November 19, 2019 - After qualifying for Euro 2020 at Rujevica Stadium on Saturday with a win against Slovakia, the Croatia national team played a friendly match against Georgia in Pula. 

Georgia finished fourth in their Euro 2020 qualifying group behind Denmark, Switzerland, and Ireland, but will participate in additional qualifications for the Euro in March. Namely, Georgia welcomes Belarus at home in the Nations League 'D League' tournament, and if they win that match, they will play the winner of North Macedonia - Kosovo.

The Croatia national team had played against Georgia twice before the friendly on Tuesday, both in competitive matches. Croatia and Georgia met first as part of the 2012 European Championship qualifiers in Poland and Ukraine. They lost in Tbilisi 1:0 thanks to a Kobiasvili goal in the 90th minute. The second time the teams met was in Split when they celebrated thanks to goals by Mandzukic and Kalinic in the 76th and 78th minutes.

Thus, on Tuesday, in front of just over 4,000 fans, Croatia and Georgia met for the third time. Standard captain Luka Modric left the squad early to rejoin his club in Madrid, leaving Ivan Perisic to captain the team for the friendly. Dalic set out with a team of players who had never played together before tonight. The lineup included goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic - Karlo Bartolec, Tin Jedvaj, Mile Skoric, Dario Melnjak - Milan Badelj, Mateo Kovacic - Ivan Perisic, Mario Pasalic, Ante Rebic - Mislav Orsic.

Croatia was a bit shaky at the start of the first half, which saw Georgia take the lead in the 19th minute thanks to a goal by Giorgi Papunashvili. It didn't take long for Croatia to equalize, however, and just six minutes later, a Croatia free-kick saw Kashia score an own goal for 1:1. Croatia had a few promising chances for the remainder of the half, though it ended 1:1. 

At the start of the second half, Dalic subbed Simon Sluga in goal for Lovre Kalinic. Duje Caleta-Car came in for Tin Jedvaj, Josip Juranovic came in for Karl Bartolec, and Marko Rog played for Mislav Orsic.

It didn't take long for Croatia to score their second goal. A stunning cross from Josip Juranovic found the head of Ivan Perisic, who scored for 2:1 in the 53rd minute!

In the 65th minute, Nikola Vlasic came in for Mateo Kovacic, and Dino Peric came in for Mario Pasalic in the 75th. A downpour made it difficult for either team to score, and the game ended 2:1 for Croatia.

This is the final game of the Croatia national team in 2019. 

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

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - This year's laureates for prizes of corporate social responsibility (CSR), according to the results measured by the CSR index, are AD Plastik, HiPP Croatia, Media Val and OiV companies.

The AD Plastik car parts manufacturer was awarded in the large companies category, HiPP in the medium-sized businesses category, Media Val won in the small business category and the OiV - Transmission and Communications company is the best in the sector of public companies.

The awards were presented at a conference for socially responsible business, organised by the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development (HR PSOR) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Other companies were also awarded such as Heineken Croatia in the category of responsible business and practice in the working environment and Ericsson Nikola Tesla in the category of policies and practice in environment management.

The DVOKUT-ECRO environment management company was awarded for socially responsible relations with the community. The INA oil company was awarded for responsible policies of diversity and protection of human rights.

The Vinag flooring manufacturer was awarded for the biggest progress.

The main theme of this year's conference was climate change.

The director of the energy and environment protection sector at HGK, Marija Šćulac Domac underscored the importance of caring for the environment. She said that climate change has a much greater impact on the Mediterranean area than anywhere else in the world.

"During Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU, we will continue working on strengthening the unique multilateral system and on promoting the 2030 Agenda within the EU and UN," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said, calling on companies to be socially accountable.

More business news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - The migrant gravely injured when a policeman shot him on Tuhobić mountain over the weekend underwent a fourth surgery in Rijeka on Tuesday but he remains unconscious and his condition critical.

A doctor at the Rijeka University Hospital said one bullet was found in the migrant's body and that he suffered lung, liver and spine injuries.

The accident occurred when police came across a group of illegal migrants on inaccessible terrain and one officer shot one of them in the torso and abdomen. County police said they recovered items on the scene that could help in establishing the circumstances.

Police said they could not say more because of the confidentiality of the investigation and a pending report from the Police Directorate.

The police union said the migrant was wounded when an officer's gun accidentally went off and that the migrant's life was saved because the officer acted in line with the highest principles.

None of the 17 migrants in the group has requested legal protection in Croatia, so they will be returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, from where they illegally entered Croatia.

More news about the migrant crisis in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - The proportion of women in the ownership structure of companies in Croatia in 2018 was 31.3%, according to a study by the Financial Agency (FINA), released on Tuesday on the occasion of World Women Entrepreneurs' Day.

The study found that last year 26,676 companies or 22% were solely owned by women, while an additional 12,518 companies were co-owned by women with men and/or legal entities, which puts the total proportion of women entrepreneurs at 31.3%.

It also revealed that the proportion of women owners/founders of companies had gradually increased from 2010 to 2018, as the proportion of companies owned solely by women was 17.3% in 2010 and 22% in 2018.

Between 2014 and 2018, the proportion of women entrepreneurs in the total number of companies ranged from the lowest proportion of 27.7% in 2015 to the highest proportion of 31.8% in 2016.

"In 2018, the proportion of women entrepreneurs in the total number of companies was 31.3%, although according to an estimate by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS), in mid-2018 Croatia had a population of 4,087,843 inhabitants, including 1,975,052 men (48.3%) and 2,112,791 women (51.7%)," Fina said.

Of the total of 121,034 companies, 57.9% were owned solely by men, 7% were owned by legal entities, 1.2% were co-owned by men and legal entities, while for 2.7% of companies it was not possible to determine which group they belonged to.

At 57.2%, women entrepreneurs dominated the "other services" sector. In this sector, 4,093 businesses employed 10,500 people, of whom 4,277 were employed in companies owned by women and 3,440 were employed by companies owned by men.

In nominal terms, the largest number of women entrepreneurs were involved in professional, scientific and technical activities, with 6,054 of them generating total revenues of HRK 3.3 billion. Of 19,565 companies in this sector, 30.9% were owned by women and an additional 2,330 were co-owned by women with men and/or legal entities as company founders.

The highest income per employee, of 961,200 kuna, and the highest profit per employee, of 88,100 kuna, were generated by women entrepreneurs in water supply, wastewater disposal, waste management and environmental remediation activities.

There is still a larger proportion of women in the ownership structure of companies in the services sector, meaning that there is a smaller difference in the ownership structure between women and men owners, while companies in other, mostly manufacturing activities are predominantly owned by men, FINA said.

Men-owned companies employ several times more people, generate higher revenues and hold more assets than those owned by women, which indicates greater involvement of male population in business, it added.

"The situation is changing, albeit slowly, despite incentives for the development of women's entrepreneurship, medium-term development strategies and efforts to include women, as much as possible, in the business sector, which for the greater part still belongs to men," FINA said.

More business news can be found in the dedicated section.

November 19, 2019 - Work is underway on a project for the collection, drainage and treatment of wastewater on Krk island, co-financed by the European Cohesion Fund. In the process, several archaeological sites have been discovered. 

Novi List reports that the Ponikve Voda Utility Company said on Tuesday that four contracts are now being implemented, the first of which relates to the reconstruction of the water supply system and the construction and rehabilitation of the drainage system with DTK infrastructure, worth HRK 266.9 million.

The works include the construction of gravity (79,464 meters) and pressure (6904 meters) sewage pipelines, 26 sewer pumping stations, reconstructing 39,854 meters of the water supply network, rehabilitating 10,218 meters of the sewage collection and 1192 maintenance holes, and 63,464 meters of an electronic communications network.

Project monitoring services cost HRK 7.1 million, project management technical support services HRK 6.7 million, and project implementation information and visibility services HRK 285.925.

The works are being carried out in the area of eight island settlements - in Omišalj, Njivice, Malinska, Krk, Kornić, Punt, Baška and Dobrinj, and a total of 46 teams are working on the ground.

They have so far completed 69.5 percent of the sewage works, 68.6 percent of works on the water supply system, 45.3 percent of works on DTK infrastructure, and 57 percent of works on home connections.

However, most exciting is that during the works in the cores of Omišalj and Krk, archaeological sites have been discovered.

So far, coins from the 2nd century (Krk), remains of private Roman thermal spas from the 1st century (Krk), remains of Roman objects and street communications (Krk), remains of a medieval cemetery (Krk), a burial site beside the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from prehistoric times to the early modern age (Omišalj) and parts of the sewage and water supply systems of late antiquity (Krk) have been found.

The total value of the project on Krk island is HRK 648.3 million, and HRK 369.1 million has been provided from the Cohesion Fund. The project is a multi-year project that involves the construction of wastewater treatment plants and extending and upgrading a public sewage system for six agglomerations on the island of Krk - Omišalj, Malinska-Njivice, Krk, Punat, Baška and Klimno-Silo.

The project will provide a 100% secondary wastewater collection and treatment service, and the reduction of direct discharges into the sea will contribute to ensuring good seawater quality for swimming and tourism.

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

November 19, 2019 - Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic was the best for the Utah Jazz in their defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, while Ivica Zubac registered a double-double in the victory of his LA Clippers. Dario Saric's Phoenix Suns lost to the Boston Celtics.

The Utah Jazz lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves at 102:112 at home, with Bojan Bogdanovic playing 31 minutes and scoring 18 points (shots in play 7/17, three-pointer 3/7) to be the team's top scorer. He added six rebounds and two assists. Donovan Mitchell finished the game with 17 points and Rudy Gobert with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

?| Bojan with 18p & 6r with 3 3pm#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/awTR7WsJ75

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 19, 2019

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 29 points, including seven three-pointers and 13 rebounds, while Jeff Teague added 21 points and 11 assists.

The LA Clippers celebrated against the Oklahoma City Thunder 90:88 at home, with Paul George scoring for the win 25.9 seconds before the final buzzer. 

Montrezl Harrell scored 28 points with 12 rebounds in the Clippers’ win, George added 18, and Zubac contributed 12 points (shots in play 4/8, three-pointers 0/1) and ten rebounds with one assist in 20 minutes on the court. This is his third double-double this season. Chris Paul was the best for Oklahoma with 22 points.

Get after it big fella. ?@ivicazubac is just one board shy of a double-double at the half. pic.twitter.com/6Nc4vqE7vC

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 19, 2019

The Boston Celtics are back on a winning streak, defeating Dario Saric's Phoenix Suns 99:85 last night. The Croatian basketball player just missed a double-double, scoring nine points in 29 minutes on the court (shots in play 3/13, three-pointers 2/6) and recorded ten rebounds with three assists and two steals.

Jayson Tatum led Boston to victory with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Kemba Walker scored 19 points, while Devin Booker was the best for Phoenix scoring 20 points.

The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Houston Rockets 132:108. James Harden and Russell Westbrook tallied 64 points. And while Harden scored 23 of his 36 total points in the first half, Westbrook nailed 15 of 28. In the second half, Westbrook registered 13 rebounds and ten assists, and Houston increased their winning streak to eight games.

CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 25 points and Mario Hezonja scored one basket in nine minutes on the court and recorded five rebounds.

The New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers at 123:105. Julius Randle scored 30 points for the New York win, while Kevin Porter Jr. was the best for the Cavaliers with 18 points, who also just recorded their fourth consecutive loss. Ante Zizic contributed to his team victory with five points (shots in play 2/4) and six rebounds in 20 minutes on the court. 

In the Dallas Mavericks' 117:110 home win over the San Antonio Spurs last night, Luka Doncic reached his sixth triple-double of the season, scoring 42 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Finney-Smith added 22 points for Dallas and Kristaps Porzingis 18 with ten rebounds. San Antonio's best was DeMar DeRozan, who finished with 36 points. Luka Samanic did not enter the game for San Antonio.

The Milwaukee Bucks outscored the Chicago Bulls 115:101. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and recorded ten rebounds, while Dragan Bender did not enter the game.

Source: Gol.hr

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

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - European Commission representatives called on all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday to join as soon as possible in dealing with the problems caused by the high influx of illegal migrants, insisting on the closure of the Vucjak migrant camp where hundreds of migrants stay in inhumane conditions.

Michela Matuella, head of the unit for BiH at the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, and Martin Taschner of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, talked about the migrant crisis in Bihac with representatives of the city and cantonal authorities and visited Vučjak, where migrants stay in tents without electricity, heat or running water and sleep in the mud, protected only by cartons they bring themselves.

The conditions are very bad and we are now even more convinced that this camp must be closed and that another location must be found to accommodate these people, Matuella told reporters.

The migrants in Vučjak could not be accommodated in better equipped camps in Bihac because there was no room.

"We clearly said that not only Vučjak but Bira and Miral must also be closed. We didn't give in and won't allow the accommodation capacities (in Bihac) to be enlarged," said Mustafa Ružnić, premier of Una-Sana Canton.

Matuella and Taschner said the EU had given BiH 36 million euro since the start of 2018 to provide for illegal migrants, adding that the assistance would continue to arrive but would have no results if the BiH authorities did not do their job or cooperate to put the migrant crisis under control.

We can't replace the representatives of government, Matuella said, recalling that 10 million euro was approved for BiH in August to expand accommodation capacities and build new reception centres, which have not been established.

She said it was encouraging that possible locations for illegal migrants had been found near Sarajevo and Tuzla, adding that this would reduce the pressure on Una-Sana Canton.

She said those locations were being assessed, after which a relocation plan would be made for the migrants in Vučjak.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - Croatian Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek addressed the 40th session of the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris on Monday, saying that on November 18 Croatia was paying tribute to the victims of the Homeland War in Vukovar, Škabrnja and elsewhere in the country and stressing that it was important to promote peace and tolerance as well as all values promoted by UNESCO.

Obuljen Koržinek said that Croatia supported the initiatives launched by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. She cited efforts being invested by Croatia in strategic reform and financial consolidation, adding that she expected progress in implementing measures aimed at ensuring freedom of speech and safety for journalists, the Culture Ministry said in a statement.

Obuljen Koržinek said that Croatia was committed to sharing its experience from the post-war reconstruction of cultural heritage and that it would support UNESCO's efforts in rebuilding the Iraqi city of Mosul.

She said that Croatia continued to promote education on the arts and cultural heritage through UNESCO's World Heritage in Young Hands project. She recalled that as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the Croatian UNESCO delegation hosted a European youth forum which brought together young professionals to promote education on world heritage.

The minister said that through the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar, Croatia was strongly promoting the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

She announced that next year, during its presidency of the Council of the European Union, Croatia would host a conference on risks in the management of world heritage properties, at which initiatives and projects by different organisations, including UNESCO, would be presented.

Obuljen Koržinek is also to attend a forum of culture ministers scheduled for November 19, which will discuss the contribution of culture to achieving sustainable development goals.

More news about Croatia and UNESCO can be found in the Lifestyle section.