Business

February the 28th, 2022 - The European Union and powerful non-EU European countries such as the United Kingdom have imposed some of the harshest possible sanctions on Russia following its unjustified invasion of Ukraine just a few days ago. The exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT system is among the harshest, but could it have negative effects for Croatian enterprises as well? As Jutarnji/Novac/Vedran Marjanovic writes, Croatian consultant Goran Saravanja explained that Russia's exclusion from SWIFT is primarily aimed at financially depleting the Russian Federation, hindering the international trade of the Russian economy, its exports, but also the import of…

February the 28th, 2022 - Some Croatian companies will end up feeling direct consequences as a result of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, and as the situation continues to escalate in that Eastern European county, it's difficult to predict how hard those consequences will be to deal with. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Petrokemija, Ad Plastik, Prvo plinarsko drustvo (PPD), Span, Jadran Galenski Laboratorij, Fortenova Group and Sberbank… are just some of the business entities that will be directly affected by Russia's attack on Ukraine, Vecernji list reported. Last year (during eleven months), Croatian companies exported goods worth 1.36 billion…

February the 27th, 2022 - The global coronavirus pandemic which struck the leisure and tourism industry hard back in 2020 and 2021 is far from a distant memory for those working in the sector despite the much more favourable epidemiological situation now. Valamar Riviera, a very well known and wildly successful Croatian hotel company, still hasn't managed to make up for the damage the pandemic caused to its business operations despite an excellent result for tourism in 2021. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, back in 2021, Croatia's Valamar Riviera generated operating revenues of an impressive 1.6 billion kuna, or 74…

ZAGREB, 26 Feb 2022 - Croatia's Tax Administration estimates that the amount of tax returns this year will be similar to last year when approximately HRK 1.89 billion (€252 million) was reimbursed to taxpayers for excess amount paid to the state budget. The tax filing deadline expires on 28 February, while the reimbursement of overpaid tax starts on 2 May. In response to an inquiry from Hina, the Tax Administration has said that until 20 February 2022, the procedure of the assessment of tax base and tax liability concerning the income tax was conducted for 694,674 tax payers. It has been established that 633,278…

ZAGREB, 25 Feb 2022 - The Croatian economy increased strongly in Q4 2021, continuing to recover from the COVID crisis for the third quarter in a row, registering a record-high 10.4% increase in 2021. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics today released the first estimate of GDP growth in Q4 2021 at 9.7% on the year. Due to the COVID crisis, GDP fell 8% in 2020. In Q2 2021, GDP saw a record-high growth of 16% and in Q3 it increased 15.8% year on year. The strong Q4 growth was the result of year-on-year growth of all GDP components. Household consumption went up 7.7%. Exports soared…

ZAGREB, 25 Feb 2022 - Croatia's economy grew by 10.4% in 2021, according to first estimates given by the national statistical office (DZS) on Friday. According to the DZS, Croatia's Gross Domestic Product increased 9.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the corresponding period in 2020. In 2020, the corona crisis affected the national economy which contracted about 8% that year, while in 2021 it recovered at a rate of 10.4%. The Croatian economy saw the expansion in the last three quarters in a row. In 2021 Q4, the growth was on the back of the rise in all…

February the 25th, 2022 - The Croatian Fortenova Group has successfully sold of Zagreb's famous Cibona tower. The tower was synonymous with the former Agrokor, and the move has shaken off even more chains of the past for this large company. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Fortenova Group and the Agram concern have signed an agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate previously owned by the Croatian Fortenova Group within the Cibona business tower in the heart of the City of Zagreb. This regards office spaces spanning the sixteen floors of this well known tower and a garage…

ZAGREB, 24 Feb 2022 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices plummeted by 6.5% on Thursday to their lowest levels since September 2021, amid a high turnover, which indicates some investors are withdrawing from the market. The Crobex plunged by 6.48% to 1,983 points, which is its biggest daily fall since March 2020, while the Crobex10 plummeted by 6.47% to 1,201 points. All sector indices fell significantly, with the construction and industry indices seeing the sharpest drop, of 10.14% and 9.01% respectively. The Crobex indices followed the decline of world indices, which are under pressure due to Russia's attack on…

ZAGREB, 24 Feb 2022 - Hrvatski Telekom (HT) generated a net profit of HRK 614.4 million in 2021, which is 7.1% more than in 2020, the telecommunications company reported on Thursday. According to the information published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, HT ended the year with total revenue of HRK 7.5 billion, which is one percent less than in 2020 while the HT Group's "organic revenue" in 2021 registered an increase of 1.1% on the year. Total consolidated net revenue decreased by HRK 64 million or 0.9% y-o-y with the group's revenue decreasing by 1.1% while Crnogorski Telekom in Montenegro registered…

ZAGREB, 24 Feb 2022 - Atlantic Grupa generated HRK 345.9 million net profit in 2021, which is 1.1% more than in 2020, while sales revenues reached HRK 5.7 billion, increasing by 8.6% from 2020 and by 9.3% from the pre-pandemic 2019, the retail group said in a financial statement on Thursday.  Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 1.1% to HRK 724.4 million, and the same increase was recorded for net profit, which amounted to HRK 345.9 million. “Last year, Atlantic Grupa showed a high level of stability, despite economic disruptions causedby the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and difficulties…