Business

ZAGREB, February 7, 2020 - Croatia's commodity exports in 2019 totalled 114.1 billion kuna, up 5.7% on the year, while imports reached HRK 184 billion, an increase of 4.4%, the national statistical office said on Friday. The foreign trade deficit was 70 billion kuna, 1.66 billion kuna higher than in 2018. The coverage of imports by exports increased from 61.2% to 62%. In 2019, commodity exports to EU countries totalled 78.3 billion kuna, up 5.6% on the year, while exports to non-EU countries went up 6% to 35.75 billion kuna. Commodity imports from EU countries went up 7.4% to 147.8…

February 7, 2020 - Lauba in Zagreb hosted the third edition of the Digital (R)evolution conference (Digitalna (R)evolucija), with over 600 strategists and creators of digital economy attending. Croatian Employers Association (HUP) and their ICT section organized the conference. Darko Horvat, Croatian Minister of Economy, supported the conference by attending. Gordana Deranja, HUP President, said at the opening that it's important to remember that the digital transformation is just partially connected to the new technology. In the full sense, the term means changing the way of work, a different approach, and a different mindset. That requires a lot of work…

Croatia's Best Employer Brand Awards 2019 was a complete success for Atlantic Group, who managed to win five awards, including the Grand Prix award and the employer branding award.  Atlantic Group's senior employer branding and culture specialist, Tina Miličić, gave an interview, in which she tried to explain the organization of work and how the employer branding activities are performed within the Group. Ms. Miličić initially said that they've been working on employer branding within the Group for the past five years, initiated by Ivana Đorđević with most of the initiatives directed towards the current employers. That strategy led to…

ZAGREB, February 7, 2020 - The government on Thursday sent to the parliament a bill on foreigners with new regulations on their employment in Croatia, and the government will no longer have the duty to set quotas for the employment of foreign nationals. Under the bill, employers shall contact the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) when planning to recruit new workers, and the HZZ will provide them with its opinion after testing the labour market. If it is established that there are no jobless people registered with the HZZ with the qualifications specified in the request submitted by the employer, the…

February 7, 2020 - The fourth Adria Business Network was held at the FORUM Convention Center, organized by entrepreneurs Zeljka Barisic and Kristina Krstinic. The event is aimed at business networking in Croatia and the region, creating business opportunities and fostering continuing education. Through the event, everyone is offered the chance to find new clients and enter into lucrative deals. Guest lecturer Dace Ulste, director of BNI Croatia, shared her years of experience about how networking is just like the word 'networking', and that it takes years for you to build a good quality network of contacts. Each ongoing contact…

ZAGREB, February 6, 2020 - Nearly 65% of Croatians are inclined to alternatives to vehicles powered by petroleum fuels, but are not too keen on the idea of car sharing, a survey by tyre manufacturer Goodyear shows. Goodyear has conducted an online poll in Slovenia and Croatia using the Facebook application Messenger to find out what people think about mobility in the future. The survey covered 1,794 Croatians and 962 Slovenians; it was held between 24 October and 24 November 2019 in Croatia and between 15 November and 16 December in Slovenia. The survey found that Croatians are inclined to…

Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) has stopped shipping small packages from China to Croatia, everything ordered through AliExpress will not be shipped. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 6th of February, 2020, fortunately, the coronavirus epidemic has not yet hit the health of the population in Croatia, but its onset has already hit the domestic economy. Fuel might well be getting cheaper, but online purchases from China, primarily via AliExpress, has now been discontinued, and Croatian retailers predict that the economic impact of coronavirus, primarily on technological products, may soon be coming in the form of higher prices. Oil prices…

ZAGREB, February 6, 2020 - Croatian National Bank (HNB) Governor Boris Vujčić submitted a report on the implementation of monetary policy in 2018-2019 to Parliament on Wednesday, saying that positive economic trends continued on the labour market with increased employment and wages. "We also saw increased personal spending which led to GDP growth of 3.1%, while the positive effects on exports after Croatia's accession to the EU were decreasing as expected," Vujčić said. He added that the HNB was pursuing an expansionary monetary policy, securing liquidity on the capital market and exchange rate stability. Interest rates dropped to record lows,…

ZAGREB, February 5, 2020 - Croatia has only inherited the proposal to raise the minimum flight delay for which passengers can receive financial compensation, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said on Wednesday. "This proposal was not put forward by the Croatian EU presidency, a Croatian ministry or the Croatian government. This point is again being raised by the European Commission during our presidency and is yet to be discussed," Butković told the press before an inner cabinet meeting. "Croatia's position on the matter is logical and normal. We will not be asking for air companies to get richer at…

ZAGREB, February 5, 2020 - The European Union will consider raising from three hours the minimum flight delay for which passengers can receive financial compensation, a move that could cut airlines' costs, according to a document seen by Reuters. Croatia, which is chairing the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020, "has proposed amending the rules on compensation for delays and cancellations at talks among EU governments on revising passengers' rights that are due to start in the coming weeks." "Under EU rules, travellers are entitled to up to 600 euros (663.24 dollars) if a flight…