Mark Thomas - The editor and big chief of The Dubrovnik Times. Born in the UK he has been living and working in Dubrovnik since 1998, yes he is one of the rare “old hands.” A unique insight into both British and Croatian life and culture, Mark is often known as just “Englez” or Englishman. He is a traveller, a current affairs freak and a huge AFC Wimbledon fan.
Email: mark.thomas@dubrovnik-times.com
According to an announcement by Mirko Sundov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, the highest military authority of NATO will meet in Split to discuss the implementation of decisions made at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016.
Chiefs of defence of 28 member countries as well as their counterpart the future alliance member Montenegro will participate at the conference of the NATO's Military Committee which is to be held in Croatia from the 16th to the 18th of September.
''This is the first time that a meeting of NATO at this level will be held in Croatia'', said the general Sundov to reporters on Thursday. He also added that the chiefs of defence would discuss the implementation of decisions that Heads of State and Government of NATO made at the summit in Warsaw and discuss current and future tasks.
The Military Committee meets twice a year at the NATO's headquarters in Brussels, whilst once a year the meeting is organized in one of allied member countries.
The Port of Gruz welcomed its millionth passenger on Thursday, a day earlier than 2015. Vesna Ridilovic became the millionth passenger through the port when she arrived on the ferry from Lopud, a ferry that she has been travelling on daily for the past 15 years. She was, to her surprise, greeted by representatives of the Port of Dubrovnik who presented her with gifts.
The Port of Dubrovnik have announced that by the end of the year the passenger numbers through the port on ferries are expected to be 10 percent more than last year. Whilst the number of cruise ship passengers is expected to be 5 percent more than 2015. By the end of the year a grand total of 1.35 million passengers are expected to have been handled by the Port of Dubrovnik.
World known master of the lute and guitar Edin Karamazov will have a recital in the atrium of the Rector's Palace on Saturday, September 17, as part of the International Late Summer Music Festival in Dubrovnik. Concert starts at 9 pm.
The media and the public around the world considere him the greatest master of the lute and the guitar today. His virtuoso performances got him numerous awards – he has won the prestigious Edison (2002), Premio Cubadisco for best foreign musician in Cuba (2009), Premio Goffredo Petrassi for the best instrumentalist in Italy (2011), the Brit Award (2007) and Diapason d'Or, just like several other awards and was nominated for a Grammy award (2001).
He got the attention of the world with the album "Songs From the Labyrinth", which he has recorded with Sting in 2006 and that was sold in three million copies in only three months. The so-called "lawyer of new, rare or unusual," follows a unique artistic vision, combining the spirit of bold exploration with the aim of broadening the boundaries of technique and repertoire for guitar and lute. In April this year, he has had a concert with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra for which the ticket more was asked, and all those who missed itor would like to listen virtuosic music by great musician again, will have a chance to hear this on Saturday:
Giovanni B.Pergolesi: SONATA
Fernando Sor: VARIATIONS “O CARA ARMONIA” op.9
Agustin Barrios : TRES VALSAS op.5
Leo Brouwer : EL DECAMERON NEGRO
Astor Piazzolla: TRES PIEZAS DEL TANGO NUEVO
Monarch Airlines, a low-cost airline from UK, is introducing three new destinations to its network – Stockholm, Porto and Zagreb.
The British air carrier has announced its plans of launching two new flight connections between the UK and Zagreb in 2017. Next year travellers will be able to fly directly from Gatwick and Manchester to the Croatian capital.
Monarch Airlines will start operating these new flights from April 2017. Flights from Gatwick airport are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, whilst flights from Manchester will be operated twice a week, on Mondays and Saturdays.
There are a few Dubrovnik videos that appear on social media of Dubrovnik that catch the eye but this one certainly popped out at us. This aerial view of the Dubrovnik region was shot by Koton Preby and published today on YouTube.
From the ancient city walls to the rugged coastline and islands, a great job and great promotion for Dubrovnik.
It what was the busiest day in September over 9,400 cruise ship passengers arrived in Dubrovnik today on five cruise ships. Today was the final day of the year that over 9,000 cruise ships will arrive in Dubrovnik although there are a few busy days in October on the way.
In spite of the large number of taxis circling the city and the extra buses laid on for the passengers the traffic flowed relatively freely in Dubrovnik, although directly around the Old City jams were longer.
Check out our photo gallery by Niksa Duper
A few months ago the world IT giant IBM announced the opening of a delivery centre in Croatia thus providing jobs for at least 500 people. However, Infosys from India, the second largest IT company in the world and the largest exporter of technology services has beaten IBM to the punch and has became the first company in Croatia to open a centre for the delivery and support for its users.
The Indian IT company has located its regional headquarters in Karlovac, where it took on a number of engineers who worked for the French industrial giant Alstom (after it was taken over by the American company General Eletric). Apparently 85 employees from Alstom/GE who worked in the department of gas turbines will work for the Infosys's centre in Croatia.
Apart from Croatia, Infosys has already opened a similar centre in Moscow, Russia. Although Infosys hasn't revealed so far how many people they are planning to employ in Croatia, they have announced that they intend to employ around 180 workers both in Croatia and Russia.
The new delivery centre in Croatia which is intended for the European Union market as well as the new delivery centre in Russia, which is directed towards the market of the Commonwealth of Independent States, will focus on businesses related to aerospace and automotive industry, energy industry, turbo machinery and serve other engineering clients.
"The establishment of centres in Croatia and Russia enables us to tap into a rich pool of engineering talent and bring this to the industrial and manufacturing companies that we work with around the world'', said in a statement Sandeep Dadlani, Global Head-Manufacturing, Retail, CPG and Logistics at Infosys.
It is an evening of jazz tonight in the International Late Summer Music Festival. Tonight at 9.00pm in the Rectors Palace there will be a magical concert of jazz by the renowned concert pianist Matija Dedic and the excellent vibraphonist Simon Matisic. This jazz duo has held concerts for several years and for tonight they will perform some jazz classics by Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny and Chick Corea, mostly from the seventies.
Matija Dedic
The prominent Croatian pianist Matija Dedic long has a reputation as one of the best Croatian jazz pianist. He graduated from the Jazz Academy in Graz in 1997 and since then began his international career with the jazz pianist and composer, although later studied privately with one of the most respected jazz musicians, Barry Harris. He has received numerous awards in the field of jazz music and the Absolute winner of awards Porin.
Ticket prices are between 100 and 300 Kuna and can be purchased online through the website www.dso.hr, in the offices DSO 9.00am and 2.00pm, the agency Perla Adriatica on Ploce, in the gift shop Dubravka, the cultural centre of Luza. Tickets can also be purchased at the door one hour before the concert.
Simon Matisic