Croatia proper

"The government is currently facing two crises, COVID-19 and earthquakes, we decided today to declare a catastrophe in the Sisak-Moslavina County, parts of Zagreb and Karlovac County, but also to form a Crisis Staff headed by Tomo Medved. Representatives of all will be included. Milosevic and Horvat will be the deputies", Plenkovi said, as Jutarnji reports.

A powerful earthquake hit Croatia at 6.24am local time on Sunday morning with the epicentre seven kilometres north of Zagreb, said the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, EMSC.

Another strong earthquake shook Zagreb at 7am, with both tremors causing widespread damage and panic amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

After the complex rescue of Croatia's biggest private company, Agrokor, which ended with a debt-for-equity swap, the biggest shareholder, Russia's Sherbank, told BIRN that it does not intend to own the firm long-term and wants to sell its stake.

After a Zagreb court ruled on Tuesday that that former owner of the indebted food giant Agrokor, Ivica Todoric, can be released after paying one million euros in bail, Todoric announced on Wednesday that he would run for elections, win power and turn Croatia in the right direction.

Zagreb County Court spokesperson Kresimir Devcic said on Tuesday that the court has decided that former Agrokor owner Ivica Todoric can be given a conditional release from pre-trial custody after the investigating judge received confirmation that one million euros in bail has been paid.

The revised financial report for the troubled Croatian retail, food and agriculture giant Agrokor, issued on Thursday, showed that the former management, led by company's owner and founder Ivica Todoric, did not show the company's full losses in its financial accounts.

Russia's Sberbank told BIRN that it believes Croatia's troubled private company Agrokor can be restored to normal activity, but wants fulfilment of its demands first.

Russian bank Sberbank has initiated proceedings before the Commercial Court in Belgrade, Serbia, to acquire two companies owned by the troubled Croatian retail giant Agrokor.

Sberbank launched the court proceedings on the basis of loans it gave to two companies, Jamnica and Konzum, which are owned by Agrokor - and which in turn own Mivela and IDEA in Serbia.

Croatia's parliament on Thursday was set to pass a new "special law", which is generally believed to have been designed to help the troubled private company Agrokor.

However, some opposition MPs insist the law will not help the company in the long term, or its smaller suppliers and employees, or the economy in general.

The government is preparing to discuss a proposed Law on Procedures for Extraordinary Management, which many see as way for the state to step in and help the troubled private giant Agrokor deal with its serious financial crisis.