Business

ZAGREB, July 10, 2020 - The European Commission on Friday welcomed the decision to include the Bulgarian lev and the Croatian kuna in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), the key step to entry into the euro area. "The Commission welcomes the decision to include the Bulgarian lev and the Croatian kuna in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II). It also welcomes the ECB Governing Council's decision on close cooperation with both countries, marking their entry into the Banking Union," the EC said in a press release. The decision of the ERM II parties represents an important milestone in Bulgaria…

ZAGREB, July 10, 2020 - Croatia has entered the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), a key step towards the introduction of the euro, and the Croatian National Bank (HNB) has established close cooperation with the European Central Bank, the ECB and the European Commission said on Friday. "At the request of the Croatian authorities, the finance ministers of the euro area Member States of the European Union, the President of the European Central Bank, and the finance ministers and central bank governors of Denmark and Croatia have decided, by mutual agreement, to include the Croatian kuna in the Exchange Rate Mechanism…

As Novac writes on the 9th of July, 2020, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) has extended the repayment period of "COVID-19" working capital loans from three to five years in order to facilitate the operations of Croatian businessmen, according to HBOR. "Due to the still difficult business conditions being experienced by Croatian businesses, and in order to facilitate business and the repayment of credit obligations, HBOR has extended the repayment period under the Working Capital Programme Measure ''COVID-19'' to five years, including the possibility of using a grace period of up to one year," reads the bank's…

ZAGREB, July 9, 2020 - The E.ON Croatia energy company on Thursday acquired two gas distribution and retail companies - Plin-Projekt from Nova Gradiska and Moslavina Plin from Kutina, becoming the third-largest gas distributor in Croatia with 43,000 customers. With the acquisition of Plin-Projekt and Moslavina Plin, E.ON Croatia has become the 100% owner of another two gas distribution and retail companies with 19,000 customers, the company said in a statement on Thursday without disclosing the value of the transaction. In recent years, E.ON has taken over two gas companies in Croatia - Koprivnica Plin and Montcogim Plinara. With the latest…

As Novac writes on the 7th of July, 2020, the IGH Institute and HZ Infrastruktura signed a contract on the supervision of the works on the reconstruction of the Zagreb West Station - Savski Marof rail line worth a massive 5.3 million kuna. This is a project that is largely financed by a loan from the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and relates to the 17.8-kilometre section of the two-track railway line located on the RH1 corridor, which is extremely important for international freight and for suburban transport, it averages in at about 160 trains per day. The…

ZAGREB, July 8, 2020 - The harvest of cool-season cereals -- wheat and barley -- as well as is in full swing in eastern Croatia and is likely to be completed in the next two weeks, the Osijek-Baranja County chamber of commerce said on Wednesday. This year's wheat yield is likely to be higher than last year, going from 6-5 tonnes per hectare in small farms to 10.5 tonnes per hectare in fields cultivated by big agribusinesses. The chamber's officials said that the county's yield is about 10 percent higher in comparison to 2019. The price of wheat is likely to be 0.90-1.20 kuna…

ZAGREB, July 8, 2020 - The European Commission on Wednesday presented two energy transformation strategies that should contribute to achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The commission presented the EU Energy System Integration Strategy and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance Strategy. Addressing a press conference Executive vice president of the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans said, “The strategies adopted today will bolster the European Green Deal and the green recovery, and put us firmly on the path of decarbonising our economy by 2050. The new hydrogen economy can be a growth engine to help overcome the economic damage caused by COVID-19." The energy system…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes on the 7th of July, 2020, there is a deadline from the 7th to the end of this month for submitting applications for a new type of financial support, which is envisaged for Croatian micro-enterprises (as small employers) affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the amount of 2,000 kuna per worker for the month of July. According to the projections of the Ministry of Labour, the new measure of the Croatian Employment Service (CES) for preserving jobs could be used by small employers in relation to 100,000 workers. It is also important in their…

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been incredibly damaging to the European retail trade, with Croatia's economy being among the worst hit in the entire European Union (EU). While there were some 'good' aspects to come out of this, such as more Croats online shopping and turning to domestic produce, it's still very difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel for many. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of July, 2020, the growth of European retail trade was mostly driven by motor fuels on a monthly basis, given the fact that it recorded growth of almost…

  ZAGREB, July 7, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has impacted all European Union countries but not equally and the most affected countries are those that largely depend on tourism, notes the European Commission's summer 2020 economic forecast released on Tuesday. Croatia is among the three most affected countries in the European Union. The commission forecasts that Italy's GDP will contract the most (-11.2%) followed by Spain (-10.9%) and Croatia (-10.8%). Poland's economy is expected to decrease the least (-4.6%), and is followed by Denmark (-5.2%), Sweden (-5.3%), while Romania and Malta are with a fall of 6% respectively. The greatest EU…