Business

ZAGREB, February 27, 2020 - The national civil protection authority on Thursday informed business people, members of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), about measures that are being taken with regard to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and its possible impact on the national economy, noting that there is no reason to panic. *Follow this page for updates from Total Croatia News on the coronavirus in Croatia. Contact numbers for epidemiologists, travel advisories and measures for preventing the spread of the coronavirus can be found here. The head of the national civil protection authority, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, said that…

ZAGREB, February 27, 2020 - Atlantic Grupa generated HRK 5.43 billion in sales revenue in 2019, an increase of 3.4% on the year, while net profit rose by 59.8% to HRK 390.4 million, the food company said in a financial statement on Thursday. Operating profit (EBIT) in 2019 amounted to HRK 500.4 million, an increase of 36.4% compared with 2018. Without one-off items and changes in accounting standards based on comparison, operating profit increased by 13.1% and net profit was up by 28.9%, the company said. "Atlantic Grupa concluded 2109 with the historically highest revenue and profit. The year was…

ZAGREB, February 27, 2020 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Wednesday that Croatia has fulfilled almost half of the 19 measures in six different categories required to adopt the euro and join the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II). Early in July 2019 Croatia sent a letter of intent to join ERM II, along with an action plan containing reform measures that need to be implemented by May this year when the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to deliver its decision on Croatia joining the banking union, i.e. on establishing close cooperation with the Croatian National Bank (HNB). The…

ZAGREB, February 27, 2020 - After five years of economic recovery, Croatia's GDP in 2019 reached the pre-crisis level but compared to the European average, Croatia did not converge from 2008 to 2018, reads a report the European Commission published on Wednesday. The report also notes that Croatia has continued making progress in correcting macroeconomic imbalances but that they are still present. As part of its European Semester Winter package, the EC published reports on the overall economic and social progress in each member state and an analysis of the macroeconomic situation in the countries with macroeconomic imbalances or excessive…

The Zagreb company 3D Tech is planning to enter the demanding European and global markets, but they're also seeing great success right here at home on the Croatian market, where they cooperate with the clinic Fiziodent, Simply Smile and even with the likes of Rimac Automobili. As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of February, 2020, the Republic of Croatia is once again bathing in success at various international innovation fairs, and the latest is the Zagreb company 3D Tech, which won a gold medal and a special award for best innovation in the product design category at the…

ZAGREB, February 26, 2020 - Business conditions in Croatia are better compared to last year, but Croatia lags behind other countries in the region, show the results of an American Chamber (AmCham) Croatia survey on the business environment in Croatia, presented on Wednesday. "Although a significant number of respondents rated their business experience in Croatia as average (43%), when compared to 2018, there is an increase of positive business experience in Croatia, which was 49% in 2019, as well as a decrease of the negative experience. Also, 52% of the respondents have noticed improvement of business conditions in the last…

As Novac writes on the 26th of February, 2020, banning shops operating on Sundays would have a negative effect on the growth and competitiveness of the Croatian economy. A far more constructive solution is an amendment to the Labour Law, which would prescribe a minimum increase in wages for those doing work on Sundays, holidays or any other day which would otherwise not be a working day. Of course, this should be done within the framework of a thoroughly conducted social dialogue with trade unions and employers in the trade sector and other related sectors,'' said Kristijan Kotarski, a professor…

ZAGREB, February 25, 2020 - The taxpayers' association Lipa is against a ban on Sunday work because it would have a negative impact on the economy, the association's representatives said at a news conference on Tuesday, presenting Lipa's Competitiveness Barometer. By presenting the Competitiveness Barometer the association wants to promote the process of adoption of decisions on economic policies in Croatia. Lipa president Davor Huić said that Croatia's long-term growth potential was below one percent and that some of the reasons were the inefficiency of the public sector, high taxes, and a poor business climate. "There is no strong focus…

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who on Monday attended the EBRD's Western Balkans Investment Summit 2020 in London, called on potential investors to invest in that part of Europe. Croatia will do all it can to help its southeast neighbours and the investment community needs to utilise this opportunity to the benefit of those countries and for the benefit of the entire European Union, said Plenković at the event organised by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The summit meeting was opened by EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti and Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej…

ZAGREB, February 24, 2020 - Croatia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached €11,893 per capita in 2017, with only the City of Zagreb and three coastal counties surpassing the national average, data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows. Zagreb's GDP per capita was three times as high as that of Virovitica-Podravina County, which was the lowest. Expressed in the national currency, the kuna, Gross Domestic Product per capita in 2017 amounted to 88,726 kuna, which is a nominal growth rate of 5.4% compared with 2016, while the growth rate in euro is 6.4%. Statistics also show that Croatia's Gross Domestic…