Business

ZAGREB, October 4, 2019 - A 1.43 billion kuna (€193 million) co-financing agreement for the construction and reconstruction of the municipal water supply infrastructure in the Kastela and Trogir agglomeration was signed in Split on Thursday. The work should be completed by December 2023. The agreement was signed by Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić, the CEO of the Hrvatske Vode water management company, Zoran Đuroković, and the CEO of Split's "Vodovod i Kanalizacija" company, Tomislav Šuta. The project provides for the construction and reconstruction of more than 125 kilometres of the water supply network and over 230 kilometres of…

ZAGREB, October 3, 2019 - The European Commission on Thursday welcomed the establishment of Feelsgood, the first Croatian investment fund which will help early- to growth-stage startups with an ecological and social impact. "The launch of the new Feelsgood Fund in Croatia, which is being financially backed by the European Investment Fund and the Juncker Plan, is good news. Not only are key sectors, such as the circular economy and healthcare, to receive a financial boost, but those companies will make a positive social impact," said Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue. The €30 million…

The Croatian Government has finally leaked information about the date of the announcement of Croatia's national artificial intelligence development strategy, which should have actually been completed by this summer. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 2nd of October, 2019, within sixty days, the Republic of Croatia should receive its first national artificial intelligence (AI) development strategy. Politically, this is a necessary document for the government to open the way forward to more than 2.5 billion euros in subsidies for both private and public companies and state administrations, intended solely to encourage the implementation of AI. With the development of…

As Novac writes on the 3rd of October, 2019, Jurica Lovrinčević, CEO of Pevec, has revealed in a new issue of Lider that he will propose to the general assembly to change the name of the very well known trading company to move the company away from the past and former owners. Although a legal battle against the Pevec family was finally won after four long years of trying, which involved suing the company for copyright infringement (for using the family name Pevec), Lovrinčević thinks that the company should go in that direction regardless of the ''win'' in the court,…

October 3, 2019 - The 4th Business Café International event, which gathers foreign entrepreneurs starting a business and moving to Croatia, will be held Monday, October 14th in Zagreb at 6 p.m. at the Rooftop Lateral, Strojarska 20/26. Business Café International was established to highlight the opposite of migration trends, i.e., showing examples of entrepreneurs who moved to Croatia to start businesses. It is a joint effort to make Croatia a country that is not just great to live in, but also an attractive place for doing business.  Kristina Ercegović, Business Café founder, with this new project, continues to promote…

ZAGREB, October 2, 2019 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Wednesday that the government is always prepared for talks with teachers' unions, which have announced strike action in elementary and secondary schools for October 10. The unions have said that the strike will last until their demand is met for a 6% increase of the job complexity index in the education sector. They called out the government because even two weeks after talks were held the government has still not presented its stance. Speaking to reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting, Marić said that the government is always…

The second largest operator in the Republic of Croatia, A1 Croatia (Hrvatska), has now launched a new service after only two weeks of having tested it, the fastest ever. And it's already bringing in visible results. As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of October, 2019, at a time when classic stores are gradually being transformed digitally by being closed down and being replaced by online and mobile stores, turning into cafes and lounge bars, or expanding their offer indefinitely, an alternative has emerged. A1 Croatia officially unveiled the very first A1 Virtual Shop on Tuesday. The new store…

ZAGREB, October 1, 2019 - Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, addressing a conference on Tuesday marking the 150th anniversary of the start of construction of the Zagreb - Rijeka railway line, announced that about €3.5 billion would be invested by 2030 in the reconstruction and construction of the railway infrastructure. Opening a business forum, Butković said that the Zagreb-Rijeka railway had a lot of potential even today and that the development of the railway infrastructure was one of the main preconditions to achieve the full potential of the port of Rijeka. He said that an estimated…

ZAGREB, October 1, 2019 - The Slovenian-Croatian commission on the Krško nuclear power plant failed at a meeting in Bled on Monday to reach a consensus on building a joint radioactive waste storage facility in Vrbina near Krško, Slovenia, and Croatia continues activities aimed at building its own facility. The meeting discussed the successful operation of the co-owned power plant and possibilities for storing medium- and low-level radioactive waste from Krško, but a consensus on a joint storage facility in Vrbina has not been reached for now, Croatian Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić and Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek…

October 1, 2019 - More international recognition for Bagatin Clinic from Zagreb and Split, which continues to raise the bar in Croatian medical tourism.  It is about two years since I first became aware of the Croatian medical tourism industry, and I must confess I find its dynamics fascinating. That initial discovery of the excellence of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital, one of the Leading Hospitals of the World, Svjetlost Eye Clinic, and Bagatin Clinic was an impressive window into an area of tourism where Croatia has the potential to punch above its weight on the global stage and attract lucrative…