Business

ZAGREB, Aug 13, 2020 - According to data provided by the Interior Ministry, only 41% of the quota for foreign workers was claimed until 31 July, the Vecernji List daily reported on Thursday. In late 2019, the Croatian government decided that it would be possible to issue 78,470 work permits for foreigners in 2020. The quota includes new employment of foreigners, seasonal employment, transfer of workers within a company, and employment for strategical investment projects. This quota was set before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease. In the meantime, the COVID pandemic led to an economic downturn globally. The tourist sector has…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of August, 2020, despite earlier negative projections for the tourism sector due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Valamar opened 21 hotels and resorts and all 15 of its camps in June and July, and the first phase of the investment in Lavanda Sunny hotel by Valamar on the island of Hvar near Stari Grad has been successfully completed. The successful completion of the investment poured into the Lavanda Sunny hotel was a move which marked the beginning of a wider investment cycle from the Helios Faros facilities in partnership with PBZ Croatia osiguranje,…

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic brought many previously seemingly untouchable companies to their knees in Croatia and abroad, but for Croatia's fastest growing mariculture company, Cromaris, the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy only further confirmed the toughness this company has managed to acquire. Cromaris received recognition for its top quality. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of August, 2020, the Italians, and Italy is the primary export market for Cromaris, have long rated their products as far better than their competitors. An additional confirmation of all this is the "Superior Taste Award" for various fish which draw…

An enormous individual project for Croatian Railways is about to kick off, backed with 2.3 billion kuna and considerable help from European Union funds. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of August, 2020, HZ Infrastructure is starting the reconstruction of the existing track and the construction of the second track of the railway from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac, and the estimated value of works on this project is the largest of all individual works undertaken by Croatian Railways so far, amounting to 2.3 billion kuna without VAT, as was reported by Vecernji list on Monday. According to HZ Infrastructure,…

ZAGREB, Aug 10, 2020 - The HZ Infrastruktura company is embarking on a project to upgrade the existing and build a second track of the railway running from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac, with the value of the project being the highest of all other Croatian railway projects so far, amounting to HRK 2.3 billion, not including VAT, Vecernji List daily says. The tender for the project, which will be co-financed by the European Union, which will provide 85% of the funding, will be published in September. The Hrvatski Leskovac section is part of a railway running from Rijeka to the border with Hungary, and work…

Despite a generally dire prognosis owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many Croatian companies actually ended up doing unexpectedly well in July. The Crikvenica-based Jadran is one of them. As Novac/Andrea Koscec writes on the 8th of August, 2020, the tourism company Jadran d.d. from Crikvenica managed to generate an encouraging 78 percent of the revenue it earned back in July 2019 last month In the first seven months of this year, Jadran's total operating revenues reached 53 percent of last year's turnover during that same period, the travel company stated yesterday. This result is all the more valuable, they…

ZAGREB, Aug 9, 2020 - The Dubrovnik Summer Festival has been given HRK 320,000 for co-financing a project aimed at strengthening cultural cooperation and the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries in the Western Balkans, in which the festival will invest HRK 108,000 of its own money as well. The "#synergy: Sharpening the capacities of the classical music industry in the Western Balkans" project was one of 300 which were submitted for funding from the Creative Europe programme and one of the 13 that have been given €410,000 in total. The main partner on the project is the Don Branko Sbutega Foundation…

ZAGREB, Aug 8, 2020 - Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic has said that the extension of the Istrian Y motorway concession agreement between Croatia and the company Bina-Istra until 2039 envisages €197 million worth of investments and that the motorway is expected to be completed to the Ucka tunnel by 2021. The second tube to the Ucka tunnel and the full profile of the motorway should be completed by 2024, the minister said. The concession agreement will be prolonged until 2039 even though we believe that the loans will be repaid somewhat sooner and the investment will be repaid by 2037, after which Croatia will become the owner…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes on the 7th of August, 2020, the Zadar-based company Pelagos net farma, co-owned by Croatian General Ante Gotovina, as a major tuna exporter, is also coming into focus due to its investment-related plans. Ante Gotovina's company claims that it hasn't really suffered as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the devastating effect it has had on the global economy. Given the company's annual report, it seems that despite this new situation in which we all find ourselves and in which many companies are struggling and even going bust, they are in fact facing…

ZAGREB, Aug 7, 2020 - By joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II, Croatia has pledged to make additional moves to mitigate the risks on its journey to the euro area and create conditions for a more efficient allocation of capital to productive firms instead of rent-seekers, shows a European Central Bank analysis. The Croatian National Bank (HNB) said on Friday that the ECB published an analysis on its website, on the occasion of Croatia and Bulgaria's accession to the ERM II, which says, among other things, that Croatia has pledged to implement additional reform measures with the aim of preserving economic…