Politics

November the 4th, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had everything from investors purchasing stakes in Croatian companies that apparently nobody knew anything about, attempts to legalise marijuana, hopes for neighbouring countries to become EU member states, Italians and more drama regarding Zoran Milanovic. Fortenova claims it was unaware of the approval of the sale of Sberbank's stake to an investor from the UAE, the government says it knew nothing, either Ever heard of Saik Alketbi? Nobody here has either. The name cropped up for apparently the first time this week in Croatia after the sale of the…

October the 28th, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics, we've had everything from insults, Slovenia's opinions on Croatian Schengen entry and wage increase proposals to healthcare reforms, Milanovic's latest actions, and Nancy Pelosi. The Croatian Health Insurance Fund's HDZ boss referred to Croats as arrogant in his speech about healthcare not being free The director of the HZZO, HDZ member Lucian Vukelic has referred to Croats as arrogant because "they think healthcare is free". The HDZ member at HZZO's helm also made sure to refer to himself as somewhat arrogant, too, just for good measure. "We have a lot…

October the 21st, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics saw everything from hopes of energy drink bans, the Russian media writing about Milanovic and former government ministers getting new jobs to gas prices, wage proposals and hospital construction plans. MEP Biljana Borzan (SDP) thinks the Health Ministry and the Croatian Government should ban the sale of potentially dangerous energy drinks to minors How many kids need to suffer the health consequences of consuming energy drinks before the government steps in and does something about it? Borzan asks, referencing the horrific case in which a twelve year old suffered a…

October 16, 2022 - After two and a half years of exceptional challenges due to the pandemic, the world is facing new crises. The road ahead will probably be just as difficult, if not more, Fund Director Kristalina Georgieva said at the end of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. The IMF's strategic committee called on Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine. The Governor of the Croatian National Bank, Boris Vujcic, commented on the forecast for the Croatian economy. As HRT reports, the war worsened the economic crisis, slowed growth, and created inflation and energy…

October the 14th, 2022 - Let's have a look at the past week in Croatian politics with just some of the stories from the political stage, the bad, the embarrassing, and the just plain weird. HDZ earns its second worst rating since Andrej Plenkovic has been at the helm of the party HDZ hasnt done brilliantly in its latest rating, with it being the second worst one since Plenkovic has been top dog. Index reports that in cooperation with Promocija (Promotion) plus, RTL published the CRO Demoskop for the month of October 2022. The survey was conducted from October the…

October 12, 2022 - Former Prime Minister and President of the HDZ, Ivo Sanader, was acquitted of war profiteering in the Hypo scandal in a retrial on Wednesday, for which he was convicted twice in earlier proceedings. As Poslovni writes, the verdict was announced by Zagreb County Court judge Saša Lui after the prosecution and defense presented their closing speeches last week. Sanader once again asserted that he was not responsible for war profiteering, stressing that he stands by the defenses he presented in earlier proceedings. Disputed commission of HRK 3.6 million Sanader was tried for the third time for…

October the 8th, 2022 - Ivica Katavic from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) has attempted to explain just why Croatian food prices are extortionate at the moment, even when compared to the prices of the same items elsewhere in Europe. Contrary to popular belief, ridiculous Croatian VAT rates aren't the only thing causing the issue during these difficult times dominated by inflationary pressures. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, we're currently witnessing an increase in the price of almost everything, almost every single day we end up unpleasantly surprised by a new, noticeably higher price of some very ordinary ingredient or food.…

October the 7th, 2022 - The proverbial race for a massive 2.2 billion kuna post-pandemic Croatian tourism aid package is now on, with the focus being placed on the continental part of the country as well as on the coast. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, on Wednesday this week, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport announced public calls/invitations for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Croatian: NPOO) which comes with a total value of 2.2 billion kuna. "I'm extremely proud that we've managed to reach this step, because the road to it was extremely demanding. I consider the fact that 2.2…

October the 6th, 2022 - Brand new Croatian euro coins will be made available for both people and business entities to purchase as of the 1st of December, 2022 as official Croatian Eurozone accession is set to occur on the 1st of January, 2023. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, approximately 420 million Croatian euro coins with national motifs weighing as much as 3.7 tonnes are currently being produced, and they will be offered to all people and business entities from December the 1st, 2022. The one euro coin features the image of a wood marten, which is an animal similar to a…

October the 5th, 2022 - Croatia is entering the Eurozone during particularly difficult and turbulent times, following a global pandemic, and now during the Russia-Ukraine war which has resulted in spiralling inflation and an energy crisis, but what are the positives? As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, all Croatian kuna that people have at home will have to be exchanged for euros unless they want to keep hold of it for historical, nostalgic purposes (and I'm sure we'll all be keeping a coin or two). It's interesting to note that some of that money will be flowing into the purchase of real…