Back in the 90s, Dubrovnik, best known today for being the Pearl of the Adriatic, was an entirely different place. Ravaged by war and under attack from the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) and their Serbian and Montenegrin helpers, who made sure to not only burn houses, but to steal from them too, Croatia's southernmost city suffered one of its most devastating attacks on this very day, back on the 6th of December, 1991.

As Morski writes on the 6th of December, 2018, today will remain scarred into history's bloody memory as the day when the City of Dubrovnik was defended. The attack, which began on Friday, December the 6th, 1991, at 5:50 am, saw the JNA put its weight behind its senseless and barbaric attack on the Croatian city of the arts. The aggressors launched a horrendous assault on the beloved UNESCO World Heritage site, showering the city with blows from the sea and the land, assisted by heavy weaponry including cannons, mortars, and tanks.

The JNA's end goal was to weaken and break Dubrovnik's last line of defense from the former Hotel Belvedere, which now lies in ruin as a star reminder of this shameful assault, to Sustjepan, located along Rijeka Dubrovačka. On just that day, more than 600 Yugoslav Army grenades rained down on the city's historic core, killing and injuring along their way. The JNA, Serbia and Montenegro were quickly met with international condemnation following this act of terrorism, with Serbia and Montenegro ostracised by the European Community, and by the world.

As the fires caused by the attack didn't take long spread across the city, a group of veterans located at Srđ's Fort Imperijal, a Napoleonic building at the very top of the mountain, managed to fend off the brutal and relentless Yugoslav attacks and prevent the defeat of Dubrovnik's last defense, today marks the solemn anniversary, and we honour and celebrate Dubrovnik's War Veterans Day, as Dubrovniknet reports.

During this primitive and unjustifiable attack, nineteen people lost their lives, and sixty were injured, some very seriously. Nine of Dubrovnik's buildings burned, and the damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site's historic core was vast, as it was throughout the rest of the city. At 16:00, the relentless attack ended, with the JNA accepting defeat and finally withdrawing. The courage and the enormous sacrifice of Dubrovnik's war veterans is the reason the city is as it is today.

Pavle Strugar, a former JNA General, was sentenced and rightly put behind bars at the Hague International Tribunal for failing to take command of responsibility during the horrific JNA attack on Dubrovnik on this day back in 1991. Miodrag Jokić also pleaded guilty to six counts of the charges against the JNA for the attack on Dubrovnik, he was also sentenced and jailed.

Make sure to follow Total Dubrovnik for more on the Pearl of the Adriatic.

Is an economic boost on the horizon for one leading regional producer with two manufacturing plants based here in Croatia? An extremely large cash injection might suggest exactly that.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of November, 2018, Addiko European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Addiko Bank have approved the DIV Group, which is otherwise the leading regional hardware and metal solutions manufacturer, a financial package of a massive total value of 30 million euro.

The funds are intended for the further investment in the long-term development of the DIV Group, with the end goal to be an increase of overall energy efficiency, the strengthening of sustainable working capital, and the restructuring of the leading group's balance sheet.

DIV Group is the leading regional manufacturer of numerous items in the wider region, and it boasts two production plants in Croatia, a well as plants in neighbouring Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through continuous investments in modernisation, development, new technology and staff, DIV Group has become one of the strongest producers in the entire metal industry and as a well repected and well established supplier of equipment, in the eyes of both the railway program and the automotive industry, exporting about 90 percent of its production.

Addiko Bank Croatia is well known for providing an economic boost or two, part of an international financial banking group that actively supports the growth of local businesses in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro. As of 2017, Addiko Bank has been the sixth largest bank in the Republic of Croatia in terms of total assets.

The EBRD loan has been approved under the Direct Finance Framework, which is intended to finance the growth and development of local businesses. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a leading investor in the region and has otherwise invested a huge 3.7 billion euro in Croatia, in more than 200 different projects so far.

Want to keep up with more information on the Croatian economy, doing business in Croatia and investment news? Make sure to follow our business page.

In addition to Croatia, the company will increase the number of gas stations in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

More international success from Croatia's emerging start-up scene.

Ever wondered about getting the train to Dubrovnik? You're a bit late, unless you've got a time machine...

April 6, 2018 - Another bumper tourist season awaits on the Adriatic coast, but what kind of tourism is Croatia trying to attract?

As the Australian Financial Review writes about new hotels for the luxury One&Only brand in Montenegro, Greece, Mexico and Rwanda on March 12, 2018, why are the big luxury hotel names so absent in the tourist hotspot of Croatia?

February 16, 2018 - As foreign billions from all over the globe pour into Montenegro's luxury tourism sector, the situation in Croatia is quite the opposite. A little investigation after the excellent  Adria Hotel Forum at Hotel Sheraton this week reveals just how far behind the curve Croatia is, and just how disorganised its approach to foreign investment is. 

February 12, 2018 - As many major tourism investments in Croatia are stuck for years in paperwork, a luxury revolution is happening to the south in Montenegro. Why and how Croatia is losing a major opportunity to become the luxury destination of choice on the Adriatic. 

Mato Franković met with Kotor's Vladimir Jokić, with whom he talked about the threat of cruise ship tourism and the possibilities of enhancing cooperation between the two UNESCO cities in the fields of tourism and culture.