Infrastructure, transport and telecommunications in Croatia

The infrastructure and telecommunications sector is currently one of the fastest developing areas of the Croatian economy. As in previous years, investment activity is the mainstay of growth. Croatian economic growth and the standard of living of the Croatian population are directly dependent on investments in this area. It is hoped that better infrastructure solutions will have a lasting impact on tourism in particular . More transparent and tougher legislation that has already come into force is intended to prevent uncontrolled building.

Infrastructure

Adriatic gas pipeline

In view of the past bottlenecks in the European gas supply and the dependence of Western Europe on gas imports from Russia , more and more thought is being given to how this dependency can be reduced. Among other things, the construction of the Adriatic gas pipeline is also being considered, which would carry gas from Africa or the Middle East through the Adriatic Sea via Croatia to Europe . In Omišalj on the island of Krk one should by 2012 LNG -Terminal ( liquid natural gas (LNG) ) occur.

The Croatian mineral oil company INA (Industrija nafte) owns some gas deposits in the upper Adriatic (in cooperation with Italian companies that route the gas via Italy to Croatia). The Croatian consortium Plinacro established the missing gas pipeline connection (investment sum 90 MEUR) between Pula and Karlovac (195 km), where the pipeline is connected to other supply routes of the European gas pipeline network. This link was released on November 22, 2006.

The Croatian gas production platform Ivana K is also to be connected to the Croatian mainland by a submarine pipeline. The pipeline thus represents a direct gas line between the gas deposits in the northern Adriatic with Istria , the Primorje - Gorski kotar region , the Karlovac county and the international gas pipeline network.

By 2009, the gas pipeline network is also to be expanded into the Lika and Dalmatia regions ( Bosiljevo - Split pipeline , 295 km). The total length of the Croatian gas pipeline network is 1,657 km (another 394 km are under construction).

Adriatic oil pipeline

The Croatian oil pipeline network is managed by the joint stock company JANAF (Croat. "Jadranski naftovod", "Adriatic oil pipeline") . A connection from the Omišalj oil terminal on the north Adriatic island of Krk to the Hungarian border has existed since 1979 . Part of the JANAF network runs through Serbia .

In total, the JANAF system includes oil pipelines with a length of 759 km, most of them (610 km) are in Croatia:

The Croatian public was only recently informed about the “ Družba Adria ” project . The project envisaged the export of oil from the Russian Federation to Croatia via Belarus , Ukraine , Slovakia and Hungary . In addition, tanker transports via the port of Omišalj would have been planned. For the most part, however, the reactions to this project have been very negative, as pollution of the Adriatic is feared (there is also the problem of ballast water from tankers). The project has been put on hold until further notice.

Danube-Sava Canal

The canal was supposed to connect the Adriatic region with the Danube shipping route in terms of traffic and thus guarantee more cost-efficient transport. The project, which has been conceived since the end of the 18th century, will also be the shortest shipping connection from Croatia to Western and Eastern Europe .

The multi-purpose system of the canal was supposed to serve not only for shipping, but also for irrigation and water drainage in the fertile agricultural regions of Slavonia (especially in the area around Vinkovci ), as well as other functions. The canal should have a length of approx. 50 km, be approx. 30 m wide and have a depth of 3 m. The most important achievement, however, would be that the canal would shorten the shipping route from Slavonski Brod on the Save to Vukovar on the Danube by as much as 400 km. The construction work, which will be divided into two phases, should take about 10 years and will largely follow the existing waterways of the rivers Vuka , Bosut , Bid and Konjsko .

The advantages of the project in contrast to road and rail transport would be: Longer durability of the objects, lower energy consumption , greater security, lower transport costs, etc. Since transport costs nowadays make up an essential part of the total costs of certain products, the economic competitiveness of Croatia would be increased . In addition, Vukovar should be of strategic importance with regard to the transit of goods in this part of Europe. It is also expected that the port of Vukovar could become the most important Croatian river port, also for international goods. With the settlement of trade and production zones, Vukovar will also become increasingly important. (Estimated movement of goods of around 8 million tons annually) The start of construction is expected soon. The construction costs amount to approx. 4.5 billion kuna (approx. 610 million euros ). Construction is expected to end in 2013.

traffic

air traffic

International airports in Croatia

Airport	Abbr.	location	Web
Zagreb airport	ZAG	in the suburb of Pleso , 17 km southeast of the center of Zagreb, just before the city of Velika Gorica	[1]
Split airport	SPU	in the suburb of Kaštela 25 km west of Split	[2]
Dubrovnik airport	DBV	in the place Čilipi near Konavle , 13 km southeast of the center of Dubrovnik	[3]
Zadar airport	ZAD	8 km east of the center of Zadar	[4]
Rijeka airport	RJK	on the island of Krk (bridge connection), 17 km southeast of the center of Rijeka	[5]
Pula airport	PUY	Located on the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula, approx. 5 km east of the center of Pula	[6]
Brač Airport	BWK	on the island of Brač in central Dalmatia	[7]

The Osijek Airport ( IATA : OSI ) (20 km southeast of the center of Osijek ) was renewed for regional transport.

The following low-cost airlines currently operate year-round scheduled flights to Croatia: Germanwings , TUIfly , Ryanair and Wizz Air . Croatia can also be reached easily with EasyJet via Ljubljana , Slovenia or with Ryanair via Trieste , Italy . Seasonal flights (over the summer months) are offered by: Aeroflight , GB Airways , Norwegian Air Shuttle and Styrian Airways . Flyglobespan has flights from Pula to Edinburgh and Glasgow .

Of the established companies, mainly the domestic Croatia Airlines (member of the Star Alliance ), Lufthansa and British Airways should be mentioned.

The dissolved airline Air Croatia was in fact never used.

Road traffic

Motorway network (status: end of 2009)

As of June 2013, the road network has a total length of 26,963.9 km. These include 1,413.1 km of motorways and expressways , 6,867.7 km of state roads , 9,703.4 km of county roads and 8,979.7 km of municipal roads. The public company Hrvatske autoceste (HAC) is responsible for the administration and financing of motorways (with the exception of PPP projects), expressways and state roads on behalf of the Croatian government . For motorways, a route-dependent toll for motor vehicles must be paid on selected road sections. From 2009 to 2012, 23.07 billion kuna (equivalent to approx. 3 billion euros) was invested in the road network, of which 12.8 billion kuna (approx. 1.7 billion euros) was invested in new construction, expansion and maintenance the highways. In the period from 2013 to 2016, the costs for the planned investments in the road network amount to 23.10 billion euros, of which 37.8% for investments in highways, 47.0% for investments in state roads and 15.2% for investments is issued in the district and municipal streets.

In 2004, a very controversial new road traffic law came into force, which provides for drastic measures for drunk driving (0.0 per thousand ), dangerous driving, etc. In line with this, all new Croatian tunnels are subject to safety measures such as B. have installed video surveillance and that modern traffic control centers have been set up at various points. Croatia also has a relatively dense network of autogas (LPG) filling stations.

At the beginning of 2006, only gasoline and diesel fuels in accordance with the EU standard " EURO IV " will be offered in Croatia .

Highways

The Croatian motorway network was one of the fastest expanding in Europe in the 2010s. After the declaration of independence in 1991, serious planning began for a comprehensive motorway network. The first motorway sections were completed at the time of the Croatian republic of the SFR Yugoslavia . By 1991, around 284.4 km of motorways and another 23.8 km of semi-autobahns had been completed and released. Because of the Croatian War, no new buildings were added until 1996.

At the beginning of the 2000s, motorway construction accelerated. The main reasons for this are that the Croatian government granted concessions for certain motorway projects.

In addition, investments in highway infrastructure were and still are a priority for the government, which saw their expansion as of strategic importance for the country. The need for investments becomes all the more clear when one considers that they make a decisive contribution to the development of a country and individual regions or to the development of the main economic sectors. The Croatian Ministry of Transport also emphasizes that the construction of motorways will lead to an increase in employment and that this would also have positive effects on the demographic development of Croatia. The integration of the modern Croatian road network into the European transport network should have positive effects for everyone in terms of Croatia's transit situation. Those responsible emphasize u. a. that with the expansion of the motorways bottlenecks in the traffic infrastructure would be eliminated and that traffic safety and time savings would increase. It is particularly important to note that this will also lead to a revitalization of the ports .

The basic network was implemented from 1996 to 2010. During this period, a total of 823.7 kilometers of motorway were released, so that the motorway network increased to 1106.3 km. The 1000 km mark was exceeded with the opening of the 40.3 km long section of the A1 motorway between Šestanovac and Ravča on December 22, 2008.

Expressways and state roads

Sign for a road marked as an expressway.

The Croatian state roads (also: national roads; Croatian : Državne ceste , Singular Državna cesta ) form the main highway network. They serve national and international traffic. They are developed partly like federal highways , partly multi-lane like autobahn-like roads with separate lanes. They are defined as such by law. The classification of a road as a state road says nothing about the condition of the road. The signage consists of a D as an abbreviation for Državna cesta and one or more digits. The numbering follows the following scheme:

Single-digit numbers (1–9) denote state roads, which usually run as trunk roads through the whole country and border on neighboring states.
Two-digit numbers indicate state roads that run on the mainland.
Three-digit numbers denote state roads, the island's main roads (100s), cross-border branches (200s), branches (300s), port accesses (400s) and connecting routes (500s).

The road network of the state roads is 6,867.7 kilometers. Among them, some motorway-like sections are designated as expressways (Croatian: Brze ceste , singular Brza cesta ). These are developed without intersections and can be driven on at increased top speed. In contrast to motorways, they are toll-free, not necessarily with two lanes and no hard shoulder. Sections of motorways that are being built in stages can also be identified as expressways. Either there is no separate signage in the case of an individual section of a state road or in the case of a newly built expressway as a planned motorway, the signage is composed of a B as an abbreviation for Brza cesta and one or more digits.

Bus transport

In contrast to rail transport, which is still a little underdeveloped, buses are the most popular means of transport in Croatia. In addition, buses are the cheapest form of public transport in Croatia. National bus transport is very well developed and you can get from the capital to the most distant corners of Croatia relatively quickly. There are also numerous international bus connections from Croatia to neighboring countries ( Bosnia and Herzegovina , Slovenia etc.), as well as to Austria , Germany , Switzerland and other European countries. Almost all buses on the national bus routes are air-conditioned and offer pleasant travel comfort. International buses meet European standards. Usually you pay directly in the bus, which is sometimes even cheaper than at the counter in the bus station (surcharge for stowed luggage).

The largest and most modern bus station in the country is located in the capital, Zagreb , with its own waiting areas, which are located above the actual bus platform. The bus station in Zagreb is not far from the main train station (Glavni kolodvor) and can be reached directly with the city tram lines .

Rail transport

Main train station (Glavni kolodvor) in Zagreb

Railways run through Croatia from Zagreb to Osijek , Vinkovci , Rijeka and Split , as well as to Slovenia , Hungary , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia . The Croatian rail network is in urgent need of modernization, as little has been invested in the rail infrastructure in recent decades. Many routes are not yet electrified or are still single-lane and are very winding.

Since 2005 some tilting technology trains of the German class VT 612 (RegioSwinger) have been running on the Zagreb – Split railway line . These enable a much more comfortable journey and significant time savings compared to the previous conventional trains. These are among the most modern trains in Croatia and are run under the name "InterCity Nagibni" (ICN). The ICN is considered to be the highest class of trains in Croatia. There are now ICN lines from Zagreb towards Osijek, Požega and Varaždin .

Public transport in Zagreb

TMK 2200 low-floor tram from Croatian production in Zagreb

The public transport network of the largest Croatian city is organized by the city operating company Zagrebački električni tramvaj (ZET), which operates the Zagreb tram , the Zagreb funicular and the city bus service. In 2005, a new electric low-floor tram with the latest technology and from Croatian in-house production was introduced, which is being built by the CROTRAM consortium (model TMK 2200 ).

Otherwise there is only a tram system in Osijek.

Maritime shipping

The port of Split

There are several large seaports in Croatia. It is particularly advantageous for Croatia that the port facilities on the Adriatic can be accessed by shipping from Asia and the eastern Mediterranean five days earlier than the transshipment points on the North Sea coast. The largest Croatian port with the deepest access for large ships in the entire Adriatic (18 m) is Rijeka on the Croatian north coast. By 2009, the port of Rijeka is to be comprehensively modernized and redesigned with loans amounting to 156.5 million dollars. The “Rijeka Gateway” project aims to renovate the infrastructure and revitalize the peripheral areas between the port area and the city center. In addition, the port is to be better connected to the Croatian motorway network through new road projects. A new low-floor railway line from Rijeka to Zagreb is also being planned. Cruise ships with a capacity of up to 500 passengers should be able to dock at the port. Even more modern ships can be moored with a navigation depth of at least 18 meters. Overall, the port is to be converted into a modern, Mediterranean port in the future, which is to combine city life with the port flair.

Immediately after Rijeka there is the industrial port of Ploče in southern Dalmatia (strategic importance for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina ). The largest Croatian passenger and ferry port is Split , whose port is often referred to as the gateway to the islands (there are more than a thousand islands off the Croatian coast).

Ferry traffic within Croatia is to be privatized as early as 2006, which will be felt in particular by the largest Croatian shipping company Jadrolinija . In particular, the people who live on the islands fear that unprofitable shipping connections will be maintained. The government is increasingly committed to this population. For example, specially made medical catamarans should enable rapid and reliable health care. Public thought is also being given to increasing the number of helicopter landing pads and purchasing helicopters for emergency situations on the islands.

Inland shipping

Handling of Croatian inland ports in 2006	Thousand t
Vukovar	925.5
Osijek	464.1
Slavonski Brod	161.1
Sisak	156.9

Croatia has a total of four inland ports, all of which are located on the Danube and its tributaries Sava and Drava . In 2006, 1.5% of the total freight volume in Croatia was handled through them, mainly coal, slag, mineral fertilizers, iron ore, tin, sugar, crude oil and gravel. The Danube, which as a class VI waterway represents an important transport link between Eastern and Central Europe, touches the country in the east. The Croatian port on the Danube is Vukovar . The Drau and Save flow towards the east-southeast of the Danube. However, the Drau is only a class IV waterway up to the port of Osijek , a few kilometers above the class III area. Like Vukovar, Osijek is located in the far east of Croatia. In the Sava Valley, which also flows through Ljubljana in Slovenia and through Zagreb, are the important Croatian industrial centers Sisak and Slavonski Brod , both with ports, as well as the Bosnian and Serbian centers of Bosanski Brod , Bosanski Šamac , Brčko , Sremska Mitrovica and Belgrade . From Belgrade to Slavonski Brod, the Save is currently - due to limited maintenance as a result of the Yugoslav wars , only partially - waterway of class IV, to Sisak class III, a total of 586 kilometers. The Sava thus offers great potential for further expansion, also in view of the fact that 15 million tons of goods were already transported annually on it before the war, while around 0.5 million tons are currently estimated. An international Sava Commission was created by the neighboring states, including Croatia, to implement measures in international waters. In addition, there have been Croatian plans for a long time to establish a direct connection between the Save near Šamac and the Danube near Vukovar, which would, among other things, shorten the route to destinations up the Danube by approx. 400 kilometers. However, this stretch would have to be completely rebuilt as a 61 kilometer long canal stretch. An expert opinion on the various alternatives published by the parties involved in January 2009 came to the conclusion that upgrading the Save to Sisak to class IV, including the restoration below Slavonski Brod, would cost 79 million euros, a complete upgrade to Sisak to class Va with 82 million euros only slightly more, of which Croatia would have to bear a share of 58%. The Sava-Danube Canal would cost 750 million euros. An expansion of the Sava to Zagreb or even Slovenia is viewed as uneconomical.

shipbuilding

Some of the more important shipyards in Croatia include:

telecommunications

The telecommunications sector in Croatia is regulated by the market regulator HAKOM and is already well developed, especially with regard to cellular networks and has made the greatest progress in recent years compared to other economic sectors in Croatia. This can also be seen from the fact that the telecommunications sector in this country accounts for a higher share of GDP than is the case in the old EU countries (over 5%). Legislation in this area is already at European level, if not higher. As a result of the liberalization of the market in 2005, more and more alternative telecommunications operators are entering the Croatian market.

landline

In addition to the former state HT (Hrvatski Telekom), now T-HT ( T-Hrvatski Telekom , part of Deutsche Telekom ), there have been numerous new operators since mid-2005 that went into operation immediately after the market was liberalized. Among other things, Optima Telekom or H1 Telekom (Portus) should be mentioned here. The penetration in this area is approx. 40%.

Cellular

There are three mobile network operators in Croatia:

A1 Hrvatska (before October 1, 2018: VIPnet) - area code 091, owned by Austrian Telekom Austria , the first private GSM mobile phone provider, very well developed network, total number of customers 1.51 million (34.76% market share, as of April 2017 ).
Hrvatski Telekom : Area code 098 and 099, formerly HT Mobile - CROnet, first and formerly best-developed state network, today owned by Deutsche Telekom , total number of customers: 2.07 million customers (47.69% market share, as of April 2017) .
Tele2 : Area code 095, since autumn 2005, total number of customers: 0.823 million customers (as of December 31, 2014).

There are also two virtual providers:

Tomato : Area code 092, virtual network operator, only prepaid card, uses the A1 Hrvatska network
BonBon : Area code 097, virtual network operator, prepaid card and postpaid, since 2010, uses the network of Hrvatski Telekom (T-mobile)

The mobile communications sector in Croatia has always been quite well developed. The two largest networks guarantee an area coverage of over 98%. Croatia has always been at the forefront when it comes to the introduction of new technologies such as WAP , GPRS or MMS . Also UMTS and mobile video telephony are already available in Croatia. The Croatian telecommunications sector is still considered to have good growth potential as the market has not yet been fully saturated. The penetration here is just over 65%.

Internet

More than 55% of Croatia's residents have internet access, but often only via dial-up connections. The availability of broadband internet access is growing very rapidly. The number of ADSL users at T-Com rose by 50% in 2007. The broadband penetration rate is still very low at 8.6%. Since 2005, however, the prices for ADSL access have been noticeably reduced by the operators. The aim is to provide growth incentives for broadband access at affordable prices. In addition to T-Com Internet, more important operators are u. a. Iskon Internet , Metronet and Optima Telekom should be mentioned. In 2005, frequency licenses for Internet radio networks were issued in Croatia . The Internet infrastructure is to be expanded throughout Croatia, in particular through new WiMAX radio networks . It was decided to cover entire cities and regions with this technology.

Digital television

As far as terrestrial coverage by means of digital TV broadcasting technology ( DVB-T ) is concerned, Croatia occupies a leading position in Europe and at the beginning of 2006 received the best rating in Europe from the European Commission. In Croatia there is already the possibility of digital coverage of 70% of the population (as of 2006).

object	Transmission strength [RMS]	channel	frequency	Covered places
Sljeme (H-polarizacija)	1000 W	27 UHF	522.00 MHz	Sector: Dugo Selo - Ivanić Grad - Zagreb - Sisak - Glina - Karlovac -Samobor- Zaprešić.
Zagreb - Prisavlje (H-polarizacija)	250 W	56 UHF	754.00 MHz	City of Zagreb and surroundings
Josipovac (H-polarizacija)	160 W	33 UHF	570.00 MHz	City of Osijek and surroundings
Labinštica (H-polarizacija)	500 W	36 UHF	594.00 MHz	Split - Kaštela - Brač Island (northern part) - Čiovo - Šolta
Srđ (H-polarizacija)	1000 W	59 UHF	778.00 MHz	City of Dubrovnik and surroundings - Cavtat
Učka (H-polarizacija)	2500 W	28 UHF	530.00 MHz	Istra (except northern part) - Rijeka - Kvarner
Ugljan (H-polarizacija)	250 W	51 UHF	714.00 MHz	Zadar and surroundings

HDTV

In March 2007, trial operation of terrestrial HDTV began in the Zagreb area. Customers can receive the signal with corresponding DVB-T boxes that are also equipped for receiving high-definition television. First of all, high-resolution panoramas of Croatian cities and regions will be shown, the image and sound recordings of which are probably best able to present this new technology. Sports programs, which are already mostly available in HDTV format, should also be broadcast more frequently, as well as other content on Croatian television .

broadcast

Some Croatian medium wave stations can easily be received in Germany in the evening hours. The 600 kW (before 1991 1200 kW) strong transmitter from Grbre can be received best on 1134 kHz, followed by the transmitter from Deanovac on 1125 kHz.

Web links

Mario Crnjak, Goran Puž: Kapitalna prometna, inf Infrastruktura Republike Hrvatske, 2007 PDF file; 6.14 MB
Program prostornog uređenja Republike Hrvatske Croatian, html version
Program prostornog uređenja Republike Hrvatske Croatian, as a .pdf file (12.3 MB)
Telecommunication operator and internet operator, Croatian Ministry of Transport (Croatian)
GSM World, network coverage in Croatia

Individual evidence

↑ Program građenja i održavanja javnih cesta za razdoblje od 2013. do 2016. godine (Croatian)

↑ LPG filling station network in Croatia ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

^ ^A ^b Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure (Croatia): Decision on the categorization of public roads ( Croatian ) Narodne novine . June 4, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.

↑ Torsten Pauly: Croatian Danube port Vukovar wants to expand further. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Report in Germany Trade and Invest@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gtai.de
↑ http://www.savacommission.org/
↑ Torsten Pauly: Save should become navigable again downstream from Croatia ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Report in Germany Trade and Invest@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gtai.de
↑ https://www.ictbusiness.info/telekomunikacije/ht-i-vipnet-povecavaju-udjel-tele2-pada
↑ HT i Vipnet povećavaju udjel, Tele2 pada. Retrieved April 13, 2019 (Croatian).
↑ TELE2. Retrieved April 13, 2019 (Croatian).
↑ Croatia Telecommunications Report Q3 2008 ( English ) In: PR-inside.com . 09/13/2008. Retrieved on November 22, 2008.
↑ HRT Vijesti, March 29, 2007 ( Memento of the original of April 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Croatian) @1@ 2
↑ HDTV portal of the HRT ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hrt.hr

[1] Program građenja i održavanja javnih cesta za razdoblje od 2013. do 2016. godine (Croatian)

[2] LPG filling station network in Croatia ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[NN-klasifikacija-3] A ^b Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure (Croatia): Decision on the categorization of public roads ( Croatian ) Narodne novine . June 4, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.