Business

ZAGREB, January 2, 2020 - In 2019 revenue from road tolls on motorways operated by the Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC) and Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb (ARZ) companies amounted to more than 3 billion kuna, which is the most ever, and that it was collected from 61.56 million vehicles, HAC said on Thursday. According to the first data for 2019, a total of 61,565,203 vehicles was recorded on all motorways operated by HAC and ARZ, bringing in a revenue of 3.004 billion kuna in road tolls. This is the first time in history that revenue from road tolls exceeded 3 billion kuna, HAC said.…

ZAGREB, January 2, 2020 - During December 2019, Croatians spent nearly 16 billion kuna, according to figures provided by the Finance Agency (FINA) to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) on Thursday when the chamber pointed out that spending this December was a billion kuna higher than in December 2018. During December 2019, FINA processed receipts worth 15.8 billion kuna, and this means that we spent a billion kuna more than in December 2018, says Tomislava Ravlić of the HGK. This positive trend in spending is a result of the steady rise in wages due to the tax reforms, she…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 2nd of January, 2020, the names of companies who under the name of their brand boast city names such as London-New York-Tokyo, are generally large global companies that, due to the nature of their business, must be based in various parts of the world. Although there aren't many Croatian companies of that size and power, every once in a while there are Croatian companies that deploy their headquarter posts and spread their wings abroad. There are numerous companies of the kind across European and world capitals, and one is Startaparat, with Zagreb-Vienna-Dubai under its…

ZAGREB, January 2, 2020 - Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has expressed satisfaction with the indicators showing a growth in the Croatian tourist trade, and in this context, he underscores the importance of 20% growth in tourist spending. Tourist spending has risen by about 20%, and those are financial indicators that boost tourism, he told the national broadcaster (HRT) on Wednesday evening. Cappelli commented on the statistical figures provided by the Croatian National Bank (HNB) showing that Croatia earned 9.44 billion euro in revenues from foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2019, which is an increase of 769 million…

A well-known Croatian entrepreneur has abandoned his plans to transform a historical building in Pula, Croatia into a hotel and lost his 785,000 HRK (105,000 EUR) deposit after he was informed by government officials of unexpected additional costs. Another Failed Croatia Real Estate Venture Another real estate venture has failed in Croatia, this time in the historical center of Pula according to Barbara Ban/Novac/Jutarnji List on December 31, 2019. This project involved the renovation of Scracin building, which formerly housed the Croatian Pension Insurance Office (HZMO) and Croatian Health Insurance Office (HZZO). The building is located next to the Zlatna…

ZAGREB, January 1, 2020 - Ministries in charge of the economy have ambitious plans for 2020 including the construction and reconstruction of roads, railways and ports as well as improving macroeconomic indicators and the business climate which should lead to improvement of standard for citizens and facilitate doing business for entrepreneurs. The Finance Ministry says that the 2020 budget is directed to further tax reliefs of 2.3 billion kuna for workers and entrepreneurs. The ministry forecasts that intake of EU funds in 2020 will amount to 18.1 billion kuna and that the trend of decreasing the public debt to GDP…

ZAGREB, December 31, 2019 - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Tuesday released an updated list of systemically important financial institutions (SIFI) which continued to include seven commercial banks. The seven banks are Zagrebačka Banka (ZABA), Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ), Erste&Steiermaerkische Bank (Erste), Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA), OTP Banka Hrvatska, Addiko Bank and Hrvatska Poštanska Banka (HPB). In 2016, the HNB started applying the criterion of the capital conservation buffer (CCoB), which is a certain percentage of a bank’s total exposures that needs to be met and its objective is to conserve a bank’s capital. When a bank breaches the buffer,…

ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - Croatia's industrial production shrank by 0.4% compared to November 2018, whereas output in the first eleven months of 2019 rose by 0.8% compared to the corresponding period in 2018, the national statistical office (DZS) said on Monday. The DZS data show that November's industrial production also fell in comparison to October 2019, by 0.7%. Broken down by industry group, November's production of durable consumer goods saw the biggest rise of 17.5% on the year. Energy production increased 8.3%, and non-durable goods by 1.4%. On the other hand, the production of capital goods declined by 18.9%…

ZAGREB, December 31, 2019 - All restrictions imposed on Croatia due to classical swine fever have been lifted, allowing uninterrupted trade in live pigs, pork and pork products within Croatia and the European Union, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday. The order terminating the order on measures to prevent the emergence and spreading of classical swine fever went into force on December 27, the Ministry said. Croatia has thus been removed from the lists in the EU member states which imposed strict restrictions on the marketing of live pigs and pig products originating from the Croatian counties of Vukovar-Srijem,…

Croatian shipbuilding has been in dire straits, and when you hear the name ''Uljanik'', it conjures up images of a failing Croatian shipyard struggling to pay the bills, or should we say employees. However, is a new breath of life on the way for the burdened Uljanik shipyard? Maybe... As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of December, 2019, it is becoming increasingly certain that Pula's Uljanik shipyard will soon get a much needed spring put back in its tired step. According to what is currently unofficial information, the business plan for the continuation of shipbuilding at the Uljanik shipyard…