no information leaks. Eventually, the cost will have to be presented to the Croatian public," Milanović told the press. He said it was important that Croatia had the fighter jets by no later than 2024. "They have to be here by then," Milanović…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Pfizer would produce materials for its COVID-19 vaccine in its pharmaceutical plant in Savski Marof outside Zagreb, which would put Croatia into the group of European countries that manufacture ingredients of certain vaccines. Plenković informed his cabinet today that he had discussed this matter with Pfizer's chairman and chief executive officer Albert Bourla on Wednesday. The Savski Marof plant will produce the DNA template for the COVID-19 vaccine. This is an investment of $10 million, and will create jobs for about 30 people. Plenković recalled that the European Commission had announced that…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - The UHPA association of travel agencies has called on the government to urgently decide to extend its job-retention scheme and to compensate travel agencies for fixed costs, considering that so far this year they have seen a drop in turnover of more than 90%. "For six months now we have been negotiating intensively with government officials about a compensation model to help salvage travel agencies. We have the support of Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac and believe it is high time to start with financial assistance for preparation for the season and for the normalisation of activities,…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - Croatia's take-home pay in March came to HRK 7,138, rising 6.3% on the year in the nominal terms and five percent in the real terms, according to the data released by the national statistical office on Thursday (DZS). The average wage in March rose by 1.4% in the nominal terms and o.3% in the real terms in comparison to February 2021. The DZS says on its website that "the highest average monthly paid off net earnings per person in paid employment in legal entities for March 2021 were paid off in Information service activities and…

May 20, 2021 - Earlier in May, the Croatian Mathematical Society (HMD) elected a new president, Dr. Vesna Županović. As Vedran Pavlić wrote for TCN back in 2016, Croatian students were then better in math than in 2011. Fantastic results were also accomplished in 2018 when Croatian students scored medals at the mathematical olympiad. Good results didn't go amiss in 2020, and initiatives for promoting science (such as the one of the Local History Museum in the central town of Ogulin that introduced kindergarten kids with quantum physics), appear all over the country. Scientists do have their own professional associations,…

May 20, 2021 - What's it like doing business in the expat village of Split? Monique Laffite shares her trials and tribulations as a female business owner in the Dalmatian capital.  I wanted to start this article with seven Spanish curse words that can easily describe what it is like to be a female business owner in Split, but I’ll leave the profanity to the gossip corner.  Lord knows they are half of the problem. That’s how I felt forced to write this article: pure gossip. So, before you lend your ear to those with the colorful stories about people’s lives, and how…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 695 new cases of coronavirus infection and 36 related deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Thursday. The number of active cases stands at 5,084. There are 1,416 COVID patients in hospitals, 148 of whom are on ventilators, and 17,490 people are in self-isolation. To date, 1,953,059 people have been tested for the novel virus, including 7,038 in the last 24 hours. Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia confirmed its first case of the infection, 352,692 people have been registered as having contracted coronavirus and 7,828 of them have died. A total of 1,450,169 doses of vaccine…

May 20, 2021 - As expected, RK NEXE defeated second division team Slatina with a convincing 25:41 and advanced to the semifinal of the Croatian Handball Cup. The final tournament will be played in Poreč from June 18 to 20, and in addition to RK NEXE, two other semifinalists are known - PPD Zagreb, which defeated Vinkovci's Spačva, and Sesvete, who celebrated away in Poreč. The fourth participant in the final tournament will be the winner of the duel Balić-Metličić - Dubrava. Last night's visit to Slatina was supposed to be a handball holiday, but the pandemic still took its…

ZAGREB, 20 May (Hina) - Croatia's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Jasna Ognjanovac, was summoned by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday over President Zoran Milanović's statement in which he strongly criticized "Bulgaria's policy towards the European integration of North Macedonia," Bulgarian media reported.  Ognjanovac was summoned at the request of Minister Svetlan Stoev, and she was received by the Director General for European Affairs, Rumen Alexandrov. The reason for the meeting was President Zoran Milanović's statement after a summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process at Brdo Pri Kranju, in which he sharply criticized Bulgaria's policy towards the European integration of North Macedonia, the Bulgarian…

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - A total of 11.3 million passengers were transported in Croatia by all means of transport in the first three months of 2021, which is around 5.2 million fewer passengers or a 31.4% drop from the same period of 2020, while the transport of commodities dropped by 4.5% to close to 28 million tonnes. According to preliminary figures released by the national statistical office, in Q1 the most passengers, 7 million, were transported by bus, a drop of 32% compared to Q1 2020. As for the transport of goods, 18 million of the 28 million tonnes of…