August the 5th, 2022 - Knin in inland Dalmatia has unfortunately been left to ''go to the dogs'' in the economic sense, but the arrival of PicoPACK's new entrepreneurial centre and factory could see that neglect overturned.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, despite being one of the most economically deprived and neglected parts of the entire country, every year at the beginning of August, on the occasion of Victory Day and the Day of Croatian Veterans, the City of Knin comes into the public spotlight. This isn't only in the historical and political sense, but also in an economic one.
According to the data presented by the Financial Agency (Fina) for the year 2021, and according to the processed financial statements, 105 enterprises with 615 employees were operating in the City of Knin, which is a reduction of the number of employees there by 36 or 5.5 percent when compared to 2020.
DIV is the largest employer in Knin
Back in 2021, Knin-based companies achieved 255.4 million kuna in total income, which is an increase of 18 percent when compared to 2020, and total expenses of 242.7 million kuna, marking growth of 21.3 percent.
The share of enterprises based in Knin in the number of enterprises in the wider Sibenik-Knin County back in 2021 stood at 3.9 percent, in terms of the number of employees it stood at 4.9 percent, in terms of total income, three percent, and in terms of net profit - 4.8 percent.
Among companies based in Knin, ranked according to total revenue, the first small enterprise is Sirovina Benz transport with sixteen employees. Last year, the company achieved 41.4 million kuna in total revenue, which is a share of 16.2 percent in the total revenue of all companies headquartered in Knin.
Transport beton Lubina took second place with almost 37 million kuna in revenue and 2.6 million kuna in profit, followed by Production Shopping Centre Krka Knin with 24.8 million kuna and Efficient Powerful Successful with 21.7 million kuna in total revenue. This company, from the wider DIV group's system, is also the largest employer with as many as 164 employees to boast of. The Top 10 companies by revenue also include Logistika, Ljekarne (Pharmacies) Silvija Saric, G.O. Gradjevinar (Builder) Vrbnik, Komunalno Poduzece (Municipal Company), Cistoca i zelenilo and Agro Herc.
By the end of this year, according to all indicators, the economic situation in Knin should be improved because, according to announcements, the factory belonging to the wider PicoPACK Group Austria, a multinational company for the production of packaging with branches in several countries in Europe and Asia, should be opened in that inland Dalmatian city.
As they stated, their team specialises in the development and production of industrial solutions for the packaging of any type of bulk materials in both the food and non-food sector, as well as the packaging of dangerous substances and transport solutions for bagged cargo. As one of the largest suppliers of this type of goods in all of Europe, and being motivated by a significant increase in the costs of transportation from India and China, as well as the inability to ensure timely deliveries, the PicoPACK Group plans to transfer its product production facility from India to Europe.
An additional reason is the impossibility of ensuring adequate product quality in a remote facility in India. If everything goes well, they would install their future production and distribution centre in the Knin Enterprise Centre, which is currently under construction. This represents one of the most significant projects from the Intervention Plan of the city of Knin, with a total value of 33.3 million kuna, which will convert the former Kninjanka factory into an Entrepreneurship Centre, as a key element of the city's entrepreneurial infrastructure.
According to the already prepared Business Plan, PicoPACK Group initially plans to employ around seventy employees, with the fact that by the end of the year, if they succeed in realising their plan, they expect to employ a total of 300 workers in their future Knin-based plant.
The special advantage of the City of Knin for PicoPACK as a location for stationing their central production and distribution centre, lies in the possibility of the relatively quick activation in the newly renovated Entrepreneurial Centre, without the obligation of designing and building a brand new facility, then in the possibility of finding a sufficient number of employees with an adequate qualification structure, and last but by no means least, in the fact that Knin is in geostrategically favourable location with a branched traffic network.
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