Business

ZAGREB, April 16, 2019 - Former Croatian National Bank Governor Željko Rohatinski says in his book "Crisis in Croatia" that the country is still in a crisis and that cooperation between companies, banks and the state as well as greater engagement on the state's part are necessary to overcome it. "In the book I analyse the development of the economic situation in Croatia from 2008 to 2018. There are indicators according to which we are coming out of the crisis. However, the accumulated problems are still of such intensity that we are actually still in crisis. Also, options are being…

As the Chinese show greater interest in various Croatian strategic projects, the EU and the EC become more and more uneasy at the thought of such a heavy Chinese business presence in Croatia. As the EC changes its attitude towards some Croatian projects to which it reacted negatively in the past, has the Chinese influence rendered this change of heart senseless? As Novac/Kresimir Zabec writes on the 13th of April, 2019, Croatia wants to finance the construction of the railway line from Karlovac to Rijeka, covering a length of 170 kilometres with EU funds, because that's more favourable to Croatia…

ZAGREB, April 14, 2019 - Croatian airports recorded a total of 252,000 passengers in February 2019, up 9.9% on February 2018, while the number of flight operations increased by 8.4% to 4,442, data from the national statistical office show. On the other hand, the amount of cargo handled by all nine airports fell by 15.4% to 734 tonnes. Zagreb airport recorded the largest number of passengers, 179,500, an increase of 5.8%, ahead of Dubrovnik airport (33,600 passengers, +39%) and Split airport (33,100 passengers, +13.7%) Osijek airport reported a 6% decline in the number of passengers, to 2,500, while Rijeka airport…

ZAGREB, April 13, 2019 - The Hungarian government has made an offer to buy 25 percent of a LNG terminal that is to be built in Croatia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists in Dubrovnik on Friday, according to MTI news agency. Szijjarto had talks with Croatia's Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić on the sidelines of a China-Central and Eastern Europe summit and said it was crucial for Central Europe to diversify its gas supplies. Szijjarto said it was in Hungary's strategic interest that the terminal should be built and that it should offer gas to Hungary at…

With the growth of retail sales for more than 50 months in a row and the growth of the purchasing power of citizens and consumer optimism, retailers are becoming more optimistic about doing business in Croatia. In addition to the Italian discounter Eurospin, the retail giant LC Waikiki, owned by two Turkish families Kucuk and Dizdar, will soon come to Croatia, reports Večernji List on April 13, 2019. The first store in Croatia will be opened at the Arena Centre in Zagreb in mid-May. According to advertisements for future employees which have been appearing on Croatian websites since the beginning…

ZAGREB, April 13, 2019 - The State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedures (Dkom) decided on Friday to annul the state-owned Hrvatske Ceste (HC) road operator's decision to award the Greek company J&P Avax a contract to build the Pelješac Bridge access roads, ordering HC to pay 100,000 kuna within eight days to a group of bidders led by Austria's Strabag to cover their appeals procedure costs. HC invited bids for the construction of said access road to the Pelješac Bridge on 9 March 2018, and decided on February 28 this year to award the contract to J&P Avax.…

ZAGREB, April 13, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday he had asked his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang to see if a major Chinese shipbuilding company would be interested in becoming a partner to the ailing Croatian shipyards Uljanik and 3rd May and helping in their restructure. "I have asked the Chinese premier, who in turn has asked his ministers, to invite a key Chinese shipbuilding company to visit Croatia, Uljanik and 3rd May and see if they would be interested in becoming a partner that would help in their restructure," Plenković told the RTL commercial television…

From the construction of Pelješac bridge to planning to build a car factory in southern Dalmatia's Neretva valley, to displaying interest in potentially rescuing the enfeebled Croatian shipyards Uljanik and 3 Maj, the Chinese are no strangers to showcasing their investment interest in Croatia. Croatia has earned itself a less than positive reputation among foreign investors, alright, let's not be so politially correct and say that Croatia is a burning hot mess in the eyes of foreign investors. ABC has come to mean ''Anything but Croatia'' in foreign investment circles, and many are simply bypassing the country entirely. That's not…

This Croatian startup's beginnings come from Zagreb and it first became well known back in 2014 as the first startup attract a large investment from outside of the Republic of Croatia. As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of April, 2019, the Croatian startup Bellabeat received an investment from AOL Ventures in the amount of 14.2 million dollars, the equivalent of 12.5 million euros. It's not the biggest investment to be received by a Croatian startup last year, as that remains marked by Porsche's entrance into the co-ownership of Rimac Automobila for 18.7 millions euros, but it remains the…

ZAGREB, April 12, 2019 - The use of state-owned farmland is becoming not only an economic but also a political problem that will be difficult to solve without a clear position of the Agriculture Ministry, and the failure to solve it will continue to contribute to the depopulation of rural areas, it was said at a round table discussion on the use of state-owned farmland, held in the eastern city of Osijek on Friday. Vladimir Margeta of the association of family farms "Život", which organised the event, said that more than a year had passed since the adoption of the…