Business

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes on the 16th of December, 2019, in addition to traditional topics such as customs and market access, this should be a new generation agreement as it will also address regulatory issues, barriers and more with a significant impact on trade and investment. Just how much could the EU-Australia free trade agreement benefit Croatian companies? The Free Trade Agreement, which has plagued the European Union and Australia for the past eighteen months, and could take a year to open, also opens up the opportunity for Croatian companies to step into the large, and hitherto poorly explored,…

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of December, 2019, Croatian Jadroplov has a new opportunity for a "restart" ready and open for it. Last week, the shipping administration, 70 percent of which is owned by the state, reported that they had reached an agreement with Norddeutsche Landesbank in Hanover, after months of negotiations, agreeing that the creditor would agree to write off 40 percent of the claims lodged against Croatian Jadroplov's companies. Norddeutsche LB is ready to write off all of the claims for a minimum of 28 million US dollars. In order to confirm the agreement, some…

ZAGREB, December 16, 2019 - The existing gap between Croatians and other residents in the EU in terms of the average income per capita can be narrowed by higher and better investments of the public sector alongside investments of the private sector, according to conclusions made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "If, for example, Croatia were to aspire to bridge 15 percentage points of the current average per person income gap with the EU by 2030, the economy would need to grow at 1.5 percentage points more rapidly than the EU average, over this period. To maintain such higher…

ZAGREB, December 16, 2019 - Croatia's economy is expected to grow by 3% in 2019 and slow down to 2.8% in 2020, while favourable labour market trends are expected to continue, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) said on Monday. Inflation is projected at 0.8% in 2019, due to a reduction of VAT on certain products and a fall in oil prices, while in 2020 it is expected to pick up to 1.4% as a result of increased food prices and higher excise taxes. The HNB forecasts a higher current account and capital account surplus than last year, thanks to increased…

ZAGREB, December 16, 2019 - The dm-drogerie markt, Infinum and COBE companies are the best employers of 2019 in Croatia, according to the findings of a survey which the MojPortal job-seeking website conducted among 52 companies. Dm-drogerie markt was awarded as the best employer among big companies, Infinitum among medium and COBE among small ones. The awards were presented at a conference organised by the U4HR association and the Lider business weekly earlier this week. Among big companies, Rimac Automobili is the second-best employer of the year, followed by Zubak Grupa. Among medium companies, Degordian Hrvatska is second, followed by…

Croatian shipbuilding continues to be largely ignored or at the very best underestimated and neglected by the Croatian state. Pula's ailing Uljanik shipyard and Rijeka's equally problematic 3 Maj shipyard haven't been the subject of happy headlines and good news for a long time now, leading all and sundry to believe the worst of Croatia's shipbuilding industry - which once flourished. Not everything is so bleak, though, at least not for busy Brodosplit. As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak/Privredni.hr writes on the 15th of December, 2019, a brand new delivery of a mega section for a passenger cruiser under construction in Monfalcone, Italy's…

ZAGREB, December 15, 2019 - The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) mostly complies with recommendations by European regulators regarding the prevention of suspicious transactions, an analysis by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) shows. ESMA analysed the work of regulators in 30 European countries in the categories supervision of financial companies and the system of detection of suspicious transactions. Also analysed were the regulators' responses to poor-quality reporting or non-reporting of suspicious transactions. ESMA also assessed the quality of regulatory analyses of suspicious transactions, cross-border data exchange, and supervision resources. HANFA was assessed as mostly compliant in three…

As Glas Istre/Mirjana Vermezovic Ivanovic writes on the 13th of December, 2019, it's common knowledge that the situation in the Croatian economy and production as a whole is not exactly great. Croatia is right at the back, far from where it should be, and all experts warn of the need for restructuring and substantive reform, of which currently, there isn't even the letter "r". Croatia can hardly compensate for the rut it is stuck in with the current way it has of managing things, the biggest problems being high levies, tax and non-tax payments, parafiscal charges and a large and…

December 14, 2019 - From a small family business of one 35m2 store in 1990 to among the London Stock Exchange's 50 most innovative companies in Europe. Meet Tokic Croatia.  Did you know that last month Peter Altmaier, the German Minister of Economy and Energy visited a Croatian automotive company to learn about innovative techniques in an industry where Germany is a global leader? And that the company was not Rimac? There is a saying that Croatians can forgive you anything but success. It is one of the reasons why many Croatian success stories are under the radar, why so…

ZAGREB, December 13, 2019 - In 2018, Croatia was second to last among the EU member states in actual individual consumption and GDP per capita, Bulgaria being last, Eurostat and Croatia's national statistical office said on Friday. Actual individual consumption per capita expressed in purchasing power standards was 36% below the EU average in Croatia last year, as against 38% below in 2017. Last year Croatia and Hungary were second to last in the EU28. Bulgaria's actual individual consumption per capita was 44% below the EU average. Latvia was another country whose actual individual consumption was over 30% below the…