Politics

ZAGREB, 22 July 2022 - The Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) on Friday called on the government to adopt a new aid package for the enterprise sector because of an enormous rise in energy prices. Employers are recommending four measures - to limit the price of electricity to up to €150 per megawatt-hour for all economic operators from 1 August this year to 31 December 2023; suspend from 1 August 2022 to 31 December 2023, or permanently reduce grid use charges and excise taxes; temporarily reduce charges for renewable energy sources; and reduce the income tax base by the amount of the…

ZAGREB, 22 July 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that fuel prices should drop further and announced that the government would intervene again if such a possibility arises following the calculation of fuel prices, which is released tomorrow. The government intervenes every two weeks and, according to what I've just discussed with (Economy) Minister Filipović, it seems that fuel prices might be even lower, Plenković told the press on the island of Hvar. If that is the case, and the calculation is tomorrow, we will intervene again and make decisions at the government conference call on Monday,…

ZAGREB, 22 July 2022 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović on Friday commented on the Russian government's decision to include Croatia on its list of hostile countries. "We are not at war, but this has been going on for months. We are on hostile terms with Russia. We are not in it so actively like other countries that are in fact at war. This is a very dangerous situation that threatens to evolve into something enormous. I hope it does not," Milanović said. The Russian government has added Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Slovakia, and Slovenia to its list of hostile countries, against…

ZAGREB, 22 July 2022 - The Russian government has added Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia to its list of hostile countries, against which it is taking countermeasures, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Friday. The document gives the number of local staff that can be recruited by the embassies and consulates of these countries in Russia. Croatia and Slovenia can no longer employ local staff  in their diplomatic and consular posts. Greece is allowed to hire up to 34 people, Denmark 20 and Slovakia 16. "The list approved by the government is not final and could be expanded given the continued hostile…

ZAGREB, 21 July 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Pelješac Bridge would be opened next Tuesday, 26 July, and invited everyone to attend the ceremony. "The construction of the bridge is a sovereignist move to connect the Croatian territory," the premier said at the cabinet meeting. The entire project, including access roads, cost €525 million, of which €357 million was secured as a grant from the European Union. The official name of the bridge is Pelješki Most in Croatian or Pelješac Bridge in English. The 2,140-metre-long bridge spans the strait between the village of Komarna on the mainland…

ZAGREB, 21 July 2022 - The Croatian government on Thursday adopted a decision setting 1 January 2023 as the date for introducing the euro as legal tender in Croatia. "The euro will become the official monetary unit and legal tender in Croatia on 1 January 2023," the government said in its decision, presented by Finance Minister Marko Primorac. The exchange rate was fixed at HRK 7.53450 for one euro. The period of dual circulation of the two currencies begins on 1 January 2023 at 00:00 and ends on 14 January 2023 at 24:00 hours. The period of mandatory display of dual prices lasts…

ZAGREB, 21 July 2022 - Croatia has registered 1,793 new coronavirus cases and seven COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Thursday. The number of active cases currently stands at 10,965, of whom 578 infected persons are being treated in hospital, including 15 placed on ventilators, while 5,196 persons are self-isolating. Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 1,173,374 people have been registered as having contracted the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, of whom 16,188 have died, and 1,146,221 have recovered, including 1,197 in the last 24 hours. A total…

July the 21st, 2022 - Croatia is the first in all of Europe to purchase the brand new Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopters which boast special modules for medical evacuations and search and rescue missions. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic PhD signed a contract with the American company Bell Textron Inc., for the purchase of two multipurpose Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopters, making Croatia the first to do so. In this way, based on normal public procurement procedures, the Croatian Ministry of Interior managed to acquire the first Subaru Bell…

July the 21st, 2022 - Influential HDZ member Franjo Lucic, HDZ a member of parliament in the last convocation, is set to be imprisoned for one year for bribing Telegram journalist Drago Hedl, the Supreme Court has decided. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in a session which was held back on June the 7th, 2022, the Council of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia accepted the appeal of the state attorney, and the verdict of the first-instance court in the sentencing decision of HDZ member Franjo Lucic was changed in such a way that the accused was sentenced to a…

ZAGREB, 20 July 2022 - Deputy whip of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Siniša Hajdaš Dončić said on Wednesday that SDP had submitted a motion to the Sabor for the establishment of a national council for energy and energy transition in order to activate renewables and help citizens in the energy crisis. energy That proposal, said Hajdaš Dončić, is a hand to the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and all other parties because infrastructure and energy have no party connotations. "It is a Croatian public good and a Coatian national interest," he told a press conference, stressing that a national consensus is needed on the issue…