ZAGREB, 3 June 2021 - A plane of Russia's national carrier Aeroflot carrying 86 passengers landed at Dubrovnik Airport on Tuesday evening, marking the reintroduction of a daily direct flight between the south of Croatia and Moscow after seven years.

Dubrovnik Airport director Frano Luetić said he expected that the interest of Russians would bring even better flight occupancy.

"If the situation with the pandemic continues to improve, I expect July and August will be excellent," Luetić said, adding that the British market, which accounted for 30% of Dubrovnik Airport's traffic, is yet to reopen.

A COVID antigen and PCR testing facility has opened at Dubrovnik Airport, available to all citizens. A business aviation terminal is another novelty, and it is the most modern in Croatia.

"Last year, we had a very good connection in that segment, and this year we expect an even better one. Those are high-paying guests that spend their holidays on yachts on the Adriatic coast. The terminal is very modern, with passport control, customs control, catering, and VIP lounges," Luetić said.

Dubrovnik Tourist Board director Ana Hrnić said that Dubrovnik and Croatia were very interesting to Russian tourists.

"Last week, a popular tourist show was filmed here, so we expect further growth in interest," said Hrnić, who expects tourism turnover will be significantly better after 15 June.

Also, as of 10 June, Russia will include Croatia on the list of epidemiologically safe countries.

This year, over 500 flights will be connecting Russia and Croatia from June to September, and Croatia joining the epidemiological "green zone" opens the possibility of charter flights.

In addition to Dubrovnik, Aeroflot will connect Moscow with Pula, Split, and Zagreb during the season.

Croatia has renewed the issuance of tourist visas for Russian citizens, and there is currently great interest in holidays in Croatia on the Russian market.

According to data from the eVisitor system, this year visitors from Russia have generated about 30,000 overnight stays, or 48% more than in the same period last year.

 Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, Dec 16, 2020 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Croatian Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek signed on Wednesday the sixth Programme of Cooperation in the Field of Culture for the 2020-2022 period, the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media said.

The program was signed as part of the Russian Foreign Minister's official visit to Croatia, and it encourages exchange and cooperation between artists, cultural and art institutions, and associations, as well as direct cooperation between cultural institutions of mutual interest, the MKM said.

Mutual cooperation, the Ministry said, encompasses a wide range of activities related to museums, galleries, performing arts, literature, and publishing, as well as the existing high level of cooperation in the area of audiovisual activities.

The Ministry recalled that in the domain of cultural heritage the cooperation was especially pronounced between the Underwater Research Centre of the Russian Geographical Society, the Lomonosov Moscow State University Marine Research Centre, and the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar, a UNESCO Category II Centre.

Signing the Programme will improve, the Ministry said, the existing cooperation between organizations, artists, and experts.

In addition to a good and meaningful bilateral cooperation between the two countries, which is achieved through direct contact between cultural institutions and artists working in Croatia and Russia, the cooperation within international platforms will also continue, the Ministry of Culture and Media said.

Despite the fact that Croatia's neighbour to the south, Montenegro, allows Russian citizens visa-free access to holiday in their country, the need for Russian citizens to obtain a visa to enter Croatia hasn't watered down their desire to visit the country, and some brand new connections between Russia and Croatia are set to fly in 2020.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of March, 2020, Russia and Croatia will be connected by Aeroflot airlines and TUI Russia, which are introducing a new charter flight to Croatia for the very first time this year.

Russian airline Utair will also introduce a new flight schedule as of June 2020 that will connect Moscow and the Dalmatian city of Split. The first flight is scheduled for June the 2nd, 2020, from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, and it will operate twice per week - on Tuesdays and Wednesdays - until the end of September, with 168 seats on offer on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Dalmatia, as well as for the entire Croatian tourism sector to further position themselves on the important Russian market," said Kristjan Stanicic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).

It's worth mentioning that this is the third airline to connect these locations between Russia and Croatia, As mentioned, in addition to the regular Utair flight, Moscow and Split will be connected by the airlines Aeroflot and TUI Russia during 2020.

In addition to the above, this year, Moscow will boast connections with the Croatian capital of Zagreb and the popular Istrian city of Pula, and St. Petersburg will also be connected with the City of Zagreb.

For more on flights to Croatia and connections between Russia and Croatia, follow our dedicated travel page.

It is no secret that Russian tourists love visiting Croatia, and the current Days of Croatian Tourism being held in Moscow has done nothing but confirm the enormous amount of interest on the Russian market for what Croatia has to boast of in its rich tourist offer.

As Glas Istre/Silva Bodlaj Ivasic writes on the 1st of February, 2020, the Croatian National Tourist Board's (HTZ) representative office in the popular Russian city of Moscow organised the Days of Croatian Tourism event, at which representatives of numerous Croatian tourism companies, including Uniline from Pula, had the opportunity to connect with potential partners from Russia and bring Croatia closer to them as a top destination.

Days of Croatian Tourism, organised by the Croatian National Tourist Board, took place in Moscow on Thursday. Representatives of the Croatian tourism sector had the opportunity to learn more about the specifics of the Russian market and to better connect with potential partners from Russia. The Croatian delegation in Moscow was led by Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli, Assistant Minister Tonci Glavina and the director of the Croatian Tourist, Board Kristijan Stanicic, hosted by the director of the HTZ Representative Office in Russia - Rajko Ruzicka.

Representatives of Uniline, a leading destination management company in Croatia and the region were some of Croatia's representatives, including Dario Guljelmovic, sales and production manager at Uniline, and key account manager Marko Borscak.

"The Russian market is huge and we really recognise its great potential. At one place, we were able to meet a number of potential associates. On the Russian side, more than 100 entities from the tourism sector visited Days of Croatian Tourism. The event was also visited by the Russian Minister of Tourism, various officials, interested parties from the F&B sector and many others,'' stated Dario Guljelmovic.

The Russian market is specific in that it doesn't actually include the middle class, unlike on more western markets. When it comes to Russia, they're either extremely high paying guests, or the total opposite.

From a Russian perspective, Croatia is an extremely interesting destination, especially among clients seeking top-notch service and with a desire to stay in five or four star hotels. The biggest obstacle to strengthening cooperation with Russian partners is the current visa regime. With the entry of Croatia into the European Union, guests from Russia required a visa to enter the country. As a positive example of addressing this obstacle, Guljelmovic points to 2018's FIFA World Cup held in Russia, when it was relatively easy for fans with tickets to obtain the necessary visas to enter.

Guests from Russia are excellent consumers with typically very high paying power. In addition to classic tourism, there is great potential in health tourism, and they are interested in Croatian spas. Guljelmovic points out that there is great interest in staying in villas in the interior of the region of Istria. Recently, this type of tourism has become somewhat of a trend, and in Russia, it's especially emphasised. Russian guests appear most interested in top quality accommodation, they want villas in amazing locations, with swimming pools and other amenities included.

"At Uniline, we can see great potential on the Russian market and we're working intensively on this. Russians, just like the Croats, prefer to book later and are only now completing brochures for the new season, so this was an ideal time to host a manifestation such as Days of Croatian Tourism,'' concludes Guljelmovic.

Make sure to follow our travel page for much more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of July, 2019, Moscow alone has a budget of 40 billion euros, and it would be an idiotic move by Croatia to not take advantage of the potential this could bring to the country.

''Nobody has the power to invest as much into Croatia as Russia has, neither the European Union nor the United States of America, but in order for the Russians to actually put their money where their mouths are and invest in Croatia, there are preconditions that Croatia must meet,'' stated the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Croatia, Anvar Azimov, on Monday during the Zagreb-Moscow economic forum.

At the forum held during the "Moscow Days in Zagreb" event, Azimov said that Russia was ready to invest several billion euros into Croatia, but Croatia must show interest and create the proper preconditions for these investments.

He pointed out that the relations between the country and Russia are stable and friendly. A good political dialogue has been established, and the links between the two countries are now excellent in many segments, but intergovernmental economic cooperation hasn't been following that good relationship, at least according to Azimov.

"The trade and the economy [between Croatia and Russia] are weak, I'm not satisfied with that as an ambassador, and I'm also not happy that Russian business hasn't recognised the opportunities offered to them in Croatia," said the Russian ambassador to Croatia.

He also stated that, according to his statistics, which don't actually match up with the statistics from here, Russia exported 700 million euros worth of gas to Croatia last year, and that Russian gas is the most favourable for the local market.

''The LNG Terminal isn't competition to us," he added.

Regarding the sanctions imposed on Russia, Azimov said that the Russians are losing oit because of them, but the West, as well as Croatian partners, lost three to four times more to those sanctions than Russia did. Azimov stressed that Russia is interested in renewing its ties with both the US and the EU.

"We'd like to be in harmony with our neighbors, and the EU is our neighbour," said the ambassador.

As for Croatia, he said that there should be no fear of geopolitical plans, and that the Russians do want to invest here. He stated that just Moscow alone has a budget of 30 billion euros, and that this country should utilise that massive potential. His wish is also for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to soon come to visit officially.

Since 1993 to the end of the third quarter last year, Russia has invested 410.9 million euros in Croatia. At the same time, 98.3 million euros was invested by Croatia into Russia.

The President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Luka Burilović, is pleased with the economic cooperation between Croatia and Russia, noting that it still isn't at the level it was at until 2014 when sanctions were initially imposed on Russia, after which economic trade unfortunately almost halved.

"We had a continuation of growth until two or three years ago, we had stabilised economic relations, and we're slowly returning to the level it was at before 2014. Traditionally, we're very prone to the Russian market and we know it well, our companies have been operating there for many years, in Moscow alone we have twenty registered Croatian companies, and of course in many other regions over there, too. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce is institutionally working to strengthen economic relations with the Russians and there's a lot of potential to strengthen these relations, and I believe that will be seen in the coming years,'' Burilović said.

Last year, more than 122,000 Russian tourists visited Croatia, which is three percent more than were recorded in the previous year, but at the same time, there was a drop in overnight stays made by Russians, by two percent.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more information on relations between Croatia and Russia and much, much more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 6th of June, 2019, the economic cooperation between the Republic of Croatia and Russia is growing, with more Croatian companies appearing on the Russian market, and with that, more and more Russian tourists are coming to Croatia.

It's easily seen that there has been significant growth in terms of Croatia's economic cooperation with Russia, and there are now more and more Russian tourists visiting the country, and according to the experience of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce's (HGK) Moscow office, more and more Croatian companies and entrepreneurs are looking for opportunities on the large Russian market, at least according to HGK's Luka Burilović who made the statement from St. Petersburg, where the Croatian Chamber of Commerce's delegation led by Economy Minister Darko Horvat participated in the International Economic Forum SPIEF recently.

The gathering is considered as one of the world's largest business meeting venues for business interests in Russia and on developing markets.

In the name of HGK, Burilović held a meeting with Russia's Sergej Čerjomin, on further possible economic cooperation and the organisation of the forums of Croatian and Moscow companies on July the 1st.

The worth of trade in goods between Croatia and Russia currently stands at about three billion dollars, but the goal is to reach and eventually surpass the former 3.4 billion dollar amount. Some Croatian companies are major exporters to Russia, such as AD Plastik and Belupo, which have both been recently awarded as the best Croatian exporters to the Russian Federation last year.

The fact that the Petersburg forum was the place to be for all things business was highlighted by the fact that its guest was the president of China, Xi Jinping.

Detailed discussions were held about trends in international economics, human development, environment and trade, technological achievements and much more between 5,000 representatives of both political and business circles, scientists, the public and media from all over the world.

Follow our dedicated business page for much more on Croatian companies, Croatian products and services, and the Croatian business and investment world.

Daniel Boehi, Miodrag Borojević, Paul Foley, Kelly Griffith, Maxim Poletajev, Jullian Michael Simmons, Sergey Volk and Fabris Peruško are a list of names that will enter the ''new'' Agrokor, or Fortenova's management.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of March, 2019, Sberbank's Maksim Poletajev will be the head of Fortenova's board of directors, as was decided upon by the concern's owners during meeting in London, Večernji list writes.

At the moment, this information remains unofficial and should be confirmed at the end of March, when new functions will be recorded in the Court Registry of companies. Namely, on the first day of April, the Fortenova Group, formerly Agrokor, will be chaired by a board of nine directors and an executive board consisting of three members. Daniel Boehi, Miodrag Borojević, Paul Foley, Kelly Griffith, Maxim Poletaev, Jullian Michael Simmons, Sergey Volk and Fabris Peruško, Agrokor's current extraordinary administrator, are already known.

Maxim Poletajev of Russia's Sberbank, will be at the helm of this body which will make all strategic decisions on the involved companies.

This body decides on the selling and acquiring part of the business, appointments, and other major contracts. Along with Poletajev as a representative of Sberbank, the largest shareholder, which has a 39.2 percent stake in the new ownership structure, Sergey Volk will also enter the body, who as a member of the temporary creditors' council has been present within Agrokor since the very beginning of the extraordinary administration process. Both bankers are well acquainted with the opportunities within Agrokor, over the past two years they have become well acquainted with Agrokor's suppliers and most of the owners of major Croatian companies.

In an interview with Večernji list, Poletajev announced that the company, which will continue to operate under Fortenova's name, will boast some powerful management names.

For now, all operating company directors have retained their positions in mirror companies, and some very powerful names are set to enter the board of directors. Miodrag Borojević is certainly one of them. He currently runs the O'KEY Group, one of the leading retail chains in Russia, and also boasts an exceedingly rich career in the sector. He was the director of REWE Italy, which was rescued during his mandate, he has also operated Kaufland's business in Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and in the Czech Republic.

Foley has valuable long-standing experience in large retail chains and has been leading the large chain of Aldi in his career and is now in the Magnitum Management, a Russian chain where VTB Bank, which owns about seven percent of the new Fortenova, bought and sold shares from February to May 2018.

The board of directors also includes a workers' representative whose name is as yet unknown. The executive board of directors who will operate the company will have three members, Fabris Peruško, Irena Weber and a member who will be responsible for finances, their name is as yet is unknown.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more on Agrokor.

You know that old British saying ''It ain't over til the fat lady sings''? Well, you could easily apply that to the ongoing Agrokor saga. Yes, things have calmed down enormously, with the company having made a miraculous turnaround from pre-bankruptcy to regaining its strength and operating normally, but the story isn't over yet.

Fabris Peruško, the current extraordinary commissioner leading Agrokor's administration, stated recently that Agrokor is finally back on its feet, and not only that, but that it still has all the potential to remain one of the strongest and largest companies in this part of Europe.

While Agrokor is expected to return to totally normal business next year, under a different name and with Russia's Sberbank as a majority owner, things still aren't all steady, and this is one of them. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of December, 2018, Russia's Sberbank, one of Agrokor's largest shareholders, has already begun receiving bids for its huge share in the Agrokor Group.

Maxim Poletajev, advisor to the CEO of Sberbank, stated that Sberbank has already begun receiving bid for its share from various funds from the United States, Canada, and much closer to home in Europe, from the United Kingdom, according to a report from N1.

"Everything will depend on the price, we're currently considering offers," Poletajev stated very briefly. He also said that Russia's Sberbank was currently in talks with various investors who could potentially take part in refinancing Agrokor's debt.

Fabris Peruško should become the president of the board, Poletajev added.

As the Agrokor story continues to write its own pages and as its former owner, Ivica Todorić, pays a million euros in bail to leave prison and announce his entry into the Croatian political world, it's more and more difficult to predict exactly what will happen next, but in any case, follow our dedicated business and politics pages to stay up to date.

The Croatian company deals with liquid flow control technology and the designing and manufacturing of electro-hydraulic equipment.

Croatia's Vatreni did much more for the country than just bring a silver home.