Podravka would in synergy with Atlantic Group achieve significantly higher growth rates and it is blasphemy to say it is the pivoting company for agricultural production in Croatia, said the Management President of Atlantic Group Emil Tedeschi, in the Pressing show of N1 television, calling out the Tax Bureau for mobbing entrepreneurs
“We are interested in consolidating, enlarging our production portfolio, but not unconditionally. We aim for western Europe, specifically Germany, Austria and Switzerland, then the Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden,” said Tedeschi, as reported by Tportal.hr on June 30, 2016.
He repeated his position on Podravka: “The state’s role is being exaggerated. I see no reason why Podravka would be classified as strategic. There are other companies much more important in that segment.”
“Podravka missed many opportunities. It could have been a company with a 20 billion income and more. Podravka can do so much better and I believe in synergy with Atlantic Group it would achieve significantly higher growth rates. We’re working on Podravka distributing some Atlantic products in markets we’re not present in and vice versa,” Tedeschi added.
Accenting transparency, he announced “if Atlantic makes any move toward acquiring any share in Podravka, the Zagreb Stock Exchange will be the first to know.” He pointed out his pride of the perception and rating of Atlantic Group in financial circles, domestic and international and explained how it came about that Atlantic Group borrows money cheaper than the state: “Our bond has a 5 year expiration, while the state has planned but hasn’t realised a bond in 10 years. Investors sometimes have higher security in Atlantic then they do in the state.”
“We will generate economic growth regardless of whether the parliamentary elections are in the fall, or the technical government, but on the other hand we must be aware that in most cases we aren’t creating the situations we live in. For example, Brexit created a lot of instability, all indexes of stock exchanges fell and we could be collateral victims of much greater factors,” warned Tedeschi adding Brexit will scarcely affect Atlantic as the UK is still a relatively small market.
Regarding his friendship with former PM Milanović, he noted the Statue of Atlantic states the company must not side with any political option, but that the relationship exists and dates back to elementary school, while “I had plenty of inconveniences while he was PM. The Tax Bureau mobbed businessmen and I was one of them. Regardless of the fact the public feels a successful entrepreneur and a ruling politician must be in muddy waters, I am proud of that relationship and wish there were more people like Milanović around.”
“But I do not necessarily agree with his every political decision, I have spoken publicly about this,” reminded Tedeschi and said this government could have gone better and faster: “I complimented some indications of economic policies, but the very formation of government took too long. The tragic politics that followed were unacceptable to ma s a citizen and covered any good this government could have done with a balanced budget, culminating in the halting of the curricular reform. I have spoken about this too as I believe the work done by Jokić and his team was positive. Regardless of the outcome of new elections, this must be continued.”
Regarding the prediction of elections in the fall, he warned it “all depends what the political groups will present as their program. This should not be a campaign about leaders, but a range for discussing programs. Citizens are primarily interested in programs and reforms.
Tedeschi referred to the potential HDZ leader Andrej Plenković, saying the man has “an excellent CV, educated, cultured, polite, articulated in public appearances. But as Atlantic Group is not a one man show, so a political party is not too. We’ll see if Plenković is the man who can transform HDZ,” said Tedeschi.
