Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, June 12 (CP) – The Croatian economy loses about six billion kuna annually due to corruption.

The head of the anti-corruption agency USKOK Dinko Cvitan called on all state institutions and not only the police to report on corruption within their ranks even when they have not valid evidence, but only suspect corruption.

The president of the national council for the monitoring of corruption curbing has stated that the problem on the world scale amounted to up to 1, 500 billion annually, while some six billion kuna was Croatia’s share.

The Justice Minister Ana Lovrin has stated that Croatia had done a lot in the fight against corruption saying that the next step was the drawing up of a strategy aimed at quashing corruption, which should be presented to MPs next week.

The European Commission has described the Croatian repressive framework aimed at fighting corruption as well set up with tried corruption cases growing by 34 percent in 2007 compared to 2006.

Zagreb, June 12 (CP) – Following the recent news of the IKEA furniture and accessories store possibly arriving in Croatia soon the latest indications are that this may only happen after 2010.

IKEA had bought a land plot near the Croatian capital Zagreb back in 1992, but later sold it, as it decided to postpone its arrival on the Croatian market.

An IKEA manager for the region has said that it was still not clear when the Croatia operation will begin, but the 2010 to 2020 plan has Croatia in it.
 

Zagreb, June 11 (CP) – The Dubrovnik Libertas Rixos hotel has been ordered to bring down the noise produced by its air conditioning system within 24 hours of face paying a 100,000 kuna fine.

The ruling of the Dubrovnik court was incredibly fast following complaints lodged by neighbours living in nearby streets, the document signed by 120 people.

A meeting between the neighbours and the hotel’s management was held back in February and it was agreed the problem would be resolved by May 1, a promise not kept.

The inspection had recorded noise levels in the night hours well above the legal norms.

The hotel was bought by the Rixos Hotels company from the Bulgarian Moultigroup in March 2004 and invested some €40 million in it. Confrontations with neighbours have plagued the efforts since the start and there are pending charges filed against the hotel for the renovation making the hotel larger than it originally was.

Zagreb, June 10 (CP) – The captain of the Croatian handball team Petar Metlicic has suffered a meniscus injury and is looking at surgery that may endanger his form at the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

The news of Metlicic having to undergo surgery to repair his meniscus has dampened the good spirits that the team was in and has also sparked worries that the team captain will not be ready for the Olympics.

Metlicic is expected to return to the team in a month’s time.

Zagreb, June 9 (CP) – The Krsko nuclear power plant that had experienced a malfunction on Wednesday has been repaired and is back in the electrical power grid.

The power plant had been shut down after a vent had malfunctioned and caused panic across the EU and the neighbouring country, but the alarm had been a false one and the problem had not caused damaged to the environment or people.

The Krsko nuclear power plant is jointly owned by Slovenia and Croatia and is situated some 50 kilometres from Zagreb.
 

Zagreb, June 9 (CP) – The latest tests on the beaches of the Croatian section of the Adriatic have shown that out of the 879 tested beaches only seven are moderately polluted and not a single one suffering from serious pollution.

The Environment Protection Ministry conducted the testing between May 12 and 30 and the beaches deemed as moderately polluted were mostly in the Split and Dalmatia county and two others in the northern-most sections of the coast.

The tests are conducted every two weeks across the coast by authorised laboratories and run between May 1 and the end of September each year.

Zagreb, June 9 (CP) – A diving instructor attempting to work in her profession in Croatia is not allowed to legally pursue her career, as according to a 1996 legal regulation, women are not allowed to work under water in Croatia.

The Czech diving instructor was surprised when despite being given a valid work permit by the local police in the Rijeka area, where she is a member of staff in a diving club she learned that in Croatia such work should not be done by women, under the law.

Also, women in Croatia are barred from working in professions that call for carrying more than 15 kilos of weight or working under the earth’s surface, as well as in heightened atmospheric pressure.

Although the women had been working without problem in Egypt and the Czech Republic, in Croatia this represents a breach of the law.

This strange provision of the law means that the daily tasks of nurses who manage much more weight than 15 kilos each day or those working in supermarkets are actually violating the law by performing regular tasks called for by their jobs.
 

Zagreb, June 8 (CP) – The Dubrovnik Bellevue Hotel, which was named one of the most attractive new hotels in Europe by the Sunday Times has been reopened after closing due to red tape issues.

The hotel opened after seven months of legal wrangles over category licenses.

Now that the problems have been solved, the five-star Bellevue Hotel is expected to be 70 percent booked during the season with the British and the Americans being the main guests.

Zagreb, June 8 (CP) – A Swedish national was robbed of some money and a EURO2008 soccer championships ticket on Saturday in Zagreb.

The 22-year-old had arrived in Zagreb on Friday and met two men that he spent the day with. Later, another Swede arrived and joined the group and the two were offered to sleep in the flat of one of their new friends.

Once they were ready to leave the flat after staying the night there, one of the two Swedes realised he was lacking some money and what is more important a EURO2008 ticket.

After realizing what had happened the robbed man and his friend returned to the flat, but were not let in.

Zagreb, June 8 (CP) – A retired medical doctor, 71, climbing with a group of walking enthusiasts dropped dead after reaching the top of Mount Biokovo near Split and complaining of not feeling well on Sunday morning.

Split rescue services managed to bring his body down from the mountain using a helicopter and by the late morning it was already at the coroner’s office in Split.

Although it is believed the man died from heart failure, more will be known once a post mortem is carried out.