Business

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - The European Commission has approved a three-year extension of a moratorium on the sale of Croatian farmland to foreigners, the Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday. The Commission on Tuesday adopted a decision prolonging the transitional period during which EU citizens cannot buy farmland in Croatia. The decision ensures an additional period that should be used to fully exploit the agricultural potential by restoring as much farmland as possible to production use, the ministry said. It recalled that in the EU accession treaty, Croatia was given a seven-year transitional period during which the sale of farmland to other member…

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - In May 2020, consumer prices decreased 0.6% on the year, falling for the second consecutive month, the national statistical office said on Tuesday. In April 2020, consumer prices decreased by 0.2% in the year, which was their first annual decrease since the end of 2016. The annual decrease in May was primarily due to transport prices, which account for over 15% of the consumer basket.  Prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels decreased annually by 1.9%. On the other hand, prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded the highest annual increase, by 4.3%,…

ZAGREB, June 15, 2020 - The situation on the labour market is positive and we do not expect any lay-offs because the government's measure to shorten the working week will additionally protect entrepreneurs, jobs and the economy overall, Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Monday. "We are monitoring the situation on the labour market every day and after we successfully fought off the crisis, we have 16,000 more people employed than at the start of May," said Aladrovic after a signing ceremony for a project on managing state assets. Aladrovic estimated that jobkeeping subsidies for May amounted to…

As Morski writes on the 14th of June, 2020, Brodosplit has made a contract with the Greek company Avax for the construction of a steel structure for the Ston bridge and the Prapratno viaduct, facilities on the Ston bypass route, which is part of the project of connecting the extreme south of Croatia and the access roads to the long awaited Peljesac Bridge. This is the first big job for one of the Croatian companies in the entire road connection project of the south of Croatia with the rest of the country, a project worth three billion kuna. The value…

ZAGREB, June 14, 2020 - Croatia annually loses HRK 835 million in sales income due to counterfeiting and piracy in key economic sectors, EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, has recently stated. The EUIPO office, based in Alicante, Spain, is responsible for managing the EU trademark and the registered Community design. Its latest annual report covers the sectors of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, spirits and wines, and toys and games. For instance, sales of counterfeit pharmaceutical products lead to an annual loss of HRK 394 million, and in the whole of the EU, the damage is estimated at HRK 45 billion. When it comes…

As Novac writes on the 11th of June, 2020, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) has asked the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning to send a recommendation to the local self-government unit on lifting the ban on construction works during the summer. "We sent the request on behalf of construction companies whose working conditions were significantly hampered by the coronavirus crisis. During the pandemic, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce managed to prevent construction sites from closing and to open shops for construction materials and equipment as soon as possible, which preserved activity and jobs in this industry. The complete…

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of June, 2020, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a number of Croatian companies and employers have applied for government aid to preserve jobs in coronavirus-affected activities. The aid, which comes as part of a special government measure, is intended for sectors whose business cannot be opened for objective reasons and for those which have experienced a (proven) decline of more than 50 percent, which relates to the terms of extended aid for June (it was previously intended solely for March, April and May, when it referred to a decline of more…

Could June bring the reactivation of at least part of the enfeebled Croatian economy with it, along with some warm weather? Statistics, although cold, provide a glimmer of hope. As Novac writes on the 12th of June, 2020, the seven-year recovery period for the European Union's labour market has been abruptly stopped in its tracks by the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and unemployment has risen in almost all member states. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for most EU27 members rose back in March, but at the level of the EU27 average itself, it remained the same as…

ZAGREB, June 11, 2020 - The engagement with the six Eastern Partnership states remains an EU priority and almost €4 billion in aid has been mobilised for them, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Thursday after a video conference with his counterparts in the initiative. "We confirmed that the engagement with these six states remains a European Union priority," he said after two video conferences, one on tourism and the other an informal meeting of EU and Eastern Partnership ministers. The EU is solidary with those states, as shown by the mobilisation of €962 million as part of the…

ZAGREB, June 11, 2020 - With the support of the Enterprise Europe Network, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce has launched "Go global - Go virtual", a project aimed at expediting the recovery of the domestic economy after the COVID-19 crisis, the HGK said on Thursday. It concerns the organization of online B2B meetings for Croatian companies with foreign partners on markets in which Croatian business people, according to a survey, are most interested - Slovenia, Russia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. The first virtual meetings will be organized with business people from Slovenia, Ivan Barbaric of the…