ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - "Croatian Desserts: 50 Authentic Recipes to Make at Home", the first English-language cookbook of Croatian sweets by Andrea Pisac, was launched at the Bulldog gastro pub in Zagreb earlier this week.

The 224-page lavishly designed book includes 515 photographs and easy-to-make recipes for 50 traditional cakes from all regions of Croatia and the Adriatic islands. It features recipes for both well-known cakes, such as walnut and poppy-seed rolls, and lesser known ones, such as Kaiserschmarrn.

The author said she selected the most representative cakes, bearing in mind that many readers do not live in Croatia and all ingredients are not always available to them. She said the recipes are easy to follow both by those who weigh the ingredients on scales and those who measure them with cups or spoons.

The book was initially published as an e-book, and this year Pisac started her own publishing house and issued the print version. The cookbook is the result of years of her research of traditional and self-sustainable cooking and her culinary passion.

Pisac said that her cookbook is yet another authentic Croatian souvenir, noting that one of the ways of getting to know a country and its culture is through its gastronomy.

Pisac is a doctor of anthropology, writer and travel blogger. She is the recipient of a City of Zagreb award for her contribution to the promotion of Croatian culture.

More cooking news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - On the eve of Vukovar Memorial Day and the 28th anniversary of the Škabrnja massacre, candles were lit and prayers were said throughout Croatia to commemorate the victims of the 1991-95 Homeland War and the defeat of Vukovar's defence forces on November 18, 1991.

Candles were traditionally lit along Zagreb's Vukovarska Street and numerous citizens gathered in front of a monument to Croatia's first president Franjo Tuđman, where Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, too, lit a candle for the Vukovar victims.

The commemoration in front of the monument to Tudjman was also attended by Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić and representatives of associations of the Homeland War defenders and victims.

On the eve of the 28th anniversary of the Vukovar tragedy, a prayer was said outside the Vukovar General Hospital and candles were lit at a monument dedicated to the victims of the 1991 aggression, with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović attending the event.

Participating in the prayer were also Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, State Assets Minister Mario Banožić, Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava, Vukovar County head Božo Galić, hospital staff and numerous residents of Vukovar.

They were joined by pilgrims who were arriving in the city to attend the central commemoration of the 28th anniversary of the city's plight in the Homeland War and Vukovar Memorial Day.

Candles were lit for the victims of Vukovar also in Split, Osijek and Varaždin.

On the eve of the 28th anniversary of the Škabrnja massacre, when enemy and Serb rebel forces seized that village in the Zadar hinterland, killing dozens of villagers and defenders and setting houses on fire, local residents lit candles and organised a concert of sacred music to commemorate the victims.

Candles were also lit in a number of Croat communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with several thousand people heading off to Vukovar to attend commemorative events on Monday.

More Vukovar news can be found in the Politics section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 17th of November, 2019, Helle M. Petersen, CEO of Carlsberg Croatia discusses the business of the company operating under the auspices of the Danish beer giant and the state of the domestic sector in which large breweries are increasingly finding fierce independent rivals.

Although the main brewing season is behind us, beer continues to be well consumed at this time of year, moreover, the range, quality and range of beer styles make it a source of enjoyment for domestic consumers. One of the companies who recognises this is Carlsberg Croatia from Koprivnica, a company which operates under the well known global giant from Denmark, which stepped out with new products this year, achieving better results than last year.

The third brewing company in terms of market share has thus solidified its position, and Carlsberg Croatia's CEO Helle M. Petersen sat down to talk about the challenges and opportunities in the beer sector in conversation with Poslovni Dnevnik. The Danish manager has been in Croatia for three years now, after having spent her career within Carlsberg around the world, and she touched upon the issues of the workforce, the popularity of beer brands, the health and safety of workers, investments, and so on.

The main part of the beer season has passed, autumn is in full swing, what are the results so far in 2019, are you satisfied?

We're very satisfied, we have experienced the growth of all our brands, we're also very happy that we've won a good part of the market which is a good indicator for strengthening our share, because, as you know, we are "only" the third player in Croatia and therefore getting stronger is very important to us.

Like other industries, bad weather hit us in May, but we still managed to maintain our position. Compared to the same period last year, this has been reflected in double-digit growth in sales volume. It's definitely satisfying. However, we still detected some difficulties, the category is in decline, especially in the HoReCa channel, which is very worrying.

Although there were more tourists, they did not go out and consume drinks to the same extent as they did last year, and this is an area that leads me to think about what led to a change in their habits.

However, that depends not only on you but also on the prices in the HoReCa channel?

That's true, but it's still our responsibility to make our offer attractive to tourists, to encourage them to go out and spend money. It's also our obligation to provide content that will attract guests to cafes and restaurants, and therefore that's high on our list of priorities and questions we want to better understand what we as a brewer can do.

And have you found any solutions?

If I had, I wouldn't tell you yet (laughs), but we truly believe that we have a responsibility to make the category of our products more efficient, more interesting. In other words, we need to look for ways to win over more customers, create a premium offer and generally make it attractive for the consumer to continue buying our beers in Croatia.

Remind the public of just how present Carlsberg already is in Croatia...

Ever since beer production started in Koprivnica with the establishment of a brewery. The history goes back to 1971 when we partnered with Podravka and actually secured a license for them to produce Tuborg, which was the first international beer brand produced locally in the entire former Yugoslavia.

This relationship warmed up and we entered into a brewery, but over time Podravka gave up the beer business, so we gained full control, renaming the company in the 90s first to Pannonian Brewery and finally to Carlsberg Croatia.

The name change was not warmly welcomed in the local public?

It was expected from the point of view of the native people. The Carlsberg Group was taking over a lot of companies around the world at that time, trying to ensure that the corporate culture of Carlsberg was carried everywhere to new markets, and that's why the company here was renamed, whether it was a good or bad decision. But I think it's fair to say that the Pan brand is much stronger than the Carlsberg brand in Croatia.

And then people know once again that Carlsberg is also Croatian, from Koprivnica...

I don't think the name of the company makes it difficult for us, but on the other hand, we have the task of making sure people recognise us as Carlsberg, of having a wide product portfolio, but our biggest brand, I repeat, is the local Pan. And we have healthy growth in it.

To date, how much has Carlsberg invested in doing business in Croatia?

We usually don't publish full amounts of investments, but as a company we have accelerated investments. In the last three to four years, we've invested a lot in production capacities, packaging machines, which has enabled us to sell, for example, the Somersby brand range (alcoholic beverages based on fruit juice, eg cider - cider, op.a.) from Croatia in 20 countries across the world.

We've also invested heavily in the area of ​​occupational safety and health, it's very important for us to get people to work in safe conditions, and however small things may seem, it is really important as a step forward in the production process. This is also linked to our investment in alco-lock systems in cars, as we don't want to have any risk of our employees selling beer driving under the influence of alcohol. Last year, we invested around 11 million kuna in a new warehouse in Koprivnica, there was a big need to expand our warehouse space as bigger spaces allow us to export more.

Specifically, we've invested a lot in cider production capabilities, which commands a completely different method than brewing beer. This has two benefits - that Croatia has the benefits of exporting this product, and it is important for Carlsberg to have all the expertise of cider making.

Let’s go back to beer brands and their strength. What works best on our market?

If you look at the Croatian market, more than 80 percent of it belongs to the mainstream brands and those below. We therefore needed the Pan brand to show us its strength in that segment and it's like "bread and butter" to us. Without a strong local brand, it doesn't make sense to have a big drive and therefore our focus is on making Pan great. But we also strive to achieve good results in the premium segment, with Carlsberg and Tuborg, and this year also Blanc, a citrus-flavored wheat beer. We don't think too much about brand size as long as all our brands grow.

It's important to us how we deal with our competitors, since our range is wide, ranging from "discounted" Holsten to various types of Pan all the way to Carlsberg, Tuborg and Blanc, and Grimbergen, Budweiser and Guinness. We need to continue to innovate and create appropriate deals for stores and outlets to make consumers want to have a drink outside in company.

In terms of Somersby ciders, do Croatian consumers like it?

Absolutely, yes! Cider has been a pretty interesting “journey” for us, with it having double-digit growth year after year and with the growing acceptance of cider as a beverage category. With Somersby, we practically founded the category and started its growth. Somersby is still the number one leader in Croatia.

Cider also generates a good deal of revenue for caterers who are increasingly interested in selling it. It's consumed equally by men and women, it is a true unisex product and it's our responsibility as a market leader in the category to continue to “pump” that growth. We have introduced new flavours, changed the design and have to keep going. Everything is made here in Croatia. It is almost entirely a Croatian product.

Where does Somersby end up from here?

It goes to the countries in Croatia's neighbourhood and the region, but also to the Far East - China, Malaysia, and Canada, a total of twenty countries worldwide. It is mainly exported in bottles, on this market in four flavours, but we export five more, so in total in Koprivnica, we produce about ten Somersby variants. This brand is here to stay.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more.

Young entrepreneurs united in an initiative for a better tomorrow in the often wrongly (yet continually) overlooked eastern Croatia, and Vukovar is where it is all happening.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 17th of November, 2019, while Vukovar remembers the most tragic days of its not so distant past, all of Croatia pays its respects to the country's hero city in the east. More than twenty years after the peaceful reintegration of Vukovar, raw and painful war wounds are still being treated in the city, not only when it comes to interpersonal relations, but also in terms of Vukovar's local economy, which is far from what it was during the pre-war years.

But, as the quote says "flowers will grow from the blood and the pain," there is a new generation of people in Vukovar who are not as burdened by what the city went through during the war. These people have a common characteristic in that they work with information and communication technologies, they have established companies in this decade and are already working globally - some create software for the American medical industry, others deal with campaigns for British clients who are developing artificial intelligence tools.

Now, they have decided to network, so that the whole east of the country can feel the same level of progress. Namely, the company Kod consulting from Vukovar and GoAds and Informatika Fortuno from Vinkovci initiated an idea back in the spring with the support of the Development Agency of Vukovar-Srijem County founded the VVIT Association (Vukovar-Vinkovci IT), aiming to develop the ICT sector there.

“We want to network local ICT companies with the aim of collaborating and sharing experiences through meetups and conferences, designing and conducting trainings and workshops to educate future professionals,” the president and vice president of the association explain.

“Due to the importance of the ICT sector, I believe that it deserves an equal place at the table with other branches - agriculture, timber industry, tourism. We're involved in the development of the county's development strategy, our goal is to create the preconditions for employment and the retention of experts in the field, and consequently the growth of the economy as a whole,'' said the president Vice Božić and vice president Saša Salamon, recalling that the ICT sector, according to HUP, is second in terms of exports and the number of employees in Croatia.

"Respectable companies recognised globally operate in our county as well, and we want to show this through our own examples," says Salamon.

He founded and owns Kod consulting back in 2012, which was declared by Deloitte as one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa back in 2017.

A team of about 30 young people in Vukovar are testing and developing software, including Varian Medical Systems, a leading manufacturer of cancer treatment devices and software, and Glooko, which makes diabetes solutions.

GoAds was the county's first digital marketing agency since 2015.

"We specialise in Google Ads/PPC advertising, web analytics and conversion optimisation, and we're one of the leading GoGoogle Partner agencies in the Adriatic region," says founder and CEO Vice Božić.

They are growing by 50-70 percent each year, and soon they are planning to move to a new space in the Business Incubator. They are looking to employ more people as currently, there are three of them in the agency, and finding new people is a special challenge in itself when operating in a smaller environment such as Vinkovci.

''So far, we've worked with over 200 clients from different sectors in Croatia - e-commerce, tourism, IT, health, and we've worked with those from Australia, the US and the UK, one of the last being Datasine from London, to develop tools that combine AI and psychology to predict consumer behaviour,'' reveals Vice Božić.

The first concrete step of the association's work was the recent meeting of county IT professionals in Vukovar.

“The VVIT Meetup brought together more than 50 IT professionals, demonstrating more than a strong interest in networking and sharing experiences. In 2020, we plan to organise an ICT conference, hold thematic meetings, thoroughly analyse all of the IT companies... ”, continues the president of the association.

Asked how the authorities, at the local level and at that of the state, can facilitate business, and in light of the Croatian Government's announcement that it will also apply special laws in the Vukovar area that will approve specific incentives for investment, Salamon states that the association welcomes such a decision.

''However, we'd definitely like to see a faster realisation of what we've been promised. The ICT sector is changing very quickly and if we want to be competitive, the implementation of such laws needs to be much faster. We still have too much to pay out and many unnecessary issues, which ultimately reduce our competitiveness,'' concludes Salamon.

According to CES and Fina statistics, Vukovar-Srijem's economy is ''rising''. At the end of October, 5,750 unemployed people were registered in the county, which is 25 percent less than last year, the unemployment rate in 2018 was reduced to 17.6 and employment increased to 41.7 percent, but that is still poor. The number of entrepreneurs increased to 2,104, with more workers employed (19,699).

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more.

Croatian companies face many obstacles when doing business, and the state tends to be the one throwing barriers up left right and centre, often forcing companies to relocate to other EU countries in which the situation for entrepreneurs and doing business is much more favourable.

While running a business in Croatia is far from easy, there are exceptions to the general rule (or at least the general rule which continues to be the most commonly held belief among Croats), that nobody can succeed here unless they're well connected or members of a certain political party. Infobip, a truly impressive Croatian software company which draws its roots not from Zagreb but from Vodnjan in Istria, is just one fine example of what can be done in Croatia, and done well, with patience, dogged determination and a clear view.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of November, 2019, in the very centre of Dalmatia, the remarkable Croatian company Infoip has initially employed eighteen experts.

The ever-impressive Infobip, otherwise the largest Croatian software company, has now opened an office in Split, the new Split premises mark the company's fourth office to open in the Republic of Croatia, making it the 66th in the world. Infobip's offices are located across Croatia, and in addition to the newly opened Split office, their offices can be found in Vodnjan, Zagreb and Rijeka. The company has, as stated, initially employed eighteen IT professionals in Split and the new office has become part of Infobip's development hubs. The company otherwise employs more than 2,000 workers in total.

Izabel Jelenić, co-founder and CTO of Infobip, says they want to give talented people in Split the opportunity to work on global innovation.

''After Vodnjan, Rijeka, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Pune (India) and St. Petersburg (Russia), the office in Split has joined the network of hubs in which we develop communication solutions,'' concluded Jelenić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and Made in Croatia pages for much more.

November 18, 2019 - A formal presentation of Luka Modric's autobiography, titled My Game, drew a crowd at the Emerald Room of the Esplanade Hotel on Sunday night. In fact, the majority of those present make up the strongest forces of Croatian football in the last quarter of a century. 

Novi List reports that Real Madrid's Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueno and Brazilian footballer Marcelo even came from Madrid. Of course, Modric's family took center stage, without whose support his career might not have had such success.

Modric's autobiography was presented by the Croatian hero himself and Robert Matteoni, an outspoken sports journalist who recorded everything in the book. With them was Tarik Filipovic, who played another leadership role. Slaven Bilic arrived from England for this occasion, who led Modric for eight years in Croatia, under the auspices of the U-21 and A national teams.

“Like all other children, I had my dreams, desires and hopes, but all that I have accomplished is more, much more than anything I dreamed of. When I look back, I can only be proud and happy,” said Modric, who was greeted with a great round of applause by the entire Emerald Hall.

On Saturday night at Rujevica, Croatia's secured their spot at the Euros. Since Modric will lead the national team at the tournament next year, it could easily happen that in the next twelve months, another expanded edition of his autobiography will be published. Namely, as he pointed out, the result from the World Cup in Russia was crucial for his cooperation with Matteoni.

“The idea of writing a book has been on my mind for a long time, and it has always been a great wish for me. However, I was missing more success in the national team jersey. That came true in Russia, and then we started writing. Robert and I have had an excellent relationship for many years and he pushed me towards it. When I decided that the time was right for an autobiography, I called him, and that's how things went,” explained Modric.

The intense collaboration lasted for over a year and the end result is My Game, which will be translated into twelve languages.

“For me, it was a great pleasure and privilege. In my humble opinion, Luka’s autobiography is one of the most important things to happen after the World Cup in Russia. He simply had to explain his life to people. We all know his football journey, and now we have a peek behind the scenes and are told the story of his family, which is immensely beautiful. I couldn't wait to write it and I hope we were successful,” Matteoni pointed out.

Judging by the reactions of those who have already read the autobiography, the work has been done at the highest level. It should be noted that Modric was also a guest of Interliber, a book fair in Zagreb before the Esplanade ceremony, where he aroused the interest of many. A multitude of young children came to greet their idol and obtain a signed copy of the book. According to Bilic, all of them will hardly find a better role model than Modric.

“It’s a great honor to be a part of the whole story about Luka. A man is the wisest when he grows old, but if he waited a few more years, volumes of books should be written about him. So much has happened in Luka’s life in very little time and he had to share it with the whole world. It is the duty of all the greats, and Luka certainly is one of them,” concluded Bilic.

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

ZAGREB, November 17, 2019 - The Work and Solidarity Party will support President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in the presidential election, party president Milan Bandić said on Sunday.

The president has strengthened Croatia's international position, promoted unity and shown social awareness as well as openness towards citizens, he said.

"One should appreciate her ability and diplomatic skills to strengthen Croatia's position in the EU, while at the same time keeping exceptional relations both with Trump and Putin as well as being an eminent guest at the most important global forums and initiatives," Bandić said.

Grabar-Kitarović has connected Croatia with central Europe countries and the Three Seas Initiative is a step forward in the foreign policy, which was imprisoned in the "region" for years, he said, adding that the president had correct relations with the neighbouring countries and that she pushed for the establishment of new bridges of cooperation.

The president encourages understanding others and those who are different and has been the spokesperson of the common man and the weak, Bandić said.

Croatia needs to have unity and optimism restored, which is what Grabar-Kitarović has been doing over the past five years, he added.

Bandić said he was not running for president because of what he still had to do as the mayor of Zagreb.

More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 17, 2019 - A survey commissioned by Mastercard shows that Croatian citizens spend nearly five hours on their mobile phone on average, that 67% would use it to pay bills and that 82% are satisfied with the current digitisation level.

The Masterindex survey on the use of financial services in Croatia and the attitude to payment cards was carried out by the Improve agency in October on 1,000 respondents aged 18-55.

The findings show that nearly everyone uses a mobile phone for 4.7 hours daily on average. Eighty-four percent of respondents use smartphones and online chats, 82% use e-mail, 81% shop online, 79% browse the Internet, 74% use social media and 64% use mobile banking.

As for the daily use of digital services, 97% of respondents browse the Internet, 92% use social media, 85% have mobile phones with Internet access and online chats, 85% use them for e-mail and 73% for the weather forecast.

Compared with last year, social media are used a little less, while navigation, payment apps and video on demand a little more.

Eighty-two percent of respondents are satisfied with the level of digitisation in Croatia, up 4% from November 2018. However, 73% would like to see more innovation and digital services in healthcare, 53% in public administration, 49% in education, 21% in the judiciary, 20% in public transport, 16% in retail trade, 14% in financial services and 11% in telecommunications.

The youngest are the most critical of the level of digitisation and wish to see more progress in education, healthcare and public transport. The elderly would like to see more progress in public administration, healthcare, telecommunications and cars.

Mobile phone use is highest in the 18-29 age group, 5.5 hours a day on average.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents would be interested in using their mobile phone for online payments, up 6% on May 2019 but down 6% on November 2018. Mostly interested in this kind of payment are those with a monthly income of over HRK 12,000 (79%), respondents in the Slavonia (77%) and Lika (75%) regions, those aged 18-29 (72%) and those without any income (72%).

Fifty-nine percent of respondents are interested in contactless payment and 62% in payment by mobile app.

As an alternative to payment cards, 71% of respondents would choose their mobile phone for payment rather than another device or method, including 79% of those in the 18-29 age group and 86% of those with the highest monthly incomes.

Men use payment cards more than women, those with university degrees, older than 40 and with a monthly income over 5,500 kuna.

Eighty-nine percent of payment card users use them from time to time for online shopping, up 4% on May 2019 and 2% on November 2018.

Thirty-two percent of online shoppers use debit cards, 25% use PayPal, 23% use credit cards, 8% pay cash upon delivery, 7% use online banking and 4% pay by credit card in instalments.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.