As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of October, 2020, the works on the construction of the cogeneration plant of the company "Energana Gospic 1" in Gospic in the beautiful green Lika region are now nearing completion. This is an investment worth over 20 million euros, and, according to the contractor, all works on the plant should be completed in December, after which a technical inspection should be performed.

Nova Energana will employ about thirty workers, and the investor is already looking for employees. "At this moment alone, GEEN is urgently looking for electrical and mechanical engineers who need to be trained before putting the plant into operation. Therefore, in Gospic, several jobs will be created in 2020, and by the end of the year, other occupations will be sought in the newly opened plants of the company,'' said the Mayor of Gospic, Karlo Starcevic.

This new Gospic-based biomass plant, with an output of 5 MW, is characterised by the simultaneous production of two useful forms of energy (electric and thermal) in one single process. Within this project, an additional plant is being built - a dryer, intended for drying wood chips, which will increase the efficiency of cogeneration. The produced electricity will be taken over by HEP, while the thermal energy will be primarily used for the needs of the technological process (biomass drying), and if there is a need for heating Gospic.

After the construction of the Kalcit factory, this is the second largest greenfield investment in the area of ​​the Gospic since the independence of Croatia back in the 1990s. On that occasion, Mayor Karlo Starcevic and Secretary-Head Slaven Stilinovic, along with representatives of the contractor Djuro Đakovic TEP d.o.o., Slavonski Brod, Executive Director Ivica Maric and Service and Installation Director Zdravko Stipetic, visited the construction site in the Smiljansko polje Business Zone.

Behind the company Energana Gospic 1 is the Czech holding GEEN, and it is a business entity that has many years of successful experience of operation within the demanding energy sector.

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ZAGREB, September 18, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with county prefects and mayors in the central town of Gospic on Friday to present the government's economic recovery plan, tax reform, local government reform, possibilities of using EU funding, and five development priorities.

Plenkovic said that the government's aim for the next six months was to develop programmes and documents for the long-term strategic development of Croatia in five priority areas: social security, a prosperous future for the enterprise sector with emphasis on new technologies and job creation, self-sufficiency in food production, promoting solidarity in society and strengthening Croatia's global position.

This is the government's eighth meeting with county prefects and representatives of the associations of towns and municipalities. Its purpose is to coordinate the multi-level management and partnership of the counties, towns and municipalities and to ensure balanced regional development of Croatia. The previous meetings were held in Zagreb, Pozega, Sibenik Varazdin, Rijeka, Zadar and Koprivnica.

Plenkovic and other participants are expected to address the press after the working part of the meeting which is closed to the public.

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August 22, 2020 – After being destroyed in the war, the famous statue of genius Nikola Tesla will finally return to his home town

Following a 30 year absence, the famous statue of Nikola Tesla will be returned to his home town of Gospić. The original Tesla monument that once stood in the central town square, created by Croatian sculptor Frano Kršinić, was blown up during the 1990s Homeland War.

Gospić mayor Karlo Starčević today signed a contract approving construction works for the renovation of the square in front of the Gospić Culture Information Centre, where the Nikola Tesla statue will be placed. The contract is worth about HRK 1.8 million.

The location where the monument will stand is planned as a quiet area with several benches and gravel footpaths. The statue is an exact replica of the one previously lost to Gospić. Copies of this statue currently reside outside the School of Electrical Engineering section of Belgrade University and on the American side of Niagara Falls (main picture).


Nikola Tesla is honoured on both sides of Niagara Falls. This is his statue on the Canadian side © Milan Suvajac

An inventor and hugely innovative engineer, Nikola Tesla is best known for pioneering the alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. AC enables electricity to be provided safely to every home, street and business today. Tesla was born in 1856 in the village of Smiljan, in Lika, just six kilometres from Gospić.

In 1862, his family moved to Gospić where Tesla's father worked as an Orthodox parish priest. Nikola Tesla himself was supposed to follow his father and his mother's father into the Orthodox priesthood. Thankfully, he did not. In 1870, Nikola Tesla moved to nearby Karlovac to attend the Higher Real Gymnasium. A new Nikola Tesla exhibition centre is currently being built there, next door to the place of his former studies.

After Karlovac, Nikola Tesla continued his studies in Austria, and then spent some time teaching and working in Hungary. He eventually got a job working for Thomas Edison's company in Paris. While there, his incredibly innovative work was soon noticed and he was invited to go and work for the company in America.


Nikola Tesla, pictured before his work in America © State Archives

Thomas Edison - also a pioneering inventor - is frequently cited as one of the most innovative figures in the development of electricity supply. However, Edison was adamant that direct current (DC) would be the best way to distribute electricity. The DC system he championed was in direct competition to that proposed by his one-time employee, Tesla. Despite Edison's wealth and power, the DC system he fought hard to impose proved to be impractical and unsafe. Instead, the AC distribution design, perfected by Tesla, became the standard supply system that the world uses today.

Nikola Tesla stayed in America for the rest of his life and continued to create countless pioneering inventions. He worked within the fields of early x-rays, wireless power supply, electromagnetic radiation and radio waves, before his death in 1943. In the years since he died, interest in the enigmatic Nikola Tesla has only grown.


David Bowie playing Nikola Tesla in Christoper Nolan's 2006 movie The Prestige © Warner Brothers 

A mystique continues to surround him, not least because many of his wondrous ideas remain unrealised. Nikola Tesla has been portrayed in film by Nicholas Hoult and David Bowie (the latter, famously, in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige). The national airport in Belgrade, Serbia is named after him, as is Serbia's largest power plant. In Croatia, over 130 streets are named after Nikola Tesla.

August 17, 2019 - After a very successful first year, the second Croatian Walking Festival will be held in Lika this September, in the towns of Gospić and Otočac. 

This year, the host cities will be Gospic and Otočac, where several routes of different intensities will be walked to ensure everyone can participate. September 7 is thus reserved for Gospić, where all participants will master three trails of different lengths - 10+ 20+ and 30+ kilometers, symbolically called Tesla. One day later, on September 8, the event moves to Otočac for the Gacka trail, which is also 10+ 20+ and 30+ kilometers long. Thus, the Croatian Walking Festival is an interesting and commendable synergy between two towns - Gospić and Otočac, reports Goran Rihelj of HRTurizam. 

About five hundred walkers participated in Lika last year, and organizers expect the figure to at least double this year. While these are small numbers, to begin with, the organizers expect about 2,000 overnight stays at this year's edition, which is a more than excellent figure. The festival can surely become an excellent motive for arrivals, and in addition to walking, the tourism segment features the gastronomic offer and tourist facilities Lika has to offer. 

Goran Rihelj writes that the Walking Festival is a brilliant example of the desire for positive change; a festival that has found their niche, boldly moved forward, and with a smart development strategy, could grow into a manifestation that attracts thousands of visitors and tourists in three years. 

The Walking Festival is a unique sporting event in Croatia, and even after the first year, it has been recognized at the international level. Namely, in May, the Walking Festival began the process of joining the World Walking Federation (IML) and has the status of a candidate. Rihelj writes that this is the best proof that Croatia is following international trends, and the ultimate goal is to gather tens of thousands of walkers like similar events around the world that have been held for many years. Festivals of this kind have become popular with the masses, as walking is an activity that is increasingly gaining importance and professionalism. Because of this, some international festivals gather up to fifty thousand participants. 

With global tourism trends that will grow even more, from ecology, organic food, nature, active rest, awareness for health and movement, it is not difficult to see Lika positioned precisely in this segment. Organic and local food from OPGs, nature and fresh air, forests, cycling tourism, walking, active rest and, of course, Tesla and Plitvice Lakes are big tourist magnets. Also, excellent investments in accommodation capacities have already been made in Lika, such as the Fenomen Plitvice, Plitvice Holiday Resort, and Big Bear Camping Resort.

However, Rihellj writes that the success and positive impact of Plitvice Lakes National Park are not enough, as it needs to be smartly managed to become a recognizable brand, with strategic and sustainable development. 

Applications for the Walking Festival are open until August 30, and with the registration fee, participants can enjoy a shuttle service between the two cities, as well as official T-shirts, water and fruit. You can find more information here.

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Tesla Power of Lights is the name of the event that is to be held on July 9, as a part of the celebration of the 163rd anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla, a genius inventor who was born in Smiljan, a village near Gospić in 1856. The event Tesla Power of Lights will be held on Gospić's main square after the sunset (the expected start is around 9 pm), so that the spectacle of lights thrown in Tesla's honor can be more visible. 

The spectacle aims to show to the visitors all of those remarkable things Tesla invented which drastically changed the course for the humanity. It will also try to take the visitors back to the stormy night, back in 1856, when Tesla was born in Smiljan. A long-prepared laser show, remarkable lighting effects which will illuminate the skies all the way to Smiljan and a special lighting furniture created just for Tesla's birthday - all of those will be entertaining the visitors at the biggest birthday party in Croatia.

The attractive dance group called Atomi will perform the "light dance", which will include the silk dance performed on the main square which will, of course, be illuminated extra for the night. The educational train will be taking people all over Gospić all day, showing them all of the locations in the town which are somehow connected to the life and the work of this genius who grew up there. All of the buildings in which Tesla lived or worked will also get their own light-show for a day, and the story of his life in Lika will be told as the train passes by them. The band Diktatori will perform at the party. There will be stands with food and drinks all over the town centre for the visitors to enjoy, as they come to Gospić to celebrate Tesla's birthday.

ZAGREB, June 30, 2019 - The tourism board in the central town of Gospić is organising an event called "Tesla Power of Lights" to celebrate the 163rd anniversary of the birth of the world famous scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla.

The event will take place in Gospić's main square on the evening of July 9, the day before Tesla's birthday. Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, near Gospić.

The event will show not only all of Tesla's contributions to humanity but will also enable visitors to imagine the night when Tesla was born. It will include a spectacular light show and a sightseeing train that will drive around the town free of charge taking visitors to the locations connected with Tesla's life and work. All the buildings in which Tesla lived or worked will be specially illuminated, and visitors will also be able to sit on lit-up furniture specifically designed for this occasion.

The local tourism board expects that the event will attract tourists and help further promote Gospić, the Lika region and Croatia.

More news on Nikola Tesla can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 9, 2018 - A ceremony was held in the central town of Gospić on Sunday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Croatian military and police operation in the Medak area.

Members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service in Gospić have shown their support for the Croatia national team ahead of the World Cup final against France.

It is 25 years since years since the statue of Nikola Tesla was blown up by locals in the town of Gospic, 5km from the village of his birth, where his house was also destroyed. As Croatia celebrates his genius with the Nikola Tesla: Mind from the Future exhibition in Zagreb, will a Nikola Tesla statue ever grace a public square in Gospic again?

Gospić tourism workers place a lot of hope in the project entitled ''In Nikola Tesla’ Footprints'', where every participant will be able to learn details from the life of this great scientist from Lika, but also facts and quirks from his time in Gospić.