ZAGREB, 7 April 2022 - Sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia will not stop the war in Ukraine, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said during a visit to Switzerland, adding that the war could be stopped only with the help of diplomacy.

"These sanctions will not be enough to stop the war," Milanović said at a news conference after meeting his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis.

The Croatian president said that having followed "the stock exchange in Moscow and the ruble that has returned to the level of a month ago in relation to the dollar", he had to conclude that "as in every such case, it unfortunately only encourages thugs."

"I would be happiest if Russia withdrew in an hour, if it simply left, but that won't happen," Milanović said, adding that the only way to stop the war is diplomacy, with mediation by the countries "that enjoy a certain level of trust."

There are just a few such countries in the world, he said at the end of the news conference, without specifying them.

"Croatia cannot do much in Ukraine," but it can do much in the Western Balkans, he said, adding that he and his Swiss counterpart discussed the topic at Cassis's suggestion.

"That concerns us directly and we have good intentions," Milanović added.

The Western Balkans is very important for Europe's stability and its security architecture, the Swiss president, a liberal and physician by profession, said.

Cassis said he was particularly moved to talk about that with the Croatian president and that it took him back to the time when he worked as a physician in Switzerland, working also with completely traumatised victims of war from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After their meeting, the two presidents participated in a panel on security challenges in Europe and Switzerland's neutrality, after which they were expected to visit CERN, the European organisation for nuclear research.

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ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - A temporary injunction prohibiting the use and departure of three yachts from Croatian ports has been issued on suspicion that they are connected with persons on the sanctions list released after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Croatia's Sea Transport and Infrastructure Ministry stated on Wednesday.

The yachts are moored in the marina of Betina, the ACI marina in Skradin, and the port of Rijeka.

The injunction is in compliance with the restrictions adopted by the European Union in response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and extended to include certain individuals.

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March the 7th, 2022 - Russian-owned Croatian villas are dotted all along the Croatian coastline, but with harsh sanctions in place and Croatia freezing all such properties related to the Russian regime, what's going to happen next with these luxurious properties?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the fact that Kvarner has been very interesting for rich Russian nationals for years now when it comes to buying real estate is proved by the fact that some of the most beautiful villas there are owned by Russians. Opatija, meaning the entire Opatija Riviera, is truly one of the most sought-after destinations for Russians in Croatia to buy luxury apartments and houses in attractive positions. This was confirmed by some of the large property agencies that have been doing business with Russian buyers for years, Novi list writes.

"When we talk about the number of Russian-owned Croatian villas and other properties, as far as foreign buyers are concerned, Russians aren't in the majority here, but they're in the majority in terms of the number of the most exclusive properties owned. We can say that in the period until 2015, there was a craze of wealthy Russian people coming for the most expensive villas in this part of Kvarner, along the stretch from Volosko to Medveja. In that period, they bought property as residential buyers, namely the most exclusive real estate, which was often located along the first row to the sea or with a beautiful view of all of Kvarner,'' said Vjeran Saina, senior agent of the Remax Real Estate Centre.

He explained that Russian citizens could initially buy real property only if they set up a company here in Croatia, but later the situation was simplified and today they can acquire ownership of property defined by the law of reciprocity, ie reciprocity between Croatia and Russia as individual buyers.

Speaking about buyers from the Russian market, Saina said that in fact, after making a purchase, the Russians, as a rule, did not stay long in their newly acquired villas. In conversations they often mentioned that there is a lack of quality content in the Kvarner area, such as shopping and nightlife, which forces them to spend their money, for example, in neighbouring Italy.

As for the interests of Russian buyers, this real estate agent explained that after 2015, the wave of them buying residential real estate in Croatia subsided.

"Competing countries such as Montenegro, Cyprus, Spain, allowed Russians to enter the country without hindrance, but also through other benefits. For example, when buying real estate in Montenegro above the value of 500,000 euros, buyers from the Russian market get the right to permanent residence. Over recent years we've noticed an increase in the interest of Russian buyers in investing. They're interested in large investments in the area of ​​Liburnia. Several projects were successful, but we could also notice some not so successful investments, which were still too big for our area in terms of planning and implementation, and they were simply not well received by the market. Given the current political situation, we haven't noticed that the Russians are turning to Croatia for the sale of the real estate they own in Kvarner. That property has not been frozen and the Russians aren't expressing concern,'' Saina told Novi list, adding that several Russian investors have been operating in Croatia for many years now and said recently that they were doing business as before.

"As agents who are part of the international brand Remax, we're in constant communication with our colleagues, but also sellers and investors from abroad, and we are waiting for the situation to unfold further," concluded Vjeran Sain in reference to Russian-owned Croatian villas and more.

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