The dawn of a digital Croatia should undoubtedly include a digital Zagreb, too.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of February, 2020, presenting the new digital service, Miro Laco, the head of Mayor Milan Bandic's office, emphasised that by digitising the city's business processes, the City of Zagreb is clearly showing its willingness to implement innovative solutions in doing business.

The City of Zagreb has introduced a new digital service called e-Purchase Order, and thus, an increasingly digital Zagreb has fully implemented the digitised process of creating, signing and sending e-purchase orders in simple procurement procedures.

Signing a purchase order electronically and sending it electronically to the successful tenderer simplifies the entire administrative process, increases overall efficiency and reduces the cost and processing time. A total of 6,600 purchase orders were made in 2019. Multiple copies and physical copies were required for each of the 6,600 purchase orders, for which they needed to be delivered to five addresses. But with a more digital Zagreb, that is a thing of the past, and things getting faster, more efficient and cheaper.

The organisational improvement of business operations in the City of Zagreb is based on the management of business processes, initiated, encouraged and supported by the Mayor. Specifically, back in 2012, the Mayor's Office launched several projects to more quickly adapt to new business conditions and to adopt proper European Union administrative standards.

According to Mayor Milan Bandic, numerous online services for Zagreb are already available to both individuals and businesses, such as e-Offices, e-Education, e-Matica, e-Applications for funding programmes and projects of funded associations from the City budget, e-Baby, e-financial business, e-Purchase orders and much more.

A more digital Zagreb shows not only a step in the right direction (and indeed into the 21st century, for which it is more than high time, especially as Croatia holds the rotating EU presidency) but it also highlights its willingness to implement innovative solutions in business. In doing so, Zagreb is sending out the message that its administration is and wants to be an efficient citizen service and a real support to entrepreneurs.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and business pages for more.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - The government on Monday condemned the burning of an effigy of a same-sex couple with a child during carnival in the southern town of Imotski, saying that "judging" minorities in Croatian society is not in the carnival spirit or satire nor is it traditional, entertaining or in the spirit of Croatian and European values.

"The tradition of burning the carnival effigy usually consisted of a sort of humorous and mocking criticism of various events in Croatian society. That sort of carnival spirit can remain within the boundaries of satire when it 'judges' someone in power like the president, the prime minister, a mayor or some other politician, but by no means those who represent various minorities in Croatian society. That is not traditional, nor entertaining nor in the spirit of Croatian and European values. As such, we condemn that act," the government said.

Our approach is that we oppose any form of hate speech and aggression - political, ideological, verbal and physical - just like any other act that offends the feelings of the Croatian people and contributes to divisions in society, the government said in a response to Hina's query sent by spokesman Marko Milić.

A majority of parliamentary parties condemned the Imotski incident.

Social Welfare Minister Vesna Bedeković on Monday strongly condemned the burning of an effigy representing a same-sex couple with a child during the carnival in the southern town of Imotski, saying she acknowledged carnival traditions across Croatia but that this event was neither funny nor entertaining.

"I strongly condemn every form of hate speech. Building Croatia as an inclusive and tolerant society has no alternative. Therefore, I condemn this act which is not in the spirit of Croatian and European values," the minister said in a press release in connection with Sunday's incident.

More news about LGBT rights can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatia Airlines on Monday introduced new international flights from Zagreb to Sofia and Podgorica, and Management Board chair Jasmin Bajić said that the coronavirus was not having a significant effect on the company's business results.

Asked whether Croatia Airlines felt the effect of the coronavirus epidemic, Bajić said: "Possibly less in Croatia Airlines, but this major problem is being felt considerably more in other companies in Europe."

"We are feeling the effect on the bookings for March since that month is weaker than in previous years. However, so far there has been a one percent increase compared with the previous year so we still have not been adversely affected," Bajić said.

Scheduled international flights from Zagreb to Sofia will start on 1 May and will be operated three times a week until the end of October. International flights from Zagreb to Podgorica will start on 3 May, and will also be operated three times a week.

"This way we are expanding the network of our destinations to 40, in the 26 countries where we are present as an airline," Bajić said.

He added that besides having a beneficial effect on demand, these routes would support the ones to the west by providing passengers with transfer options.

"This is a significant event for both countries. It is important not only for connecting the two cities, but also for connecting our people," Montenegro's ambassador to Croatia Boro Vučinić said.

Bulgarian ambassador to Croatia Genka Vasileva Georgieva said that the flight service to Sofia was important for improving connections with the European market and the European Union and that it would help the two nations to get to know each other better.

Croatia Airlines will open this year's season with one more aircraft in its fleet. An Airbus 319 with a seating capacity of 150 will join the company's fleet at the end of March, and at the end of April an additional aircraft, Dash 8-Q400 with a seating capacity of 76, will be introduced as support in cases of unforeseen air traffic disruptions.

Croatia Airlines spokesman Davor Janušić said that there was no new information regarding strategic partners and that they would know more in June, when the government makes the decision.

More news about Croatia Airlines can be found in the Business section.

February 24, 2020 - The Croatian Roads plan for this year includes projects worth 487 million kuna in the area of Split-Dalmatia County, which should address the paralyzing traffic, which is particularly pronounced in the summer months. 

Dalmatinski Portal reports that these are the projects that were agreed at the Government session in Split almost two years ago. The Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, said that the government was well aware that Split and Split-Dalmatia County were behind the rest of Croatia in terms of traffic.

“All projects are planned, which means that they will be realized. We are working on preparing quality documentation so that we can apply for EU funds and secure financing.  We will not be able to apply all projects, but what cannot be covered will be financed from the state budget,” said Butkovic.

The Solin area was defined as the biggest problem, which has seen a 20 percent increase in traffic over the past five years, and the busy intersection in Stobrec with over 50,000 vehicles passing through it daily. The solution is the fast road to Omis, and the project is being prepared for EU funds.

“With the implementation of these projects, southern Croatia will be in line with northern Croatia and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County,” said prefect Blaženko Boban.

The plans include reorganizing the Split network, which will include the continuation of the Split bypass to Omiš, the overpass at Širina, leveling the intersection in Stobrec, the first phase of the Vučević-Kozjak tunnel junction, which will also allow the construction of the tunnel itself, and further connect to the Adriatic highway towards the Ferry port. It also includes a bridge over the Bay of Kastela. As for the huge traffic jams through the Ferry Port, an emergency solution with a junction to Poljička Road is planned, and the exit from the Ferry Port will go over two lanes. The plan also includes the construction of Solinska Street and Zagorski put as a new entrance to Split, and a second ramp will be built from the National Assembly to Poljička. Public procurement for works on the Mravina ramp will start in September.

Mayor of Split, Andro Krstulovic Opara, says that he is pleased that the segments of the Master Plan for the Development of the City Port and Kopilica are being adopted through the planned projects.

“The Split Ferry Port is the most important island facility. This is where most of the demographic problem is addressed. The ferry port and Kopilica mean not only the connection of the islands, but also all of the south,” he said.

In the County, Croatian Roads also plans to work on the intersection in Makarska, reconstructing the Makarska-Vrgorac road, the Imotski-Zagvozd-border road with BiH, constructing the road on Hvar Poljica-Sucuraj, and the connection via Drvenik to the Ravča junction, Dicmo bypass. Croatian motorways will upgrade the Dugopolje and Rašćane juctions, and HŽ plans to continue with the design and construction of stations on the route planned to connect the Ferry and Airport by the railway.

Following the presentation on what is currently being done on each project, Butkovic signed contracts for a grant of around 20 million kuna for port infrastructure projects for the Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties.

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

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Monday in Greece that the EU had to show its unequivocal commitment to the European future of Southeast Europe, expressing his belief that the Zagreb summit in May will serve as a "a pivotal point for positive changes."

"The European Union has to send a clear signal that we remain committed to the European future of Southeast Europe," Grlić Radman said on the margins of a high-level day-long conference on the European prospects of the Western Balkans "From Thessaloniki to Zagreb," which was held in that Greek coastal city.

Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, which is currently holding the presidency of the EU, will host the EU-Western Balkans summit in early May. The first gathering of a similar format, called the EU-Western Balkans Summit, was held 21 June 2003 in Thessaloniki.

Grlić Radman, recalled that Croatia had applied for membership to the Union in 2003 during the Greece presidency of the Council of the EU and thanked Greece for its "lasting and strong support to European enlargement."

The Croatian minister believes that the summit in Zagreb in May will "serve as a pivotal point for positive change and decision-making in the enlargement policy," and hopes that accession negotiations will be opened for North Macedonia and Albania which were blocked in October.

He described the new methodology proposed by the European Commission announced early February as a "good and positive step," and added that Croatia will continue to advocate a "credible and efficient policy of enlargement based on merits and fulfilment of all criteria."

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who on Monday attended the EBRD's Western Balkans Investment Summit 2020 in London, called on potential investors to invest in that part of Europe.

Croatia will do all it can to help its southeast neighbours and the investment community needs to utilise this opportunity to the benefit of those countries and for the benefit of the entire European Union, said Plenković at the event organised by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The summit meeting was opened by EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti and Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkoviž, in his current position as holder of the European Union presidency.

This is the fourth EBRD summit of its kind; the inaugural Western Balkans Summit took place at the EBRD in February 2014 and, for the first time, brought together all the region’s six prime minister: Duško Marković of Montenegro, Edi Rama of Albania, Oliver Spasovski of North Macedonia, Zoran Tegeltija of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albin Kurti of Kosovo and Ana Brnabić of Serbia.

We are a country that is the most familiar with that region and which is offering support to those countries so that their path to the European Union can be accelerated. That is one of the key priorities, Plenković said.

He added that as the presiding country of the EU, Croatia had already achieved success in putting the topic of EU enlargement high on the agenda. That has motivated some other member states to organise high-level meetings ahead of the Zagreb summit in May on the topic of enlargement to the Western Balkans, he added.

As the leading investor in the region we are looking forward to this fourth edition of EBRD's Western Balkan investment summit which is a priority for the EBRD. Our aim is to unlock the potential of that region supporting a greater economic growth and its regional and European integration, Charkrbarti said. He announced that six new projects would be signed for the Western Balkans.

The EBRD has invested to date 13 billion in the Western Balkan countries.

More news about Croatia and Western Balkans can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team will apply strict epidemiological measures to passengers coming from northern Italian regions where a rising number of patients have been diagnosed with this infectious disease in recent days.

The same controls will be in place for passengers arriving from Italy and China, the head of the team, Maja Grba Bujević, told reporters in Zagreb on Monday morning.

The health ministry's crisis management team, which was set up to handle developments surrounding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the world, is due to hold a news conference at 1pm Monday.

Grba Bujević said that the authorities had decided to take all the necessary measures to be prepared for the detection of possible first patients infected with this virus, after the north of Italy started fighting with Europe's biggest outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

In the meantime, 42 students and four teachers from a secondary school in the northern Adriatic city of Pula, who returned from a trip to Venice on Sunday night, will be quarantined in their homes for the next 14 days.

The Croatian education ministry instructed primary and secondary schools to cancel any organised educational trips to Italy in the next 30 days.

Italy sealed off the worst-affected towns and banned public gatherings in much of the north, including halting the carnival in Venice, where there were two cases.

European Union health commissioner Stella Kyriakides was quoted by Reuters as saying that possible travel restrictions in the Schengen border-free area should be proportionate and coordinated among EU states, as the bloc faces a coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

“For the moment WHO has not advised imposing restrictions on either travel or trade,” Kyriakides told reporters on Monday, adding that a World Health Organization mission will travel to Italy on Tuesday to assess the situation.

More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

February 24, 2020 - Learn more about Maslina Resort this Saturday, February 29, 2020, at the Stari Grad Theater Hall.

Maslina Resort is a full service, luxury five-star seaside boutique hotel, overlooking the scenic Maslinica Bay on Hvar island. Slated to open this June, the Maslina Resort team is hosting an Open Day in Stari Grad this weekend, welcoming anyone curious to learn more about the project. 

So, if you want to learn more about what's going on in Maslinica Bay, are interested in joining the Maslina Resort team, or have a product or service you think would be useful for Maslina Resort, join the team for an informal get-together this Saturday, February 29, from 09:00 to 13:00 at the Stari Grad Theater Hall.

Stay in the loop about everything happening at Maslina Resort by following their Facebook page. 

To read more about everything happening on Hvar island, follow TCN’s dedicated page.