April the 17th, 2023 - The producers of Varazdin pumpkin oil won four gold medals at the 62nd Monde Selection in Brussels, a prestigious worldwide product quality competition.

Oils from the Agroprom Patrcevic Oil Company, Andreja Petrovic OPG (family farm), Damir Crleni PG and Cafuk PPP received the highest ratings. The great news was announced on Friday, April the 14th, on the Day of Protected Croatian Autochthonous Products in Uljara Agroprom Patrcevic in Strmec. Experts including chefs with Michelin stars and members of the French Culinary Academy praised and complimented Varazdin pumpkin oils.

Among more than 3,000 products from around the world, this is certainly a great accomplishment for Varazdin pumpkin oil. Over the past four years, 12 oils from the Varazdin region have been registered, and all 12 have won gold medals. There are as many as 17 protected agricultural and food products in Varazdin County, eight of which are at the European and national level. Varazdin cabbage already has the European quality marks, since 2017, and Varazdin klipic since 2020. It is expected that Varazdin pumpkin oil will also receive formal protection within two months at the European Union level. It means increased value, increased competitiveness, and a higher market price for oil producers.

While PPP Cafuk and PG Crleni won gold for the first time in Brussels, Uljara Agroprom Patrcevic and OPG j Petrovic succeeded in doing so for the second time. The Varazdin Pumpkin Oil Association's president and host describes the secrets of the success of Varazdin's "black gold".

''Within the Association, we made a decision that Varazdin pumpkin oil be produced using what's known as the hot-pressed process. It's 100 percent pure pumpkin oil, meaning that it doesn't have the addition of any other, foreign oils. Our "secret" ingredient is a complete commitment to the work at hand,'' emphasised Patrcevic. Members of the Association sell all the Varazdin pumpkin oil they produce, and they plan to expand their production, and as such - their sales.

''When people try Varazdin pumpkin oil, they remember its quality and keep buying it. The customers are the ones who keep us going and give us the incentive to continue doing this business and improve quality levels,'' said Andreja Petrovic.

Damir Crleni, the president of the Croatian Chefs Association, was also proud. ''I wanted to give my own product to gastronomy, which I've been dealing with all my life. I'm glad that some restaurants and hotels in the area of Varazdin and Koprivnica-Krizevci County have Varazdin pumpkin oil in their daily offer, and I hope others will follow their example,'' said Crleni.

The work and effort behind everything is evident, according to Marija Cafuk. ''Varazdin pumpkin oil and Varazdin cabbage are an excellent match. Therefore, we'll continue to strive to make our products as high quality as possible, and accordingly recognisable on the increasingly demanding market,'' said Marija Cafuk.

Photos credit: Varazdin County & Vidovec/Facebook

 For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Made in Croatia section.

December 5, 2022 - For the fifth year in a row, Hanza Media and the Gradonacelnik.hr portal selected the best cities in five categories based on detailed analysis and with two special awards, Smart City and Eco City. This year, Vukovar won the title of the best Croatian city in the categories of education, youth, demography, and social policy.

Ivan Penava, the mayor of Vukovar, attended the award ceremony in Opatija on December 1.

"According to FINA data, competent ministries, and specialised agencies, Vukovar is constantly at the top of numerous rankings in Croatia according to various parameters, from investment in education, youth and family, the number of children enrolled in kindergartens, to the total income of entrepreneurs in 2021. I consider it my duty to keep Vukovar at the top and make it the best. This award achieved in the competition of big cities is the crown of many years of dedicated work of the City Administration of the City of Vukovar and is a confirmation of the enormous progress of Vukovar," said mayor Penava.

According to research based on data from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia, data from FINA on the execution of the budget in 2021, and analysis by the portal Gradonacelnik.hr, the City of Vukovar ranked 5^th in the Republic of Croatia in terms of allocations for education.

In 2020, regarding allocations for family and children, the City of Vukovar took 3^rd place with 193.75 kuna allocated per capita and 9^th place with 2.19% of total city budget expenditures assigned.

Recall, the gift amounts of the City of Vukovar for newborn children were increased in 2021, and the City of Vukovar was the first city in the Republic of Croatia to introduce a unique demographic measure of co-financing overhead costs for families with three or more children up to 16 years of age.

Vukovar also stands out for with some of the lowest prices of kindergartens in the Republic of Croatia, which is 490 kuna for the first child, 441 kuna for the second child, while kindergarten is free for the third and every subsequent child, and from this year, the afternoon shift is also provided in Vukovar kindergartens.

In Vukovar, in recent years, the city's kindergartens have recorded a constant and continuous increase in the number of children enrolled. According to independent research, Vukovar is the second city in Croatia regarding the number of children enrolled in kindergartens!

For years, the city of Vukovar has been providing primary school students with the necessary school materials as well as the help of teaching assistants. Through an EU project, free meals have been provided to all students at risk of poverty.

Extended stays have been introduced in 6 out of 7 primary schools (expected from the summer semester and in the remaining newly renovated school of N. Andrić), Christmas presents have been a must for all the children of Vukovar, as well as free summer holidays on the Adriatic for the most successful primary school students.

Through high school education, the City of Vukovar supports young people by fully financing city bus transport tickets, co-financing intercity bus transport tickets, and providing stipends for high school students in deficit occupations in the amount of HRK 400.

It helps students from the area of the city with scholarships of 500 to 1000 kuna, it co-finances the intercity transport of regular students in the area of two counties - Vukovar-Syrmia and Osijek-Baranja, and the best ones who finish the academic year with an average of 4.50 to 5.00 are rewarded by the city of Vukovar with 1000 kuna.

It should also be noted that the works on the renovation of the new building of the Polytechnic Lavoslav Ružička Vukovar have been completed, so Vukovar students will soon enjoy the highest standards of education. The project is part of the Intervention Plan of the City of Vukovar, and its total value is HRK 66,439,727.54.

The housing program for the necessary staff in the area of Vukovar is also being successfully implemented, so in the last three years, 59 staff apartments have been allocated using this model.

Bjelovar, Čakovec, Pazin, and Velika Gorica also competed in this category. The City of Vukovar sincerely congratulated them and all other nominated cities and award winners.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - Međimurje County has been given the European Cities and Regions of the Future 2022/23 award by one of the most reputable world economic magazines the Financial Times, its fourth such award, among 160 larger or smaller regions and more than 350 cities in the European Union.

County Prefect Matija Posavec, who received the award in Cannes on Tuesday, told a press conference on Wednesday that the award was not a coincidence and that Međimurje has been recognised as one of the most favourable areas for successfully doing business in Europe thanks to a system that connects the economy and education, among other things.

It is an award to a proud Međimurje that combines all those values of our people, who are productive and diligent, Posavec said, underscoring that over the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, Međimurje's economy continued to grow as it has been over the past 15 years.

Posavec highlighted several examples of a good entrepreneurial environment such as the Technological-Innovation Centre, the Međiurje Energy Agency and the Čakovec Metal Hub as well as the first scientific-research centre that is owned by a county government. He announced the opening of a regional competence centre in the next month.

"Results do not come overnight, but we are always thinking two steps ahead, and today we are thinking about what will happen tomorrow, which is our wish to become a pilot project in our health system and to apply artificial intelligence here too," said Posavec.

The director of the REDEA Public Institute for the Development of Međimurje County, Sandra Polanec Marinović, said that due to COVID-19 it was necessary to adapt to new criteria.

"We also presented those sectors that have the greatest potential for post-pandemic recovery, concentrating on new rapidly-growing sectors such as eMobility, as well as presenting the IT sector and creative industries," she said, recalling the huge municipal investments in business zones.

Business: For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 22 Oct 2021 - The Krapina Neanderthal Museum and Hušnjakovo site have been awarded the prestigious European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) Award 2021 in the category for Archaeological Sites and Museums as Cultural Tourism Attractions, the Ministry of Culture and Media reported on Friday.

The museum won the award thanks to the excellent modern presentation of its pre-historic, archaeological and anthropological topics, and in particular, because it has the status of an unavoidable cultural-tourism destination in Europe with more than 100,000 visitors a year from around the globe, the ministry said in a press release.

The reasoning for the award notes the creative methods of working with children and young people and cooperation with the local community, where the museum is the generator of the main cultural events and an example of good practice of sustainable cultural tourism in the area.

Thanks to this award the museum has confirmed its European dimension and recognisability. This is proof that the culture of the Krapina Neanderthal has become a brand of global proportions, the ministry said.

Other finalists in the same category included the Nerezinac Lugger – sailing interpretation centre of the maritime heritage of the island of Lošinj and the Zenica City Museum in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Two other Croatian museums were among ECTN finalists in other categories - Rab Archaeological (T)races and the Museum of Chocolate in Zagreb.

ECTN is a pan-European network of destinations, authorities, NGOs and research institutes for Sustainable Cultural Tourism development and promotion across Europe.

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