ZAGREB

The retrial of former general Branimir Glavas and other defendants for war crimes in the Croatian eastern city of Osijek in 1991 opened at Zagreb County Court on Monday.

At Monday's hearing, Glavas's defence requested that the trial be transferred from Zagreb to the Osijek County Court.

Zagreb – The Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) has given Slovenia’s energy company Petrol a green light on the takeover of Croatian petroleum products seller Crodux as well as authorised the Iskra electronics group to acquire Croatian electric cable manufacturer Elka.

In a new anti-corruption action that started with arrests on Wednesday, Croatian police and anti-corruption investigators have launched an investigation into associates of former Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, including the director of Croatian Radiotelevision, HTV, Kazimir Bacic.

Ljubljana/Zagreb – Croatia’s Fortenova Group increased its share in Slovenian retail group Mercator from 88.1% to 89.11% during a takeover bid for the remaining 724,764 Mercator shares Fortenova does not already own. A total of 154 Mercator shareholders accepted Fortenova’s offer of EUR 36 per share in cash.

After successfully enlarging to the south and to the east, the EU is in the process of integrating the Western Balkans, located at the very heart of our continent.

Ljubljana – A news portal under the N1 brand was launched in Slovenia on Wednesday by United Media. The portal will be managed by Adria News, a company established for this purpose, which is headed by Katja Šeruga, who is also the editor-in-chief of the portal.

Ljubljana – Hungarian energy group MOL has acquired a network of 120 service stations operated by Austrian energy group OMV in Slovenia, subject to regulatory approval. The purchase consideration for the outright stake in the company OMV Slovenija is EUR 301 million, MOL announced on Tuesday.

"Most often, we either cannot afford the necessary healthcare or the care we need does not exist in Croatia at all and there is no way of covering the costs of care in the countries where it does exist, or we face discrimination and human rights violations within the healthcare system," Topal told BIRN.

Surgery unaffordable for many

The second annual Pride Ride, a protest by cyclists in support of LGBT rights, was held in Zagreb on Saturday.

The cycle rally began in a park in the Tresnjevka district in the western part of the city and moved through the streets of Zagreb before returning to the park.

Zoran Milanovic said on Monday that his decision to return state honours to Branimir Glavas was legally sound, even though he is on trial for alleged war crimes.

"Glavas asked for this, he sent a request, because he has been formally unconvinced for five years. If he had not asked me, I wouldn't have interfered," Milanovic told media.