Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

agreb, February 27 (CP) — The EP Foreign Policy Committee voted in favour of the progress report on Croatia’s EU accession with 52 votes of support and a single abstention, that of its Slovene member Borut Pahor.
Pahor believes that in the compromise amendment the Croatian view that ZERP was a bilateral issue and not between Croatia and the EU.

The PM Ivo Sanader has said Slovenia had responded positively to the proposal made by Croatia that the Protected Ecology and Fisheries Zone in the Adriatic (ZERP) be debated by Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and the European Commission in a meeting.

The possible date for the meeting has been proposed as March 13 and 14.

Sanader commented on the proposal of Croatia refraining from the fisheries portion of the Zone and only implementing the ecological, by saying that anything leading to a solution so Croatia can retain all that it has the right to under the Convention on the Law of the Sea would be acceptable.

Zagreb, Croatia 27 (CP) – The shareholders’ Prospectus Global Equity fund has fallen pray to recent serious losses and it was decided for it to be scrapped and merged with the second-strongest shareholders’ fund – Prospectus JIE and the investors’ money being transferred to the said fund which has existed for a year and its revenue in 2007 was 51.71 percent.

The exact date of the closing down of Prospectus Global Equity investment fund, which was founded in July of 2006, has as yet not been set, as the date needs to be decided on by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA).

After a turbulent period for funds, this is the first instance of an investment fund, which managed more than eight million kuna in 2007 to go bust.

The start of its fall was the fact that after poor results it had posted in January of 2008, investors were withdrawing funds and pushing it further into the gutter.

A total of 79 investment funds operate in Croatia, about two dozens of them starting up in 2007 amid a shaky market, so more of the same can be expected soon.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) – The Arts Gallery in Dubrovnik is to host a Pablo Picasso exhibition from the Suite Vollard collection between July 8 and September 28, 2008 confirmed the Gallery director.

Antun Maracic said a total of 115 Picasso graphics will be on display, the opening expected just two days before the opening of the 50th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, a top cultural event.

The exhibition is to open in collaboration with the Muelheim an der Ruhr’s museum and a Swiss collectioner.

The exhibition will be held under the auspices of the Dubrovnik local authorities.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) – The PBZ Zagreb Indoors tournament  on Tuesday saw five Croats advance to the second round.

Five of the six Croats competing in the first round of the Zagreb Indoors tournament have managed to beat their adversaries. This was true of Roko Karanusic who beat Slovene Blaz Kavcic 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, Lovro Zovko who beat Marc Gicquel 6-3, 7-5, Ivan Ljubicic who defeated Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6, Mario Ancic who was victorious against Nicolas Mahut and finally Marin Cilic who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The upset of the day was the second seed Ivo Karlovic being beaten by Ukrainian Sergei Stakhovski 6-4, 6-7, 2-6.

On Wednesday in the second round Karanusic will be playing Janko Tispsarevic of Serbia, Ancic Denis Gremelmayr of Germany, Ljubicic will be playing Zovko and Cilic will be facing Simone Bolelli of Italy.

This will be the first time in an ATP tournament that as many as five Croatian players will be playing in the second round.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) – Due to a death toll of  600 on Croatian roads in 2007, a new proposal has been put forth in a bid to put a stop to such negative figures, changes to the legislation should be introduced.

One of the provisions is that any motorist with more than 1.5 blood alcohol measured will be fined up to 50,000 kuna.

The proposed changes also envisage the return of 0.5 blood alcohol being tolerated, but professional drivers and young drivers would be exempt from this.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) – A Croatian company engaged in developing, designing, producing and selling seats for the automobile and aviation industry is planning to open a plant for producing car seats.
The Paulana company is planning to open the new plant at the end of 2009 and employ some 500 workers.
The company has already closed a deal with Bayer International Fribourg company for developing car seat foam production.
Some 1,000 000 seats are expected to be made annually.
Paulana is to ship seats for Volkswagen, Daimler, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and many others.
The company was founded in 2005 in Zagreb and all of its production is exported to the Western markets.
 

Zareb, February 26 (CP) — Zagreb is to play host tonight to one of the world’s greatest chanson singers Juliette Greco is playing Zagreb tonight.

The French diva will be appearing at 8:45 tonight at Zagreb’s Vatroslav Lisinski concert hall.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) — The European Parliament’s Foreign Policy committee will debate Croatia’s progress report following it’s second reading today.

Some 106 ammendments have been entered to the draft report which was prepared by parliamentary rapporteur for Croatia Hannes Swoboda.

The committee will vote on the report tomorrow after which it will be forwarded, as a proposed resolution, to the plenary session of European Parliament, which will most likely vote on it in April.

Zagreb, February 26 (CP) — Some 2 weeks before the trial of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac at the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, prosecutors have submitted a revised indictment against the three, which includes amendments.

Prosecutors claim that the amendments do not contain any new facts or new legal grounds for the indictments, something the defence disagrees with.

The trial is set to start on March 11th. The 3 former generals are charged with crimes committed during and after operation Storm in 1995 when the Croatian army took back territory occupied by rebel Serbs.