Business

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - The Croatian Pensioners Union (SUH), which insists on raising the income threshold for eligibility to free supplemental health insurance so that a higher number of pensioners can be given free-of charge supplemental health insurance, on Thursday sent an open letter to the government with its demands. Representatives of the SUH gathered outside Government House in the morning to inform the general public of their demand that the government should provide a higher number of pensioners with free supplemental health insurance. The unionists warn that the pension indexation in the last years led to higher monthly…

ZAGREB, October 24, 2019 - The latest Doing Business study, issued by the World Bank on Wednesday, shows that Croatia has continued to improve its business regulations and now ranks 51 on the ease of doing business ranking, moving up seven spots since its previous ranking. The World Bank says that Croatia "is catching up with global regulatory best practices." This year when the study covers 190 countries, Croatia ranks 51 on the ease of doing business, compared to 58 last year. "The country’s ease of doing business score went up from 73.0 in the Doing Business 2019, to 73.6…

October 23, 2019 - Lessons from Poland, the latest opportunity for Croatia's medical tourism chiefs to learn best practices from another country, but is anyone listening?  Sometimes the clearest lessons come from the most unlikely of places. The 3rd Adriatic Health, Sport & Tourism Investment Forum concluded in Zagreb yesterday. It was a very stimulating event for me personally n terms of international contacts made, as well as being extremely well supported by some impressive international expert speakers, two Croatian government ministers, high-profile characters from the world of Croatian sport such as Davor Suker and Marin Cilic, and others. But…

ZAGREB, October 23, 2019 - The INA oil and gas company on Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of continued production of natural gas in the Adriatic Sea. "In the last 20 years over 21 billion cubic metres of gas has been extracted by 18 platforms in the northern Adriatic. These figures encourage us to make further progress in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Croatia, primarily in the northern Adriatic which offers the potential which I believe we will know how to use," Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said at a ceremony held on the Ivana A platform,…

ZAGREB, October 23, 2019 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Wednesday that the budget for next year, which the government is expected to put forward next week, would be balanced regardless of the announced increase in the base pay for government and public sector workers, but he would not say if the job complexity index for education workers would be increased. The minister said the government was working on a budget that included a 6.12% increase in the base pay of government and public sector employees, to be implemented in three rounds. He noted that the increase would be…

ZAGREB, October 23, 2019 - The government can support exporters and enterprises by reducing para-fiscal charges and by offering financial schemes for improvement energy efficiency in industry, Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said at a convention of exporters organised by the Lider business weekly newspaper. Minister Ćorić says that Croatian exporters are faced with a series of challenges, some of these being an increasing cost of labour and electricity which is something the state cannot influence to any great degree. However, the authorities can reduce para-fiscal charges, which it is already doing, he added. He recalled that currently a…

Asked how he assesses Croatia's prospects of attracting a large investment, especially important because what is in question is a propulsive industry, Croatian entrepreneur Branko Roglić emphasised the fact that it depends solely on whether or not Croatia will do everything necessary to actually set itself apart and as such be selected for this project. As Suzana Varosanec/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 22nd of October, 2019, Mate Rimac is a great Croatian innovator, and I'm 100 percent sure that thanks to his involvement and business activities in the field of electric cars, which is growing by 10 percent per year,…

ZAGREB, October 23, 2019 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said after a three-hour meeting of the ruling coalition on Tuesday evening that the coalition was agreed that the budget and public finance framework for next year was good and should be maintained. "We are all agreed, I believe that all members of the coalition and the parliamentary majority agree that the budget and public finance framework for next year is good and should be maintained," said the minister. The ruling coalition discussed at its meeting a budget revision for this year, the 2020 budget and the fourth round of the…

As Glas Istre writes on the 22nd of October, 2019, since back in 2017, MK Group has owned the Skipper Resort in Savudrija, Istria, a complex covering over 200,000 square metres in total. The complex includes Kempinski Hotel Adriatic, as many as 21 luxury villas, golf courses and apartments. With this year's investments of over three million euros in Kempinski Hotel Adriatic in Croatia and the announced new investments of two million euros over the next year, MK Group confirms their clear intention to develop the tourist destinations in which it operates and showcases their desire to make them a…

ZAGREB, October 22, 2019 - A total of 1.56 million people in Croatia were gainfully employed at the end of September 2019, which is 10,899 persons or 0.7% fewer than in the previous month, while the registered unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 6.8% in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS). Compared with September 2018, the number of people in work was 0.9% higher. Data from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) show 112,376 people were registered with the HZZ at the end of September 2019, down by 1.9% from August 2019 and by 13.9% from…