ZAGREB, April 13, 2020 - The Croatian branch of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) has joined the initiative for high standards in overcoming the consequences of the March 22 earthquake that struck Zagreb and its environs.

Concerned about daily news about incompetence in handling the heritage damaged in the earthquake, the national branch of the IIC has joined the initiative launched by architects and art historians to establish a coordinating body for the post-earthquake restoration of Zagreb, the Vice President of IIC Croatia, Ksenija Škarić, announced last week.

Škarić noted that the bill on the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb had been criticised by many specialists, primarily due to the lack of consultation with relevant professions.

The IIC Croatia group also pointed out the "scandalous photographs of architectural decorations dumped at Zagreb's landfills", emphasising the importance of their recovery, or at least of their documentation.

They think that fragments of architectural decoration, as well as other objects of historic value, should be stored in depots, if only in makeshift ones. They also underscored the urgency of implementing measures to preserve buildings and objects of cultural importance from secondary damage, and setting up a dedicated restoration and conservation database.

The database would include international contacts (experts and institutions), foreign examples (plans and programmes for restoration and reconstruction, legislative frameworks, guidelines for the reconstruction of areas and individual buildings), domestic examples (plans and programmes for restoration and reconstruction, guidelines for the reconstruction of areas and individual buildings), and archival data on Zagreb (studies, articles, research projects and books).

More news about the earthquake can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 13, 2020 - The bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb after the March 22 earthquake will be complex because buildings in the centre of the capital are more than 100 years old, and specialists in all relevant areas are involved, Construction Minister Predrag Štromar said in a Croatian television current affairs programme on Monday morning.

"We must not and will not leave our citizens alone and that is most important," Štromar said, adding that the bill would be fast-tracked through Parliament.

He said that the Croatian Chamber of Civil Engineers, the Croatian Chamber of Architects, the University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering, as well as machine and electrical engineers, were involved in the preparation of the bill.

Asked about the time frame of the reconstruction process, Štromar said that a lot of residential and public buildings and historical landmarks had been damaged and that it would take a lot of time to repair them. He said that healthcare and educational institutions and residential buildings were a priority.

Asked about sources of funding, the minister said that these were being discussed and that first it was necessary to determine how much the reconstruction would cost. He said he counted on funding from the state budget, the City of Zagreb budget, the County of Zagreb budget, the World Bank, EU funds, donations and friendly countries.

"How the money will be spent is for the bill to define. Transparency is of paramount importance," Štromar said.

He said that intense work was under way to clear all the rubble, expressing hope that this task would be completed soon. In this context he praised the fire service for a job well done.

More news about the earthquake can be found in the Lifestyle section.

April 13, 2020 - INmusic festival director Zoran Maric talks about the fate of the 15th edition in Zagreb. 

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the global music industry more severely than initially expected. The ban on public gatherings continues, and it is still not possible to determine or predict when we can enjoy concerts of any kind again, including festivals, whether local or foreign.

Many music festivals around the world have already confirmed new dates - some will be held in late summer/early fall 2020, while some have skipped this year's edition and already announced the same program for 2021.

INmusic, one of Croatia's biggest music festivals, announced a truly impressive line-up this year, including The Killers, Beck and Deftones, who are just part of a fantastic program scheduled for June 22-24, 2020 at Zagreb's Jarun.

Sound Report contacted the INmusic festival director, Zoran Maric, who explained the current situation and organizational challenges they are facing:

"The organization of the INmusic Festival is making every effort to delay the festival when the public health situation allows. Tickets purchased for the 15th INmusic Festival will, of course, be valid for the new term.

In a pandemic situation in which everyone loses, we strongly believe that delaying the festival for a new term is the fairest and safest solution for everyone involved - the audience, musicians and festival organization. If there is no other option, the ultimate option is to cancel the festival, which in this context means that the festival will no longer exist," said Maric, emphasizing that the global music industry is currently facing huge losses, but the health and safety of every visitor is still a top priority.

"In this way, we would like to thank everyone who, by staying in their homes and practicing physical distance, has contributed to the good and controlled epidemiological picture in Croatia, to protecting our own health and that of our loved ones, and equally important, the stability of our health system. And this crisis, like many others before it, will pass, and only in safe conditions can we expect and look forward to returning to a better state of everyday life, which will include international music tours and all other cultural and tourist facilities that we, unfortunately, lost in 2020."

Jutarnji List reports that if INmusic is canceled due to force majeure, there will be no refund. "The INmusic Festival, as an independent festival, has stated in festival rules from the beginning of the event that if the festival is canceled due to force majeure, no refund will be possible for the tickets purchased," they said.

They believe that in the event of cancellation due to force majeure, "everyone involved, therefore, the bands and the organizers and the audience, necessarily bear their share of the loss, which is nevertheless minor for the audience compared to the losses of the bands and the organizers."

This year's INmusic at Zagreb's Jarun was scheduled to feature The Killers, Beck, Deftones, The Lumineers, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, Belle and Sebastian, Rival Sons, Gogol Bordello and others.

INmusic is in regular contact with all the performers and says there is a high level of understanding of everyone, from the agencies of the bands, the management, and the bands themselves to the organizers.

"Everyone involved in the realization of such an event is expected to receive the same level of understanding by the audience, precisely because every individual on the planet is somehow affected by the pandemic and its suppression measures," they note.

They expressed the belief that this understanding will enable the 15th INmusic Festival to take place, if not in June this year, then at a time when the public health situation will be stable and the threat of the uncontrolled spread of the infection will be overcome.

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

April 13, 2020 - Emirates has delayed its seasonal service between Zagreb and Dubai until July 2020. 

After Ex Yu Aviation announced that American Airlines and Qatar Airways would suspend their seasonal services to Dubrovnik until 2021 due to the current coronavirus pandemic, our hope of a 2020 tourism season was dwindling. 

However, is the recent announcement from Emirates reassuring?

Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Emirates has delayed the start date of its daily seasonal service between Dubai and Zagreb from May 1 to July 1, 2020, instead of suspending the service for an entire year, like the others have thus far. 

“Emirates has published a tentative schedule outlining its operations for the coming months. The airline is expected to resume the majority of its services, albeit at a reduced frequency, from late May and early June. Starting July, flights to Zagreb will be maintained on a daily basis with the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which has the capacity to seat 354 passengers. Further changes remain possible,” writes Ex Yu Aviation on its website. 

Flydubai, Emirates partner, which runs to Dubrovnik, will resume regular services “when the time is right”, but until then, it will fly for repatriation purposes. Flydubai has been operating repatriation flights to Zagreb over the last few weeks for travelers to continue to their destinations via Croatia Airlines flights.

"We look forward to resuming our operations when the time is right and we are working closely with the authorities,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Hamad Obaidalla.

In other flight news, Air Canada Rouge has postponed its seasonal service between Toronto and Zagreb by a month, or moved the start date to July 1, instead of June 4, 2020. Croatia Airlines has suspended operations to London Heathrow until at least April 19, though the national carrier is still operating flights to Frankfurt and Brussels

Lufthansa Group confirmed the Germanwings closure last week, which is another important player in the Croatian low-cost market, and AirBaltic has canceled the newly announced flights between Lithuania and Croatia. 

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

ZAGREB, April 11, 2020 - Auditors have found a deficit of close to HRK 630 million in the budget of the city of Zagreb, which is managed by Mayor Milan Bandić and his services, Večernji List daily reports on Saturday, noting that the fund for disaster relief was spent on various ceremonies.

The fund for disaster relief is used for outlays related to removing the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, environmental accidents or extraordinary events and the city spent it on "activities of various associations, religious communities' capital projects and various commemorative events," the daily says.

This is how HRK 5.1 million of city budget reserves was spent, explains a recently published audit report on the city's financial records.

The State Audit Office has said that the money should not have been used for the purposes for which it was used and called on the city administration to comply with the Budget Act.

This is only a small fragment of irregularities detected in the audit for 2018, the year at the end of which a deficit in the city budget of close to HRK 630 million was found, Vecernji List says.

The State Audit Office also says that the city's debts at the end of 2018 amounted to HRK 1.9 billion.

Auditors consider as contentious the city's public procurement procedures, how money from monument annuity is used, contracts on external services, the lack of funding for business events, the leasing of city-owned property without a tender and many other items, the daily says.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

April 9, 2020 - The Hanzekovic Memorial is celebrating its 70th birthday this year, as one of the longest-running athletic meetings in the world.

Although it is difficult at this time to predict what the future holds, organizers of the Zagreb International Athletics Meeting said they are continuing the organization of the 70th Hanzekovic Memorial, which is due to take place on September 15 at Mladost Stadium along the Sava, reports Gol.hr.

"At the moment, we cannot know what the future holds for us, but we will continue to follow the instructions of our Headquarters, think about the safety of the audience and the competitors, and in the hope that all this will pass quickly, we will continue to organize the Jubilee event, the 70th Hanžeković Memorial," the Organizing Committee said.

The Hanzekovic Memorial is celebrating its 70th birthday this year, as one of the longest-running athletic meetings in the world.

"The tradition has been around since 1951, and the Hanzekovic Memorial has survived numerous crises and natural disasters in the last 70 years, and the tradition remained unbroken during the Homeland War," they added.

As of this year, the Hanzekovic Memorial has been placed in the gold category Continental Tour.

In addition to the redesigned Diamond League, the International Athletics Federation has introduced a series of World Athletics Continental Tour rallies, with three levels of the Gold, Silver and Bronze meetings - whose status is determined by the quality of the competition and the prize money on offer. The popular Hanzek is ranked in the most prestigious gold level.

In addition to Hanzekovic Memorial, which will be held on September 15, Tokyo, Nairobi, Nanjing, Ostrava, Hengelo, Turku, Kingston, Szekesfehervar and Silesia are also part of the Gold Level World Athletics Continental Tour.

Unfortunately, the first seven meetings were canceled due to the coronavirus, and for now, the survivors are the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Szekesfehervar (July 7), the Kamil Skolimowska Memorial in Silesia (September 6), and the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial.

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

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of April, 2020, in addition to the much loved Dolac market located in the very heart of Zagreb, the markets in Kvatrić, Trešnjevka, Špansko, Prečko, Jarun, Gajnice and Utrina will also be opened.

Zagreb's popular Dolac market has begun operations today, with all the measures required to reduce the spread of coronavirus firmly in place. Ten ''cottages'' have been set up on Dolac market from which Croatian OPGs are selling their fresh local products, and benches are set up, which have been placed five metres apart.

Customers can then come and buy what they need from the sellers in limited numbers with mandatory hand disinfection in place, with a maximum of one hundred people being allowed to be there, writes Vecernji list.

As previously mentioned, in addition to Dolac market, there will also be other popular Zagreb markets open in Kvatrić, Trešnjevka, Špansko, Prečko, Jarun, Gajnice and Utrina. The new cottages from which Croatian producers will sell their products will be open from 08:00 to 13:00, where the marketplaces are operating outside, while closed markets will allow for sales to take place from the benches.

On Kvatrić market, OPGs will sell their products from six cottages, on Trešnjevka market, from five cottages, and in Špansko, from two cottages, and everything will be done under the principle of cottage - one OPG.

The Green Market is becoming a drive-in. Vertical and horizontal signage has been installed, cars will enter through the carriageway, and sellers will be to the left and to the right. In front of them will be a ''showroom'' of sorts with their products on display already packed, and in each box will be what they have pre-prepared, that is, what they currently have in their gardens.

When the buyer chooses a product or products he wishes to purchase, he will turn off from the lane, and the seller, who will be three metres away from the buyer at all times, will pack the package into the boot or place it on the back seat of the buyer's car.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for more on coronavirus in Croatia.

April 7, 2020 - The Zagreb County Tourist Board is choosing to communicate with potential travelers during the corona era - and promoting local winemakers at the same time.

The Zagreb County Tourist Board, in collaboration with the renowned GRIFFIN Sparkling Wines from Plesivica, has launched a raffle on its official Facebook page where participants will have the opportunity to win a bottle of Griffin Dark Side champagne for Easter, reports HRTurizam.

The promotion runs through Thursday, April 9, and for more details, visit the official Facebook page of the Zagreb County Tourist Board.

In the coming days, more winemakers from Zagreb County will join this promotion, points out Ivana Alilović, director of the Zagreb County Tourist Board, such as winemakers from the Zelinska wine road, Škrlet from Moslavina, wines from the Samobor area, and more.

This is an excellent move by the Zagreb County Tourist Board, as it promotes local wineries and winemakers from the Zagreb County area, and keeping communication going during times of crisis. 

Remember, during an emergency or crisis, it's worst not to communicate. While most tourists recycle old content, it is certainly commendable to see initiatives like this and different types of communication.

Of course, this action will not sell hundreds of wines, but it certainly provides a positive example and thus promotes local products.

Can other tourist boards join this action and make the same or similar promotion in their area, and help local winemakers who are also directly affected by this situation?

Otherwise, the vineyards of Zagreb County belong to the Bregovita Hrvatska wine region. Situated on elevated terrain, these are the slopes of the mountains and the lower highlands, which on their southern slopes have excellent conditions for producing high-quality grapes.

The climatic characteristics of the Zagreb County area led to the development of a typical continental assortment. These are the same varieties as in the neighboring countries, and introduced into these parts a hundred years ago (mostly chardonnay, riesling, pinot white, red, Sauvignon white, Graševina, and others) in the Zelina region, and according to Moslavina, also autochthonous škrlet. Of the international red varieties are portugizac, syrah, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon.

According to county data, Zagreb County boasts 5 million vines planted on more than 900 hectares of land. It is at the very top of Croatia in terms of the number of winemakers, wine labels, wine roads and wine projects in general.

Among the most successful projects are county brands - such as the Kingdom of Zelina and Portugizac Plesivica. There are also three wine roads - Samoborska, Plešivička and Zelinska, while in the Ivanićgrad area bordering Moslavina, there is a “Škrlet Land".

Another good move of the Zagreb County Tourist Board should be highlighted. As great initiatives have opened up for Facebook groups with a list of local OPGs selling products and delivering, as well as a boom in opening web stores for them, the Zagreb County Tourist Board has made an effort and collected all e-marketplaces in the Zagreb County area in one place.

You can find online markets in Zagreb County HERE

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

ZAGREB, April 6, 2020 - Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić said on Monday that he had never accused Zagreb residents of the March 22 earthquake but that citizens, the city and the state were responsible for the damage caused by the quake to their property as they had not invested in it.

Addressing a news conference, Bandić accused reporters of misquoting his statement that "citizens are to blame for the earthquake", saying that nobody was to blame for it but that the failure to invest in one's own property was to blame on both the state and the city as well as its residents.

Responding to a reporter's remark that his previous statement was "a slap in the face for Zagreb residents", Bandić asked the reporter why she was nervous, accusing her of interrupting him and noting that she could not be helped.

Asked why he had decided to hold daily news conferences only two weeks after the earthquake and a month a half since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Bandić said that "things had to be organised."

Bandić said that the city budget would be revised in two weeks' time.

"Today you will have a decision on provisional financing, with priorities. This is not only the city's problem but a national problem. Only together can we cope with it," said the mayor, adding that a law should be passed to regulate the process of reconstruction in Zagreb and that the most severe cases, people who cannot return to their homes, would have priority.

He said that everyone would pay for the reconstruction of their own property - the city for its own, the state for its own and the city and state together for citizens' property that is treated as a priority.

Bandić said that the city would make apartments it owns available to everyone left without a roof over their heads and that in the autumn the construction of 300 flats would begin in the neighbourhood of Podbrežje.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 5, 2020 - Uncertainties caused by the corona crisis have affected the rental market in Zagreb as well, where a drop in prices was registered even before the 22 March quake, it was noted in an analysis published by a real estate advertiser Crozilla.com.

"The uncertainty caused by the coronavirus situation left a mark on the rental market in Zagreb even before the major earthquake, which exacerbated this difficult situation. The flat rental market, both monthly and daily, is already suffering from the consequences of the emerging developments," Crozilla stated.

According to the Crozilla advertiser's data, rents for flats in Zagreb were slightly lower compared to February even before the earthquake. Advertised rents for flats with areas from 20 to 100 square metres were down by 1% on average, however, despite the declining trend, rents were still higher compared to March 2019 and 2018.

The most considerable change is evident when it comes to smaller flats, rents for which had increased the most before this crisis.

The sharpest decrease in prices was registered for flats up to 40 square metres, for which rents are down 2.1% on average compared to February. A slightly smaller fall was registered in rents for flats from 40 to 60 square metres, which are down 1.3% compared to February.

Rents for flats from 60 to 100 square metres decreased by 0.7% on average compared to the previous month.

Apart from slightly lower prices, due to the coronavirus situation, a decrease in demand was also registered at the rental market in Zagreb.

Crozilla.com quoted Andrea Bilić, the director of the Metropola real estate agency, who emphasised that the coronavirus had paralysed the real estate market, and currently put on hold all activities connected to rental demand.

"Many foreign embassies are cancelling already arranged showings, and some clients give up on renting or moving after they look at the property and even after they had already decided to rent a particular property due to the current circumstances. One of the biggest problems is quarantine for all foreign citizens who have employment contracts with foreign companies and who were due to start working in Zagreb soon," Bilić said.

Bilić estimates that further developments in prices for renting flats will depend on the duration of the crisis.

"If it ends in a month, which is unlikely according to experts, only a minor and not very significant drop in prices will happen. However, if it stretches over a period of several months, it will bring more uncertainty, and it will generate a global crisis, and in that case, there could be a repeat of the 2008 crisis, which is still very fresh in our memories," Bilić thinks.

Along with the monthly rent market, changes were registered in the daily rent market as well. However, in that case, not even price reduction could help, said to Crozilla Bruno Babić, the head of the "Apartments in the centre of Zagreb" association, which numbers 15 apartments located in the very centre of Zagreb.

"Prices are not dropping in a competition for guests. You can stay for free, but every guest must first go to isolation for 14 days, and the vacation becomes too expensive, no matter how cheap the accommodation," stated Babić, adding that they currently have no guests, as their business is based on exclusively on tourists.

More economic news can be found in the Business section.