September 21, 2021 - Three Croatian municipalities and villages, two in Istria and one in Bjelovar, are among the candidates for the novel initiative of the World Tourism Organization to promote rural tourism, and this is why Kaštelor-Labinci, Motovun, and Veliko Trojstvo will compete in the UNWTO Awards.

With the aim of improving the role of rural tourism, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has launched a pilot initiative "Best Tourism Villages", reports HrTurizam.hr. As part of the activities, UNWTO member states, until 15 September, had the opportunity to apply for up to three candidates: villages or municipalities. They will present their places as drivers of sustainable change in the social, economic, and environmental aspects. The Municipality of Kaštelir-Labinci, the Municipality of Motovun from Istria, and the Municipality of Veliko Trojstvo from Bjelovar-Bilogora County were elected as Croatian representatives.

The initiative includes three pillars and two awards. Villages that are an outstanding example of a rural tourism destination and that are committed to sustainability in all its forms - economic, social, and environmental - will be awarded the label "Best Tourist Villages of the UNWTO". Villages that do not fully meet the criteria for the label will be provided with an upgrade program to support the UNWTO and their partners in working in problem areas. Finally, a network will be created that will provide space for the exchange of experiences and good practices, learning and creating new opportunities for development. It will include representatives of villages awarded the “Best Tourist Village” label by the UNWTO, villages participating in the Upgrade Program as well as experts, public and private sector partners engaged in the promotion of rural development tourism.

The aim of the UNWTO Awards is to strengthen the role of tourism as a positive force for transformation, rural development, and community well-being. It seeks to increase the sector's contribution to reducing regional inequalities and combating the depopulation of rural areas. It also seeks to enhance the role of tourism in valuing and protecting rural villages, along with landscapes, knowledge systems, biological and cultural diversity, local values, ​​and activities, including gastronomy.

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ZAGREB, 30 Aug 2021 - The Bjelovar Autumn Fair, which will be held from 3 to 5 September at the Gudovac fair compounds, will include 300 exhibitors.

Local authorities and the fair's executives told a press conference on Monday that the state exhibition of cattle will be held with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture.

 The fair will be opened by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

The exhibition will be held outdoors considering epidemiological recommendations.

Entry to the fair will require a COVID certificate of vaccination or negative test, and testing will be available at the fairgrounds. The fair's director Zlatko Salaj estimates that this year's autumn fair would reach about 60% of the level of the record 2019 year.

Bjelovar-Bilogora County Prefect Marko Marušić described the Autumn Fair as a Croatian brand.

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May 2, 2021 - Early yesterday morning, the Labour day motorcycle vigil Bjelovar was held.

Bjelovar Info reports, traditionally, about 500 motorcyclists accompanied by the police drove through the city streets for one hour. It is a continuation of the tradition from the 1930s, when workers protested against the capitalists of that time by driving without an exhaust.

On May 1, 100 years ago, they removed the mufflers on motorcycles and drove to the Kamenitovac mountain lodge and returned to the City before 7 am to arrive on time at work, wanting to point out all social injustices in this way.

"Last year we organized the Moto Vigil as a normal participation in traffic. We rode in several groups and that was all. For epidemiological reasons, this time we did not have any official gathering, nor did the motorcyclists hang out before and after the vigil, but only the formation of a column in the parking lot before 5.00 in the morning. Accompanied by the police, we drove through the pre-determined streets, after which we dispersed. All participants adhered to epidemiological measures so that they did not move away from their motorcycles and did not take off their protective helmets. Also, unnecessary stopping was not allowed. Given that the Bjelovar vigil is of great importance for citizens and motorcyclists, we decided to organize it at least in a slightly more modest edition and in accordance with all epidemiological regulations", said Alen Krce, president of the Moto Club Bjelovar.

As in previous years, the organizer of the traditional Bjelovar Moto vigil was "Moto Club Bjelovar". Today, there are only few people who do not know that the vigil became a recognizable manifestation of the city of Bjelovar, which is held from year to year at dawn on Labor Day. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic last year, it was not organized in the way that the people of Bjelovar and the participants themselves are used to.

"In 1930, the Moto Club Bjelovar was founded, and then took over the organization of this moto vigil, which had been there for several years before. Throughout history, there may have been some interruptions due to various conditions, but a few years ago this became an event beyond the borders of the city of Bjelovar, and, beyond the county when we had an international visitor", said Alen Krce, president of Moto Club Bjelovar.

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February 9, 2021 – By introducing an interactive mobile application for full budget transparency, the City of Trogir will soon join the Croatian cities of Split and Bjelovar and the municipality of Omišalj and become one of the most transparent local governments in Croatia.

Together with the Science and Society Synergy Institute, the City of Trogir signed an agreement to introduce the city budget's full transparency. The contract represents the first phase of a project to create a simple and visually attractive application that would give citizens a different budget view.

With the application, citizens would have an insight into ongoing or planned projects, the performance of previous budgets and the budget for next year, or the supplementary budget for the current year. The application would provide an overview of the current budget. At the same time, additional options will compare the plan with the performance and a comparison with previous years' budgets.

Trogir / Photo: Romulić and Stojčić

Trogir to become the most desirable small town on the coast

The City of Trogir wants to bring concrete budget items closer to the citizens through clear and simple numerical indicators and through aggregate indicators that are difficult to understand. They want to educate and sensitize citizens for certain types of strategically important projects. In other words, citizens would get an insight into what exactly their money is spent on.

"Through this project, we continue to introduce smart practices. The goal is to show how city money is managed and involve citizens in the City Administration's work as much as possible. So far, we have done this through participatory budgeting, 'And you are asked!', a project through which citizens themselves directly decide on spending part of the budget money. Last year, the Institute of Public Finance gave us grade five for transparency for the first time. We have also published an online register of city property, and with this application, we are going a step further," said Mayor of Trogir Ante Bilić.

The average assessment of Croatian cities' transparency for 2020 is 4.5, compared to the previous 2019 when it was 4.3. In 2019, Trogir received a grade of 4, and in 2020, thanks to the publication of all five city documents required for insight into transparency, a rate of 5. The number of Croatian cities of excellence increased from 65 in 2019 to as many as 87 in 2020, a positive trend.

Budget transparency of Croatian cities and municipalities / Institute of Public Finance

"Budget transparency is our obligation and one part of the smart city strategy we will develop this year. This is a necessary level of development planning by which we want to make Trogir the most desirable small town on the coast in every sense. Precisely such projects by which we raise democratic standards are a guarantee that we will never end up in the problems we were in three years ago," said Bilić.

Striving for complete city transparency

This interactive visualization of the budget will be available to citizens in two months. It will be implemented by the Science and Society Synergy Institute based in Čakovec, headed by Vuk Vuković.

"The application we will create for Trogir offers an in-depth and visually attractive presentation of all revenues and expenditures up to the fourth level of the budget, according to the functional and economic classification. This data, the functional classification up to the fourth level of spending, has not been given to city councilors at budget hearings who receive budget expenditures up to a maximum of the third level. For example, the fourth level means that you can enter within each city's budget user – kindergartens, schools, museums, libraries – and see who spent how much on salaries, maintenance, what they bought, etc. The third level gives only the total amount received by which user, without going into details. With this presentation, citizens have a more detailed insight into city spending than city politicians," Vuković explained.

Ante Bilić and Vuk Vuković / Photo: Trogir.hr

Following an interactive budget guide, the next step will be a detailed overview of all budget accounts. Citizens would have an insight into each transaction from the budget, from public procurement to entertainment expenses. Then there will be complete transparency of the city towards users.

Bjelovar was the first to introduce transparency application

Thus, Trogir will be one of only three cities in Croatia and Southeast Europe with a completely transparent budget. A similar practice has been introduced by the Croatian cities of Bjelovar and Split and the municipality of Omišalj, which also introduced applications for insight into the city budget. The City of Bjelovar presented a similar application in February 2019. Vuković also helped them, making them the first most transparent city in Croatia, for which they were awarded that year.

"Bjelovar has thus embarked on a unique undertaking in Croatia and this part of Europe, which is to raise transparency to a level that has not been introduced in any public authority so far, to raise the quality of the City Administration's work and strengthen public confidence," said Vuković at the time, as reported from Bjelovar.

Bjelovar Pavilion / Photo: Bjelovar.hr

Bjelovar's positive example was followed by the municipality of Omišalj, which introduced the transparency application at the end of March 2020. The largest Croatian city on the coast – Split – also decided to do so, and neighboring Trogir took over its practice.

Namely, the citizens' right to access information held by public authorities is guaranteed by the Republic of Croatia's Constitution. Therefore, in addition to the moral, the public authority also has a legal duty to provide information on public money spending. However, while in developed democracies such transparency is considered the standard and, for example, all individual transactions from the US federal budget of 1.5 billion dollars are available to the public through an interactive Internet search engine, in Croatia it has never existed before, nor are public authorities considered this possibility.

This trend seems to be changing in Croatia. The transparency of Croatian cities is presented in an interactive map of the Institute of Public Finance.

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January the 30th, 2021 - Local residents and other visitors to continental Croatia are always in need of some very welcome refreshment and cooling off during the hot summer months. Could Terme Bjelovar be a project that proves worthy?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, local elections are due to be held in Croatia in just a few months, and many projects across numerous Croatian cities and municipalities will be announced in the coming period. Whether Terme Bjelovar will be one of the successful ones could be found out soon.

Namely, as was confirmed over recent days by Bjelovar Mayor Dario Hrebak, the construction of Bjelovar spas in the Veliko Korenovo zone is getting closer and closer to realisation.

He explained that the Terme Bjelovar project is worth a quarter of a billion kuna including VAT, which includes all of the costs so far - the purchase of the land, the construction of a geothermal well, equipment, projects, and consulting.

The hopes and plans are, they have pointed out from Bjelovar, indoor and outdoor pools, ie Olympic sized ones, recreational pools and even a water park. Everything relies on a geothermal spring with a constant water flow of 10 l / s and a temperature of 30 ° C.

They expect that the development of Terme Bjelovar's ''thermal riviera'' will be the induction of new facilities that will encourage the development of other tourist infrastructure and the development of tourism in that otherwise often overlooked area of the country.

Hrebak explained that they decided on a "somewhat megalomaniac" project and an Olympic indoor pool after talks with national sports associations in Zagreb, where it was concluded that this is a unique opportunity to raise sport in Bjelovar to a much higher level.

"I held a meeting with the leaders of the swimming and water polo federations where it was concluded that it would be a real shame not to take the opportunity now and just skip the construction of the Olympic pool. Given that in 2021 the National Programme of Recovery following the coronavirus crisis will be created, within which all counties, cities and municipalities in Croatia will be included in the catalog with all projects in a high stage of readiness, I think we can get additional financial funds,'' said Mayor Hrebak.

Bjelovar had an indoor swimming pool until 2019 within the Retirement Home, but it was closed due to excessive maintenance costs. The outdoor swimming pool, on the other hand, was renovated in 2018 and has been attracting thousands of guests every summer since.

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January 4, 2020 – A map showing production across the former Yugoslavia details the sustained prosperity of many Croatian favourites as some of the strongest Croatian brands are shown not only to have survived but have succeeded following independence

Media across Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia have surprised younger readers and reminded older readers with the publication of a map detailing production in the former Yugoslavia. While this trip down memory lane has caused a range of reactions across the countries of the former republic, looking at the map from a purely Croatian perspective gives some enlightening information. Namely, many of the strongest Croatian brands visible on the map are recognisable today. Some of the strongest Croatian brands not only survived independence but have since grown.

Bajadera - one of the most popular products made by Zagreb-based chocolate and confectionery manufacturers Kraš

Zagreb-based chocolate and confectionery manufacturers Kraš, Požega-based confectionery and drinks manufacturers Zvečevo, oil company INA, Koprivnica-based food company Podravka and Koprivnica-based pharmaceuticals company Belupo, vitamin drink Cedevita, Varaždin-based food company Vindija, Vukovar shoemakers Borovo, Varaždin clothes designers and manufacturers Varteks and multi-use condiment Vegeta are just some of the strongest Croatian brands that are present on the map. You are still likely to see these brand names on many Croatian high streets. Some have succeeded in reaching further into international markets since Croatian independence.

Croatian-made condiment Vegeta is sold all over the world

Of course, not every brand visible on the map of Yugoslavia production has fared so well. In their coverage of the map, Ri.portal reminds that “Some of the Yugoslav products were used by literally the whole world - ships, cars, planes, trucks, weapons and even computers were produced... However, many of these companies no longer exist or are bankrupt.”

In their coverage of the map, Bosnian website Klix reminds that Croatian shipyards Uljanik in Pula and 3 Maj in Rijeka were at world level and produced large ships for customers from all over the world. Split-based shipyard Brodosplit, which can also be seen on the map, survives to this day.

Croatian vitamin drink Cedevita comes in a range of flavours

Ri.portal goes on to remember that Yugoslavia was one of only five countries in Europe at the time that manufactured its own computers. “Probably the most famous is the Galaxy, while the first computer produced was the CER-10,” they say. One of the Yugoslav computer makers on the map, popular in the late 1970s, was Digitron, based in Buje in Istria.

Sadly, not all of the strongest Croatian brands have made it until today. Famous tractor and agriculture equipment manufacturer Tomo Vinković of Bjelovar is no longer in production. Their famously-reliable machines are much in-demand on the secondhand market. Two new tractor manufacturers, Hittner doo and the Prima tractor factory still make tractors in Bjelovar.

January 3, 2021 - While 2020 was a terrible year for most, there were plenty of success stories in Croatia. For some, such as the business-friendly Bjelovar Mayor, Dario Hrebak, it was the most successful year in his city's history.

It is almost a year since I wrote the most unlikeliest of titles in the modern Croatia - Seeds of Change: My City is Corruption-Free, Claims Croatian Mayor.

Bjelovar Mayor Dario Hrebak appeared to be a mayor with a different agenda than the ones I was used to in local politicians - lining their pockets, rewarding party loyalists and cousins with the top jobs, and using the position to maintain the status quo rather than working for the citizens of the town. 

Reducing the number of people in his administration to make it more efficient (never a vote winner), slashing local business taxes to encourage investment, and digitising the system to make it more efficient and user-friendly. Not things one was sadly accustomed to in public administration in Croatia. 

The pandemic has prevented me from taking a more active interest in Bjelovar on the ground this year, but we have been following progress from afar.

The Bjelovar mayor has always been very communicative on social media, and his latest post on Facebook today hails not only the opening of the first McDonalds (and accompanying 40 jobs) in his city, but also the fact that his policies seems to be working - he claims that 2020 was the most successful year in the history of Bjelovar, and that there is more to come in 2021:

For years we have been building Bjelovar as ′′business-friendly", a city with one of the best business environments in Croatia, where the entrepreneurial kuna is valued more than in most other cities in Croatia. McDonald's opened today in Bjelovar. The investment, greater than 2 million euros, was implemented within a short period of only a few months. 40 new employees will have jobs, and this investment is proof that Bjelovar has become a desirable destination for many investors. The city that abolishes its taxes, quickly issues all necessary permits, reduces public administration and makes it more efficient, I'm sure there will be targets and new manufacturing investments.

(Site of the new McDonalds in Bjelovar - before and after)

All entrepreneurs and investments are welcome to our Bjelovar, and the competition encourages us to be better, faster and more agile.

And to finish, some more good news, despite the crisis, we have completed one of the more demanding years in which after 20 years we abolished the apparatus, exempted payment entrepreneurs and other taxes and compensation so that they could keep their jobs, and on the other hand by implementing a budget of about 250 million kunas, this is the most successful year in the history of our city! Happy new year 2021. to us!

I'm convinced it will be even more successful!

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ZAGREB, November 9, 2020 - The Istrian municipality of Bale has been given the Miko Tripalo Award for promoting local democracy through participatory development and local governance while Bjelovar, a town east of Zagreb, has been awarded for promoting local democracy through budget transparency.

The Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, established in tribute to the prominent Croatian politician, reformer and dissident, said the award went to the two local government units which "are bright examples of local democracy in Croatia, creating room for the necessary change of the public governance paradigm at the local and regional levels and promoting the values of a democratic and open society."

Since 2019, residents of Bjelovar have had access to information on payments from the town budget, including payments to legal and natural persons as well as daily allowances for town employees.

With participatory development, Bale municipality has turned to the strategic planning of development based on environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources and the cultural and historical heritage.

The award-giving ceremony, held in Bale, was addressed by the president of the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, former president Ivo Josipovic, and the chair of its Steering Board, historian Tvrtko Jakovina, as well as Bale municipality head Edi Pastrovicchio and Bjelovar deputy mayor Igor Brajdic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of July, 2020, last year, the City Council of the City of Bjelovar made a decision to include itself in the Socially Incentived Housing Programme (POS), reports Lokalni.

In the meantime, the City of Bjelovar has secured the land necessary for the construction of the new POS apartments, published public calls for applications for apartments from the programme and adopted all of the prescribed spatial plans. Traffic, communal, energy and other infrastructure was also built, which is a condition for issuing a building permit.

Accordingly, the City of Bjelovar was recently visited by Dragan Hristov, the Director of the Agency for Legal Transactions and Real Estate Brokerage (APN) and his assistant Josipa Tokić. The reason for their arrival in Bjelovar was the signing of a pre-agreement on mutual rights and obligations between the City of Bjelovar and APN, as well as an agreement on the transfer of ownership to the Agency for Legal Transactions and Real Estate, which could allow the Agency to implement socially supported housing programmes in Bjelovar and as such request a building permit.

By signing this contract, the City of Bjelovar wants to provide its citizens with the lowest possible selling price per square metre of an apartment from the POS Programme.

''As many as 22 families contacted us and the price of the apartments should be below 1000 euros per square metre. At City Council sessions, we're often asked what exactly we do for young families. This project is intended for them. We currently have about 200 building permits for these apartments. So, apartments are still being built, which is great news. Bjelovar has become a desirable to live, a lot of people have moved here, they are building their lives here, finding jobs, and planning for the future,'' said Mayor Dario Hrebak, who has become well known for his modern stances on anti-corruption and administration digitalisation.

20 apartments will be built, and if there are some apartments left in the end, the City of Bjelovar will buy them itself to rent out. The apartments will be located in Antuna Šoljana Street in the northern part of the city.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of April, 2020, the decision to completely abolish surtax in Bjelovar, which is becoming well known as the most forward-thinking Croatian city, could not have come at a better time.

If Bjelovar's councilors decide so at the electronic City Council session, the City of Bjelovar will completely abolish surtax after almost twenty years, according to Bjelovarlive. Given that city councilors have unanimously supported the cuts so far, it is expected that this time they will also unanimously support the proposal for its complete and utter abolition. If the councilors do make such a decision, Bjelovar will become the largest city among almost 30 Croatian cities that do not have surtax, thus removing the City of Samobor from that throne.

Surtax of twelve percent was introduced by the Bjelovar city government back in 2001, when Đurđa Adlešič was the head of the city. This local tax was earmarked for raising money for the construction of indoor swimming pools. At the beginning of last year, this fact was recalled by City Councilor Ante Topalović of HDZ. Although surtax was introduced, the idea of ​​indoor pools in Bjelovar were unfortunately never realised. On the other hand, for almost two decades, the city government has been collecting taxpayer money that has been used for other purposes. Namely, about 10 million kuna was poured into the city budget annually on the back of the twelve percent surtax.

As touched on above, the decision to completely abolish Bjelovar's surtax could not have come at a better time. Specifically, due to the economic crisis caused by the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, the move is more than likely to be welcomed with open arms by most.

With the support of city councilors, Bjelovar's city government began cutting surtax back in March 2019, when it was went down to nine percent. The additional three percent surtax on income tax paid by taxpayers who are domiciled or habitually resident in the territory of the City of Bjelovar was reduced in December of that same year.

"We're really becoming a tax free city now," Dario Hrebak stated.

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