February 28, 2023 - Hajduk Juniors brilliantly knock out Manchester City and advance to the UEFA Youth League quarterfinals!

The Hajduk juniors side met the powerful Manchester City in the UEFA Youth League round of 16 at Poljud. Recall, Hajduk reached the round of 16 after beating Shakhtar.

Coach Marijan Budimir's team was without its standard stopper Luka Vušković and captain Marko Capan, but welcomed the return of Roko Brajković from the first team.

More than 3,000 tickets were sold for this match until yesterday evening, and many of the Hajduk season ticket holders made their way to Poljud today. Torcida was also in full force. 

Lineups

Hajduk: Buljan - Đolonga, Jurić-Petrašilo, Arković, Hrgović - Kavelj, Reić - Brajković, Skoko, Vrcić - Antunović

Manchester City: Murray-Jones - Samuel, Burns, Katongo, Galvez - Adam, Charles, Bobb - Mebude, Dickson, Borges

To no one's surprise, the favorites were City in this match, but Hajduk came out to prove they are a force to be reckoned with. 

A great opportunity for Hajduk came already in the 6th minute. Reić found Vrcić through the middle in front of City goalkeeper Murray-Jones, but the shot was saved. 

The first half was even and Hajduk showed that it was a good match for City. In the 15th minute, Mebude broke through the right side and shot, but luckily the ball went over Hajduk's goal. City threatened again a few minutes later, but it was Hajduk to take the lead first.

After Murray-Jones intercepted a long pass about 20 meters from his own goal, Brajković ran onto the rebound and sent it into an empty net from the first touch. Hajduk was up 1-0 in the 24th minute! 

And just when Poljud got done celebrating the first goal - their second found the back of the net! Antunovic found space in the defense to score near post for 2-0! 

Hajduk's defense did well to keep any danger away from their goal, but the 19-year-old wonderkid Oscar Bobb was left alone in the penalty area to score for 2-1 at the half. 

City tried hard to equalize in the second half, with several opportunities saved by Hajduk's solid defense. Hajduk had a good chance in the 49th minute. Hrgović passed on the left side and found Antunović in the penalty area, but he shot wide of the goal. 

Hajduk made their first substitutions in the 59th minute - Reić and Skoko went out for Čalušić and Nazor. City made their first subs in the 63rd minute - Oboavwoduo came on for Adam.

Hajduk didn't really have a chance at goal in the second half apart from Antunović's in the 49th minute. City had some good chances from dangerous free kicks, but nothing found the back of the net. 

And then a spurt of chaos in the 84th minute - Finley Burns was sent off with a red card. City was playing with a man down for the remainder of the match. 

A dangerous free kick for City in the 86th minute finished without success. Four minutes of stoppage time were added, and Hajduk held their own for the 2-1 victory! 

Hajduk will play in the quarter-finals against the winner of Borussia Dortmund and PSG. If Hajduk advances, they will play away in the quarter-final. 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 1, 2023 – Though the weather doesn’t look that promising these days, the hope is that spring is just around the corner in Croatia. It is March, after all; the days are a little longer and somewhat brighter (not just because of the snow), and we’re growing impatient with the desire to go back out and explore the streets of the capital some more. And what better way to do just that than the Festival of Lights Zagreb.

Zagreb Tourist Board (Festival of Lights Zagreb website)

And the arrival of spring and the notion of light have always been associated with each other. Full of joy, we return to the streets of our city and absorb the new energy illuminated by the brilliant art, proving that spring really is the renaissance within us and around us. For the festival's fifth year in the Croatian capital, a combination of art, design, spectacle, entertainment, and architecture will once again enliven the popular locations of the Upper and Lower Town Zagreb.

Festival of Lights Zagreb, according to the organisers, is not only a place of magical light installations, impressive projection mapping, playful animations and colourful objects, but also a place of good emotions, positive energy, and a perfect spot to welcome the spring that we’re all eagerly anticipating. During the five days of the festival, we will hand over the streets, parks, squares, promenades and buildings to local and foreign artists who will transform the city into their own canvas and a playful backdrop for numerous forms of innovative art.

Zagreb Tourist Board (Festival of Lights Zagreb website)

With the beginning of the Festival of Lights Zagreb, everyone is invited to come to the city and welcome the arrival of longer and warmer days in this spectacular way. This year's program combines the best of visual and performing arts and modern technology. “Indulge yourself in the emotions that the light awakens in us as we welcome a new beginning and new hope - spring!” Just as much as the official website inspires a feeling of excitement, we’re ready to witness the magic once more.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Travel section.

February the 28th, 2023 - The Croatian healthcare system saved my life. This isn't an understatement. 

Back in 2006 when I went into anaphylactic shock in Zagreb due to allergies I was unaware I had, hitna pomoć (the emergency services) arriving when they did and not a minute later meant that I could keep breathing and can now sit and write about it. I depend on HZZO (the Croatian Health Insurance Fund) for access to my medication, I’ve had four surgeries, and countless tests and consultations have taken place in between. I joke that having to juggle several chronic conditions has turned me into a professional patient. 

Over the past 18 months, besides my GP and dentist, I needed to see a gynaecologist, a urologist, a gastroenterologist, a pulmonologist, an otorhinolaryngologist, a psychiatrist, a neurologist and an anaesthesiologist.  It was a particularly tough time in which my body decided to just go into self-destruct mode. I got through it, but came out with my eyes more open than ever before having witnessed how devastating relying on a system that is so wrongly neglected can be.

General practitioners - a journey that began 19 years ago

I took my first GP for granted. I remember how my allergies were the first thing listed on my “karton” (medical file) in capital letters and highlighted so that nobody could get it wrong. She was considerate and noticed symptoms I didn’t even complain about. I was safe with her. Later she retired and I moved away from Zagreb.

My second GP was a different story. She’d prescribe me medication during consultations and then pause to ask me, “What are you allergic to again?” This made me worry enough to check the ingredients on all prescribed medication before taking anything. Once she prescribed a pill which those suffering from asthma were (strongly) advised not to take. The second time she gave me a tablet which she reassured me didn't contain any ingredients I was allergic to. I went home, I took it, then minutes later my eyes started burning and my airways tightened up. It wasn't bad enough to go to make me go to the emergency room, but I did make a firm decision to change my GP after that. My criterion wasn’t to find a doctor who cares, only one who wouldn't accidentally kill me.

Good GPs are hard to come by. If you're lucky enough to land one, you should expect that you'll end up needing to wait a while for consultations and they will be hard to get a hold of via phone. If you have time, it’s okay. Otherwise, people save themselves the frustration by opting for ''okay enough'' doctors or simply paying out of pocket.

The deeper you dive, the murkier the water gets...

It may all look great if you’re generally healthy and only need a doctor for the occasional infection or unfortunate accident. I’ve read accounts from foreigners needing to go to the emergency services at the hospital and coming out praising the treatment they receive. Yeah, but… Go there three or four times, hand the technicians at the porta a local name, then sit and wait, and boy will you wait.

I once sat at the ER for hours whilst an older woman kept screaming in complete anguish on the other side of the door. “Ajmeeeee! Ajmeeee! Ajmeee!” (“Ajme!” means “Oh my!”) I couldn’t see her nor in any way know what the problem was, but her pain reverberated through all of us sitting there in the waiting room. We could hear and occasionally see medical personal shuffling around her but clearly nobody was offering this woman comfort. Instead, business went on as usual. After a day spent at the hospital, doing a run around and some tests, I got up and left before I saw a doctor. The psychological strain of hearing that poor woman scream for hours on end was more painful than the physical pain and distress I was feeling. “I’d rather die at home than be here,” I thought. 

I’ve had a dental technician dig in my mouth without gloves for an x-ray. A filling gone wrong resulted in the loss of a tooth...

Last year I went to see a specialist, the head of his department. I entered while he was on his mobile phone in a private conversation. I sat in front of him for fifteen minutes, without him even acknowledging my presence with so much as a gesture for me to wait, before he decided to start the consultation.

A routine gynaecological exam

Gynaecological exams are uncomfortable at best. You just want it over with. I once arrived for an appointment to find that my regular doctor wasn't there and the nurse proceeded to tell me that she was not returning. There was a substitute doctor in her place (most of my unexpected bad visits happened with subs I didn’t plan to see).

I went into my usual routine of undressing, getting into position, closing my eyes and waiting for it to be over. I noticed that it was strangely painful for a routine check-up (the most painful thus far) so I looked down. I was horrified that this man was “down there” and not wearing a mask. This was in the middle of the pandemic when we were still wearing masks everywhere and not just at the clinic. He didn’t give me any feedback so I waited and then asked him if everything was okay. Affirmative. We spoke about medications and I explained my allergies to him. This part was the cherry on top: He prescribed a medication with an ingredient I am allergic to.

I hear more and more women say they go to private gynaecologists following bad experiences in the system.

The coronavirus crisis

Both my husband and I are asthmatic. When asthmatics were included on the government list of high risk patients to be among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines, I called to place us on the list.

“Where do you live?” The operator asked.

“Janjina.”

“Okay. We’ll notify you when the vaccine becomes available to you.”

Weeks passed and I heard about other chronically unwell patients already receiving their booster shots in other parts of the country. Could it be where we live?

As it turned out, yes. We were listed in the system as residents of our village and would therefore be notified when the vaccines would become available here. Before that happened we contracted COVID-19 and developed a more severe clinical picture which almost landed me in the hospital and took months for both of us to recover from. Had somebody told me to ask to be listed under ''Dubrovnik'' and we would have made it onto the list and simply taken a 1.5 hour drive for our vaccines. I don’t blame the operator. I blame an ineffective system.

Finding a good doctor

Najdoktor.com features doctors with ratings and reviews by patients. It has become my first step in finding new doctors. I won’t accept a rating of less than four stars, and only due to waiting times and personnel, otherwise I want five stars. Anything below that and you’re taking a risk. Unfortunately not all doctors are listed, especially those in rural areas and smaller towns and cities.

The current situation is an unfortunate side effect of Croatia’s brain drain. When I'm lucky enough to get to a very good doctor and they’re still young, panic sets in as I wonder if they’ll decide to go work abroad at some point. If they’re reaching retirement age I panic because I know how difficult they'll be to replace. Our choice, especially in rural areas, is not between good, okay and bad doctors; it is sometimes only between bad doctors who will mostly make okay decisions and no doctor at all. The reality is that okay decisions still save lives (let’s not talk about the bad ones).

Money keeps you alive and where you live matters

I used to be able to depend on the Croatian healthcare system for all my healthcare needs. This has become impossible, so now I’ve switched to a system of prioritising. If it’s high on the priority list, I'll pay. If it’s not so urgent then I'll wait my turn in the system. It’s a juggle in which every element is crucial because I couldn’t possibly pay for everything out of pocket.

I was extremely reluctant to start paying for anything because I was unwilling to let go of the ideal that healthcare is a human right afforded to all citizens. For years I believed that ideal to be a reality in Croatia because I lived it. In most cases I’m paying for speed and not better care. Many of the doctors who work privately come from the public sector so you won’t be seeing a better doctor; just you’ll get to see them sooner.

Your options if you require a brain MRI, for example, are to either wait ten months (or four months if your doctor says it’s urgent) or get it done the next day if you’re willing to pay 240 euros privately. It could be devastating if you don’t have the months or the euros at hand.

I also find that people are making more and more trips to Zagreb. There is a bigger pool of doctors and hospitals, making it much easier to get what you need. The other thing that helps, as with all things in this place, is “veze”, otherwise known as connections. If you know the right person you can get to what you need sooner without paying.

In an ideal world

I’d like doctors to look me in the eyes when they meet and examine me, not stare straight at the screen and start typing as I speak. I’d like more authentic listening and practical solutions and fewer prescriptions. I’d like to leave the hospital feeling like a recognised human being and not one of thousands that nobody noticed. Unrealistic? I don’t think so. But it may be a thing of the past.

I get that doctors have to switch off to stay sane. If they were to invest emotions into every patient they wouldn’t make it or be able to work. It makes sense. However, I feel that a system that is increasingly forcing people to switch off is a clear sign that it is broken for them too.

Where are we headed?

The Croatian healthcare system as it is creates an unhealthy environment for patients, doctors and all personnel.  Healthcare workers are primarily accountable to the system that employs them, leaving us all to have to navigate through its obscure web to get anything done. We need healthcare practitioners to be accountable to us first, the patients whose wellbeing is in their hands.

The problem has been present in the media for years. I’ve been following it in the Dubrovnik region in particular. I always find it funny that reporters mostly interview senior citizens when they pose questions to the public about healthcare. Baka or djed (grandmother or grandfather) will tell you that doctors are not as good today as they used to be and we have a big problem. We nod our heads and perhaps even roll our eyes because they say that about everything. For as long as you're healthy, this is probably a normal reaction. As a “young” person struggling through this system I want to point out that they are not exaggerating and the stories I hear from other chronically ill patients confirm my worries.

I don’t know if it’s going to get better. The way I see it is that if you want the equivalent quality of care compared to what you could get in this country ten to fifteen years ago through state-funded health insurance, then you'll have to pay for it today. Medical tourism will likely fuel this as more foreigners will be willing to pay what for them is a low rate and good doctors will be incentivised to leave the public sector.

Nevertheless, having the good doctors remain in Croatia although in the private sector is better than losing them altogether to emigration. I hope we can save this system and fix the cracks; otherwise Croatia will increasingly become a place where a person’s paycheque dictates their access to healthcare.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

February 28, 2023 - Removing snow from the road, Croatian snowploughs covered 75,000 kilometers this weekend, almost two full circles around the Earth, the circumference of which is 40,075 kilometers, Croatian Highways (HAC) reported on Monday.

As Poslovni writes, over 181 trucks with plows and spreaders cleared the snow on a thousand kilometers of highways in two days, and more than 3,300 tons of melts was sprinkled on highways, rest areas, junctions, toll points, and border crossings, according to the HAC statement.

On snowy sections, the plows worked for up to 30 hours without stopping.

HAC commented on drivers' complaints that they did not see the plows on the road during snowfall, pointing out that if the ploughs were visible to every driver, then traffic on the highway would be impossible - "that would be a collapse and an absurdity."

As soon as the plough passes a section during snowfall, a new snow cover is created, which is cleared immediately in the next cycle, emphasizes HAC, adding that there are enough working machines for all highway maintenance tasks.

Stormy and snowy weather

Only the carriageway with the approaches to rest areas is cleared in heavy snowfall. It is possible to make the highway passable only after it stops snowing.

HAC reminds of the legal obligation for winter equipment, with which most problems and delays would be significantly less, and urges drivers that if they find themselves behind ploughs, they should not overtake them but drive behind them.

They also warned against yesterday's disregard of the traffic ban for all vehicles by some drivers who took the closed section of the highway from Sveti Rok to Posedarje, which was closed from the early morning hours due to the hurricane storm.

"We can compare this to going through a red light at an intersection. In the conditions of a hurricane, the closed section cannot even be cleared because dangerous snowdrifts are created due to the wind", says HAC.

They added that because of such irresponsible drivers who ignored all prohibitions and instructions, their workers and members of the HGSS service endangered their own lives, saving people from the road until the early morning hours.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February 28, 2023 - Residents of Dvor in Bosnia and Herzegovina fear that Croatian nuclear waste could be dumped in Trgovska Gora this year. The town is located near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and while Croatia is preparing to start dumping the disputed waste at the border, legal teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina are still investigating procedural options against Croatia.

As Index / N1 Bosnia and Herzegovina write, since 1999, Croatia has designated the Cerkezovac barracks as a warehouse in its documents. It confirmed that location in 2013 as a solution for the disposal of Croatian nuclear waste from the Krsko nuclear power plant. N1 BiH questions whether BiH's reaction to Croatia's plans regarding nuclear waste is coming a little late.

"The legal team is preparing, one could say, a letter to the Aarhus Convention, so these are the directions of our action," Bojan Vipotnik, Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska, told N1 BiH.

"We are late, but we are lucky that Croatia is also late"

"Today, we are defining our joint movement; we will provide additional funds for the work of the competent institutions. How and in what way - we will analyze and initiate certain procedural possibilities of BiH in the legal protection of the interests of the RS and the Federation of BiH, considering that Croatia is clearly not giving up. And we want to seek legal protection", said the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Staaa Kosarac.

The Expert Team admits that it is quite late. "We are late, but we are lucky that Croatia is also late. If we start now with all the planned activities, I don't think we will be late regarding the professional part. To have our results when the environmental impact study is finished, so that we can compare and adequately prepare for the response to what they offer," said Emir Dizdarevic, chairman of the BiH Expert Team for Trgovska Gora, for N1 BiH.

The health of 250,000 people potentially at risk

Croatia will not change the location of nuclear waste disposal from Krsko because it has completed geological, geophysical, and geohydrological research and is waiting for an environmental permit.

In the meantime, Slovenia received an environmental permit for the Krsko nuclear power plant for the next 20 years. N1 BiH states that all this implies that half of that waste will end up in Dvor, on the border with BiH, and that the health of about 250,000 people living along the Una river basin could be endangered.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February 28, 2023 - The Croatia snow saga continues. A1 highway is open between the junctions Sveti Rok and Posedarje for all groups of vehicles, and due to winter conditions between the junctions Gospic and Maslenica (Rovanjska) traffic is prohibited for trucks with trailers and semi-trailers, while winter equipment is mandatory for other vehicles.

For trucks with trailers and semi-trailers, there is currently no passable road from the interior to Dalmatia, Rijeka or Istria and vice versa, the Croatian Auto Club (HAK) reported at 7 am, writes 24Sata.

Drivers are urged to respect the restrictions on specific state roads, which are closed to all traffic, that is, to certain groups of vehicles, and not to get on the road without proper winter equipment. Winter road maintenance is in progress, so there are frequent delays behind winter service vehicles, which move slowly. Drivers are urged to be patient.

Closed for all traffic (due to wind and snow): DC1 Udbina-Klapavice and Gracac-Knin; DC27 Gracac-Obrovac; DC42 in Poljanak; DC25 Gospic-Karlobag; DC218 Bjelopolje-Donji Lapac; ZC5217 Dobroselo-Mazin; ZC4030 in Petrov Vrh (Kutjevo); ZC5062 Lic-Lukovo; ZC5032 Mrzle Vodice-Gornje Jelenje; LC59122 Ledenik-Susanj and LC59123 Susanj-Konjsko. *DC = state road, ZC = county road, LC = local road.

The following roads are open for passenger vehicles only: the A6 Rijeka-Zagreb highway between the Kikovica and Delnice junctions (due to winter conditions on the DC3, freight vehicles with trailers are rerouted at the Vukova Gorica rest stop in the direction of Rijeka and the Kikovica junction in the direction of Zagreb); Jadranska magistrala (DC8) between Novi Vinodolski and Senj and Karlobag and Sveta Maria Magdalena; DC54 Maslenica-Zaton Obrovacki; The Pag bridge.

Traffic for double-decker buses, vehicles with trailers and motorcycles (I group of vehicles) is prohibited on the A7 Draga (Rijeka Istok)-Smrika highway, the Adriatic highway (DC8) between Bakar and Novi Vinodolski, and Senj and Karlobag, the state road between the junction and town of Krizisce and the local road Kraljevica-Krizisce (LC58107).

In Gorski Kotar, it is raining in places and freezing in contact with the ground. Roads are wet, damp and slippery in most of the country, and due to low temperatures, the creation of ice is possible, especially on bridges, overpasses and viaducts.

Due to the winter conditions, traffic is prohibited for trucks with trailers and semi-trailers, and winter equipment is mandatory for other vehicles on the roads in Lika and Gorski kotar.

Sljemenska road is closed on the Zagreb side from Bliznec to the top.

There are no difficulties in maritime transport.

At the Tovarnik border crossing, freight traffic waits are four hours at the entrance to the country.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

February the 28th, 2023 - The Croatian AD Plastik company hasn't been immune to ongoing geopolitical issues causing havoc for the economy, and while figures of 826 million kuna for 2022 sound encouraging, it's a big step down when compared to 2021.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to all announcements, the crisis with the shortage of semiconductors is gradually coming to an end and it is expected that it should end by the end of this year, at least according to Marinko Dosen, the CEO of the Croatian AD Plastik company. Issues following sanctions against Russia owing to their horrific invasion of neighbouring Ukraine have caused issues for just about every company, and AD Plastik hasn't been immune.

The group's operating income fell by 26.6% compared to 2021, to 826 million kuna. Normalised EBITDA amounted to 0.94 million kuna and was also lower by a staggering 99.3%, and with the adjustment values included, the net loss at the group level amounts to almost 80 million kuna in total.

The Croatian AD Plastik company's problems go hand in hand with current geopolitical ones and war in Europe. It has two factories in Russia, which stopped production after their main customers left Russia after the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. In the meantime, production did manage to be established in one of them, but with very significantly reduced capacities.

Back in pandemic-dominated 2021, which wasn't either for most business either, 27% of a grand total of 1.23 billion kuna in revenue was generated in Russia, while in 2022, that share fell to around 14%, with revenue on the EU and Serbian markets falling to 14%, and in Russia - by 61%. The Croatian AD Plastik company therefore focused almost entirely on the European market, and 205 million euros worth of work was contracted in 2022, mostly for Stellantis, with the start of serial production for most of the contracts set for 2024.

The positive thing for the Croatian AD Plastik company's report is the associated company EAPS from nearby Romania, in which it holds 50 percent ownership, and which, thanks to the business it contracted with Dacia Duster, achieved an increase in revenue of 35% (standing at 725 million kuna) and profits of 150% (76 million kuna).

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

February the 28th, 2023 - Not everything is as bleak as it might seem at first glance. Did you know that Croatian ICT companies are attracting more and more attention from large international funds?

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to the analysis published in Delo, neighbouring Slovenia is quite considerably lagging behind others in development, especially in the ICT sector, while Croatia has achieved great results and Ljubljana could learn a lot from it.

Last year, venture capital investments in Slovenia amounted to ''just'' 160 million, the lowest of all EU member states. From 2012 to 2021, all of them except Slovenia experienced growth in venture capital investment, and in that period Estonia, Finland and Denmark experienced the greatest boom of all at the EU level. In terms of the value of the share of venture capital investment in GDP, Slovenia is in a very unimpressive last place, according to an analysis of the ICT sector conducted for the Ljubljana Technology Forum by Grant Thornton.

The importance of this form of investment is extremely important for encouraging the rapid development of companies that have an innovative and promising product or technology, and that have difficulty getting capital to pass that most uncertain phase. Among all the newer EU member states, Estonia has become the most interesting country for venture capital investments in technology projects, and it ranks first in the entire EU in terms of the share of these investments in its GDP.

Last year, there were 1.3 billion euros of venture capital investments in start-up companies based in Estonia, and a total of 3.1 billion euros in the last five years. In the Czech Republic, the value of these investments in the five-year period stood at an impressive 1.5 billion, and when it comes to Croatian ICT companies and those from Lithuania, investments came to more than one billion euros, the same amount as in nearby Greece.

The Slovenians single out the Estonian example as the most successful of all, because immediately after the fall of communism, that country reached for the simplification and digitisation of its often complex administrative procedures, as well as a much more simple tax system with one rate, and they were the first to open the door to digital nomads, who can request a digital identity card and access e-services, and they've already attracted more than 50 thousand of them.

Croatian ICT companies and this country's business ecosystem has been on the radar of international venture capital funds and other financial giants for some time now, even if the headlines might make one easily believe otherwisw. The latest case of Damir Sabol's incredible Photomath being taken over by Google is just one fantastic example of how much the Croatian venture capital market has grown in the past decade.

At the same time, the neighbouring Slovenians state that a considerable number of Croatian ICT companies moved their headquarters abroad after receiving money from venture capital funds, but many, such as Rimac Automobil and Infobip, have remained firmly in Croatia. Among the advantages in the development of the startup system here in Croatia, there is, for example, the exemption from paying capital gains tax when selling shares in a startup and tax relief for angel investors, and a positive effect is also expected from a fund of 50 million euros to support innovations and startups announced by the Croatian Government.

Another significant thorn in the side of Slovenia is the fact that the share of expenditure on research and development has fallen sharply from 2012 to 2021, from 2.6 to 2.1 percent, while across the rest of the EU it has increased from 2.1 to 2. 3 percent. Slovenia also lags behind in patenting and the share of high-tech industries in its GDP. Part of the blame for this lies with privatisation, because in most former socialist countries, private foreign companies entered into industrial companies and brought new energy with them.

On the other hand, the justification that high salary taxes are the reason for avoiding venture capital investments is refuted by statistics, because for example France and Belgium, which have very high wage taxation rates, are more attractive for venture capital investments than the new EU member states from across Central and Eastern Europe, with the exception of Estonia.

Slovenia, on the other hand, looks at the Estonian example as a confirmation that the country's potential for innovation and its commercialisation can definitely be developed, but with the condition that all governments adhere to that same approach and consistently implement digitalisation, and they see Croatia and Greece as countries that are successfully following the Estonian model.

For more, make sure to check out our business section.