ZAGREB, 16 July 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that the upgrade of Croatia's credit rating by all the three major credit rating agencies was a consequence of Croatia's admission to the euro area on 1 January 2023, which  is also an important signal to investors.

"The upgrade of our credit rating by the Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's agencies is a consequence of Croatia's euro zone membership, which also provides security to Croatian citizens in times of crisis. Croatia's highest investment rating so far in history is a message of trust and an important signal to investors. The direction we are moving brings about results for Croatia," Plenković tweeted.

On Friday, Moody's upgraded Croatia's rating by two notches to"Baa2", after on Wednesday and Thursday, Fitch and Standard & Poor's raised Croatia's credit rating to BBB+ each.

ZAGREB, 16 July 2022 - In the last 24 hours there have been 1,654 new cases of the infection with coronavirus, and another four COVID patients have died, according to the data released by Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team on Saturday.

There are 10,053 active cases, including 477 hospitalised patients, 16 of whom are on ventilators, while 5,281 persons are self-isolating.

A total of 4,246 persons have been tested for coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

There have been also 1,325 recoveries.

July 16, 2022 - Petra Martić is on her way to the second WTA title in her career! The Croatian tennis player has reached the Ladies Open Lausanne final after defeating French player Caroline Garcia - 6:4, 1:6, 6:3 on Saturday. 

Petra Martić has reached the fifth WTA final in her career in Lausanne, Switzerland, and her first final since 2019! 

The Croatian tennis player found a way to victory in the semi-final match after three sets against the 48th tennis player in the world, French player Caroline Garcia - 6:4, 1:6, 6:3. 

The key to Petra's victory was a great start to the decisive set in which she went from 1:1 to an unattainable 5:1. During the match, Martić scored five aces with a first-serve percentage of 64 percent, and she used three out of four break points (Garcia three out of seven).

This was their fourth meeting and Petra's first victory. For the second WTA title in her career (after Istanbul 2109), she will play against Serbian tennis player Olga Danilović, the 124th tennis player in the world. It will be their second meeting. Danilović won their first meeting in the 1st round of the Australian Open in 2021.

Martić advanced to the semifinals after defeating Swiss tennis player and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic, 6:3, 7:6 (2) in the quarterfinals. 

Recall, just last week, Martić reached the second week of Wimbledon for the third time in her career. She played in the round of 16 in 2017 and 2019. Martić advanced to the round of 16 after defeating the 8th-seeded American Jessica Pegula (WTA - 9th) 6:2, 7:6 (5) in less than an hour and a half of play.

In the round of 16, Martić lost to Kazakhstani tennis player Jelena Ribakina, the 17th-seed of the tournament, who won against Chinese tennis player Qinwen Zheng 7:6 (4), 7:5 in the third round.

Petra will play in the Ladies Open Lausanne final on Sunday at 20:00. 

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

ZAGREB, 16 July 2022 - Moody's on Friday raised Croatia's credit rating by two levels to an investment grade and assessed that Croatian economy's outlook is stable following to the formal completion of the decision-making for Croatia's entry into the euro area.

On 12 July, the Economic and Financial Council of the European Union (Ecofin) gave the final approval for Croatia's admission to the euro zone on 1 January 2023 when the country is switching to the euro.

According to a press release issued by this international credit rating agency, "Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today upgraded the Government of Croatia's foreign- and domestic-currency long-term issuer ratings and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings to Baa2 from Ba1."

"The outlook has been changed to stable from ratings under review. This concludes the review for upgrade that was initiated on 24 June 2022."

"The upgrade of the ratings to Baa2 is driven by the adoption of the legal acts formalizing Croatia's adoption of the euro by the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on 12 July 2022. Croatia will adopt the euro as its domestic currency on 1 January 2023, thereby eliminating any foreign currency risk for the government's largely euro-denominated debt burden and reducing government liquidity risk.

Moody's also sees euro adoption as credit positive for Croatia's economic strength as it will remove foreign currency risk and transaction costs also for the private sector, spurring further economic integration of Croatia with the euro area.

Ability of Croatia's institutions to complete rigorous process towards euro adoption on time

Furthermore, the ability of the country's institutions to complete the rigorous process towards euro adoption within the planned time frame also supports Moody's assessment of the strength of Croatia's institutions and governance.

Stable outlook balances continued strength of Croatia's economic and fiscal recovery

"The stable outlook balances the continued strength of Croatia's economic and fiscal recovery from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic against risks to the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in Europe stemming from rapidly rising inflation, concerns around the stability of the EU's energy supply and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Caa3 negative)," reads the press release.

The long-term country ceilings of Croatia for local and foreign currency bonds have been raised to Aa2 from A2. This reflects the fact that for euro area countries, as Croatia will be from 1 January 2023 on, a six-notch gap between the local currency ceiling and the local currency rating, as well as a zero-notch gap between the local currency ceiling and foreign currency ceiling, is typical, reflecting benefits from the euro area's strong common institutional, legal and regulatory framework, as well as liquidity support and other crisis management mechanisms. It also is in line with our view of de minimis exit risk from the euro area.

Rationale for upgrading Croatia's ratings

"Most notably, the adoption of the euro reduces Croatia's share of government debt denominated in foreign currency from over 70% at present to close to zero, as this debt is almost wholly denominated in euros. This, in turn, has a significant positive impact on Moody's assessment of the government's fiscal strength as it eliminates the risk of a sudden and potentially significant increase in the local currency value of government debt relative to GDP in the event of a devaluation of the local currency relative to the euro," reads the press release.

Fiscal strength is one of the four factors of Moody's assessment of a sovereign's creditworthiness.

"Croatia's economy is already highly integrated with that of the euro area, and the country has maintained a managed float of its domestic currency in a narrow band against the euro since 1999. Nevertheless, we expect that euro adoption will have additional positive effects on Croatia's economic strength over the medium to long term by reducing transaction costs and eliminating any remaining foreign currency risks for transactions between Croatia and the euro area, which already accounts for more than half of all of Croatia's imports and exports. This is likely to spur further economic integration and foreign direct investment into Croatia, supporting its longer term growth potential.

"Furthermore, Croatia's adoption of the euro will also reduce foreign currency risks for the banking sector, and will also have a positive impact on our assessment of government liquidity and external vulnerability risks. As a euro area member, Croatia would in a future crisis stand to benefit from potential European Central Bank (ECB) support programmes such as the asset purchase programmes that were first introduced in 2015, while membership of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM, Aaa stable) will also support the government's ability to fund itself in a crisis situation.

Lastly, the ability of the Croatian institutions to steer the country into the euro only two years after joining ERM II - the antechamber of the currency bloc - supports our assessment of the effectiveness and strength of the country's institutions and governance.

Agency expects Croatia's GDP growth to remain robust at 3% in 2022

The stable outlook balances the continued strength of Croatia's economic and fiscal recovery from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic against risks to the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in Europe over the coming 12 to 18 months as well as country-specific challenges that include the effective absorption of EU funds and adverse demographic trends.

The Croatian economy has continued to recover strongly from the sharply negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country's tourism sector and overall economy in 2020.

In its baseline scenario, the agency expects Croatia's GDP growth to remain robust at 3% in 2022 while the debt burden will continue to decline at a more moderate pace, although the continued strength of the tourism sector's rebound from the pandemic could produce outcomes that are stronger than our baseline forecast this year.

However, there are prominent risks to the economic and fiscal outlook for Croatia stemming from a deteriorating macroeconomic environment in Europe. Such risks tied to rapidly rising inflation and concerns about the stability of the energy supply of several EU member states are in large part also linked to geopolitical risks and heightened uncertainty stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the on-going military conflict. Although the direct risks of a potential energy supply shock are limited for Croatia, in an adverse scenario, the euro area could enter a recession over the next 12 to 18 months, which would also have material negative implications for the economic and fiscal outlook for Croatia.

Moreover, Croatia's relatively weak track record of absorbing EU investment funds raises question marks around whether the country's economy will be able to derive the full benefits of the very substantial funding available for Croatia under NGEU and the EU's regular budget for 2021-2027. Croatia's medium to long term growth potential also continues to face significant challenges from the projected decline of the country's working age population.

Upward pressure could build on the ratings if Croatia manages to maintain a strong economic performance and growth potential as well as a continued reduction of the government debt burden over the coming years. This would notably be supported by evidence of effective implementation of the investments and reforms tied to the EU's post-pandemic recovery fund Next Generation EU, which would support economic growth in the near term but also growth potential over the longer term.

Possible negative pressure tied to resurgence of pandemic-related complications or to fallout of Russia's invasion

Negative pressure could build on the ratings in the event of a sharp deterioration of Croatia's growth potential relative to Moody's expectations, most likely tied either to a resurgence of pandemic-related complications for the tourism industry or to the economic and political spillover effects from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A failure to effectively implement the investments and reforms of Next Generation EU would also weigh negatively on Moody's assessment of Croatia's growth potential and the strength of its institutions and governance, says the agency.

All three major agencies raise Croatia's credit rating to highest level in history

The Fitch agency raised Croatia's credit rating to BBB+ on Wednesday, and on Thursday, Standard & Poor's upgraded its credit rating by two levels - from BBB- to BBB+, with a stable outlook.

Until the first half of 2019, Croatia had a non-investment rating from both Fitch and S&P, and now the country is at the third level of the investment rating, its highest level in history.

A regular review of the rating by S&P was scheduled for September, but due to the importance of the confirmation of Croatia's entry into the euro area S&P decided to raise the rating earlier.

ZAGREB, 16 July 2022 - The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, the oldest political party representing ethnic Croats in Serbia, marked its 32nd anniversary at a ceremony in Subotica on Friday.

Addressing the event, the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina president Tomislav Žigmanov spoke about the importance of being included in dialogue and talks on the formation of Serbia's new government.

"We want to be actors in policies that will steer Serbia into European integrations," said he.

Žigmanov, who won a seat in the Serbian parliament in the last elections in April, said that this would open new prospects for the Croat community in Serbia.

The Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina is the only parliamentary party representing the interests of ethnic Croats. o

The party has over a score of branches, most of them being in larger towns of Vojvodina.

Since its establishment the party has had three presidents: Bela Tonković and Petar Kuntić as Žigmanov's predecessors.

July 16, 2022 - After three bronze and one silver, the Croatia beach handball team won their first gold medal at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama!

The Croatia men's senior national team defeated Qatar 2-1 (14-17, 20-16, 9-6) in the final of the World Games and won their first gold at the World Games and the 33rd beach handball medal in Croatia.

The World Games in Birmingham are the fifth edition in which the Croatia men's senior beach handball team participates. From previous competitions, the seniors have won three bronze medals (Germany 2005, Taiwan 2009, Colombia 2013) and one silver (Poland 2017), and the rich collection lacked gold. However, with the victory against the national team of Qatar in the final, that goal was achieved.

In the first set of the final, Qatar was more successful and went to halftime with 14-17. In the second set, Croatia was better and forced the game into a shootout after 20-16. After a flawless shootout, the final score was 2-1 for Croatia! 

Dominik Marković was declared the tournament's best goalkeeper, while Lucian Bura once again won the title of the best right winger.

Coach Mladen Paradžik, national team captain Ivan Jurić, and national team member Josip Leko shared their impressions after the final.

“The boys won another gold this year. We deservedly won the two big competitions with the pure mentality of a winner, which adorns this team the most. That keeps them together, and it's wonderful to lead such a team with your assistants. It should be noted that the boys deserved all the praise. As for the match, it was a nervous final, but that's how it is when you're playing for a medal, and I'd say that was expected given the importance of the match. A great conclusion to the season. We are still waiting for the second stage of the Beach Handball Global Tour in Spain. Our goal has been achieved, and now we are striving towards the future and the Olympics. In the end, I would like to say that these medals are very important for us because they would not be possible without the work of the Croatian Handball Federation and all the people who stand behind this medal. It's not a small number of people; it's not just ten players. It is the product of the systematic and synchronized work of everyone involved, and I am very grateful to them for that," coach Mladen Paradžik said.

"We are thrilled to be champions for the first time in the history of the Croatia national team. The first gold at the World Games, the most massive event after the Olympic Games. It's an event for those sports that aspire to join the Olympic family. After three bronze and one silver, the gold finally arrived. The match was tough; Qatar was a great opponent. They read our game in the first set. In the second set, we stepped up our game in attack; with a good defense in the first and second half, we managed to win and go to the shootout. We are returning to Croatia with full hearts and happiness," said captain Ivan Jurić after the final.

"The first gold at the World Games. That was our goal. This summer, we won everything we could, which only means that we prepared well and that our heads were in the right place. As for the match, in the first set, we played defense, and we conceded less than 18 goals, which is always our goal. We were not concentrated on the attack, which led to the victory of Qatar in the first set. But we didn't lose our heads; we played our game, and all scored in the shootout. We are thrilled and delighted and hope there will be more gold medals at the World Games," said Josip Leko.

Recall, after the Croatia junior beach handball team brought home the gold medal at the world championships last month, the senior Croatia beach handball team recorded their third world championship title at the 2022 Men's Beach Handball World Championships in Greece. In the final match, Croatia was better than Denmark 2-0 (24-22, 21-18). Lucian Bura was named the best right-winger and the top scorer of the championship then, too. 

Source: BHC

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

July 16, 2022 - Twenty years a foreigner in Croatia. Part 8 of 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years - a new approach to business meetings.  

One of the things that really confused me during my early days in Croatia, especially in the cities, was the fact that the cafes seemed to be pretty full almost all of the time. Did these people do ANY work, EVER? It seemed that the order of the day was to sit in the sun nursing a 2-hour espresso, watching the world go by with friends. How could the economy possibly achieve anything when most of the workforce was out drinking coffee all day?

It was one of my first lessons in how my Western mindset was very much at odds with my new surroundings.

"But don't you see that there is lots of business and work going on all around you," a local friend pointd out. "Cafes as offices for business meetings are part of the culture here. Look at that table, for example - big discussions. And that one. And that."

And when I took a closer look, I could see several business meetings taking place. Not long afterwards, I came across some research which claimed that 56% of business deals in Croatia are concluded over coffee (or something stronger) in cafes.

How civilised is that?

I started to do the same. 

Not long after I moved to Hvar, I opened a real estate agency, Hvar Property Services. The 2003 Croatian property boom was in its infancy, and even though I did not know a lot about Croatian property, I knew people that did, and I knew how to deal with British and other foreign clients. How hard could it be... 

Rather than investing in furnishing some swanky office, I decided to go local with my official meeting point, and I did a deal with my local cafe on Jelsa's main square to use it as an office. Lots of business for the cafe, a prime location for me, as well as a handy place to leave papers, or for clients to have a drink if I was running late (which I usually was - I was already becoming part-Dalmatian). 

(The Office. Captain Nijazi provided excellent backend support for years at Caffe Splendid on the main square in Jelsa. Do not leave the island without trying the cherry strudel)

My new office was also part of my sales pitch. I would welcome my potential buyers with a cherry strudel and cappuccino, and we would marvel at the beauty, safety and wonder of life on the main square, then give them an overview of the perfect expat life on an idyllic Dalmatian island. The aim (and it worked) was to get them to see what looked like a wonderful lifestyle (it really was) and think that if I could achieve that, then why couldn't they?

After coffee and strudel, before we went to look at houses, I would drive them around the island to showcase its magic and make them fall in love with the island, then 1-2 properties before lunch, then a business lunch in a restaurant in the old town of Stari Grad, accompanied by wine. The seduction had begun, and I would always show my best property immediately after lunch, with great sales results. The end of the tour would return to where we started with a debrief over a drink.  And then we would meet again in the evening to close the deal and discuss paperwork and next steps. Was I hanging out in cafes much of the day? Absolutely. Was I getting any business done? You betcha. 

The cafe and business also have another function, one more sharp difference from my own culture.  I wanted to meet the Mayor to discuss a business initiative, and so I made the logical step of going to his office to try and make an appointment. The secretary was evasive. he is away today, can you come back tomorrow and we can see. And so it went on for days. I vented my frustration with a local friend over coffee at my office on the square.

"Haha, but you really do not understand how to get a meeting organised in this society, do you? There is the mayor in the cafe opposite. He comes for his coffee every day at 11 to the same cafe. Go over tomorrow morning before he arrives, pay for his coffee, so that he will enquire who paid for it. Then walk across, wish him a good day and ask him when might be a good time to get 15 minutes with him. Over a coffee of course."

It is a little trick that works wonderfully. 

After we moved to Varazdin, I managed to orgainse my time so that I was working from home 6 days a week, with one day a week in Zagreb. Arriving at 10:00 on the bus, leaving at 22:00 on the bus - 12 hours of solid cafe time - meeting, meeting, meeting, with the occasional social gathering if time permitted. They were some of my favourite days at TCN, for we covered so many topics that I would be bombarded with incredible stories and features from all sectors of Croatian society one after the other. And then I would have 6 days to digest and write about them, until I repeated the cycle. The relaxed backdrop of the cafe always helped the conversation move along. 

And the flexibility of the cafe for business meetings should not be underrated. Digital nomads are all the rage these days, but I guess I have been one for 20 years now, working with a laptop and internet connection, wherever I found one. Sometimes meetings are cancelled, or there is a gap between business meetings. Or an article needs to be written urgently. In all those cases, order a cold one from the waiter and get to work. Business cafe life, unbeatable.

I should mention the dress code. 

On February 24, 2001, I walked out of my local pub near Oxford with a small rucksack and a hitchhiking sign saying 'South Africa', walking out of my old life and starting completely afresh at the ripe old age of 32. I never looked back once, and you can read about my 9-month journey to South Africa in my first book, Lebanese Nuns Don't Ski.  One of the many things I promised myself is that I would never wear a suit again, except for weddings and funerals. 

And - for a full 15 years - I stayed true to that until a client offered me a job that required me wearing a suit for the evening. And then, really rather hilariously, given my lack of good looks, rounded physique and sartorial elegance, I was chosen to be the first-ever international male model in the illustrious 100-year history of Varteks. The reason was soon clear - my imperfections, for the fabulous campaign was called Imperfect Guy in a Perfect Suit. If I could look good in a suit, imagine what a suit could do for you. 

If I was looking to avoid wearing a suit, then I could have chosen no better home than Dalmatia. With the majority of meetings taking place in cafes, so the majority of them saw me (and others) turning up in shorts in the midday sun. Even when there are more formal gatherings in Dalmatia, there seems to be a wide range within the dress code. There are those who wear suits to everything (apart from the most formal meetings), others who will turn up in a shirt even to weddings. My kind of space. 

(Business planning with real entrepreneurs - planning the Entrepreneurial Mindset conference in a Zagreb cafe with Jan de Jong, Ognjen Bagatin, and the team from EY)

As I have never tried to win any sartorial elegance prizes, I saw no point in developing myself as the Brit with suit and tie at every occasion (despite my international model status), but a more casual shirt and slacks standard (with shorts for cafe meetings), bringing out the power suit only on the finest occasions. People seem to have accepted me that way, and I find it incredibly comfortable. 

As is the whole culture and setting of business meetings in Croatia. If only doing the actual business was not so hard...  

****

What is it like to live in Croatia? An expat for 20 years, you can follow my series, 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years, starting at the beginning - Business and Dalmatia.

Follow Paul Bradbury on LinkedIn.

Croatia, a Survival Kit for Foreigners will be out by Christmas. If you would like to reserve a copy, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject 20 Years Book

July 16, 2022 - Many Hollywood actors and musicians in Split have been spotted over the last few days. A look at who is in the famous coastal city. 

A team of about 20 world-famous filmmakers (actors and producers) walked around Split on Thursday afternoon and asked where to have dinner. They were recommended a restaurant on the Riva. And all 20 entered that restaurant, to the surprise of the staff.

"We were sitting at the next table; we couldn't believe that a few meters away from us was Chris Rock, the Chris Rock who was slapped by Will Smith. And David Spade and Woody Harrelson were next to him, and I think she also saw the drummer of Metalica," said a Split local for Slobodna Dalmacija, who happened to be at Zoi restaurant on the waterfront when the film crew arrived. Sacha Baron Cohen is also with the crew. 

And what did they eat? Well, Zoi didn't want to disclose the information as they guard the discretion of their guests. However, in the end, Slobodna learned from other sources that they enjoyed seafood risotto, squid carpaccio, filet mignon, and lamb fillet. They also shared desserts. And the bill? That'll be left for the staff at Zoi to know. 

The famous group then took a short walk around the city. When they came to the Riva, a frenzy of fans formed, with everyone looking for a photo shoot with the stars.

You can see photos of the actors on Slobodna Dalmacija and T.portal. 

But that's not all. 

Co-founder and drummer of the legendary heavy metal band Metallica Lars Urlich is also vacationing in Croatia and visited the plant-based vegetarian restaurant Pandora Greenbox in Split with his travel group. 

"We were all surprised that Lars is a vegetarian. The man is very approachable and was in the mood to take photos," the restaurant said for Dalmatinski Portal. 

Vedran Cvitkovic

Urlich was a young tennis hope from Denmark. At the age of 16, he arrived in Los Angeles to devote himself to a professional career, but instead, he founded Metallica with singer and guitarist James Hetfield, today one of the most famous heavy metal bands.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.