Business

ZAGREB, 3 March 2022 - The value of construction work done in Croatia in 2021 by companies with more than 20 employees increased by 13.8% from 2020, while the value of new orders was 21.1% higher, the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) said on Thursday. The value of construction work was HRK 30.3 billion, of which 21.7 billion accounted for work done by own workers and 8.5 billion for work carried out by subcontractors. The value of new orders was HRK 25.9 billion. By type of construction performed by own workers, 28.6% of work-related to non-residential buildings, 34.6% to transport…

ZAGREB, 2 March 2022 - The Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Wednesday intervened in the foreign exchange market to preserve the kuna exchange rate, selling €171 million to commercial banks at an average exchange rate of HRK 7.562505 for one euro, the HNB said in a brief statement. This was the central bank's first foreign exchange intervention since 16 June 2021. The kuna strengthened against the euro by a marginal 0.0001 per cent from Tuesday. Today's middle exchange rate, effective from Thursday, is 7.560528 kuna for one euro. The Croatian financial system is currently enjoying record liquidity of about HRK 80 billion. For…

March 2, 2022 - In the Vrbani district of Zagreb, the office space of Superology, an innovative tech company, has been extraordinary in many ways. One of the key demands of the new office was to intertwine space and culture that promotes openness, transparency, and directness but also provides space for privacy and focused work, leading to creative synergies with the Brigada agency signing the concept and design of the office. Although pandemics, telecommuting, and hybrid work have acted as catalysts for global change in work habits and office organization, the IT industry has known, promoted and lived in such ways…

March the 2nd, 2022 - With the Russian invasion of Ukraine dominating the world's headlines, harsh sanctions being imposed against Russia and inflation rising, just how will the unjustified attack on Ukraine affect Croatian exporters? As Jutarnji/Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, the alarming situation on the Russian market is changing from moment to moment as a result of sanctions imposed by many countries following the invasion of Ukraine. The only thing that is certain is that it is uncertain and unfavourable for the business of most Croatian exporters in respect to that market. In addition, the situation was aggravated by a record devaluation…

March the 2nd, 2022 - The largest Croatian nautical company, Adriatic Croatia International Club generated an impressive 215.6 million kuna in total revenues for 2021, despite the easier but still problematic conditions caused by the pandemic. As Morski writes, according to the unaudited business results report, Adriatic Croatia International Club's EBITDA last year amounted to 83.7 million kuna, which is a significant increase when compared to 70 million kuna one year earlier. Despite the difficult business conditions due to the continuation of the global coronavirus pandemic, Adriatic Croatia International Club achieved a positive financial result in the amount of 13.4 million…

March the 2nd, 2022 - The well respected and heavily read Financial Times (FT) has listed the IT company Syntio as the fastest growing company of its kind in the Republic of Croatia. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the IT company Syntio, a Croatian cloud-based IT engineering company, ranked 225th on the prestigious list of The Financial Times (FT 1000) of Europe’s fastest growing companies. If we look exclusively at the position in the IT sector, then the IT company Syntio took 55th place in all of Europe, meaning it took first place at the national level of Croatia, with a…

ZAGREB, 1 March 2022 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman held talks with his Norwegian counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt in Oslo on Tuesday on bilateral relations, the situation in the Western Balkans and the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The ministers agreed the bilateral cooperation is developed in many areas, but that there is potential to intensify it, notably in energy, green energy, sustainable development, island development, and ship building, the Croatian ministry said in a press release. Croatia strongly supports the European prospects of Western Balkan countries and believes that an individual approach to each country is the only proper way in the enlargement…

ZAGREB, 1 March 2022 - Credit institutions in Croatia operated at a profit of HRK 5.6 billion (€750 million) in 2021, which is an increase of 108.8% on the previous year, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) said on Tuesday citing unaudited preliminary data. In addition to the increase in profit, banking sector recovery resulted in the increase in profitability indicators so the return on assets grew from 0.6% to 1.2%, while the return on equity went up from 4.4% to 8.7%. The effects of retained profit and targeted regulatory adjustments related to the pandemic in 2021 continue to be mirrored…

March the 1st, 2022 - European Union (EU) funds are up for grabs by Croatian technology companies in the current programming period of the bloc for the period between 2021 and 2027. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Tajana Striga writes, the current programming period of the European Union, planned for the period from 2021 to 2027, is the most generous so far and makes over 25 billion euros available to the Republic of Croatia. By comparison, Croatia's annual gross domestic product was just over 55 billion euros last year. The size of the funds available is encouraging, but it still isn't enough to…

March the 1st, 2022 - One huge Iskra investment, made by the well known Sibenik-based company, has had to be halted in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which occurred just several days ago. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the current outbreak of war in Ukraine following an unjustified Russian invasion has currently halted activities on a project that is vital to Iskra Brodogradiliste 1's largest strategic investment in Sibenik. Uncertainty loomed over the construction of a floating dock for the overhaul of a 5,000-tonne, 120-metre-long ship, contracted back in November last year with Ukraine's well known Pallada…