Business
Thursday, 23 April 2020
Coronavirus: Interest-Free Government Loans Available to Cities, Municipalities
As Vedran Marjanovic/Novac writes on the 22nd of April, 2020, shortfalls in the budgets of various Croatian counties, cities, municipalities and state funds created through the measures put in place to assist the economy and residents affected by coronavirus will have interest-free loans from the state made available to them, according to a statement issued by Finance Minister Zdravko Maric recently. ''This instruction applies to all local and regional self-government units, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute and the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, which have experienced falls in revenue due to deferred payments, reimbursement or exemption from income tax and surtax,…
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Croatia's Government Surplus 1.55 Billion Kuna in 2019
ZAGREB, April 22, 2020 - In 2019, the consolidated general government surplus amounted to HRK 1.55 billion, or 0.4% of GDP, while the consolidated general government debt amounted to HRK 293 billion or 73.2% of GDP, shows a report on the Excessive Deficit Procedure by the national statistics office, published on Wednesday. In 2018, Croatia saw a consolidated government surplus of HRK 850 million or 0.2% of GDP while the consolidated government debt amounted to HRK 286 billion or 74.4% of GDP. The official statistics indicate that 2019 was the third consecutive year that the government achieved a general government…
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Coronavirus: Bureaucracy-Loving Croatia Impressive in Digitisation
Paper, stamps and photocopies of obscure documents are, alongside the sea, what Croatia is well known for. It seems the coronavirus crisis has forced Croatia into the 21st century, and not a moment too soon... As Tomislav Pili/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of April, 2020, the current coronavirus pandemic has proven the importance of digitising a range of economic sectors, and Croatia is, rather shockingly, quite satisfactory in this area, according to an analysis by the European Investment Bank (EIB) entitled ''Who is ready for a new digital age'', which was presented on Monday. Croatia is ranked among the…
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Finance Ministry Issues 2.55 Billion Kuna Worth of Treasury Bonds
ZAGREB, April 21, 2020 - The Croatian Ministry of Finance sold HRK 2.55 billion worth of treasury bonds at an auction on Tuesday, considerably more than planned. In advance of the maturity of HRK 1.16 billion worth of treasury bonds, the Ministry offered HRK 1.5 billion for subscription with a maturity of one year. Financial institutions submitted bids totalling HRK 2.55 billion and the Ministry accepted them all. The Ministry issued HRK 2.55 billion in kuna-denominated treasury bonds with a maturity of one year and at an interest rate of 0.06%, the same as at the previous auction. The low…
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Employers Call for Immediate Reduction and Revocation of Parafiscal Taxes
ZAGREB, April 21, 2020 - The Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) on Tuesday called for the reduction of the 20 highest parafiscal taxes, whereas other parafiscal charges should be either revoked or reduced by 70%. The HUP believes that during the coronavirus crisis it is high time that those charges were thoroughly analysed and most of them revoked or reduced. The press release signed by HUP director-general Davor Majetić reads that the current crisis imposes an obligation on the authorities to remove all hurdles and costs that make doing business harder and affect the investment potential of companies in Croatia. The…
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
CNB Governor Boris Vujcic: Croatian GDP Dropping Three Percent Every Month
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of April, 2020, Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujcic spoke on Dnevnik N1 about moves the Croatian National Bank (CNB/HNB) is making in connection with the ongoing coronavirus crisis. He said that Croatia is currently in an unusual situation, as is the case when part of the economy needs to be shut down. "Estimates which are now being made roughly estimate that one month of shutting down the economy brings us a three-point drop in GDP. According to the IMF, the GDP drop 3 percent every month,'' Boris Vujcic said, adding that at the…
Monday, 20 April 2020
Croatian Inspectors Seal 20 Restaurants Contrary to Tourism Ministry Instructions
April 20, 2020 - Glas Poduzetnika demands to enable the operation of Croatian entrepreneurs' restaurants. The sad fact is that we became a slave nation that, through its supervisory activities, in an unprecedented situation in modern history, punishes small businesses who are trying to maintain work activity and keep job positions while letting global corporations work through drive-in facilities. Yesterday, we received information about a large number of closed facilities due to the distribution of food in front of the objects or the food brought to the customer's car. As per their records, the decisions state the violation of article…
Monday, 20 April 2020
Croatian Tourism In the Age of Corona? Czech Agencies Have A Plan
April 19, 2020 — Czechs, who colloquially consider the Adriatic “our sea”, are trying to salvage their summer plans — and Croatia's tourism season in the process. Travel associations in the Czech Republic proposed a model for a “corona corridor” straight to the Adriatic Coast, letting foreign visitors bypass a 14-day mandatory self-isolation period. The plan targets countries with a much lower infection rate that the Czech Republic itself. “We have asked ministries to find a solution to save the summer tourist season or travel agencies,” Jan Papez, president of the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, told Jutarnji List. Croatia…
Monday, 20 April 2020
Registered Unemployment Rate in March 8.6%
ZAGREB, April 20, 2020 - At the end of March, there were 1.515 million employed persons in Croatia, which is almost the same number as in the previous month or 715 fewer workers, while the number of job-seekers rose by 4%, sending the registered unemployment rate up by 0.3 percentage points to 8.6%. Data from the national statistical office (DZS) shows that there were 1,515,174 employed persons in the country at the end of March, an annual increase of 0.5%. In mid-March Croatia introduced restrictions to step up the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, which has caused a decrease in…
Monday, 20 April 2020
Donation of Huawei Tablets for Zagreb Families
ZAGREB, April 20, 2020 - Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica and the Director General of Huwaei Croatia, Zhang Heng, on Monday visited Zagreb families who were left without their homes in the March 22 earthquake and are living in a student dormitory in Zagreb, donating to them Huawei tablets worth HRK 250,000. The Chinese technology company donated 170 MediaPad T5 10 tablets to families affected by the earthquake. Minister Malenica spoke with citizens about their everyday routine in the temporary accommodation, recalling the possibility of using digital services, which would help them in coping with their current situation, the ministry…
Monday, 20 April 2020
Could Italian Bankruptcy Pose New Threat to Croatian Economy?
Could Italy's uncertain economic future be a blow to the Croatian economy? While things currently remain decent in terms of Italian liquidity, the way things will play out with the coronavirus pandemic are difficult to predict, and the Croatian economy is already being squeezed without the idea of a major trading partner and neighbour going under. As Gojko Drljaca/Novac writes on the 20th of April, 2020, more and more analysts and investors are questioning the chances of the now truly enfeebled Italy simply going bankrupt. At the moment, there is no major threat to Italy's liquidity, as the European Central…
