ZAGREB, 14 July 2022 - The government on Thursday adopted a HRK 1.2 million (€160,000) aid programme for beekeepers to offset the damage caused by mass deaths of bee colonies this spring and a HRK 80 million (€10.6 m) emergency package to help dairy, pig and poultry farmers cope with increased feed and energy prices.

Mass deaths of bees occurred in Međimurje County, Bjelovar-Bilogora County and Virovitica-Podravina County this spring, causing a loss of nearly 2,000 bee colonies and jeopardising the pollination of agricultural crops, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said.

The aim of the programme is to compensate the beekeepers for the losses and ensure continued beekeeping. The beekeepers will be entitled to HRK 860 (€115) per colony.

The programme of emergency measures for dairy, pig and poultry farmers aims to ensure the continuation of primary production in these sectors and contribute to the security of supply of milk, pork, poultry and eggs. The aid will be allocated to micro, small and medium enterprises.

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ZAGREB, 19 June 2022 -The Central State Office for Croats Abroad has set aside 8.7 million kuna (€1.16 million) for 136 projects and programmes which will be carried out by associations of Croat communities in 12 European countries.

The grants for ethnic Croat projects range from HRK 7,000 to HRK 320,000.

This highest grant has been awarded to the project of public transport of ethnic Croat students in Janjevo and revitalization of the local Croat community in that part of Kosovo. Furthermore, the soup kitchen in Letnica, Kosovo, has received HRK 180,000 in aid.

The Democratic Alliance of the Croats in Romania has been awarded HRK 299,000 for its project of the preservation of the identity of local Croats in that eastern European country.

The state camp of the Croatian language and culture "Collegium Croaticum", managed by the Croatian local self-governing authorities (HDS) in Hungary, has been given HRK 275,000.

Apart from the Croat minorities in Kosovo, Romania, and Hungary, also ethnic Croats in Austria, Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Italy, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Serbia have been granted the funds following the public call for applications.

 The decisions on the grants are available on the Office's website.

(€1 = HRK 7.52)

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ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - Over 12 million kuna (€1.6 million) will be allocated for projects which civil society associations are going to implement for the development of local communities, the Croatian government's Office for Cooperation with NGOs reported on Tuesday.

The office announced that the ceremony at which the grants will be awarded will be held at 1400 hours today. The grants will be given to 20 associations.

The office recalls that the government has launched a HRK 120 million (€16 million) scheme called  "Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations to respond to the needs of the local community" for projects designed to contribute to the even regional development and to the economic and democratic development of the country.

Specifically, the scheme "seeks to strengthen the capacity of CSOs active in local communities to implement activities tailored to local problems and to work directly in areas funded by the European Social Fund (employment, education, social inclusion, good governance) at the local level, but also improve the capacity of civil society organizations to provide an effective response to the needs of the local community in crisis situations."

ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - Croatia will provide Ukraine with additional assistance, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković wrote on his Twitter account after his telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.

"I have expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and condolences on all the victims of the Russian military aggression. Croatia will provide additional assistance to Ukraine," PM Plenković twitted. He did not specify what kind of help would be offered.

The Ukrainian president twitted that he had "informed about the course of countering Russian aggression. Discussed the importance of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia. Thanked for supporting Ukraine's movement to the European Union and for the important defensive assistance."

The Croatian PM also twitted that Zagreb strongly supported the intensification of process of bringing Ukraine closer to the EU, "in line with our declaration adopted in Kyiv in December 2021," when the two countries signed the joint declaration on Ukraine's European perspective.

Earlier on Monday, Zelenskyy handed to the EU envoy the completed questionnaire which will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on membership for Kyiv.

During the ceremony at which he formally submitted the completed questionnaire on European Union membership,  the Ukrainian president said he believed this step would lead to his country gaining candidate status within weeks.

ZAGREB, 12 April 2022 - Olga Pascenco, the European Investment Bank's Global Relationship Manager in Croatia, said on Tuesday that this European Union bank would finance and support projects for the construction of storage facilities for energy generated from the renewables.

Addressing a news conference at which the EIB presented its results in Croatia in 2021, Pascenco said that there was great potential for the construction of renewable energy storage facilities.

The EIB is ready to offer financial, technical and advisory support to the private sector in such projects, she said.

The EIB representative spoke about the importance of developing rail and maritime connectivity and about transport connections between islands and the mainland.

Concerning the rail sector, she pushed for improving train services between Zagreb and Rijeka, having in mind the great potential of the seaport of Rijeka.

The EU's lending arm will place emphasis on direct financing of local communities, that is cities, in a set of essential projects such as affordable housing, improvement of energy efficiency and the post-quake reconstruction, she added.

The bank's assistance to Ukraine

The EIB Board of Directors has recently approved a EUR 668 million loan as immediate financial support for Ukraine.

"This initial support package for the war-torn country benefits from the EU guarantee under the External Lending Mandate and complements other initiatives announced by EU institutions," the EIB says on its website.

In addition, the Board agreed that the EIB should pursue further initiatives under the emergency Solidarity Package for Ukraine, worth four billion euros. It includes help to countries in Ukraine's neighbourhood and within the EU that are welcoming refugees from Ukraine or are affected by the war in other ways.

ZAGREB, 3 March 2022 - Croatia's government on Thursday decided to send a convoy with HRK 1.8 million worth of goods and equipment to Moldova after the country took in a considerable number of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

Moldova has asked international organizations for help in accommodating the Ukrainian refugees.

Earlier in the day, the head of the Civil Protection Directorate, Damir Trut, announced in an interview with Croatian Radio that Croatia would send a humanitarian aid convoy to Moldova to help it cope with the influx of Ukrainian refugees.

The aid will include tents, beds, and other items for the accommodation of refugees, he said.

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ZAGREB, 23 July 2021 - First estimates show that the extent of the damage inflicted on Croatia's agricultural sector so far this year by natural disasters is HRK 509.2 million kuna, the agriculture ministry's reps told Hina on Friday.

These estimates are based on preliminary data collected in the Natural Disaster Damage Registry in compliance with the national legislation on mitigation and removal of consequences of natural disasters.

The ministry underscores that the registry does not contain the final data on the reported damage, or the number o businesses and individuals that have been exposed to the disaster.

The ministry notes that 20 million kuna has been set aside in the budget for mitigation and removal of the consequences of natural disasters this year and that farmers can also apply for aid and funding under the schemes envisaged in the Rural Development Programme.

In addition, the government has already decided to help farmers in the hailstorm-hit Požega-Slavonia County with an additional HRK 20 million.

 Agricultural producers whose perennial plantations have been damaged in disasters can apply for aid under the subsection "Renewal of farmland and production potential" within the Rural Development Programme.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, 23 July 2021 - The mayor of Varaždin, Neven Bosilj, on Friday called on residents of this northern Croatian city to start raising funds for Koblenz to help the Germany city cope with the aftermath of the recent disastrous floods.

Donations can be paid into the account on the official website of Koblenz  https://www.koblenz.de/rathaus/verwaltung/pressemeldungen/210716-stadt-koblenz-richtet-spendenkonto-fuer-hochwasseropfer-ein/.

Varaždin and this southwestern Germany city started developing closer ties in the 1990s when Koblenz sent humanitarian aid during the Homeland War. Varaždin and Koblenz became twin towns in 2007 when they signed a partnership charter.

Immediately after the ravaging flooding, Mayor Bosilj forwarded a letter to Koblenz Mayor David Langner, extending condolences to the bereaved families and offering assistance.

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ZAGREB, 16 July 2021 - The Croatian government decided on Friday to send tents, bunk beds, blankets, pillows and sleeping bags to Lithuania after the Baltic country has taken in more than 2,000 migrants in recent weeks.

The number of crossings of irregular migrants, mainly Syrians and Iraqis, from Belarus to Lithuania has increased 25 times compared to the whole of 2020, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinovć said at a cabinet meeting.

These developments prompted Lithuania to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and ask other EU member states for assistance.

Croatia's aid is equivalent to HRK 1.05 million (€140,000).

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ZAGREB, 10 May (Hina) - The Croatian Chamber of Crafts and Trades (HOK) on Monday said that it was starting to pay out one-off aid in the amount of HRK 7,000 per business to more than 200 trades in areas affected by last year's earthquakes.

HOK recalled that on 31 December 2020 it launched a humanitarian campaign aimed at collecting funds to help those trades whose premises were damaged in last year's earthquakes relaunch their work.

The campaign lasted for three months and included trades from Croatia and abroad, HOK said.

Apart from the one-off aid, a part of the proceeds will be directed to reconstruct the premises of HOK's branch in Sisak-Moslavina County, damaged in the 29 December earthquake.

(€1 = HRK 7.526977)

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