ZAGREB, 24 March - About 9,500 Ukrainians displaced by the war in their country have found refuge in Croatia, Tomislav Marević of the Civil Protection Directorate said on Thursday.

"These are still mainly women and children, and many of them are accommodated privately," Marević said in an interview with Croatian Radio.

He said he was proud that Croatia had responded in solidarity already in the first weeks of the war and that citizens were taking in displaced persons voluntarily.

He commended the government's decision to finance accommodation for refugees, adding that the Civil Protection Directorate would sign a contract with each user and owner of a property.

Anny Brusić, director of the association of small and medium-sized enterprises at the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), said that the business community was very interested in hiring Ukrainian refugees.

"We need a little more time to get the system going because certain procedures need to be simplified before hiring actually begins. A state authority should say that at this point Ukrainian workers are not required to show a certificate of education or a diploma. Our legislation is rather rigid," Brusić said.

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ZAGREB, 1 March 2022 - The Civil Protection Logistics Centre is sending five semi-trailer trucks with humanitarian aid and equipment declared by Ukraine as necessary, Tomislav Marević of the Croatian Civil Protection Directorate said in Jastrebarsko on Tuesday.

The trucks will carry medical equipment for the wounded and the sick, blankets, beds and other necessities.

Marević said there would be more trucks with humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

The five trucks will bring the relief to logistics centres on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, where "corridors will open for delivery into the interior of the country," he added.

The convoy will be escorted by the Civil Protection Directorate so that it's clear that it's a relief convoy, and the drive is expected to last 24 hours, Marević said.