Business

ZAGREB, May 7, 2020 - If the successful fight against the coronavirus in Croatia, its neighbours and central European countries continues, the opening of the borders and partial tourism activity will be possible, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told the US television channel CNBC on Wednesday. If we all fight Covid-19 equally well, we will come to a stage where we can consider opening the borders and that is our ambition, Plenković said, citing positive trends in fighting the novel coronavirus in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. He said that the aim was to achieve…

Could the owner of multiple Croatian marinas become the owner of a stake in the currently enfeebled Italian football league? Although involved parties have denied to comment, unofficial allegations have surfaced. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Tomislav Pili writes on the 6th of May, 2020, two major investment companies, CVC Capital Partners and Blackstone, are in separate negotiations to purchase a stake in the Italian Serie A football league, which is facing huge financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. CVC has a long history of investing in sport, and as such, it was once the owner of a share in the famous…

ZAGREB, May 6, 2020 - It will take five years for the Croatian trade sector to recover from the impact of the crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Wednesday. "The public must be aware that the trade sector has borne a heavy burden on its shoulders, without increasing margins or prices, which helped all the citizens in this crisis," the HGK vice-president for trade, Josip Zaher, said at a meeting of the HGK's trade association. Zaher said that retail trade had dropped by 25% in April. The association's president Ivica Katavić said:…

ZAGREB, May 6, 2020 - Union representatives on Wednesday said, after the start of negotiations with the relevant ministry regarding new collective agreements, that they would not accept a reduction of rights in the public sector, warning of the damaging consequences should the government persist with that intention. The government has put forward a proposal that due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, salaries should not be increased in June and October for employees in public and state services and that employees not be paid Christmas and holiday bonuses this year. Secretary-General of the Grand Council of the…

ZAGREB, May 5, 2020 - Only 1,084 new passenger cars were sold in Croatia in April 2020, which is 87.4% fewer than in the same month in 2019, while 11,113 were sold since the start of the year, a decrease of 46.5% year on year, according to data provided by the Promocija Plus market research agency. In the year to the end of April, Volkswagen (VW) was the best-selling car brand with 1,865 units sold, ahead of Skoda (1,674), Renault (739), Dacia (652) and Hyundai (555). In April, the best-selling models were the Skoda Octavia (84 vehicles sold), the VW…

May 5, 2020 — Zadar waits. While Croatia’s Tourism Ministry and industry groups around the country try to salvage a summer season wrecked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Zadar waits. “It is clear that health is an absolute priority. We all hope the stabilization of the epidemiological situation and the opening of markets and economy will facilitate the implementation of the summer part of this year's tourist season,” Zadar Tourist Board Director Mario Paleka told Zadarski List. “Although it is thankless to predict anything because we live and function in unprecedented experimental conditions, there are indications that a more free flow…

HAMAG BICRO has received a large amount of applications from Croatian business owners across the spectrum for loans. These enterprises have made their applications due to the fact that they have been financially hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis that has emerged from that. As Novac writes on the 5th of May, 2020, the Croatian Employers' Association and the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation and Investment organised a webinar with the aim of clarifying the measures in place to preserve the liquidity of small and medium Croatian companies. Croatia's business owners have now been being offered…

ZAGREB, May 5, 2020 - The Croatian Agriculture Ministry has launched an online web platform, Tržnica.hr, which offers farm produce from all over the country, the ministry said on Monday, noting that currently 550 farm producers offer their products via the platform. The platform has been launched to help farmers and fishermen in the current situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform enables the purchase and sale of domestic produce from all over the country. Currently buyers can choose between 11 product categories and the number of products on offer is expanded by the day. Public buyers will be…

ZAGREB, May 5, 2020 - The Croatian government on Monday held a conference call at which it adopted a decision to launch negotiations on the signing of an annex to the collective agreement for government employees and appoint the government's negotiating team. Also adopted was a decision on the launching of talks on an annex to the basic collective agreement for public sector employees. Decisions were adopted on the launching of talks on the signing of an annex to the agreement on an additional payment for employees in primary and secondary schools and science institutions and institutions of higher education…

ZAGREB, May 4, 2020 - The association of pensioners MUH and the trade union of pensioners SUH on Monday welcomed the increase of the means-test threshold for free supplementary health insurance in favour the poorest pensioners, while criticising the MP of the Pensioners' Party (HSU), Silvano Hrelja, for voting against this proposal. "It is surprising that the only elected representative of pensioners in the Croatian parliament voted against this indisputable move in favour of the poorest pensioners, and just because the proposal of his party to increase the means-test threshold did not pass a few months ago," the two organisations…