March 12, 2021 - The latest flight news for Croatia as Air Transat cancels flights from Toronto to Zagreb, and Air Serbia stops selling Rijeka, Pula, and Zadar. 

Croatian Aviation reports that the Canadian leisure airline, Air Transat, has canceled all already announced flights on the Toronto - Zagreb - Toronto route for this year.

The well-known Canadian airline confirmed in January that it planned to re-establish the line between Toronto and Zagreb in the upcoming summer season, leaving the possibility of reducing or completely canceling the line if the demand is not satisfactory. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. Air Transat has stopped selling all announced flights on this route for the upcoming summer season and sent a notice of flight cancellations to a small number of passengers.

Recall, the company established a direct line between the two cities in June 2016, continuously increasing the number of weekly flights from season to season until the summer season last year when the line did not operate due to the pandemic.

The first flight on this line was announced for May 11, until the end of October, with three flights a week at the peak of the summer season. A330-200 aircraft was announced on the route, and Air Transat was the only company that planned to send wide-body aircraft to Zagreb Airport in the upcoming summer flight schedule. Unfortunately, after the departure of Emirates, Korean Air, and Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat will also not fly to the Croatian capital this year. 

Thus, Croatia will be without a direct airline with Toronto this summer. Not so long ago in 2019, as many as 7 weekly direct flights were available between the two cities in the summer flight schedule.

Air Transat leaves the possibility of returning to Zagreb next summer with a new plan: a regular flight twice a week, without flights on Wednesdays that were available on this route in 2019.

With this, Zagreb was practically left without long-haul lines, and there will be no wide-body aircraft such as A330-200, B787-9 Dreamliner, B777-300ER, and B767-300ER, which landed in the Croatian capital every day in the summer of 2019.

Croatian Aviation also reports that the Serbian national airline has modified its flight schedule this summer, removing three destinations in Croatia.

Namely, Air Serbia no longer has three Croatian airports in its offer of destinations: the previously canceled Rijeka, Pula, and Zadar.

The Belgrade - Pula - Belgrade line was introduced in 2014 and has operated regularly every summer season since then, mostly with three flights a week. In 2020, the company did not operate on this line, and now it has been canceled for the summer season this year.

In the summer of 2019, two new lines to Croatia were introduced; Belgrade - Zadar, and Belgrade - Rijeka.

In the summer of 2020, the airline decided to permanently cancel the line to Rijeka, so there were no direct flights to Kvarner for this year, but only suspended sales on the line to Zadar were also introduced in the summer of 2019.

This summer, Air Serbia will have three destinations in Croatia: Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, just as it was last year. Regular operations to Split and Dubrovnik are currently announced from the end of May, while the airline regularly operates to Zagreb.

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March 11, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia: Nordwind flights from Moscow to Zagreb will commence on March 19, 2021! 

Croatian Aviation reports that from March 19, Russian low-cost and leisure airline Nordwind Airlines will operate regularly between Moscow and Zagreb.

The Russian airline intended to launch a regular line between Moscow (Sheremetyevo Airport) and Zagreb in October 2020, but due to the global pandemic and travel ban between Russia and Croatia, they postponed its plan until this year. 

Regular operations will still take place, starting on March 19, when Nordwind will operate its first flight on this line. In the reservation calendar, only one weekly flight is available on this route, every Friday, and it will be operated by Pegas Fly aircraft of the E190 type with a capacity of 110 passengers in the classic 2-2 configuration.

The company originally planned three weekly flights on this route, but it is only available for booking one flight a week.

There have been no direct flights between Croatia and Russia since March 2020, i.e., or when travel was stopped due to the global pandemic.

However, even before Nordwind, the national carrier - Aeroflot - will land in Zagreb.

As announced earlier, Aeroflot will resume traffic between Moscow and Zagreb from Thursday, March 11, almost a year after they suspended flights to Croatia. An A320 aircraft has been announced for the inaugural flight to Zagreb, carrying 50 passengers from Moscow to Zagreb. From Thursday, April 29, Aeroflot offers daily flights between the two cities with A320 aircraft.

From June 1, Aeroflot should operate on the Moscow-Split-Moscow route again, also daily in the summer flight schedule. As in previous years, Aeroflot will use a larger aircraft on this route - A321. 

The company also plans to re-establish the Moscow-Dubrovnik-Moscow route in the upcoming summer flight schedule, but the schedule has not yet been confirmed and tickets on this route are not yet on sale on the company's official website.

A positive surprise could be a Moscow-Pula-Moscow line, but Pula airport confirmed that negotiations are currently underway and that they hope that Russia's national carrier will decide to establish a line to and from Pula this summer. 

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ZAGREB, 7 March, 2021 - The HDZ candidate for Zagreb mayor, Davor Filipović, told in an interview for Hina that the death of Milan Bandić did not change anything in his campaign, unlike for some other candidates, and added that Zagreb was financially "on its knees" with the perception of the "smell of corruption".

First, I would like to once again express my deep and sincere condolences to the Bandić family, his friends, associates and sympathisers. Bandić was elected mayor six times by the people of Zagreb and that speaks for itself, the HDZ mayoral candidate said in the interview which Hina published on Sunday.

As for the campaign, this changes nothing for me, but those who based their campaign exclusively on overthrowing the former mayor, without any programme or content, they are facing a new challenge, Filipović told Hina.

He added that he was offering a new model for managing the capital city.

A transparent and successful reconstruction is the most important priority, and in order to have it, it is important to manage the city's finances responsibly and transparently, which is a prerequisite for having the money to reconstruct Zagreb. I will insist on transparency so that city finances are managed responsibly, which means spending the same amount of money as earned in revenue, which was not the case so far. I want to tell all fellow citizens that each kuna spent will be visible and available on the internet, he said.

"I will focus all my efforts on the construction of the National Children's Hospital, for which HRK 22 million has already been secured in non-repayable EU grants. Also, the construction of the Jarun Bridge, which will be 625 m long and 40 m wide, will begin," Filipović said, mentioning other projects for the improvement of road infrastructure.

Filipović also commented on the fact that many critics from the opposition resented the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) for not opposing the city government on the last budget.

"However, we need to look at the context of that budget. We had COVID-19, an earthquake and a difficult situation in the entire country. Opposing the budget five months before the election would mean causing an additional crisis, (...) halting all projects in the city. In such a situation we supported the budget because we put citizens first. Zagreb does not need a crisis five months before the election."

We also had a situation related to the general urban plan (GUP) and the "Zagreb Manhattan", where GUP did not meet the development needs of the city, and experts were not satisfied with it. The HDZ also said "no" then, he recalled.

Asked what were the results of the previous management of the City of Zagreb, he said that they were reflected in the financial devastation of the city budget.

"Also, they are reflected in the public's perception that regardless of the project there is a smell of corruption and favouritism. That's what isn't good at all," he said.

Together with our fellow citizens, I want to create a city so that we are all proud to live in Zagreb, so that we don't keep commenting on scandals that have marked the way the city was managed in the past 20 years, Filipović said.

ZAGREB, 6 March, 2021 - The Homeland Movement (DP) leader, Miroslav Škoro, on Saturday presented his agenda as a mayoral candidate in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb, and on that occasion he said if elected, he would provide free-of-charge services in the city's kindergartens as of this autumn.

"I assure you that the Jakuševac landfill will be closed and that waste management will be improved," Škoro said in Zagreb's Cvjetni Trg Square.

He also promised the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital and of a national stadium which could maybe named after the late footballer Zlatko Cici Kranjčar.

One of Škoro's promises is the reduction of the city surcharge by three percentage points.

"One epoch is over and it is high time we introduced a new model of managing Zagreb in accordance with the needs of its residents and the 21st century," said Škoro, who confirmed speculations that he would run for the Zagreb mayor a few days after the funeral of the mayor Milan Bandić.

Škoro also expressed his readiness to make a coalition with everybody provided that there is no trade-off or blackmailing. 

ZAGREB, 6 March, 2021 - In the last year, the Green Phone Network received about 2,500 calls from Croatian citizens about environmental issues in the country, and most of those reports referred to waste.

Every citizen of the Republic of Croatia may report an environmental problem or request information on the number 072 123 456, the network which includes nine environmentalist associations, says on its web site.

One in four calls about inappropriate waste disposal 

In 2020, most of the calls were warnings about the inappropriate waste disposal (every one in four calls), while class about construction detrimental to the environment made up 10.89% of those 2,500 calls. 

Citizens complained about a poor air quality (10.41%) and about damage done to the greenery (9.61%).

Also some of the calls were about noise, traffic, environmental issues concerning forests, soil and animals.

After the establishment of the first Green Phone in 1992, other associations decided to launch the same service.

Thus in September 1999, with the financial support of USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Green Phone networks were established by seven associations for environmental protection: Zelena Akcija from Zagreb, Eko Pan from Karlovac, Environmental Society Žmergo from Opatija, Zelena Istra from Pula, Sunce from Split, Kap Života from Gospić, and the Society for the Protection of Nature og Slavonija i Baranja from Osijek.

In 2003, within the project "Strengthening the Green Phone Network", financed by the European Commission, five other environmental organisations joined the Network, and one in 2007. One member left the Network in 2010, so it now comprises nine associations: Zelena Akcija from Zagreb, Eko Pan from Karlovac, Environmental Society Žmergo from Opatija, Zelena Istra from Pula, Sunce from Split, ZEO Nobilis from Čakovec, Zeleni Osijek from Osijek, Eko Zadar from Zadar, and Krka from Knin.

The aim of the Green Phone is to encourage citizens to actively participate in environmental protection and to encourage the competent institutions to solve environmental problems more efficiently.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Greenpeace activists planted ten trees in Zagreb's Martićeva Street on Friday in cooperation with the 1POSTOZAGRAD initiative to encourage local government to plant more trees and to point to the importance of green areas.

The activists brought a three-metre tree prop with the message "Three, four, now!" whereby Greenpeace joined a collective tree-planting week.

They also presented a new Greenpeace initiative called #ZazeleniGrad (For a green city), which focuses on green areas and supports civic initiatives fighting for the preservation of existing and creation of new ones, just as 1POSTOZAGRAD (1 percent for the city) is doing.

"Our cities, including Zagreb, lack greenery. This has become especially evident in the current circumstances, when we feel a stronger need to stay outdoors and in nature. We wish to encourage a stronger development of the so-called green infrastructure, which contributes to biodiversity, reduces the effect of urban heat islands, ensures shade, reduces stress and generally improves people's psychophysical condition," said Ivan Gregov, leader of the #ZazeleniGrad campaign.

The local elections in May will be an opportunity to prioritise green areas in cities, he added.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices fell on Friday amid a slightly higher turnover than the previous day, with the Crobex dropping by 0.85% to 1,829 and the Crobex10 by 0.52% to 1,139.

Week-on-week, the Crobex slid by 0.2%, while the Crobex10 increased by 0.63%.

All sectoral indices finished the day in the red, with the tourism index showing the biggest decline, of 1.35%.

Today's regular turnover was HRK 5.7 million, or HRK 1.7 million more than on Thursday.

The stock of the HT telecommunications company was the only one to cross the one million kuna mark, and it generated a turnover of slightly more than HRK 2 million. Its price went up by 1.1% to HRK 183 per share.

The company today said that a meeting of the Supervisory Board would be held on Tuesday, 9 March, when annual financial reports and the proposal for the use of profit for 2020 would be determined, and on Wednesday the revised financial reports the proposal for the use of profit would be published.

The stock of the Valamar Riviera tourism company turned over HRK 773,000, its price dropping by 2.62% to HRK 29.7 per share.

Thirty-eight stocks traded today, with 10 of them registering share price increases, 22 recording price decreases and sixremaining stable in price.

(€1 = 7.576668)

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Several professional opera singers on Friday launched the "Breathe" campaign to help as of 8 March in the rehabilitation of people who have recovered from COVID-19 but still have difficulty breathing.

The initiative came from Croatian National Theatre (HNK) Zagreb singers Ljubomir Puškarić, Adela Golac Rilović, Ivana Lazar, Ivica Trubić, Tomislav Mužek, Luciano Batinić, Tvrtko Stipić and Ozren Bilušić, and HNK Osijek singers Martina Puškarić and Berislav Puškarić, Ljubomir Puškarić said on Friday, adding that singers from all of Croatia were joining the initiative.

Puškarić said a Facebook group was created for everyone who had experienced serious COVID-19 symptoms and had difficulty breathing even after recovering.

He said those joining the group would obtain information on breathing exercises used by opera singers and be able to work with instructors, all professional operas singers, based on one-on-one online consultations.

To begin with, each participant will get at least one session a week in agreement with an instructor. The therapy is planned to last six weeks. The idea comes from England and a survey has shown that the psychophysical condition of persons working with opera singers has improved.

March 5, 2021 - Croatia handball gathers in Zagreb on Sunday ahead of the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Montpellier, France, held from March 12 to 14, 2021. The two best teams from each group will secure a spot in Tokyo. 

Gol.hr reports that the Croatia men's handball team will gather in Zagreb on Sunday, March 7, and begin preparations for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Montpellier from March 12 to 14, 2021.

Croatia is in a group with France, Portugal, and Tunisia, and the two best national teams from the group will compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The national team will stay and train in Zagreb until Thursday, March 11, when they will travel to Montpellier.

The World Handball Federation announced that the capital of Montenegro - Podgorica, will host the qualification tournament number 1, which was to be held in Trondheim, Norway.

Namely, since Norway has stringent epidemiological measures, they had to cancel hosting the Olympic qualifying tournament, in which Norway, Brazil, Chile, and South Korea were to participate.

The third tournament is played in Berlin (Germany, Sweden, Slovenia, and Algeria).

Croatia's new coach Hrvoje Horvat called for all the best that Croatian handball currently has, except for the injured Luka Stepančić and pivot Marin Šipić.

List of Croatia national handball team members:

1. MARIN ŠEGO – MONTPELLIER HB
2. IVAN PEŠIĆ – HC MEŠKOV BREST
3. MATE ŠUNJIĆ – US IVRY HANDBALL
4. IVAN ČUPIĆ – RK VARDAR 1961
5. ZLATKO HORVAT – RK METALURG SKOPJE
6. MANUEL ŠTRLEK – TELEKOM VESZPREM HC
7. DAVID MANDIĆ – RK PPD ZAGREB
8. ŽELJKO MUSA – SC MAGDEBURG
9. MARINO MARIĆ – MT MELSUNGEN
10. ILIJA BROZOVIĆ – TSV HANNOVER -BURGDORF
11. KREŠIMIR KOZINA – FRISCH AUP GOPPINGEN
12. LUKA CINDRIĆ – BARCELONA
13. DOMAGOJ DUVNJAK – THW KIEL
14. IGOR KARAČIĆ – HC LOMZA VIVA KIELCE
15. MARKO MAMIĆ – SCDHFK LEIPZIG
16. HALIL JAGANJAC – RK NEXE
17. IVAN MARTINOVIĆ – HC HANNOVER -BURGDORF
18. DOMAGOJ PAVLOVIĆ – MT MELSUNGEN
19. LUKA ŠEBETIĆ – TREMBLAY EN FRANCE HANDBALL
20. ŠIME IVIĆ – HC ERLANGEN
21. MATEJ HRSTIĆ – RK PPD ZAGREB

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ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Davor Nađi, who intends to run for Zagreb mayor in the May local election, on Friday spoke about cuts in the city budget that would enable the abolishment of a surtax, while downsizing the city administration, reducing transfers to citizens and rationalising operations to save HRK 3.2 billion.

"The Zagreb City administration and the city-owned utility companies have about 32,000 employees," Nađi, a candidate of the Fokus party, told a press conference, adding that that number had increased three-fold since 2011.

"We plan to reduce the number of employees to a maximum 28,000 by dismissing people hired to do unnecessary work and through severance deals for early retirement and for redundant staff," Nađi said, adding that that could lead to a saving of HRK 650 million.

There is room to save an additional one billion kuna through cost rationalisation, Nađi believes.

A total of HRK 400 million could be saved from public procurement procedures, while cuts in subsidies and allowances for citizens could help save HRK 700 million. HRK 300 million could be saved annually by reducing or abolishing stay-at-home parent allowance, he said.

"Social transfers are just a way of buying citizens and those allowances have tripled since 2011," said Nađi.

Better management of city property could increase revenue by at least HRK 600 million, he said.

"When we draw the line, we arrive at HRK 3.2 billion, of which HRK 1 billion annually could be used for tax reliefs, HRK 1 billion for the city's financial stabilisation and the remainder for an increase in investments," he concluded