ZAGREB, 30 March 2022 - Caritas Croatia has dispatched two more lorries full of humanitarian aid to Kyiv, Oleksandrivsk, Mukachevo and Ivano-Frankivskin Ukraine, a press conference heard on Wednesday.

"This shipment includes many donations that people themselves have donated directly such as food, hygienic products, appliances in addition to other aid previously collected by Caritas organisations in the country", Caritas Croatia's deputy director Suzana Borko told the press conference.

She thanked everyone for their donations and in particular the Miroslav Krleža elementary school which itself suffered huge damage during the 2020 earthquake.

"The next load of aid will include medicines and other necessities required in the field", added Borko.

"So far two lorries have been sent to Ukraine and together with today's load that is 144 crates of food products, hygienic products, sleeping bags, blankets and various technical equipment and the donations are valued at HRK 1.6 million", she added.

Caritas Croatia has collected more than HRK 4 million 

Caritas Croatia organised a donation telephone line (060 9010) and has received more than 68,000 calls and so far Caritas Croatia has collected more than HRK 4 million for Ukraine, including HRK 1 million from the Croatian Conference of Bishops.

The president of the Office for Ecology with the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Volodimir Šermeta joined the press conference via video link and said that the war against Ukraine's independence is bringing pain, suffering and death every day.

"You experienced a similar war with Serbia and there is no need to explain the consequences of bloody war", he said, adding that many of the victims are civilians, particularly women and children.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle and politics sections.

March the 28th, 2022 - Remember that old saying about the only two certain things in life being death and taxes? Croatian residents and property owners providing free accommodation to Ukraine refugees escaping war following the Russian invasion of their country must still pay tax despite their good (and free) deed.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian residents who own property and who are receiving Ukraine refugees in their apartments and houses will still have to pay taxes despite making their offer free. The fact is that private landlords in Croatia must sign a lease agreement with Ukrainian refugees who they want to provide a home for in their house or apartment, and tax must be paid on that, even if the rent agreement is signed at zero kuna, the Tax Administration said, Slobodna Dalmacija reports.

According to the Income Tax Act, if the rental amount is reported below the market price - which includes free rent - then the Tax Administration determines the rental price according to the standard rental prices for the place where the property is located. It is a legal mechanism used to avoid an agreed reduction in the rental price between the private landlord and the tenant.

If it weren't set out as such, the two parties could agree to write 10 kuna below the value of the rent on the lease agreement, even though it is actually 200 euros per month, and as such, the landlord would pay less tax (and Lord knows, we can't possibly have that, can we?!).

"These are the rules for now and we can't change that, but it will probably be regulated differently once the announced aid package from the European Union (EU) is approved,'' they explained from the Tax Administration when commenting on this situation which some believe is punishing them for a good deed.

According to the latest data, 9,660 displaced Ukraine refugees have entered the Republic of Croatia so far, most of them being women and children, as Ukrainian men below a certain age typically stay and fight.

Most of these Ukraine refugees are accommodated in private accommodation, ie in apartments provided by Croatian residents. This figure totals 8322 people, ie approximately more than 2000 families. There are 23 of them in reception accommodation, and 1255 in collective accommodation.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and what Croatia is doing to help displaced persons, check out our politics section.

March 19, 2022 - The Red Cross says that employers call them to offer jobs for Ukrainians. Maria Meleshko, from the Ukrainian community, warns about possible exploitation and violation of human rights. The Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) gives more details, both for Ukrainian citizens and Croatian employers.

Since the arrival of Ukrainian refugees at the Plitvice Motel in Zagreb, where the reception center is located, many employers from Croatia have called and offered them jobs. At the same time, one of the first questions of Ukrainians after arriving at the reception center was whether there was any work for them. ''There are a lot of young people, people want to get a job'', said Nikolina Gotal, spokeswoman for the city society CK Zagreb to 24sata.

Most of them, she adds, are employers from service industries. 

''A man from Samobor called and asked for a chef and an assistant chef, a lady from Ukraine told us that she already had a job interview in Pula, so we called colleagues from the Red Cross there to find accommodation for her and her family. In the second week after the arrival of the refugees, two employees of the Croatian Employment Service started coming every day for two hours and talked to the Ukrainians and entered them in their records'', said Gotal.

In addition to employers, the reception center was also contacted by numerous owners of private kindergartens, offering children from Ukraine accommodation in their kindergartens. Finally, she told all employers interested in employing Ukrainians to contact the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) and coordinate everything through them.

Vlado Karešin, President of the Ukrainian Community of the Republic of Croatia, said to 24sata that they were looking for a job for a Ukrainian who arrived in Slavonski Brod with four children and is a ceramicist by profession. 

''Here in Slavonski Brod, except for him, there are all mothers with children, one mother said that she would like to start working as soon as possible, so we are looking for a job for her as well'', Karešin said.

Marija Meleško, from the Ukrainian community in Zagreb, said that she still does not know anyone who got a job and states that it was mostly mothers with children who came from Ukraine and they must first take care of them before they get a job.

''Those who do not have any family or friends here, will want to work immediately. Mothers must first place their child in kindergarten or school and then start working. I only hope and believe that Croatian employers will not abuse people who came to seek salvation in Croatia and that there will be no exploitation of people. People come traumatized, disoriented in time and space, and not ready to control everything because they are in such a psychological state. I hope that their human rights will not be violated for human trafficking so that someone picks them up at the border and ends up who knows where. I hope there will be no such cases. Mothers with children are a particularly vulnerable group and are still coming into the unknown. And of course, I absolutely trust the Croatian police. If that happens by chance, I expect an immediate police response, which I believe will do it all. So far, there are no such situations, they are just fears, but we should be careful'', she concluded.

So, what should be considered before looking for a job in Croatia as a Ukrainian citizen, or before offering a job as a Croatian employer to a Ukrainian citizen? The Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), through a Q&A, cleared up the doubts.

How can Croatian employers hire refugees from Ukraine?

All persons under temporary protection must first regulate their stay in Croatia, they must first go to the Ministry of the Interior, obtain an identity card and OIB. They can then be registered in our unemployment register, and we will refer them to the jobs of potential employers in accordance with their knowledge. The HZZ will work intensively to connect people interested in work and employers.

Should Ukrainians have a work permit?

Temporary protection is approved by the Ministry of the Interior for a period of one year, during which time persons under temporary protection can be employed without a residence and work permit, which must be required for third-country nationals. Since only a small number of refugees from Ukraine have achieved this, it is understandable that they are not yet registered in the unemployment register.

Does HZZ help Ukrainians get a job in Croatia?

Employees of the Croatian Employment Service are daily in reception centers and collective accommodation and in individual interviews record the interest and employment opportunities of individuals and provide basic information about employment and employment opportunities and support they can receive from the job search agency.

How is communication with them?

In order to facilitate communication and provide basic information, the HZZ produced a leaflet in the Ukrainian language and the Cyrillic alphabet. The leaflet can contain all the information on registration in the unemployment register as well as the rights that a person exercises after registration.

Do you expect a large number of Ukrainians to be employed in Croatia?

All persons who express an interest in registering with the HZZ with the counselor will determine with which counselor they can and want to work, which languages ​​and other special skills they use, and the counselor will therefore refer them to the jobs of potential employers. We expect that in the future we will work intensively on connecting people interested in work and employers. Once again, we note that persons must regulate their status in the Ministry of the Interior in order to be able to register in the unemployment register and then be employed.

You can find the list and locations of all HZZ regional offices and their branches HERE.

Source: 24sata.hr

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Romanian and Hungarian radars did not recognise the drone that crashed in Zagreb a week ago as there were other false alarms that occured around the same time, but all Croatian partners understood the seriousness of the situation.

Speaking at a cabinet session, Plenković said he visited NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón, Spain yesterday and once again clarified with them radar images from last Thursday night.

"Romanian and Hungarian radars did not recognise the vehicle as the right sort of alarm. That's very demanding given that there are a lot of such blips... It appeared, it didn't appear, and in those days there were other false alarms and fighter jets were raised over situations of a different nature."

"However, since the drone crashed in Croatia's capital, all partners understand the seriousness of the situation". Plenković said.

"There are three possible scenarios, a mistake was made, it was sabotage or it was intentional. That has to be determined so that all surveillance mechanisms are ready for such situations and so that attention is paid because of the war in Ukraine", he said.

"Not even NATO's system could have seen the drone without being informed by those whose radars were closest to it", he added.

The drone carried explosive device

"We will inform the public of all details so there is no confusion, false information, wrong comments and expert analyses without insight into what really happened because that's not good either for the public or those commenting on incomplete information."

The relevant authorities are still looking into all the details of the crash. It has been established that that it was a Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh reconnaissance drone whose range was over 1,000 km.

Given the traces found at the crash site, it has been established that the drone had an explosive device which exploded several metres below ground, Plenković said.

He went on to say that military exercises were taking place these days in Croatia with the French and US air forces, reiterating that this was a strong message to the Croatian public that the allies and partners were with Croatia in this situation.

He also said Croatia had taken in 7,200 Ukrainian refugees to date.

For more on this developing situation, check out our dedicated politics section.

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.

Politics: For more, check out our politics section.

March 15, 2022 - Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees from the ongoing Russian invasion have been taken care of in the three northern Croatian counties: Varaždin, Međimurje, and Krapina-Zagorje, and more and more are arriving every day. Here are the official numbers in the northern counties.

On Tuesday, the head of the Varaždin Civil Protection Service, Ivica Matošić, confirmed that 16 people from Ukraine are currently accommodated in the reception center in the Varaždin Arena, while 37 of them are in collective accommodation at the Turist Hotel, reports Index.hr. According to him, there are currently 106 Ukrainian refugees in Varaždin County.

He emphasized that they are doing everything in the county to provide the necessary accommodation capacities for the reception of a larger number of refugees.

In Varaždin County, private accommodation with 1200 beds

"At the moment we are talking to the owners of private accommodation and those with whom we reach an agreement will sign an agreement on the use of their accommodation facilities for so-called collective accommodation. We think we have enough capacity and will be able to respond to all needs," said Matošić, who added that private accommodations have about 1,200 beds.

The small hall of the Varaždin Arena is ready to receive Ukrainian refugees. (Photo: Vjeran Zganec Rogulja / PIXSELL)

Twelve refugees who arrived in Lovrečan in Varaždin County last night are housed in the Druškovec parish court in the Maruševec municipality. 

This was stated by the pastor of the parish of St. Juraj Maruševec, Krunoslav Milovec. According to him, it is mostly women and children and one elderly person, emphasizing that refugees are "traumatized by everything."

"With them came two animals that we allowed to be temporarily housed in the parish court until we find a way to adequately care for them," he said.

The parish court currently has the capacity to receive three more people from war-torn Ukraine, and as Milovec pointed out, the locals and everyone else are ready to help them.

"Refugees can stay with us as long as they want. At the moment, they have everything they need, and we will get them anything missing," the pastor said.

In the last 24 hours, 340 Ukrainian refugees entered Croatia

According to the latest information, in the past 24 hours, 340 Ukrainian refugees entered Croatia through the Goričan border crossing, confirmed the Chief of the Civil Protection Headquarters of Međimurje County, Josip Grivec.

85 of them are continuing their journey to other countries, and 15 of them have stated that they will stay in the area of ​​Međimurje County, said Grivec and explained that, as a rule, women with children arrive and are mostly accommodated in private accommodation.

"Međimurje serves as a passing point for refreshments, charging mobile phones and the like, in which the county, municipalities, and citizens help. The first shipment of the Directorate with 'lunch packages'' has arrived. They are adequately taken care of and they do not lack anything, so everything that is needed is still being collected," said Grivec.

There are currently 27 Ukrainian refugees in Krapina-Zagorje County, said Stjepan Skuliber, head of the county's Civil Protection Headquarters. Given that a reception center has not yet been registered in the county, he said, people from war-torn Ukraine are in private accommodations.

"We have sent a proposal to the Directorate of Civil Protection to form a reception center in the sports hall of the High School in Krapina, although we believe that due to the proximity of reception centers organized in Rakitje and Hotel Plitvice we may not need another in our county," said Skuliber.

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

March the 14th, 2022 - With the Russian invasion of Ukraine having occurred just over two weeks ago now, Croatia has well and truly stepped up when it comes to handling the ongoing refugee crisis as people flee the war-torn Eastern European country. The Osijek-based Slavonian heart for Ukrainian families action plan is just one praiseworthy initiative.

As Novac/Jutarnji/Nikola Patkovic writes, just over two weeks have passed since the beginning of the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, and quite a significant number of people from this war-torn country have fled in the Ukrainian refugee crisis to Osijek-Baranja County in Eastern Croatia. Their hosts have been organising for their reception since the beginning of the unjustified Russian invasion in order to alleviate the traumas they'll be bringing with them as much as possible, and now a step further has been taken.

Osijek-Baranja County, in cooperation with the non-governmental organisation Centre for Missing and Abused Children Osijek, has prepared an action plan called "Slavonian Heart for Ukrainian Families".

"During the first few days, the most important thing was to ensure the quality reception of Ukrainian refugees, provide them with accommodation, healthcare... and this has now become a routine. However, in parallel with the Centre for Missing and Abused Children, we launched an action plan with the aim of the faster and better integration of people from Ukraine, especially children, into the Croatian system. It's a plan for the integration of refugees based on the Croatian Government's decision to introduce temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine. Numerous institutions, civil society associations and healthcare institutions are involved,'' said Mato Lukic, Osijek-Baranja County's Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff of the Civil Protection Directorate there.

On behalf of the Centre for Missing and Abused Children, their president Tomislav Ramljak emphasised that the Centre brings together a large number of experts, primarily psychologists, who have extensive experience from the migrant crisis which took place back in 2015.

"Back then, we put a lot of effort into working with children on their integration into society and providing psychosocial assistance, and we'll apply this to an even greater extent in this refugee crisis. The emphasis is being primarily placed on working with children. So, on Monday at the Cultural Centre in Osijek, we'll start with something called children's corner, where the needs and condition of the children will be assessed, and they'll also start learning Croatian. Our wish is to be able to include these children in educational processes as soon as possible. Recovery and integration into our environment are the basic tasks. We want them to enter into a routine, because in times of crisis, routine means security,'' said Ramljak, while Osijek Deputy Mayor Dragan Vulin stressed that Osijek has readily made all of its resources available as the refugee crisis continues.

Some Ukrainian children have already started attending school, the refugees are provided with free public transport, theatre performances will be organised for them, and it is planned to soon enable the integration of these displaced Ukrainian children into local kindergartens and sports clubs.

Lukic made sure to thank the residents of Osijek-Baranja County who offered up their accommodation for refugees in vacant facilities, as well as those in which they live. He also thanked the many companies, banks included, that were involved in providing assistance, such as Saponia, which provided storage space with equipment and NK Osijek, which offered to pay for accommodation for Ukrainian refugee families.

For more on the ongoing Ukrainian conflict and refugee crisis, make sure to keep up with our politics section.

ZAGREB, 11 March (2022) - NATO's integrated air and missile defence tracked the flight path of an object which subsequently crashed in Zagreb, an official of NATO told Hina on Friday.

"NATO's integrated air and missile defence tracked the flight path of an object which subsequently crashed in Zagreb. The Croatian authorities have announced that they are investigating this incident," a NATO spokesman, Daniele Riggio, said in his brief answer to HINA's query.

According to some speculations, a Tu-141 "Strizh" reconnaissance drone is believed to have arrived in Croatia from Ukraine, flying across Romania's and Hungary's airspace.

Croatian Defence Minister Mario Banožić said earlier today that the drone had been detected by Croatian radars and that it had been under surveillance as soon as it entered Croatia's airspace.

It crashed seven minutes after entering Croatia's air space, and the fall happened shortly after 2300 hours.

President Zoran Milanović said that radars in Croatia had detected the object which was in the Croatian airspace for a brief period. He also added that no alert information had been provided to Croatia.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 11 March 2022 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday the most important thing was to establish who launched the drone which crashed in Zagreb last night and if it reached Croatia by accident or deliberately.

He informed the leaders of other EU member states at a summit in Versailles about the incident and said Croatia had experts for such situations.

"We will share with others the things they find out," he said at the end of the summit.

"They received this information with maximum seriousness. It's not usual for an aircraft that is 14 metres long and weighs six tonnes to fall on a capital city."

Asked if NATO tracked the drone and if Croatia was informed about it, Plenković said, "If someone had been notified, the reaction would have been different. Our planes would have taken off and reacted."

This was a totally unforeseen situation, he added.

A NATO spokesman told Hina the alliance's air defence tracked the drone's flight path.

The Russian-made drone arrived in Croatia from Hungary, and in Hungary from Romania. It was in Croatia's airspace for six or seven minutes before crashing in a residential area in Zagreb.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 11 March 2022 (2022) - The Croatian Metal Workers (SMH-IS) on Friday called on the government to urgently help the Đuro Đaković Termoenergetska Postrojenja (TEP) company so that it can operate normally, while its business is currently affected by the fact its owner is a Russian added to the sanctions list.

The president of the Independent Trade Unions Federation, Mladen Novosel underscored that the unions are aware of the situation in Croatia as a consequence of the conflicts in Ukraine.

The war has resulted in many problems for Croatian companies with the increased price of energy.

The Đuro Đaković TEP is one of those companies faced with problems, with Novosel saying the company is in an absurd situation.

"It has a market to operate on, the EU market. It has concluded contracts. We respect the sanctions against Russia but we appeal to the government to urgently intervene. We know it is aware of the problems and is trying to do something," underscored Novosel.

We appeal for this to not remain simply on goodwill but for the government to urgently decide to exclude Đuro Đaković TEP from the sanctions and to make it possible for the company to do business as usual and thus save more than 1,000 jobs in Slavonski Brod, he added.

SMH-IS union leader Siniša Kosić underscored that they are not seeking financial assistance from the government but to be allowed to work.

"The company's business operates in the EU with EU funds and resources, and the only thing is that it is owned by a Russian and cannot get to those resources without the management board. That is an absurd situation. The government is aware of this but is too slow to react. The company has money, workers and jobs but workers could easily end up on the dole," warned Kosić.

He underscored that if the company's accounts do not cease to be frozen  and the company is not taken off the sanctions list, that could be the end of it and that must not happen.

"There has to be a model. We do not operate on the Russian market. We expect the government to act faster. If it managed to resolve the issue with Sberbank in two days then it can at least resolve this problem in two weeks," added Kosić.

Deputy union leader Antun Štivić underscored that Đuro Đaković has the highest revenue in the county and employs 872 workers and additionally about 200 sub-contractors.

The company's director Ivica Marić said that he was in constant contact with the government and Ministry of Finance and that they are "actively working on trying to find a solution."

"I expect a solution sometime during the day to unfreeze our money and to unblock the company's work," said Marić.

He added that it might be possible to separate the company's operation from the owner.

"The company operates according to Croatian laws and operates exclusively in the EU and for the EU. All the suppliers are from Europe and there is not business contact or transactions with Russia, Belarus or Ukraine," underscored Marić, adding that sanctions would be strictly adhered to.

For more, check out our business section.