ZAGREB, 11 July 2022 - In the last 24 hours, there have been 64 new cases of the infection with coronavirus, and another 11 COVID patients have died, Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Monday.

There are currently 7,236 cases of the infection, and of them 413 are receiving hospital treatment including 13 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, the country has reported 1,159,241 cases of this infectious disease.

There have been 1,135,887 recoveries, including 1,104 in the last 24 hours.

Nearly 71% of the adult population has been vaccinated to date.

For everything you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

July 11, 2022 - Hvar, also known as Croatia’s lavender island, has plenty to offer to any lucky visitor during the Mediterranean summertime. With its lavender flowers blossoming during the early summer days – in June and July – tourists and locals embrace the intoxicating scent of domestic herbs from all around!

The island of Hvar is located in the Adriatic, off Croatia's famous Dalmatian Coast, and is well known for being the sunniest spot in the country. By having dry, chalky soils and long sunny days, the colourful Croatian island provides a perfect place for growing the plant that is widely known for its various benefits. Being used in medicine, cosmetics production, and even cooking, lavender production is still very significant to the residents of Hvar.

Photo: Romulic & Stojcic

Although lavender cultivation on Hvar began all the way back in 1930 and its production has declined over the years due to a combination of emigration and devastating forest fires, the Hvar Lavender Festival continues to revive both the lavender tradition and its heritage every summer. In late June, Velo Grablje marks the start of the harvest time as it hosts exhibitions, presentations, workshops, and even concerts. Therefore, the annual two-day Lavender Festival attracts visitors from all over the globe to celebrate all things lavender!

Photo: Romulic & Stojcic

As the air gets full of fragrance and the hills are covered in purple shades, freshly made lavender souvenirs appear in all local markets and shops. Workshops hosted by generous villagers and medicinal herb experts aid in filling the quiet island of Hvar with laughter and conversation. And just like every year, the little island showcases its big welcoming heart for visitors to explore the Lavender Festival and the cobblestoned streets of Stari Grad.

Photo: Romulic & Stojcic

Most of Hvar's lavender fields are located around Zastražišće, Gdinj, Bogomolje, Brusje, Grablje, and along the road from Stari Grad to Hvar. So, to see Hvar lavender, it is advised to take a ferry to the island and experience the aroma of the wild herbs and their constant intensity, as it will linger on with you for the rest of your life!

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

July 11, 2022 - FIFA remembers the Mario Mandžukić goal that sent Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final four years ago today. 

My Facebook memories today reminded me of July 11, 2018, and the hysteria of statuses I posted when Croatia beat England for a spot in the World Cup final. I was overcome with emotions along with thousands of others in Split who celebrated the win until the early morning hours, with flares and absolute chaos. I still get chills thinking about it, and it's undoubtedly one of those moments in your life where you can recall exactly where you were and who you were with. And exactly how you felt. 

And FIFA remembers it, too. 

On July 11, 2018, a packed Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow hosted the World Cup semi-final match between Croatia and England. England was the first to score with a quick goal by Trippier and continued to dominate Croatia for most of the match. Ivan Perišić equalized in the 68th minute, bringing Croatia back to life and the potential of yet another extra-time finish on the horizon. 

Croatia fans remember the nail-biter all too well, especially Mario Mandžukić's goal in the 109th minute of extra time, today the most crucial goal in the history of the Croatia national team. From Perišić's head to Mario's strategic movement in the penalty area to finish far post in Jordan Pickford's net for 2:1. And how could we forget the goal celebration where Croatia players piled on photographer Yuri Cortez.

On the 4th anniversary of Croatia's most outstanding national team achievement, FIFA has published a video remembering the goal that sent Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final. And even one small detail we have missed while watching it live. 

"One split second of feeling the opportunity is lost... 

To the absolute jubilation of sending your nation to a #WorldCup Final," FIFA writes in the caption. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FIFA World Cup (@fifaworldcup)

The video shows Mario Mandžukić in focus and the disappointment on his face after Kyle Walker cleared Josip Pivarić's cross. But then the play continued. Ivan Perišić passed the ball to Mandžo, who was left unmarked by Harry Maguire, who was likely feeling a bit of security after Walker cleared the first play.

Oh, how quick the game of football can be. 

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

July 11, 2022 - Manuel Neuer's Dalmatia holiday continued in Dubrovnik, where the famous footballer was spotted wearing a Hajduk goalkeeper jersey with an Ožujsko in hand at a famous Elaphiti islands restaurant. 

Last week, famous German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer decided to start his pre-season preparations before rejoining his club and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, cycling from Germany to Croatia.

"My kind of pre-season before pre-season! Nice guys and a bike ride to Croatia! Let‘s goooo!" Neuer captioned his Instagram post last Thursday. 

Manuel Neuer has never hidden his love for Croatia, which has become his go-to holiday home. After all, he is visiting the country for the third summer in a row! Neuer seems to be spending most of this time in Dalmatia, which he has visited several times. You may recall when he cycled from Dubrovnik to Omiš one summer, singing hits by Marko Perković Thompson and treating locals to drinks at a cafe along the way. 

Neuer's Dalmatian journey has continued in Dubrovnik, where he also stayed one month ago. On Sunday, BOWA, a famous restaurant for boaters located in Vrbova Bay on Šipan Island near Dubrovnik, published a photo of Neuer wearing a Hajduk goalkeeper jersey with a local Ožujsko beer in hand.

"Welcome to the family," BOWA shared as the caption, with Neuer looking as relaxed as ever on a luxury speedboat. 

The German footballer is certainly enjoying his time in Croatia as he recharges his batteries ahead of new challenges with Bayern Munich and the German national team.

Manuel Neuer is one of the world's most legendary goalkeepers and the captain of both Bayern Munich and the national team of Germany. The 36-year-old was named the best goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020 by IFFHS and won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany and the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament. Neuer has played for Bayern Munich since 2011. 

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

July 11, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Trade Air domestic lines are delayed further until August 1, and Ryanair plans to restore its Zagreb network after months of flight reductions and suspensions. 

Croatian private airline Trade Air has once again postponed its domestic PSO lines, which was previously announced on July 18, reports Croatian Aviation. 

As stated in the announcement on the airline's official website, Trade Air is once again postponing the start of operations on domestic PSO lines. The mentioned lines have been suspended since May, and the beginning of operations was first announced for June, then July 1, then July 18, and now the lines won't run until August 1 of this year.

The announcement states that the airline will start the routes on the specified date after all the confirmations from the relevant authorities have been collected. Information was also provided that the tickets will not go on sale before July 20 this year.

These lines are crucial for Osijek Airport and other airports, especially in the winter flight schedule.

Osijek - Zagreb - Osijek,

Osijek - Pula - Split - Pula - Osijek,

Osijek - Rijeka - Osijek,

Osijek - Zadar - Osijek,

Zadar - Rijeka - Zadar,

Rijeka - Split - Dubrovnik - Split - Rijeka.

Poland's Sprint Air will operate on the Trade Air lines mentioned, and passengers can only hope that this is the last delay in re-establishing the mentioned lines, adds Croatian Aviation. 

In other news, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Ryanair plans to restore its Zagreb network after months of reductions and suspensions.

The airline thus plans to bring back its third aircraft to resume operations to Basel, Sofia, and Brindisi and restore frequencies on many routes, including to Baden Baden, Bergamo, Beauvais, Charleroi, Gothenburg, Hahn, Malaga, Malmo, Malta, Memmingen, Paphos, Sandefjord, and Weeze. In addition, the route between Zagreb and Corfu will remain at one weekly rotation. 

“Ryanair is Europe’s and Croatia’s number one airline. We have seen strong summer bookings to date from Zagreb with a total of 27 routes. Ryanair’s three Zagreb-based aircraft represent an investment of 300 million US dollars, which will support over ninety highly paid aviation jobs and over 1.000 total jobs in Zagreb. As we look forward with a strong summer of bookings to/from Zagreb, Ryanair will operate almost eighty weekly flights (over thirty more than last year) to give our Zagreb customers an abundance of choices to top European destinations like London, Milan, and Paris or popular holiday hotspots like Brindisi, Corfu and Malaga, whilst giving Zagreb inbound tourism a boost after two lost years," said the airline. 

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

July 11, 2022 - Twenty years a foreigner in Croatia. Part 3 of 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years - meet the bureaucracy and mindset double act. 

I am a child of the Soviet Union. 

No, this is not some revelation that I have been leading a double life all these years, more an explanation that my exposure to the socialist/communist bureaucratic mentality started more than 30 years ago with my first forays into Eastern Europe before the Berlin Wall came down and then a summer in Moscow when the Soviet Union was still a thing. 

And therefore, for almost 35 years now, absurdity and the absurdity of bureaucracy have been a part of my life. There has been much frustration along the way, as well as much humour, but I have come to accept that living in this part of the world comes with the reality that there is an official mindset reality that exists and is hard to change, and absurd rules with no rhyme or reason are blindly enforced. Why, for example, did I have to spend almost £100 a year in Croatia ordering a new birth certificate every year for my temporary residence? A birth certificate proves you were born, but in Croatia only one which was less than 6 months old was valid. You can either rail against them or accept them and get on with life.  

I chose life. 

After the fall of the Soviet Union, I returned to live in Russia for 15 incredible months, in some rather far-flung places in that vast country, and the full force of post-Soviet bureaucracy, absurdity and logic was all around me. One of my best friends was a former captain in the Soviet special forces, and I asked him once for his favourite examples of absurdity in his country. 

"I think it was the canteen in the military barracks where we were stationed once. There were two things that stood out for me. The first was that the canteen staff would take their lunch break at lunchtime, which proved to be a challenge feeding us. And the second was the spoons. There had been a continuous theft of spoons from the canteen, so it was decided to stop the thief by deterring him from stealing. The order was given - and implemented - to drill a hole in the middle of the spoons. This made the spoons worthless but they weren't much fun when trying to eat soup, but I can't deny that the thefts stopped overnight. A little like Stalin's Five Year Plans, there are many ways to present a story."

When I moved to Croatia in 2002, I had not been in the region for several years, mostly in the UK. Although I had come from Africa, which has its own approach to bureaucracy (my favourite story was of the BBC reporter at Nigerian immigration. You don't have a visa - you must pay US$50. Yes I do, here it is, pointing to the visa in the passport. I can't see it, comes the reply, as the immigration officer rips the page out of the passport. Fifty bucks or no entry). 

It didn't take me long to get back into the socialist bureaucratic mentality. No, we can't accept this form, as you need to buy some tax stamps for 10 kuna, and no we don't sell them here. This page is missing a stamp. As a foreigner, you are in the wrong room. The list - and the frustrations - went on. I was shielded initially from much of the bureaucratic process by my long-suffering Croatian girlfriend and now wife, who entered the battle on my behalf with her superior language skills and better cultural understanding. 

But gradually I got to do some of the battles myself, when I was left alone to deal with the absurdity and frustration myself. And I have to admit, I am having rather a lot of fun. 

You see, there are two ways to approach Croatian bureaucracy, at least from where I am sitting. The most popular option is to vent against it, express your frustrations to anyone who will listen, and share all the negativity and anger with the world. This is an understandable and common reaction, but not one that have ever used. For the simple reason that there is rarely a positive result, other than friends and family expressing sympathy. 

I have never seen any point in complaining on social media, as people are generally not interested in hearing other people's problems - they have enough of their own. But social media I have found to be a FABULOUS tool when trying to deal with Croatian bureaucracy. It is one of my three strategies. 

I first learned of the power of social media, not to rant but to find solutions, about 15 years ago. The Internet went down at home, and my wife called to find out when it would be restored. We will come in 7 days, came the reply, hardly an ideal situation for a blogger on a deadline. I had to take my mobile office to a local cafe. 

The next day, I was in the (smoky) cafe again on deadline, this time with my young kids, as my wife was in Split. It was clearly an intolerable situation and one which would last at least another 6 days. There MUST be a solution to this, surely? A Croatian solution? I took to Facebook, explaining my situation. 

Does anyone have a Croatian solution for my problem, my post concluded. 

What happened next was extraordinary, and my Internet was restored in half an hour. 

A friend sent me the name and email of the PR lady for the telecom company, explaining that she hates bad press and that if I politely explained my situation and that I was a British blogger writing about Croatia, perhaps she might be helpful. I did as my friend suggested, received a reply with apologies within two minutes, and my Internet was restored in an hour. This was followed by one more apology and an invitation to contact her directly if I needed anything else. It was the finest example of customer service in my 20 years in Croatia. 

There is a postscript. 

A few months later, a friend of mine with a tourism agency on Hvar called me. It was the season, his Internet was down, and he had been told it would be 9 days until they could come and fix it. What had I done to get mine fixed and could I help? I sent a polite email to the PR lady, copying my friend, reminding her that she had invited me to contact her if there was anything more she could do. Three hours later, my friend called me to invite me to dinner - his Internet had been restored. 

But I love using social media for other reasons too, and with successful results. Many Croatians are really interested in what foreigners think of their country, especially ones like me who make the insane decision to move here by choice when everyone is emigrating. Most foreigners here only scratch the surface of how this country works (or doesn't work, depending on the viewpoint), and so when a foreigner takes to social media with the topic being bureaucracy, it is time to reach for the popcorn. It is also a time when Croatians are very generous with their contacts and advice, and rather than getting frustrated with bureaucracy, one can find a quick solution. 

Against my better judgment, I opened a new company, a jdoo, last year. Everything went incredibly (and I mean incredibly) smoothly until the very last hurdle, which should have been the easiest of all. As a foreigner with permanent residency owning a business, my bank in Varazdin informed me that I could no longer open a bank account in Varazdin, but would have to do so in the head office in Zagreb, around 80 km away. The year is 2021. Absurd in this digital age and after such a smooth experience opening the company, but I decided to go with the flow - I was due in Zagreb the next day and would pop in and open the account. My wife suggested I check if I needed an appointment and called ahead. Indeed I did - and the next free spot was in THREE weeks. That's right. In 2021, a bank I had been with for 18 years with my personal and business accounts (and so knew who I was) were offering the best option to open an account of a 3- week wait and 160 km round trip. 

I asked on Facebook if anyone had any suggestions, and a lively debate ensued. The following day, I met Nenad from Raiffeisen Bank who had told my wife over the phone that he could open the account in Varazadin (without the need to go Zagreb) in one hour. As we shook hands, I levelled with him. 

"Nenad, let me be open with you. I am a frustrated journalist. If you can really open this account in less than an hour, I will make you a superstar." You can read what happened next in Opening a Croatian Business Bank Account as a Foreigner... in 46 Minutes.

There are two postscripts. Five people contacted me to thank me for the article, explaining that they were now in the process of moving their business from my bank to Raiffeisen. And Nenad called me to thank me - head office in Zagreb had called him with a commendation.

I was having so much fun that I even started a section on TCN (which I must get back to) called Croatian Bureaucracy, a Love Affair.  

One of the great benefits of trying to publicly find solutions to absurd Croatian bureaucracy is that kindred spirits, many of whom have been fighting their own battles, enter the fray. I was driving a car last year ago with the number plate above and I paid for SMS parking in Varazdin, then in Zagreb the folliowing day. I was surprised to get parking tickets from both. I took a closer look at the number plate - the 0 were both exactly the same, but were they both numbers or was one a letter?

A friend who has dedicated much of his life to the minutiae of Croatian bureaucracy came to my aid and we eventually sorted things out, but not before discovering that the confusion was deliberate. A rather fun read in Croatian Bureaucracy, a Love Story: 1. The Car Licence Plate.

But the real battleground in Croatian bureaucracy is with officials in their offices. Some are outstanding, but quite a number have no interest in their job, or being disturbed, and least of all you. Especially if you are a foreigner who probably can't speak Croatian. There are computer games to be played after all. And it was in this context that I learned my biggest lesson back in 2013 when I went through the (hellish) ordeal of importing a car from Germany. That I did it with a monstrous hangover made me all the more proud that I survived the day. 

I think I had to go to about nine offices in all - stamp here, signature, there, form filled out here, you know the drill. Office number 6 was where it happened. I knocked. No answer. I opened the door and saw a heavy-set official through a cloud of cigarette smoke at his computer. After a moment, he looked up, looked at me, looked through me, then returned to his important work (which turned out to be a computer game). 

We have all been there. How could I get the stamp I needed?

"Sorry to bother you," I began in my best Croatian. "I need a stamp from you to import my car."

Silence. No reaction, save from the click of the keyboard on the computer game. 

"Also," I went on, "I am a writer researching a story on how the Croatian customs house has changed since EU entry. Would it be possible to give me a quote, and could I perhaps take your picture?" I lifted my camera in hope. 

"No picture. No quote. Give me the paper," he shouted. Stamp. I was out of the room with all I needed 10 seconds later. There was just enough time to catch a glimpse of his computer screen and the important work he was doing.

The episode made me realise that the concepts of blogging, social media and publicity are ones which these officials want to avoid at all costs. They are quite happy to be left alone in their sheltered and well-paid world, little use to anyone but themselves. 

Be polite but insistent. Croatian friends have tried the same tactic, also with success. My brother is writing an article about, my friend is doing a blog on  - can I get some pictures, etc. 

Bureaucracy and mindset. Vent on social media if it makes you feel better. Or try and look at things with the goal of finding a solution and having fun along the way. The fact that Croatian bureaucracy stories are fun to write is an extra bonus for me. Did you hear about the Brit who had too many names for Croatian bureaucracy, and for years he was known not as Paul David Raymond, but Paul David Raym, which was a problem for his kids graduating from school as officially they had more than one father? I will leave that story for another time, unless you want to read it in Absurdistan: Why You Should Never Have Too Many Names in Croatia. 

And no, I don't win every time, hardly at all in fact, as Croatian bureaucracy is hard to beat. But it is fun trying, and those little victories mean more than perhaps they should to people in less bureaucratic societies. 

****

What is it like to live in Croatia? An expat for 20 years, you can follow my series, 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years, starting at the beginning - Business and Dalmatia.

Follow Paul Bradbury on LinkedIn.

Croatia, a Survival Kit for Foreigners will be out by Christmas. If you would like to reserve a copy, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject 20 Years Book

July the 11th, 2022 - The Croatian companies Infobip, Koncar and Tehnix received special recognition at the recently held 17th edition of the Croatian exporters' convention.

As Mladen Miletic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the recently held 17th convention of Croatian exporters, in addition to awards in 19 different categories, awards were also given for achievements and contributions in the digital transformation and green transition of Croatian companies. This special award was given on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the "Golden Key/Zlatni kljuc" award, and it was won by three companies: INFOBIP d.o.o., KONCAR - Elektricna vozila d.d. and TEHNIX d.o.o.

The Association of Croatian Exporters awarded awards to Croatian companies for their advanced and innovative new investments and technologies that contribute to higher production efficiency, lower electricity consumption, all of which should result in a reduction of CO2 emissions in the future.

It was pointed out from various associations in this field that they wanted to further affirm and improve production that reduces the CO2 footprint. Tehnix was founded back in 1992 as a small family business with only a few employees. During its 30 years of existence, it has become the leading eco industry in Europe and the world. Tehnix has representative offices throughout Europe, and in addition to the parent company in Donji Kraljevac, Tehnix has a factory in neighbouring Serbia.

The company is organised, equipped and applies ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 business systems, and more than 500 full-time employees work there with their subcontractors, they have an impressive 60 of their own patents and innovations, and more than 350 of their own products have been placed on the Croatian and global markets. All of the above rightly places Tehnix among the most successful Croatian companies.

"Since its foundation in the early 1990s, Tehnix has grown from a small family business into a leading eco industry on the world map. The business goal of Tehnix is ​​to develop and produce the best technologies that achieve sustainable development and a circular economy. We've developed and manufacture more than 300 machines and equipment for the environment, owing to which we've received a hundred international recognitions and awards. We've also developed the best MO-BO-TO technology for waste recycling, and by applying our technology, municipal waste becomes an economic and energy resource.

With the proper industrial recycling of mixed municipal waste, we obtain 8 new types of raw materials, we also produce eco compost and RDF fuel. MO-BO-TO is the technology of the future that achieves a circular economy and continues sustainable development. We've developed and manufacture special plants for the ecological purification of sanitary municipal water," stated the company's president, Djuro Horvat.

When it comes to the other winning Croatian companies, the main activity of the company Koncar – Elektricna vozila d.d. is the development, production, modernisation and maintenance of rail vehicles and equipment for rail vehicles.

"The key strength of Koncar lies in the fact that our products are the result of many years of continuous development within the companies of the wider Koncar Group's umbrella, which gives us flexibility in adapting to specific customer requirements. Our products comply with the requirements of applicable standards in the field of rail vehicles and their equipment. The lines of our DMV and EMV trains are also certified according to TSI standards, which enables their formal application in different EU member states.

The continuous development of new solutions and products is what we're primarily determined to focus on, and through the application of our own research and development potential, as well as partnership and synergy, we successfully come up with new products and services based on our knowledge. We offer our customers a complete product according to their specific requirements and needs. Following the guidelines on green and digital mass passenger transport, we're now working on the development and application of new solutions for rail vehicles with the use of standby energy that will replace vehicles powered by diesel fuel in the future,'' they stated from Koncar.

The remarkable Vodnjan-based company Infobip, as a global IT and telecommunications company that provides mobile communication services in the cloud for business users, is one of the two Croatian unicorns representing the concept of most absolute success in the demanding business world.

Their ever-increasing list of clients includes social media platforms, internet companies, mobile messaging applications (apps), banks, marketing agencies, corporations, and the list just goes on and on.

Infobip's campus

In addition to its huge contribution and success in implementing the digital transformation, Infobip proved itself once again this year by opening its new campus and the largest innovation centre in the world, Alpha Centauri, which spans a huge area of ​​20,000 square metres here in Zagreb.

"The campus follows global trends, meaning that great emphasis has been placed on green details and sustainability. The campus building itself has an A+ energy class, and the surrounding underground water is used for cooling and heating the working rooms, which results in lower electricity consumption,'' they stated from Infobip.

For more on Croatian companies, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

July the 11th, 2022 - The famous Zagreb attraction which draws crowds from all over each and every year, the Museum of Illusions, is set to move its headquarters across the pond to the USA.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the City of Zagreb's much loved Museum of Illusions, a Croatian creation that received an additional spring in its step in terms of global expansion with the entry of the venture capital fund Invera Equity Partners, is moving its headquarters across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA.

Although in the business of selling (optical) illusions according to a successful museum-style formula, according to which their network today consists of 37 museums across the world in 21 countries, business logic demands its own set of rules. They want to be perceived as a company and not merely a museum, which is why they're opening an office in Atlanta in order to achieve better valuations once the time comes for the exit of the aforementioned capital fund and the eventual payment of returns to its investors.

"We belong to the entertainment industry, the ''mid-way'' segment of the market that refers to attractions lasting up to two hours for which visitors are willing to pay between 20 and 70 US dollars, it's a concept quite similar to that of Madame Tussauds,'' illustrated Invera partner Slaven Kordic. Invera Equity Partners is otherwise currently the only venture capital fund present here on the Croatian market that sought its lucrative investment in the entertainment industry segment.

"Croatia could have many more such investments, there are homegrown ideas with similar potential when it comes to spreading to Western Europe and all the way over to the USA. We have five more target companies with whom we're talking about potential investment," Kordic revealed. How much they've actually invested in Metamorfosis, the company behind the project of the Museum of Illusions, since July 2021 - he didn't discuss.

It was the completion of that particular investment, which saw the capital fund acquire a majority share of 65 percent, that the venture capital fund industry recognised as the best private equity investment of the past year. It's worth mentioning that the competition was quite fierce because Provectus' investments in Keindl Sport, Adria Dental Group and the Aiva polyclinic, Prosperus' acquisition of Neos and Rohatyn's sale of Pet Network International, which includes Pet Centre, all competed for the title.

Despite the move of the Museum of Illusions' headquarters across the pond to Atlanta, the service centre, i.e. the "brain" of the operation, will remain at home in Croatia.

"Zagreb will be a global hub where people from all over the world will work with the ''know how'' of running a museum, creating exhibits and marketing, while the management functions will be moved to the USA," said Kordic. The head of the company since October has been American Jonathan Benjamin, a renowned manager from the USA who honed his experience in the development of the business of Altitude Trampoline Parks and Briggo Coffee, who, alongside the team in Atlanta, is focused on making strong step forward for the Museum of Illusions on the American market.

Unlike, for example, entrepreneur Mate Rimac, who fiercely branded all segments of his business (despite all expectations and bets) here at home in Croatia, where he was supported by strategic investors, Kordic says that the circumstances of venture capital funds are somewhat different, as there is a huge emphasis on ensuring eventual financial returns for investors.

"It's less important where they're from and who runs the business, the key is that the majority of employees will remain here in Croatia. We want to achieve a situation in which the company is perceived as American in order to achieve better returns one day when it comes to those payouts,'' explained Kordic. The perception of an "American" company in practice is very specific, the return could reach 15x EBITDA, while a Croatian company would have to count on far less than that.

The investment time horizon of Invera EP is five years or less, and this is the period in which the fund wants to transform the business by taking it to a higher and more secure level. Their ambitions are great, but so is the potential, according to investors, so the initial projections for the eventual investor exit have been corrected to a massive "200 million euros plus".

"We've already received two offers for sale from Europe, but we rejected them because we believe that there's a lot of great potential with investments and development,'' said Kordic, adding that they want to achieve this with strong names in management, among which are Teo Sirola at the head and Ivan Stipancic in charge of finances. Co-founder Roko Zivkovic, without whom the idea of ​​the Museum of Illusions and all of its accompanying optical illusions and puzzles around the world wouldn't even exist, is still within the company as an advisor to the Management Board.

Croatian wisdom

The largest investors in the fund are the European Investment Fund with 30 million euros, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with 10 million euros, and three domestic pension funds, Raiffeisen, Erste and PBZ CO, cumulatively supporting it with 14.5 million euros. Among the investors is also the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Fund with 4.5 million euros, while partners Slaven Kordic and Kemal Sikiric and their employees invested another 1.5 million euros.

Receiving the award for the best private investment of the year, Roko Zivkovic said on Wednesday in Zagreb that when they started the Museum of Illusions project, they never dreamed that such an expansion of a project made entirely in Croatia could happen, pointing out that in addition to the 37 current locations of the museum around the world, another 12 locations are currently under construction.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.