ZAGREB, January 5, 2020 - A meeting was held in Mursko Središće on Saturday on transport investment aimed at relieving traffic through Croatia's northernmost border town, attended by Croatia's foreign and economy ministers, the mayor and the heads of neighbouring Slovenian and Hungarian municipalities.

The meeting focused on the construction of a bypass and a bridge across the Mura river, which requires the construction of a junction in Slovenia.

Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said the meeting was an "excellent example which fits into the priorities of a Europe that connects."

"The bypass in Croatia's northernmost town will resolve citizens' problems, but it's necessary to agree a junction with Slovenia," he said, adding that this problem must be resolved as soon as possible not only because of Mursko Središće but also because of the cross-border aspect as it concerned Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary and nearby Austria.

Economy Minister Darko Horvat said this was a direct contribution of a government meeting that was held in Čakovec.

"Since the government meeting, Croatian Roads has conducted certain studies and this project has been given full justification both from Croatia and the European Commission," he said, adding that in order for the project to continue, Croatia and Slovenia should agree on a junction.

Horvat said the Foreign Ministry would organise a meeting on January 8 concerning the junction so that Croatian Roads could continue to work on the project documentation. He said the project was estimated at 150 million kuna and that funding was expected as part of the EU's 2021-27 budget.

Mursko Središće mayor Drazen Srpak said he was pleased the meeting was attended by the head of the neighbouring Slovenian municipality of Lendava, Janez Magyar, who supported the project.

More transport news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

January 5, 2019 - The Croatia handball team played 33:33 (18:17) against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Croatia Cup in Porec on Saturday. 

Index.hr writes that the match was the story of the day in the BiH media, who proclaimed this draw to be a great sensation and a huge success for BiH handball.

Anyone with knowledge about handball knows that BiH has a solid team with a few impressive individuals. They have the excellent goalkeeper Buric from Flensburg and Ivan Karacic, who is the brother of great Croatian handball player Igor.

For the first time in history, BiH has qualified for the Euros and boasts the oldest team in the championship. One of their better players, Nikola Prce, is 40 years old.

The BiH national team led most of the game, but towards the end, Croatia managed to lead 32:28. BiH eventually reached the draw.

Igor Karacic scored seven goals for Croatia, while Luka Cindric and Luka Stepancic added four. Marko Panic was BiH's top scorer with ten goals.

Croatia captain Domagoj Duvnjak praised Croatia’s neighbors.

“It is a nice reminder to us. First of all, I would like to congratulate Bosnia on a phenomenal game. BiH has a great team, they played really smart, Buric was great in goal, and I wish Bosnia all the best at the European Championships," Duvnjak said.

"We don't even have money for preparations. We can't get into a hotel without paying the full amount of expenses in advance. At this point, I don't know if we will start preparations. If the state does not help with the Euros, however, we have run out of options,” Vice-President of the BiH Handball Federation, Asim Sahman, told Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz.

In the meantime, despite financial problems in the Federation, the team managed to get sponsors to pay for its travel and accommodation in Norway. They are not out of the woods yet, but perhaps because of these circumstances, they can achieve an incredible result at the Euros.

The BiH team managed to come to Porec thanks to the Croatian Handball Federation, which provided them with the conditions for part of the preparations and their hotel. BiH coach Bilal Suman particularly thanked Croatia.

"I would like to thank our host. We are here for a few more days and they provided us with all the necessary conditions. The hotel, the hall - they gave us everything and we thank them. I wish them good luck at the European Championships," Suman said.

The European Championship is scheduled for January 9-26, and Croatia will play in Graz with Montenegro, Belarus and Serbia in the first round.

Lino Cervar's team will test their strength against Qatar in the final day of the Croatia Cup on Sunday.

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

January 5, 2019 - The Croatia national tennis team is off to a great start in Sydney for the first-ever ATP Cup, topping Austria 3:0 in their first round of games on Saturday.

At the premiere of the ATP Cup, in the first round of Group E in Sydney, Croatian tennis players defeated the Austria national team 3:0! 

The winning team was decided already after the singles matches - first Marin Cilic celebrated with a comeback against Dennis Novak (108th on ATP list) - 6:7 (4), 6:4, 6:4, and Borna Coric surprised the 4th best tennis player in the world, Dominic Thiem - 7:6 (4), 2:6, 6:3. 

In the doubles match, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic were better than Austrian Jurgen Melzer and Oliver Marach 7:6 (4), 6:2.

Marin lost the first set to Novak, but found a way to celebrate in the end.

"It was an extremely difficult match, a real thriller. Dennis played at a high level. It was a great match to start the new season,” Marin said after the win.

Borna, who lost six matches to finish last season, opened 2020 with a massive win against Thiem. It was Borna’s second win in their five meetings thus far, and his 12th career win against one of the top 10 players in the world last year.

"I'm really happy. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this performance, especially since I didn't play my best tennis last season. Well, it was great. Even though I lost the second set, I felt I was playing really well. In the third set, I played bravely on important points, and in the end, it paid off. This success will further fill me with confidence for the matches to come,” Borna said with special thanks to the Croatia fans in attendance.

"Thanks to them for their support, they carried me through the whole match, and especially at the end of the match, when it was the hardest for me."

The key to Croatia’s doubles victory was winning the first set in which Dodig and Mektic were losing 5:3. At 5:4, they saved a set-point and after the tie-break lead 1:0. They had no problem in the second set.

“Despite the final 3:0, the whole round against Austria was extremely uncertain and interesting, with just the singles matches lasted for almost six hours. In the doubles, the first set was also exciting, but it was easier for us in the second,” Nikola Mektic said.

Croatia will play their second match on Monday against Poland, who lost to Argentina 2:1 in the first round.

Source: HTS

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

Milan Bandic, Zagreb's long-time mayor who has seen (and indeed caused) his fair share of controversy over the years is once again the subject of a protest held in the very heart of the Croatian capital city, following a recent one held at the tail end of 2019.

As Glas Istre writes on the 4th of January, 2020, thousands of people gathered today from 16:00 onwards on Zagreb's central Ban Jelacic square to protest against Milan Bandic. The protesters shouted: "Bandic to go" and chanted: ''Prison''.

The banners carried by protesters read: "Only in Zagreb can a rat survive for nineteen years", "You're guilty", "Mafia go home" and more in their show of solidarity against Milan Bandic and his murky track record as the seemingly untouchable (at least previously) mayor of Zagreb.

The protest was organised by citizens via Facebook and this, as previously mentioned, is the second protest of its kind. The first protest was organised the day before citizens went to vote in the polls during the first round, and this one takes place the day before the second round of the Croatian presidential elections.

In front of the assembled protesters, they read out the names of the mayor's associates and people considered to be "Bandic's pawns". The crowds also chanted: Mafia, Mafia!

''This is not the last protest. This is not the end, we're just getting started. Thank you to everyone who came,'' the organisers said, and those gathered greeted these words with a chant: Verdict, verdict.

The date of the next protest was also announced for January the 28th, 2020, in front of Zagreb County Court, during a hearing in one of the proceedings launched against Milan Bandic, which you can read more about here as we detail the trials of various Croatian politicians and tycoons due to begin or end in the coming year.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

January 4, 2020 - Cricket has been a part of life in Croatia for over 200 years, a tradition set to continue in June with the return of the Mediterranean Cricket League in Losinj. 

One of the more unusual things I learned about the islands of Croatia soon after I bought my house on Hvar in 2002 was that the next island boasted some of the oldest history of cricket in Europe outside the UK and Ireland, dating back some 200 years. The story of cricket on Vis back in the early 19th century is a fascinating one, as is how the cricket tradition was continued and lives on today. 

And Vis is not alone. Cricket on the Mediterranean is a 'thing', and this June will see the return of the Mediterranean Cricket League for the fifth year, this time hosted on the Croatian island of Losinj from June 4-11. I am grateful to Jeff Grizinic, Mediterranean Cricket League tournament director, for the following overview of cricket on the Med, the Mediterranean Cricket League, and more details on this event. You can follow the latest from the Mediterranean Cricket League on Facebook. 

Want to learn more about some of the more unusual things to be found on Croatian islands? Here are 25 things to know. 

Cricket has been recorded as having first been played in Europe by Admiral Nelson’s troops and sailors when stationed in Naples, Italy in 1793. The game spread and was played at an amateur level throughout the 19th and 20th century, the most famous of which was the Milan Cricket and Football Club, now known as AC Milan.

The European Cricket Council was founded in 1997 to revive cricket after it had fallen into decline in Europe during the World Wars. After having an initial membership of 14 countries the ECC now stretches to having 37 member countries across the continent, with the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland having progressed to compete in recent ICC World Cup and Twenty20 World Cup.

Croatian Cricket

Croatia was first introduced to Cricket on the island of Vis some 200 years ago, when the English navy was stationed on the island and played to keep fitness levels and morale high, under the watch of Sir William Hoste. As a tribute to these sporting pioneers, the Sir William Hoste Cricket Club is currently an active Club based on Vis and playing against visiting teams to the island.

During the 1950/60’s a large number of Europeans, including many Croatians, migrated to cricket playing countries like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and their children took to the game in their new country. Consequently, as these children grew older they would return to their parents’ country of birth bringing with them their new found love of Cricket.

In 1998 a collection of Cricket enthusiasts in Zagreb organised a team to play neighboring Slovenia. From this inauspicious start the Croatian Cricket Federation (CCF) was born, with its headquarters based at the Zagreb Cricket Club at the Mladost Sports and Recreation Centre in Zagreb.

Since 2000 Croatia has been a regular participant in various European Cricket Council tournaments and continues to be active, with regular games played against regional countries Slovenia, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Wales, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Macedonia and Israel amongst others.  Although there have been many tournaments over this time period, there is a requirement and a zest for more competition by all European countries since the International Cricket Council (ICC) scaled back its tournament involvement for many European cricket nations a few years ago.

History of Mediterranean Cricket League (MCL)

The Mediterranean Cricket League (MCL) was founded in 2015 and first played in June 2016, in Split, Croatia. The MCL was founded by Croatian national representative Jeff Grzinic and the Croatian Cricket Federation (CCF) as a way to give Croatian cricketers greater exposure to high class cricket played in tournament conditions to help develop its players and the game of cricket in Croatia. The MCL was designed to be a welcoming event for not only teams and players but wives, girlfriends/partners, children, friends and family alike. The MCL is 6 international team T20 tournament played over 4 days with each team playing 4 games over the 4 days. While developing the tournament structure in 2015, former Australian Test and One Day international cricketer of Croatian heritage, Simon Katich, became the Mediterranean Cricket League Ambassador and continues in the role to this day.

The MCL has quickly developed into a fiercely contested tournament that welcomes all teams from Europe and around the world and has a clear goal of developing Croatian and European cricket through attracting Europe’s (and the world’s) best teams and players to Croatia’s stunning shores with their family and friends. In the MCL’s first year Zagreb Cricket Club, Sir Oliver Cricket Club (Split), Porto-Montenegro Cricket Club (Montenegro), inaugural winner Ukraine National Team, Romanian Bears and Ambassadors of Cricket (India) took part and it was clear to see that there was an appetite for a professionally run and competitive tournament in Europe.

In its second edition at the Resnik MCL2017 hosted Zagreb Cricket Club, Sir Oliver Cricket Club, Romanian Bears, Cricket Timis (Romania) and Saaremaa Kriketi Klubi from Estonia, who won what was a fiercely contested and close tournament that was dominated by the batsman.

The third year of the event, MCL2018 saw the newly formed Australian entity Friends of Croatian Cricket(FOCC) enter a team, the ‘Boomerangs’ (made up predominately of Australian/Croatians) to compete against a local Croatia ‘A’ team, reigning champions from Estonia Saaremaa Kriketi Klubi, Salford Hawks (England), Kensington Cricket Club (India) and the ‘CBB’s’ (Thailand). The competition standard of MCL2018 went up another level with the ‘Boomerangs’ team from Australia taking tournament honors in their debut (as a team) at the 2018 edition of the tournament

MCL2016, MCL2017 and MCL2018 were played in the grounds of the truly delightful and welcoming Resnik Hotel, situated right on the stunning Adriatic Sea. The Resnik Hotel is nestled nicely between UNESCO towns of Trogir and the city of Split on Croatia’s Adriatic coastline and was a tranquil and ideal setting to establish Europe’s hottest T20 cricket tournament. The cricket ground within the Resnik Hotel grounds was purpose built to cater for the MCL and an incredible amount of work went on behind the scenes to develop the ground into a beautiful place to play international cricket and bring visitors to Croatia.

With three memorable tournaments successfully completed at the Resnik Hotel and the MCL quickly outgrowing its current location the MCL, Sir Oliver Cricket Club, Croatian Cricket Federation and Friends of Croatian Cricket set about finding a new location in which the MCL tournament could raise the bar even further and develop the tournament. After much work the Tucepi location, an hour south of Split was chosen as the new venue to take the MCL into the future.

MCL2019 was played in Tucepi, an ideal location with accommodation in a splendid 4 star hotel, outstanding playing facilities and infrastructure that raised the standard, professionalism and profile of the tournament and attracted more teams and spectators than previous years. MCL2019 featured Croatia 'A', last years champions Boomerangs, MCL2017 winners Saaremaa, and 2 of the strongest teams to be seen at an MCL, SledgeHammer Cricket Academy (India) and Warriors Cricket Club Qatar. Former Australian international player Brad Hogg joined the MCL as Ambassador for the event and also played for the Boomerangs which was a sure sign to the cricket world that the MCL had stamped its authority on Europe. The strong tournament was eventually won by Warriors Cricket Club Qatar who just held out pre-tournament favorites SledgeHammer Cricket Academy to take home the coveted MCL trophy.

In a very exciting move 2020 will see the Mediterranean Cricket League move to the magnificent island of Losinj, the first time the tournament will be held off the mainland. The MCL continues to grow and showcase new and fabulous locations in Croatia. MCL2020 In Losinj is going to be the most breathtaking yet!

Now with an even higher overall standard the MCL hopes that teams will not only play the tournament once but return to Croatia year after year forming strong friendships and networks, welcoming new teams and players into the European cricket family. So impressed was Brad Hogg with the Mediterranean Cricket League that he has again signed on to play in MCL2020, another positive sign that the MCL continues to raise the bar of expectation.

It is hoped that all teams, sponsors, supporters, family and friends enjoy their time at the MCL and are made to feel a very special part of the Mediterranean Cricket League. The MCL is a family friendly event that welcomes and caters to players’ wives, girlfriends/partners, children, supporters and spectators as well as making the ‘cricket experience’ for players a professional and entertaining one. MCL founder Jeff Grzinic, the Croatian Cricket Federation, Friends of Croatian Cricket, Zagreb Cricket Club and Sir Oliver Cricket Club have invested a great deal of resources to ensure that the Mediterranean Cricket League will remain European cricket’s ‘must play’ tournament for many years to come.

MCL TOURNAMENT BATTING, BOWLING, TEAM and OFFICIALS STATS

ALL TIME MCL LEADING RUNSCORERS Games Inn Runs Average High Score

1. Stuart Hook (SA) 12 11 791 71.90 178
2. Ayyaz Ahmed (ZG/CA)12 11 447 40.63 100*
3. Chris Turkich (BG) 8 5 446 89.20 129*
4. Armaan Peter (ZG) 12 9 407 45.22 97
5. Jeff Grzinic (SO/BG) 16 8 389 48.63 55*
6. Ramesh Satheesan (RB) 8 7 325 46.42 95
7. Dan Lazarides (CA) 4 4 244 61.00 121
8. Azam Khan (SL) 4 3 243 60.75 119
9. Sajjad Tamoor (WQ) 4 0 233 00.00 75
10. Nikola Davidovic (SO/CA) 10 8 227 28.37 55*

ALL TIME MCL LEADING WICKET TAKERS Games WKTS Runs Ave Best Bowling

1. Jeff Grzinic (SO/BG) 16 26 423 16.27 5-11
2. Ramesh Satheesan (RB) 8 18 195 10.83 5-5
3. Chris Osborne (ZG/CA) 11 14 249 17.79 3-58
4. Nikola Davidovic (SO/CA) 11 14 266 19.00 4-40
5. Armaan Peter (ZG/CA) 12 14 338 24.14 3-37
6. Josip Jukic (SO/CA) 13 13 344 26.50 4-20
7. Kalle Vispaluu (SA) 12 13 398 30.62 3-23
8. Ankush Bhan (KC) 4 9 157 17.44 3-45
9. Shiva Arun (SA) 8 9 263 29.22 3-19
10. Tim Cross (SA) 12 9 303 33.67 2-26

MCL BATTING TOP 10 SCORES High Score

1. Stuart Hook (SA) 178
2. Rahul Yadav (SL) 157
3. Stuart Hook (SA) 148
4. Chris Turkich (BG) 129*
5. Dan Lazarides (CA) 121
6. Azam Khan (SL) 119
7. Sattvik Nadigotla (CT) 109
8. Ayyaz Ahmed (ZG/CA) 100*
9. Abishek Sonu (SA) 100
10. Armaan Peter (ZG/CA) & Ijaz Hussain (RB) 97

MCL BOWLING TOP 10 PERFORMANCES BEST BOWLING

1. Ramesh Satheesan (RB) 5-5
2. Jeff Grzinic (SO/BG) 5-11
3. Ramesh Satheesan (RB) 4-10
4. Josip Jukic (SO/CA) 4-20
5. Jason Saywood (PM) 4-23
6. Saket Kumar Malik (UK) 4-29
7. Nikola Davidovic (SO/CA) 4-40
8. Ramesh Satheesan (RB) 4-30
9. Shiv Kumar (RB) 3-3
10. Jeff Grzinic (SO/BG) 3-11 

MCL HAT-TRICKS:

Jeff Grzinic (SO/BG) 3/21 Boomerangs v Croatia ‘A’, MCL2019, Tucepi, 23 May 2019

KEY:

Croatia A- CA Sir Oliver- SO

Zagreb CC- ZG Boomerangs- BG

Ukraine- UK Porto Montenegro- PM

Romanian Bears- RB Ambassadors of Cricket- AC

Cricket Timis- CT Saaremaa- SA

CBB- CB Salford Hawks- SH

Kensington India- KC SledgeHammer- SL

Warriors Qatar WQ

MCL HIGHEST TEAM SCORE:

4/376 (20 Overs) SledgeHammer Cricket Academy v Saaremaa Kriketi Klubi, MCL2019, Tucepi, 23 May 2019

MCL LOWEST TEAM SCORE:

All Out/ 68 (18 Overs) Zagreb Cricket Club v Ambassadors of Cricket, MCL2016, Resnik, 4 June 2016

MCL TOTAL GAMES PLAYED:

16- Jeff Grzinic (SO/CA)

15- Chris Osborne (ZG/CA)

13- Josip Jukic (SO/CA)

12- Mate Marovic (SO/CA), Ayyaz Ahmed (ZG/CA), Armaan Peter (ZG/CA), Tim Heath (SA), Stuart Hook (SA), Marko Vaik (SA), Kalle Vispaluu (SA) & Tim Cross (SA)

MCL GAMES UMPIRED:

MCL2019- Alex Mackay 5, Shrikant Ramadurg- 5, Bob Belcher- 5 Rex W. Evans- 5

MCL2018- Alex Mackay 8, Steve Tripp- 8, Tom Polich- 5, Rex W. Evans- 3

MCL2017- Alex Mackay 7, Steve Tripp- 7, Tom Polich- 6

MCL2016- Alex Mackay- 8, Steve Tripp- 8, Clive Puttock- 5, Posh Tim- 3

MCL TOTAL GAMES UMPIRED

• Alex Mackay (Switzerland) 28
• Steve Tripp (Belgium) 23
• Tom Polich (Croatia) 12
• Rex W. Evans (Australia) 8
• Clive Puttock (Montenegro) 5
• Shrikant Ramadurg (Australia) 5
• Bob Belcher (Australia) 5
• Posh Tim (Montenegro) 3

TOTAL MCL GAMES SCORED (Official)

• Lidia Kucharska (Poland) 31 (MCL2017- 11, MCL2018- 10, MCL2019-10)

MCL2019 Final Results

Play WON LOSS BONUS PTS

Warriors Qatar 4 4 0 2 18

SledgeHammer 4 3 1 1 13

Boomerangs 4 2 2 0 8

Saaremaa 4 1 3 0 4

Croatia 'A' 4 0 4 0 0

MCL2018 Final Results

Play WON LOSS BONUS PTS

Boomerangs 4 4 0 1 17

Kensington 4 2 2 1 9

Saaremaa 4 3 1 0 12

Salford Hawks 4 1 3 1 5

CBB 4 2 2 0 8

Croatia A 4 0 4 0 0

MCL2017 Final Results

Play WON LOSS BONUS PTS

Saaremaa 4 3 1 0 13

Romania Bears 4 3 1 2 12

Zagreb CC 4 2 2 2 10

Cricket Timis 4 2 2 0 8

Sir Oliver CC 4 0 4 0 0

MCL2016 Final Results

Play WON LOSS BONUS PTS

Ukraine 4 4 0 0 16

Romania Bears 4 3 1 2 14

Sir Oliver Split 4 2 2 2 10

Ambassadors 3 2 1 0 8

Zagreb 4 1 3 0 4

Porto Montenegro 4 0 4 0 0

MCL2016, MCL2017, MCL2018 & MCL2019 AWARD WINNERS

MCL2019 TOURNAMENT CHAMPION Stuart Hook- SA

MCL2019 BEST BATSMAN Stuart Hook- SA

MCL2019 BEST BOWLER Owais Ahmed- WQ

MCL2019 SPIRIT OF CRICKET AWARD (Best ‘team’ at MCL as voted by the Umpires) Warriors Cricket Club Qatar

MCL2019 VUJNOVICH BEST CROATIAN PLAYER AWARD Dan Lazarides (CA)

MCL2019 ALL STAR TEAM

1. Stuart Hook (SA)

2. Dan Lazarides (CA)

3. Azam Khan (SL)

4. Sajjad Tamor WQ)

5. Rahul Yadav (SL)

6. Chris Turkich (BG)

7. Owais Ahmed (WQ)

8. Nived Mishra (SL)

9. Jeff Grzinic (BG)

10. Pradeep Mohanty (SL)

11. Brad Hogg (BG)

12. Daniel Turkich (BG)

MCL2018 TOURNAMENT CHAMPION 

Chris Turkich (BG)

MCL2018 BEST BATSMAN 

Chris Turkich (BG)

MCL2018 BEST BOWLER

Jeff Grzinic (BG)

MCL2018 ‘SPIRIT OF CRICKET AWARD’ (Best ‘team’ at MCL2018 as voted by umpires)

Saaremaa Kriketi Klubi

MCL2018 VUJNOVICH BEST CROATIAN PLAYER AWARD

Chris Turkich (BG)

MCL2018 ALL-STAR TEAM

1. Chris Turkich- (BG)
2. Jeff Grzinic- (BG)
3. Ayyza Ahmed- (CA)
4. Stuart Hook- (SA)
5. Jason Cook- (CB)
6. Abishek Sonu- (SA)
7. Viraj Sawant- (KC)
8. Rohit Sashadri- (KC)
9. Rylan Cannell- (BG)
10. Shiva Arun- (SA)
11. Ankush Bhan- (KC)
12. Pipin Pappachan- (SH)

MCL2017 TOURNAMENT CHAMPION

Armaan Peter (ZG)

MCL2017 BEST BATSMAN

Armaan Peter (ZG)

MCL2017 BEST BOWLER (tied)

Ramesh Satheesan (RB)

Nikola Davidovic (SO)

MCL2017 ‘SPIRIT OF CRICKET AWARD’ (Best ‘team’ at MCL as voted by the Umpires)

Saaremaa Kriketi Klubi

MCL2017 VUJNOVICH BEST CROATIAN PLAYER AWARD

Armaan Peter (ZG)

MCL2017 ALL-STAR TEAM

1. Armaan Peter (ZG)
2. Ramesh Satheesan (RB)
3. Stuart Hook (SA)
4. Nikola Davidovic (SO)
5. Ijaz Hussain (RB)
6. Sattvik Nadigotla (CT)
7. Jeff Grzinic (SO)
8. Vineeth Govind (SA)
9. Chris Osborne (ZG)
10. Saad Mohsin (RB)
11. Max Walsh (SA)
12. Kalle Vispaluu (SA)

MCL2016 TOURNAMENT CHAMPION

Ramesh Satheesan (RB)

MCL2016 BEST BATSMAN

Ayyaz Ahmed (ZG)

MCL2016 BEST BOWLER

Ramesh Satheesan (RB)

MCL2016 ‘SPIRIT OF CRICKET AWARD’ (Best ‘team’ at MCL as voted by the Umpires)

Porto-Montenegro Cricket Club

MCL2016 VUJNOVICH BEST CROATIAN PLAYER AWARD

Ayyaz Ahmed (ZG)

MCL2016 ALL-STAR TEAM

1. Ramesh Satheesan (RB)
2. Ayyza Ahmed (ZG)
3. Farahan Khan (UK)
4. Abey Kuruvila (AC)
5. Nikoloa Davidovic (SO)
6. Waseem Mehmoob (UK)
7. Jeff Grzinic (SO)
8. Darren Gibson (PM)
9. Shiv Kumar (RB)
10. Josip Jukic (SO)
11. Pero Kastelan (SO)
12. Armaan Peter (ZG)

January 4, 2020 - TCN attended the International Medical Travel Journal 2019 conference, during which we caught up with TEMOS co-host CEO Claudia Mika to talk about medical tourism accreditation, the accreditation awarded to Bagatin Clinic, and Croatia.

Tell us firstly about TEMOS and the accreditation you offer.

TEMOS International Healthcare Accreditation is an international accreditation body located in Germany in Cologne, with 14 international offices worldwide. It started ten years ago as a scientific research project. I was working for a government research organisation and there was a funded government project together with insurance companies and assistance companies to define quality criteria for the management of international patients worldwide. And from there, we further developed. First we closed the project. As a government research project, you are not allowed to earn money with those products, so I was asked as project manager to do a spin-off. I learned how to write a business plan and how to do business, and we started. And since then we have been accrediting and certifying hospitals and clinics, and medical centres worldwide. Those who do treat international patients, medical tourists, and those who do not, we are also an accreditation body for those facilities who do not deal with international medical tourists. 

How many clinics worldwide have the TEMOS accreditation?

We currently have around 65 accredited certificates distributed, from Colombia to Thailand. 

Tell us about the process of getting accreditation. 

The process is that, having agreed with the clinic or hospital that we would like to start the process together, our applicants are given online access to our platform. They get the standards and the self-assessment tools where they can do their own analysis. They get a questionnaire where we have translated all the standards into questions because we know that the language of quality is sometimes difficult to understand. We ask, do you have this, how are you doing that? This was we avoid the cost of expensive consultancy, as the client can learn by doing, it is like a self-learning and improvement tool. And, of course, we are responsive to any questions they may have, and they always receive an answer within 24 hours. 

What is the success rate of application to accreditation?

We changed the system about a year ago, when we reviewed all the standards, and after this, the success rate was a little worse than before. We have three scores - passed, not passed, and passed on reservation. We always try to avoid the 'not passed' as it is frustrating for both sides. What we have seen recently has been an increase in 'passed on reservation.' This means that the organisation needs to show by means of a progress report that within a given timeframe, say 6-9 months, that they will successfully work on all the points. And that if they do, we can then confirm that they are compliant with our standards, and then we can delete the 'with reservation' and upgrade them to a full 'passed.'

I hear a lot of accreditations within the industry. How does TEMOS stand among them, and what makes it different? I assume that there are similar products out there?

There are maybe some similar, but none the same. Since we are ISQua/IEEA-accredited, of course we are competing with those accreditation bodies which are also accredited by ISQua/IEEA. But the accreditation by ISQua/IEEA means that you must fulfil these standards, but that you do not need to stop with these standards. So you can add additional standards, and this is what TEMOS did. So we are unique for some of the chapters and standards we have. For example, we implemented the International Patient Management, the complete process of the international patient department services, from the first contact from the patient until the follow-up. We also have a chapter called Sustainability in Healthcare Settings for organisations, which means that we ask about their contribution to the environment and carbon footprint. No other accreditation business has this as a chapter. We ask about legal aspects, ethical aspects in separate chapters, and this is what we have found important, especially in international patient management, to cover those standards. In this respect, TEMOS does not really have a competitor. The others generally only check what is happening with international patients, or with domestic patients. But the combination of domestic and international, that is not available from anyone else. A clinic gets the TEMOS accreditation, which is good PR and adds a layer of trust.

Are there any other perks to getting the accreditation? 

Yes, indeed. As co-hosts of this conference, for example, all our network partners were invited, and many came. We also have the TEMOS Academy, where all partner clinics have access to education, to further development. We do have reference letters from assistance companies representing the health insurances. We also have an exclusive partnership with Diplomatic Council (DC), a United Nations (UN) accredited business club and think tank. They have more than 5,000 members worldwide. Only Temos accredited organizations receive an additional certificate "DCpreferred partner hospital/clinic/medical travel coordinator". We are always trying to extend the network to give further benefits once a clinic is accredited, because we want to offer much more than just the accreditation. 

(Bagatin Clinic received the TEMOS accreditation during the IMTJ conference in Berlin)

Let's talk a little about medical tourism in Croatia and Bagatin Clinic, which was awarded the TEMOS accreditation during the IMTJ conference in Berlin. You have a much more global viewpoint that I do, as I live in Croatia.

I have known Ognjen Bagatin now for 6-7 years, from the international business perspective. And for me - totally independent of the fact that his clinic just got the TEMOS accreditation - he is clearly an ambassador. An ambassador for the business, and an ambassador also for Croatia as a country. He is a very engaged person with lots of experience, who is very motivated about what he is doing. He really wants to push the business, he wants to involve partners, he wants to network, he wants to cooperate. It is not that he wants to be successful for himself and his clinic, but he wants others to contribute and to benefit from what he is trying to build up. And what he is doing is amazing, and I appreciate what he is doing very much.

And where does Bagatin Clinic stand on the global stage? Are they players on the international stage?

Bagatin is definitely a player but also it is a best practices example for many clinics worldwide. When I talk to people who see his presentations as they comment on how amazing it is what they have achieved and how far they have gone in a short space of time, it is also amazing to see how much is invested in promotion. He is a best practices example because he has facts. He shows and he shares. He knows exactly what is going on in his clinic, and he shares this knowledge, and it is very much appreciated, especially in our business where facts are so important and not so many people share. This is why so many people are listening to him, because he is one of the rare ones who shares. And he is so far ahead that he really doesn't have to worry about others overtaking him. 

Let's talk about Croatia. Where do you see the Croatian medical tourism industry, in terms of potential fulfilled, and where it could and should be?

I think Croatia has an advantage - and it really is a huge advantage - that Croatia already has a lot of tourism, as well as a great reputation for that tourism. So as a country it is regarded as neutral in terms of political issues, which can be an important issue these days, and it is famous for tourism, for its excellent food and wines. This is definitely a big advantage to promote Croatia as a medical tourism destination. I also think that there are some good initiatives coming out of Croatia. One of them is obviously Ognjen and his Bagatin team, and the other great example is the Kvarner Health Cluster. They have been working very hard for a number of years for the promotion of Kvarner as a health tourism destination. 

Ok, but these initiatives are essentially private ones - one clinic in Zagreb and one health cluster on the coast. 

Yes, Croatian medical tourism has evolved from private initiatives. Perhaps the government could and should do more to support it, but Croatian clinics have that international quality, as Bagatin has demonstrated for example. It also has a high-quality tourism offer as mentioned above and is a safe country. Clinics do not need the country to be branded as a medical tourism destination to succeed. If they have the quality and reputation, aligning to the current tourism traffic will enable them to succeed. There is very little in terms of government involvement in Croatia, but there are pros and cons. Croatia is a very small country, and the initiative is coming from those private players. Just because there is no coordinated government initiative, this does not mean that clinics cannot succeed. There may be no brand of Croatia as a medical tourism destination, but there is a huge brand of Croatia as a tourist destination, and that is something to build on. Because of this, and because Croatia is safe, if people see a famous clinic with best practices and international accreditations, they will go there. 

You have also fallen in love with Croatia as a holiday destination.

I got to know Croatia through my business. I was invited to speak at conferences in Zagreb and Kvarner. I saw a bit of the country and I was very impressed. Very beautiful, with great people, food and wine. So I suggested to my husband that we go on holiday. So the first year we went to the islands of Cres and Vis, as well as Istria. So we asked our Croatian friends for recommendations, and they sent us to Hvar. We went there last summer, and we really enjoyed it. The weather was fabulous, and again, beautiful people, food and wine. It is definitely not our last time on holiday in Croatia. We love it.

To learn more about TEMOS, visit the official website. 

For the latest from the Croatian medical tourism industry, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

ZAGREB, January 4, 2020 - The real estate market, at least judging by asking prices, is returning to the pre-crisis levels, with increases in both the volume of trading and number of transactions, Večernji List daily says in Saturday's issue.

The Zagreb Institute of Economics and the Construction Ministry have published the second edition of the real estate market review for 2018 which shows there were 104,000 real estate sales and that the value of the properties sold totalled 32 billion kuna, which is 8.4% of Croatia's GDP, the daily says.

The sale of farmland dominated with nearly 40,000 transactions but the value of the land sold dropped from 2017 to 1.6 billion kuna. About 13 billion kuna was generated in flat sales, followed by 6 billion kuna in construction land sales and 5.7 billion kuna in family house sales.

In 2018, the number of flats which changed owners increased by 1,500 to 24,000 and that of houses sold by 4,000 to over 11,000.

An analysis of sales contracts does not reflect a dramatic increase in property prices, which might be concluded from asking prices. In Zagreb, the median price of flats sold in 2018 went up 4.9% on the year to 9,459 kuna per square metre.

As for other parts of the country, the highest price jump was recorded in Split-Dalmatia County (+8%) with the median price of 11,669 kuna per square metre, followed by Istria County (+6.7%) with the median price of 8,722 kuna.

As for family houses, the highest median prices in 2018 were recorded in Dubrovnik, 12,000 kuna per square metre. The price of a square metre of a house in 29 coastal and island towns and municipalities ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 kuna whereas in 190 towns and municipalities in continental Croatia the price was below 1,000 kuna, Večernji List says.

More real estate news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, January 4, 2020 - As of January 1, Rijeka, Croatia and Galway, Ireland hold the prestigious European Capital of Culture title.

"Thanks to their title of European Capital of Culture, Rijeka and Galway will be harnessing the full potential of culture to enrich our life experience and to bring our communities closer together", Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life Margaritis Schinas has said.

"Promoting culture as a core element of our way of life has many positive impacts on society, in terms of social inclusion, integration and economic growth. It enables people to gain new experiences, skills and opportunities to participate in society and to make our societies fairer and more inclusive," he added.

"A successful Capital of Culture is inclusive and meaningful to its citizens. It is also open to the world, illustrating our Union's willingness to promote culture as a driver for peace and mutual understanding worldwide whilst bringing long-lasting socio-economic benefits to its region," Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has said.

Rijeka is the first Croatian city to be awarded the European Capital of Culture title.

The "Port of Diversity" cultural programme presents Rijeka and its specificities while at the same time focusing on current European cultural-social issues.

Three themes have been chosen as symbols of the merging of Rijeka's identity and contemporary Europe: water, work and migrations. They are reflected in exhibitions, shows, operas, conferences, concerts, festivals, guest-appearances by international and Croatian artists, projects by local organisations, interior design, sculpture, book launches, and encounters between the people of Rijeka, the region, Croatia and Europe.

This year Rijeka will host nearly 300 cultural programmes with more than 600 events. Over 300 partner organisations from 55 countries from around the world are involved in the organisation of the programmes.

More Rijeka news can be found in the Lifestyle news.