October 3, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Rijeka, and Zadar. 

After Korean Air announced they would reduce the capacity between Seoul and Zagreb this winter, operating three weekly services on the 218-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft, the airline has instead decided to discontinue the service this winter.

Namely, Avio Radar and Ex Yu Aviation report that the Seoul-Zagreb service will not run this winter, though services will resume on April 1, 2020. As reported, the service will run between the two capitals only until November 29, 2019. Tickets sales have thus been discontinued. 

Recall, during the 2018/19 winter season, Korean Air operated using the 261-seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft from late October, which was replaced by the B787-9 from January.

Unlike the winter, the summer months have been excellent for Korean Air. Recall, the airline increased operations from three to four times a week in September. 

“Since the launch of the route between Seoul and Zagreb, it has been performing with a high load factor. There has been growth this summer season, mainly on demand originating from Korea,” Korean Air said earlier this year. Korean Air began operations to Zagreb in September 2018 - and the Croatian capital is one of the airlines busiest destinations. 

In other news, Avio Radar reports that LOT is coming to Rijeka with a new direct seasonal service from Warsaw. The route will run from March 29 to October 18, once a week on Sundays. The flight lands in Rijeka at 15:30 and departs for Warsaw at 16:20. An Embraer E195 aircraft, which has the capacity for 118 passengers, will service this line. 

To conclude, Avio Radar reports that SAS Scandinavian Airlines, a Star Alliance member, added a new Croatian destination to their 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, the airline will service Zadar in addition to the existing routes to Dubrovnik, Pula, and Split. 

The new Copenhagen-Zadar route will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, from June 30 to August 8, 2020. A Canadair CRJ-900 will be used for this line. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

October 3, 2019 - The 4th Business Café International event, which gathers foreign entrepreneurs starting a business and moving to Croatia, will be held Monday, October 14th in Zagreb at 6 p.m. at the Rooftop Lateral, Strojarska 20/26.

Business Café International was established to highlight the opposite of migration trends, i.e., showing examples of entrepreneurs who moved to Croatia to start businesses. It is a joint effort to make Croatia a country that is not just great to live in, but also an attractive place for doing business. 

Kristina Ercegović, Business Café founder, with this new project, continues to promote her vision of Croatia as one of the best places to live and work. 

This time a lady we all know from the TV show “Zvijezde pjevaju” will be joining us together with His Excellency, the Ambassador of Israel and the Ambassador of the UK. 

Ashley Colburn is a two-time Emmy award-winning television producer and host. After receiving an Emmy for her documentary WOW Croatia 10 years ago, she decided to move from US, California to Croatia, Istria.  For more info visit https://ashleycolburnproductions.com/ 

After visiting more than 60 countries for work, why did she choose Croatia to do life and business, and how is it going? 

We are also happy to announce that Isreali Ambassador Ilan Mor will be sharing insights into the Start-Up nation’s entrepreneurial mindset and what can Croatians learn from that. 

Also, UK Ambassador Andrew Dalgleish will be joining us. 

How does Brexit affect doing business in Croatia? Which opportunities are now available to us?

What do they both think can be done to improve the business climate in Croatia?

Don't miss the opportunity to meet and connect with excellent local and foreign entrepreneurs exchanging ideas and the well-known energy and atmosphere of all Business Café events. 

More info and tickets are available on https://businesscafe.info/events/4-business-cafe-international/ 

Sponsors of Business Cafe International are Diglossia translations, Catering Team Lisak, and Domella beauty. 

Media sponsors are Total Croatia News, Croatia2go, Diplomacy, and Commerce. 

Media partners are:  Womeninadria, Mentorica, and Poduzetnik. 

Contact:

Kristina Ercegovic, EMBA

www.kristinaercegovic.com

www.businesscafe.info 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

091 1555 228 

To read more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, October 2, 2019 - A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in Zagreb on Wednesday, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, by Indian Ambassador Arindam Bagchi, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić.

The bust, made by awarded Indian sculptor Ram Vanaji Sutar, and its pedestal are a gift from the Indian Embassy in Croatia, which also financed the erection of the monument.

Ambassador Bagchi said it was appropriate that the inscription under the bust, Gandhi's first in Croatia, should be his message "There is no path to peace, peace is the path".

We hope the unveiling of this bust will enable the new generation of Croatia's inhabitants to learn something about the lasting message which Gandhi sent the world and which is equally important today. We also hope this bust will become an important and interesting place to the people of Zagreb as well as tourists, he said.

Bagchi thanked Plenković and Bandić for attending, saying it symbolised Croatia's love and affection for Gandhi.

He recalled that Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, visiting Croatia this past March, announced that he would gift a bust of Gandhi. He said he was very pleased that the president's promise could be kept so soon by finding an eternal home for Gandhi in Zagreb's beautiful Bundek park.

Plenković said he was very pleased to be at the unveiling of a bust of the great Mahatma Gandhi in Croatia's capital on the 150th anniversary of his birth.

He said the UN declared Gandhi's birthday the International Day of Non-Violence and that Gandhi distributed his message of non-violence and peaceful resistance for eternity and for the whole world as a universal message stemming from his authority and role as politician and great statesman.

Plenković cited two of Gandhi's quotes. "The first is that force is the weapon of the weak and non-violence the weapon of the strong, and the other is that the only way to live is to let others live."

"This message of tolerance and peace will stay with us also thanks to this bust in Zagreb, a message as a symbol of the friendship between Croatia and India, and we as the government are grateful to President Kovind, who was the first Indian president to officially visit Croatia this spring, for this gift," Plenković said.

Mayor Bandić wished for the Gandhi monument to bring out in the people of Zagreb more love, wisdom, reason, openness and feeling for true values. He especially greeted the ambassadors of the US and Russia, Robert Kohorst and Anvar Azimov, who attended today's unveiling.

More news about relations between Croatia and India can be found in the Politics section.

October 1, 2019 - Manchester City was better than Dinamo Zagreb (2:0) at Etihad Stadium in the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday. 

Dinamo Zagreb met Manchester City in the second round of the Champions League Group C on Tuesday at Etihad Stadium. Recall, Dinamo topped Atalanta 4:0 in Zagreb in the first round. Both teams secured three points after their first-round matches. 

Dinamo coach Nenad Bjelica had no problem with injured players for Tuesday’s match, while Pep Guardiola was left without Kevin de Bruyne, one of his best. Furthermore, the famous coach still could not count on the John Stones - Aymeric Laporte stopper duo.

Dinamo once again came out with three stoppers. As against Atalanta, in front of Livakovic was Theophile, Peric, and Dilaver, with Stojanovic and Leovac as the backs. In the midfield were Moro, Ademi, Olmo, and Orsic with Petkovic on offense.

Over 1,500 fans traveled from Zagreb to see the spectacle against the Premier League champions. 

Dinamo held their own in the first half, which ended without goals thanks to a stellar defense that made sure Aguero, Mahrez, and David Silva saw none of Dinamo's goal. 

However, whether Dinamo would be able to keep up this stamina in the second half was in question. 

While Dinamo had a few chances to attack at the beginning of the first half, which failed to come to fruition thanks to careless mistakes, City piled on the pressure and put Dinamo’s defense to work much harder than in the first. 

Guardiola subbed Raheem Sterling on for Bernardo Silva in the 57th minute in the hope of some action, and you could tell the celebrated coach was uneasy his side hadn't scored yet.

But then it finally happened for City in the 66th minute - Raheem Sterling scored for 1:0. City dominated and held the majority of the possession in the second half, and Dinamo struggled to get past the halfway line. Dinamo's defense continued denying some of football's biggest players, though a quick counter in extra-time saw Phil Foden score for 2:0, which was the final score of the game. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

October 1, 2019 - More international recognition for Bagatin Clinic from Zagreb and Split, which continues to raise the bar in Croatian medical tourism. 

It is about two years since I first became aware of the Croatian medical tourism industry, and I must confess I find its dynamics fascinating. That initial discovery of the excellence of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital, one of the Leading Hospitals of the World, Svjetlost Eye Clinic, and Bagatin Clinic was an impressive window into an area of tourism where Croatia has the potential to punch above its weight on the global stage and attract lucrative tourism 12-months a year. You can read my initial discoveries in Health Tourism is Coming Home: Why Zagreb is the Next Big Medical Tourism Destination.

Over that two-year period, it did not take long to figure out which was the most active and successful clinic in Croatia, as well as the most effective at promoting internationally not just itself, but Croatian medical tourism in general - Bagatin Clinic. 

It is a great story of three brothers, two of them surgeons, one not. But what Ognjen Bagatin may have lacked in his brothers' skills with the knife, he has more than made up with in terms of running the family business, which has enjoyed phenomenal growth and success in recent years, including opening up on the Adriatic coast for the first time earlier this year in Split. 

With a key focus on dentistry, plastic surgery, dermatology and cosmetic treatments, Bagatin Clinic has been slowly expanding its client base internationally, including what is - for me at least - perhaps the most inspiring story and advert for Croatian tourism I have come across - read Carl's story and his life-changing visit to Zagreb from the United States, while saving tens of thousands of dollars in the process.  

And the international awards followed, including being voted the best dermatology clinic in all Europe last year - see above. 

Arguably the most prestigious awards in the medical tourism industry, however, are the annual International Medical Travel Journal Awards, which this year will take place in Berlin in December. 

For the third year running, Bagatin Clinic has been nominated, this time for two awards in the international category - Best Aesthetic Surgery and Best Marketing Initiative, according to a recent Facebook post from CEO Bagatin. 

The nominations are the latest recognition for the dynamic clinic, which is also doing more than any other to develop Croatia's medical tourism industry, with Ognjen Bagatin tirelessly on the road to networking and developing strategies. The fruits of one such endeavour paid dividends in Cleveland last week, as Bagatin's close relationship with the world-famous Cleveland Clinic has resulted in Bagatin Clinic announcing the first-ever European Patient Experience and Innovation Conference, which will include participation from international presenter, Cleveland Clinic, to take place in Dubrovnik in March. 

If there was an IMTJ category for promoting the country's medical tourism potential, there would be few to rival Bagatin Clinic. We will bring you the results from Berlin as they arrive in December. 

To follow the Croatian medical tourism story, follow our dedicated TCN section. 

September 30, 2019 - The Dobar Tek (dobartek.hr) platform enables fast and easy food ordering online and cooperates with more than 100 restaurants in several cities in Croatia. It is used daily by over 70,000 users.

Now, the popular online service has released a new product: Dobar Tek at work. Co-founder and CEO Nebojša Veron met with Dalmacija Danas to tell us more. 

How did the idea come about for Dobar Tek at work?

“Ordering lunch at work is generally a sweet worry. Being able to order food online enhanced this experience because it eliminated telephone orders. However, it did not solve all the potential challenges. Namely, when there are a lot of people in the office, ordering can be a bit stressful because someone has to collect all orders and then order without skipping or forgetting something. Then, all the money to pay for the food should be collected. Managing cash on the spot can be a real hassle because it also involves a lot of squabbling and remembering who owes whom. Also, it is not uncommon for someone to be accidentally forgotten or for people to miss the delivery time that would suit them best. Thus, we have prepared a solution that has three key features:

- enabling group food ordering;

- issuing monthly invoices;

- providing records of orders and expenses.

Who is the primary candidate for Dobar Tek at work?

“We have developed a solution keeping in mind the employees who will use it to facilitate their daily ordering, but also the companies that provide their employees with hot meals. We wanted to address both needs, and we succeeded. Businesses that offer meals to their employees can easily do so thanks to monthly invoices, and monthly invoices also help employees who pay for the food themselves, as there is no longer the need to pay for the order daily.

Who can apply for Dobar Tek at work?

“Companies, but also employees of companies who often order food together at the office, can apply for dobartek.hr at work. Of course, it is not necessary for the order to be made by an official representative of the company. An online solution makes it easier for businesses to do business in this segment, and employees can easily organize and report on whether or not their employer pays for a hot meal. However, we hope that this will encourage more businesses to pay for meals. We process each application immediately upon receipt and strive to meet any specific needs that companies and/or employees may have.

It should be noted that dobartek.hr is already used by several companies at work, among them HR Cloud, HR Prodigy, Profico, and Rimac Automobili. New applications have already been received in the early days of launching the product, and the service is available in all cities in which dobartek.hr operates - from Split to Zagreb.”

Marko Marinovic, head of the Dobar Tek development team, concluded:

“We created dobartek.hr at work to make it easier to order food to the office every day. Simple group orders, cost records, and more. We have targeted this for companies and teams that often order together. We continue to work on this to never leave a team hungry at work.”

You can check it out at https://www.dobartek.hr/na-poslu

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, September 30, 2019 - The 20th Terry Fox Run took place in Zagreb on Sunday with some 6,000 participants running, rollerblading, walking and bicycling a 6.3 km marathon around Jarun Lake to support fundraising for the Ruđer Bošković Institute, which will use the money for cancer research.

Over 6.5 million kuna has been raised in the humanitarian drive so far.

The run was welcomed by Health Minister Milan Kujundžić, who recalled that Fox was only 20 when he was diagnosed with cancer and that he ran a marathon for two years to send the message that the gravely ill needed care.

"We must all take care for those who are ill because, so to speak, tomorrow we will all get cancer," the minister said.

Canadian Ambassador Alan Bowman commended the cooperation between Croatia and Canada in the 20-year-long tradition of organising the run.

Fox is a Canadian national hero who started the marathon that today takes place in over 60 countries, with millions of people running for nearly 40 years in honour of his passion for running and his desire to beat cancer.

Fox lost a leg to cancer and in 1980, in order to raise money for treatment, he embarked on a run across Canada which he called the Marathon of Hope. He ran 143 days, covering 42 km a day, but failed to finish the run because the disease came back, claiming his life at 22.

More news about charity events can be found in the Lifestyle section.

September 27, 2019 - The 9th round of the Croatian First League was held from September 27 to 29, 2019. This round saw big wins for Dinamo, Osijek, and Rijeka. Dinamo is now only one point behind Hajduk, who sits at the top of the table.

Lokomotiva v. Dinamo (0:4)

Lokomotiva and Dinamo opened the 9th round at Kranjčevićeva Street Stadium in Zagreb on Friday, September 27, 2019, in front of 2,983 fans. 

Kadzior opened the scoring spree for Dinamo with a goal in the 10th minute for 0:1, which was the score at the half. 

Olmo and Orsic scored in the 58th and 59th minute for 0:3, while Gavranovic secured Dinamo’s victory with a goal in the 74th for 0:4. 

Lokomotiva is currently in 6th place with 14 points, while Dinamo is in 2nd with 19. 

Varazdin v. Rijeka (0:2)

Varazdin and Rijeka met on Saturday, September 28, 2019, at NK Varteks stadium in front of 1,946 fans. 

Rijeka scored both goals in the first half - Pereira in the 12th minute and Halilovic in the 36th minute. Varazdin’s Djurasek was shown his second yellow in the 69th minute, forcing Varazdin to play with ten men for the rest of the match. 

Varazdin is currently in 9th place with 7 points, while Rijeka is in 3rd with 18. 

Slaven Belupo v. Osijek (0:4)

Belupo and Osijek met on Saturday, September 28, 2019, in Koprivnica in front of 703 fans. 

Mance (’25), Maric (’35), and Lepa (’41) scored for Osijek in the first half for 0:3. Skoric secured Osijek’s shutout with a goal in the 71st for 0:4. 

Belupo is currently in 7th place with 10 points, while Osijek is in 4th with 16. 

Inter Zapresic v. Gorica (0:2)

Inter and Gorica met on Sunday, September 29, 2019, at ŠRC Zaprešić Stadium in front of 553 fans. 

Cabraja scored in the 31st minute for 0:1 at the half.  Zwolinski increased Gorica’s lead in the 57th minute for 0:2, which was the final score of the game. Gorica also played a man down from the 53rd minute after Marina was shown his second yellow. 

Inter is currently in the last place with 6 points, while Gorica is in 5th place with 15. 

Istria v. Hajduk (1:1)

Istria and Hajduk closed out the 9th round on Sunday, September 29, 2019, in Pula in front of 4,569 fans.

Hajduk’s Caktas scored in the 35th minute for 0:1 at the half. Loncar equalized for Istria in the 80th minute for 1:1, which was the final score of the game. 

Istria is currently in 8th place with 9 points, while Hajduk remains in first place with 20. 

You can see the full HNL table here. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

September 28, 2019 - Continuing our look at successful returnee stories and experiences from the Croatian diaspora to the homeland, next up Daniel Nikic from Cohres on his journey from Canada to Zagreb. 

1. Born in Canada, returned to Croatia, something that many diaspora dream of doing. Tell us briefly about your journey.

I was born to Croatian parents from Bosnia and Herzegovina, more specifically from small villages of Ruzici and Tihaljina in the town of Grude. My parents moved to Canada in their early 20s in the late 1960s via Stuttgart, Germany. I grew up in a small town called Halton Hills (45-min drive from Toronto) and had a great childhood. After university, I was not really ambitious in terms of my career and quite frankly I wanted to be like Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie, The Beach. As a kid I would visit Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summers and established good quality relationships with locals, therefore I had some knowledge of Croatia, although vacationing is very different from living (especially for diaspora / ex-pats). I was fortunate to have an uncle who lives in Zagreb and he would always push my cousins and others in Canada to move back to Croatia. Once I finished university in 2009, I spent the summer in Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoying the last days of my youth and moved to Zagreb in September 2009. I worked for my uncle's company for a year and then proceeded to work for a Slovakian real estate development company, which later led me to become an entrepreneur and open my own company, Cohres in 2014. Cohres initially started off as an outsource consulting firm for finance and market research and then restructured in 2017 to focus on investment research.

2. Looking back, what were your hopes, expectations and fears about moving to Croatia?

The first year in Croatia started off with the mentality to take advantage of being in Croatia, and to not say “what-if” as I did not expect to stay in Croatia for a long time. I quite frankly had a plan to stay one year at most. I did not share my expectations with anyone because I myself was not sure what to expect. I have to admit I missed Canada quite a lot since I felt more Canadian than ever once I started living in Zagreb. In the beginning, I felt a real social-cultural difference between Canada and Croatia, which is logical in some ways, but I was a 21-year old who was quite impulsive to say the least. Overall, my expectation was that it would be easy in Croatia, since I thought economic barriers are not that important, which in some ways is true, however should not be the main and only factor when deciding to move somewhere. I must admit that my fear of moving to Croatia was leaving behind good friends and family back home in Canada and moving on with my own life, similar to what many had to do when leaving Europe to move to North America, Australia and South America. I hoped that Croatia would be a hidden gem and I would become a rock star quickly and gain quick success, well I was wrong about that. It took a lot of patience and persistence to get to where I am today. One thing that I have always felt, and still feel, is that Zagreb has a spirit and it is a city that offers much to do and experience. This is a feeling that has not changed since I first arrived and even now.

3. How supportive was your Croatian community back home at the time?

In terms of back home, I have to admit some people in my life were positive and some were negative when I announced that I would be moving to Croatia. I must be honest, if I did not meet my now wife after my year in Zagreb, I would have most likely moved back, as I told myself I would only stay a year. As the expression goes “you never know what to expect in life.” Those who were negative shared with me that they had bad experiences in Croatia, were afraid of change or were stubborn in their thoughts that there is no potential in Croatia and/or Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those who were supportive stated many times that due to globalization, Croatia should prosper and improve in terms of quality of life. I am glad I pushed myself to stay a minimum of one year in Croatia. All in all, I think many diaspora make their decisions of living in Croatia based on their own expectations and experiences.

4. What were the main differences in what you expected to find in Croatia and the reality of living in Croatia?

Personally, I expected Croatia to be very easy-going and that I would not have to work too much to be able to make a comfortable living, which is not true and it is not true for wherever one decides to live. I also felt that Croatia was behind in many factors such as education and work environment, but I must admit, for a small market, Croatia is quite advanced despite bureaucracy issues, just look at how many entrepreneurs there are compared to other countries. Also, I did not realize the lack of adoption to technology in terms of bureaucracy in Croatia, which I believe is a major turn off to many when deciding to live in Croatia. One thing I greatly admire about Croatia is that not everything is commercialized in other words there is an originality that is sometimes hard to find elsewhere.

5. Many diaspora think of returning but few do. In truth, there is little information out there about real-life stories and help/info about the process. What advice do you have for those who are thinking about making the move?

I think despite what many think about diaspora, moving to Croatia is difficult. If someone is born and raised for example in Canada even if their parents could be from Lika, Dalmatia, or Zagorje they are still Canadian and will most likely to some extent have Canadian values in terms of social and cultural values. There is definitely little information and help/info on the process, because when someone from the diaspora visits Croatia they are usually visiting where their parents are from, as I did and are probably going to touristic destinations, so it is quite difficult to have a clear picture in terms of living in the country. My advice to anyone moving to Croatia is do not expect it to be golden. However, with technology today, the world is becoming connected and Croatia is not a country that is lagging behind or disconnected. There will be struggles, however there are rising opportunities as Croatia is developing. Overall, Croatia to me is a country that has great potential, but you cannot expect the government to work for you, which I believe is a factor that negatively impacts Croatians. I think Croatia can be a great outsource centre for large multinational companies and those companies that hold large value in assets due to location and being able to offer lower wages, which the wages can be very good in Croatian terms.

6. How were you perceived in Zagreb as foreigners/diaspora moving back - was the welcome warm?

I received some warm welcomes and some negative, which I think is normal for everyone when moving to a new country. I received a few comments, along the lines of judgment that diaspora does not have to work hard or has everything handed to them and that they come from money. This is not true, as to succeed, you must give it your all, and not rely on anyone else or anything else. However, Croatians are warm people, one thing that I have noticed about Croatians is that they are willing to come together to help for example when the devastating floods happened or donating money for someone that is sick or in need. I have to admit many were interested just to know about Canada and would sometimes ask me a million questions such as “why would you leave Canada”? Some would assume that everyone has lots of money in Canada and tell me that Croatia is horrible! After a while I found it difficult to deal with the frequent comments and questions about why I moved back, not due to the subject but the repetitiveness of comments and questions and it felt like a broken record being replayed over and over again.

8. Through a lot of hard work, you have been very successful, while many foreigners have given up and left Croatia. What are the keys to success in doing business in Croatia in your opinion?

After working for the Slovakian company that had an office in Croatia for 3 and a half years – I had to decide what to do next. The Slovakian company ended up closing their offices, and I was left searching for work. Fortunately my wife and I had options, which is very lucky since many people do not. My wife is from Bugojno, Bosnia and Herzegovina and lived in Germany as of the mid-90s due to the war and then moved back to Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically to Ljubuski. Also, due to my wife's and my own life experiences we had options if we decided to not stay in Croatia, to move to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany or Canada. During that period when I was without a job, my wife was pregnant and that definitely was a huge factor in making our decision to stay in Croatia.

The only question was if I did not find a job in Croatia, what would I do? Move to Austria, Germany, the UK? I always wanted to become an entrepreneur, and I was motivated by my father in many ways who himself was an entrepreneur, though I never could actually take that risk. I remember while working for the Slovakian company I would have to go to Bratislava often and while I was there I was shocked at how many foreigners lived there and worked for large multinational corporations such as AT&T, Skoda and others as outsourced workers. That is when I began to think, why would I not do the same in Croatia – firstly, English is my native language and secondly, I also had some work experience from Canada and worked in a multinational environment. I made the decision to become an entrepreneur and I decided to focus on something that I felt I was good at, which was finance and market research.

The name of my company became Cohres (Coherent Research) and my focus was the market outside of Croatia (North America and Western Europe) due to their financial capital and work opportunities. I started from my bedroom and worked long hours – quite frankly, being an entrepreneur in the starting phases can at times be lonely. Everything depends on you and you cannot rely on anyone but yourself to execute the idea, although I was lucky to have a family that supported me mentally.

In the end I noticed that being an entrepreneur for over 5 years, no one cares where you are from as long as you can get the job done (obviously there are specific situations where location is a factor). Over the past 5 years, Cohres has enhanced its portfolio working with many funds, asset managers, and investors, which made me change my company's focus in 2017 to investment research. The company now has worked both domestically and internationally serving a wide range of markets. Overall, I think with persistence many in Croatia can be successful and should ignore the negative influences and opinions because at the end of the day those comments do not do anything positive for your life but rather just serve as excuses.

9. What is the diaspora community like in Zagreb and how integrated is it with locals?

To be honest I was shocked at how large and impactful the diaspora community is here in Croatia. For example, for Canadians there is the Canadian-Croatian Business Network, which has many members who have been in Croatia since the early 90s. Overall, I believe that Zagreb has a huge community for diaspora due to Zagreb being an economic power in Croatia. As for integration, I believe many have integrated with locals and in my opinion if you do not integrate yourself with locals, you will not be able to live in Croatia or anywhere else happily for over a year because you cannot bring Canada or whatever other country to Croatia and live a specific way, you need to adapt, just like anywhere else.

You can learn more about Cohres and connect with Daniel Nikic via the company website.  

For more on the Croatian diaspora, check out the TCN dedicated section. 

Are you a returnee who has moved back to Croatia and would like to be featured in this series? Please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

September 28, 2019 - He grew up on an island with 30 inhabitants, a cyclone almost killed him, and he came to Zagreb without even knowing where it was. Meet Ratu Peni Taloga Madanawa, the first Fijian athlete in Croatia. 

Namely, Ante Buskulic writes for 24 Sata that 21-year-old Ratu Peni Taloga Madanawa is the first athlete from Fiji to play in Croatia. For those of you that don’t know,  Fiji is in the South Pacific some 16,500 kilometers and 12 time zones away. Peni calls it “the other end of the world”.

Thus, Peni traveled from one end to the other for the love of sport - and particularly, to play for Rugby Club Zagreb. 

Just how big rugby is in Fiji can be seen by the numbers. We know that football is by far the most popular sport in Croatia, and of its four million inhabitants, about 100,000 are registered football players. On the other hand, Fiji has a population of 910,000, of which 80,000 are registered rugby players!

“Like all the kids down there, I have been playing rugby since I was a kid. The high school leagues are very competitive, and if you are in the semifinals or finals, you know that you will get a scholarship in Australia, New Zealand or France, as the scouts of those countries come to those matches. But after high school, club games in Fiji are more for fun, to represent your district, and you can't achieve much. There is a lot of talent and only the best are selected to the national team. These others fear what they will be after they reach their peak and you have nowhere else to go. I was in that phase, too, so I went to Australia in 2017 to study as part of the Catholic group Youth With Mission, and in the middle of the year, I wanted something new, to try playing in Europe. I decided to search the internet, saw a site where clubs around the world were looking for players; I did not know about it until then. And there was an advertisement by RK Zagreb,” explains Peni of how he ended up here. 

“I had no idea where it was, I googled Croatia, I never heard anyone in Fiji say they were in Croatia. I only knew about Croatia because of the football World Cup, but I couldn't show it on the map of Europe. But I also saw that the islanders (so-called the inhabitants of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific island states, for example) come here to play. I sent an email, got a response, looked at some clips about RK Zagreb on the Internet. Yes, I only applied to Zagreb, although some clubs from Australia wanted me. But I wanted a new experience.”

Peni had a very modest upbringing. 

“I come from Serua Island, and the population is 30-40! Mostly, my cousins, we're just a big happy family, haha.”

The only problem with that was finding a girlfriend. 

“Yes, for that you need to go to other islands. But Serua is close to the capital Suva, a 15-minute boat ride and about three hours by bus. And when there is low tide, we can also cross the ocean to the main island of Viti Levu. My girlfriend is German. We met in Australia and have a long-distance relationship. I'm a little closer to her now,” Peni said. 

Peni said his father left when he was young.

“My mother is a saleswoman and it is really hard for her to support me, my sister and two younger brothers. They are assisted by a grandfather, a former military figure, and my grandmother, who is a homemaker. I don't make money so far to send money home, but that time will come, I believe in myself.”

And how did Peni’s mother react when he said he was going to Croatia?

“I didn't tell her! I only told four people in Australia about this, and I called my mother from Zagreb to tell her! Her reaction? Uh, everyone was shocked, she was crying, aand she bombarded me with questions about where it was, I had to send her screen-shot maps of Europe… My friends asked me, 'Croatia? Are you sure there is any rugby there? Or just football?’”

Peni also explained his full name.

“Peni Talonga is my name and Ratu Madanawa is part of the name you inherit from your family. With Ratu labeled as being the heir to the chief."

Peni is Catholic, his first language is Fijian, and second is English, which children learn at school. Five years ago, the powerful cyclone Wilson hit Fiji.

“It missed my hometown, but I was in town, and it was nasty. A good part of the island was devastated, many people lost everything, and a piece of the roof came up and cut my arm. If he flew a little higher, it could have cut my neck.”

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Fiji rugby team won the first Olympic gold for the country.

“It was crazy; they closed the streets from the airport to the stadium, and everyone went out, singing, cheering.”

Peni financed his plane ticket to Zagreb.

“Yes, and it was very expensive, but I look at it as an investment that will pay off. I want to play in Europe, and this is a good chance for me.”

After playing games in Croatia, Peni rated the level of rugby in Croatia as four on a scale of 1-10. 

“When you play away (he's played in Split and Sinj, for example) there is a special feeling, the fans, about fifty of them, and the referee… great, haha! Otherwise, in Sinj, my club won, and I was told after seven years. It was nice to see how touched everyone was; some were crying.”

Peni has a contract with Zagreb for three months, but after two weeks here, he wished it was longer. The club is covering Peni’s apartment, where he lives with coach Jason Newton and teammate Damir Conci.

“I knew I couldn't live here from rugby, but I wanted to be the first person from my homeland to play in Croatia. And this is the right place for me, and I will recommend it to the Fiji boys,” Peni concluded.

Excerpts translated from 24 Sata, where you can also see photos and videos of Peni.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.