Business

ZAGREB, January 8, 2019 - The European Commission Vice President responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Valdis Domobrovskis, said on Tuesday that Croatia was working hard on the introduction of euro as its official currency, and that the process of Croatia's admission to the 19-strong euro area would be similar to the process involving Bulgaria that had already sent a letter of intent. Croatia is working seriously and intensively to create the prerequisites for its admission to the euro area, Latvian Dombrovkis told the press on Tuesday in Riga on the margins of a conference on Latvia's five years…

As Josip Bohutinski/VL/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of January, 2019, the Croatian Government is set to propose an increase in the amount of PSO contracts Croatia Airlines receives for domestic flights to the European Commission (EC). Croatia's national airline Croatia Airlines (CA) should select a financial advisor to develop a recapitalisation model and find a strategic partner by the end of this month. The two-time bidding was announced last September, and as has since come to be known, reputable world companies such as Deloitte, AT Kearney, PwC, the Boston Consulting Group and DBV, which are part of a consortium with Croatia's…

Last year, 60,041 new cars were sold in Croatia, which is 18.3 percent more than the year earlier, when 50,769 vehicles were sold, according to the Ministry of Interior's data gathered by the Promocija Plus agency. In December, buyers bought 2,412 vehicles, up 12.4 percent from December 2017, reports tportal.hr on January 8, 2019. Most of the new cars were sold by Volkswagen – 8,932, with the share in total sales of 14.9 percent, followed by Renault with 5.805 vehicles and 9.7 percent, and Škoda with 5.293 units and 8.8 percent. Opel sold 5.212 vehicles and was in the fourth…

Provided it is more successful than Croatian in reforms, Bulgaria could overtake Croatia in the World Bank’s Doing Business Rankings, warns the most recent analysis of business climate prepared by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), reports Jutarnji List on January 8, 2019. The HGK analysis is based on international competitiveness and business conditions research, especially the World Bank’s Doing Business. The Chamber is particularly concerned about the slow and costly administrative procedures encountered by entrepreneurs in Croatia. The most critical point of doing business in Croatia is the issuing of building permits. Croatia is the weakest member of the…

Investments in Croatia are growing in spite of the difficult investment climate which typically sends most would-be investors running for the hills, or just across the border to more investor-friendly climes. Ivanec, a town in continental Croatia, is due to see a rather large business investment which ties in with massive technological advancements - robotics. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 7th of January, 2019, this is a 1.5 million euro investment, through which BGW obtained ownrship of 10,000 square feet of land on which the construction of an industrial hall and its accompanying area is set to begin…

ZAGREB, January 7, 2019 - The Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujčić said on Monday that Croatia was ready to take steps to enter the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), a system for the preparation of the introduction of the euro, stressing that European partners supported Croatia's efforts to introduce euro, owing to its quality indicators and the resilience of the banking sector. Vujčić attended a conference called "Five Years with the Euro", organised in Riga by the European Commission to mark the introduction of the euro in Latvia. He underscored that it was much harder to introduce the euro…

ZAGREB, January 7, 2019 - Analysts of the Zagreb Institute of Economics (EIZ) expect, based on movements of the Coincident Economic Index (CEIZ) for October 2018, that the real GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year could be 2.9% compared to the same period of 2017, which is a slightly higher rate than in the preceding quarter, when real GDP grew 2.8%. EIZ analysts note that the increase in the index in October is mostly owing to an increase in budget revenues from VAT, a greater volume of retail sales and more tourist overnight stays. They also…

Germans could be left without cash if a threat of a general strike of 12,000 employees who transport money to ATMs is fulfilled. Although they could quickly pay with their bank and credit cards, the lack of cash would anger the Germans, since they, just like Croatians, like to pay with cash. On the other hand, some countries in northern Europe are even thinking about the abandonment of cash money altogether. Advocates say this approach would eradicate the grey economy and tax evasion, while the opponents warn about a loss of privacy, reports Večernji List on January 7, 2019. The…

ZAGREB, January 7, 2019 - At the end of September 2018, Croatia's public debt amounted to 281.8 billion kuna, down 0.9% on the year (-2.4 billion kuna), with the public debt-to-GDP ratio decreasing to 74.5%, its lowest level since 2012, when it was 69.4%. According to Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts, compared with the end of 2017, the public debt was 0.5% lower (-1.5 billion kuna), a result of a 6.6 billion kuna lower external debt. The internal debt went up by 5.1 billion kuna because of an increase in the central government's debt. RBA analysts recall that on the last…

The Erste Plavi and PBZ Croatia Osiguranje mandatory pension funds and the Croatia Osiguranje insurance company are the most likely new owners of Dalekovod Professio, a company which manages some of the wind farms in Croatia, according to unofficial information confirmed by several sources, reports Jutarnji List on January 5, 2019. For a 50 percent stake, through which Dalekovod had a share in the Eko and Velika Popina companies, they will pay 115 million kuna. The remaining 50 percent is owned by Ante Ćurković, a former director of the Croatian Electric Company (HEP), also known as the owner of the…