Business

ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices increased on Wednesday, the Crobex by 0.99% to 1,993 points and the Crobex10 by 1.8% to 1,226 points, both reaching their highest levels since February 2020. Regular turnover was HRK 6.9 million, with only one stock crossing the million kuna mark, the Valamar Riviera hotel company, which turned over HRK 1.63 million. It closed at HRK 31.3 per share, up 2.3%. Another HRK 16.32 million was generated in block trading with HT telecom's stock at HRK 185 per share. Thirty-seven stocks traded today, with 14 gaining in price, 15 decreasing and eight…

ZAGREB, 16 June, 2021 - Slower salary growth halted the growth of hourly labour costs in the EU in the first quarter of 2021, while in Croatia labour costs increased for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Eurostat data show on Wednesday. In the first quarter of 2021, the hourly labour costs rose by 1.7% in the EU, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, hourly labour costs increased by 3.2%. The costs of hourly wages and salaries increased by 2.6%, after growing 3.8% in Q4 2020. The costs of salaries increased the most…

June the 16th, 2021 - When it comes to innovative Croatian companies being noticed on a global scale, the list is only continuing to grow and provide a spring in the step of certain sectors in the country. Clutch has recently listed the Zagreb company Ingemark among the 100 fastest growing. As Novac writes, with more and more of the population being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus and the gradual relaxation of anti-epidemic measures, the economy also appears to be waking up, finally. According to the latest Eurostat data, Croatia's GDP in the first quarter of 2021 grew by 5.8…

ZAGREB, 15 June, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) Crobex and specialised Crobex10 indices on Tuesday rebounded by 0.41% to 1,973 points and 1,213 points respectively. Today's regular turnover was HRK 6.4 million, or HRK 800,000 more than on Monday. The Maistra hotel company was the only one to cross the one million kuna mark in turnover. It generated HRK 1.25 million and its share price stagnated at HRK 302. A total of 39 stocks traded today, with 18 of them registering share price increases, 14 recording share price decreases and seven remaining stable in price. (€1 = HRK 7.489862) For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's…

June the 15th, 2021 - Just what needs to be done to speed up economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic? Respected Croatian economist Vedran Sosic says that we need to take a serious look at the number of so-called zombie companies as the pandemic draws to a close, and limit them. As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the pace of economic recovery could vary very significantly between countries, said the Croatian National Bank's chief economist Vedran Sosic in Rovinj at the 9th meeting of the region's governors, primarily due to their different economic structures and aid effectiveness. The state has helped…

June the 15th, 2021 - Is the Croatian state playing God by making it easier for some to invest than it does for others? In any case, a safe business environment stimulates economic growth, and without creating that, the Croatian economy won't be moving anywhere up any time soon. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, establishing a predictable and reliable business environment is a prerequisite for any sort of economic growth and the application of new technologies through the Industry 4.0, it was said at the Industry Day conference held on Friday in Zagreb, organised by the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP).…

June 14th, 2021 - The government on Monday refuted as untrue the allegations by the Jutarnji List that after the European Commission perused through its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), imprecision detected in relations to the costs have resulted in one billion kunas less for Croatia from the EU. The amount of grants set aside for Croatia under the Recovery and Resilience Facility is €6.3 billion (approximately 47.5 billion), as also carried in the relevant regulation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility on 18 February. The mentioned amount has never been questioned since the adoption of the…

June 14th, 2021 - The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) on Monday signed the Covid Guarantee Agreement in the amount of €50 million for loans taken by Croatian mid-caps and large corporations to help them recover from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a joint press release, EIB and HBOR said the EIB contribution valued at €25 billion stems from the European guarantee fund (EGF) set up by EIB in 2020 to accelerate post-COVID recovery, job keeping measures, and to provide much-needed liquidity for European companies. This is the first EIB operation in Croatia stemming from…

June the 14th, 2021 - The Croatian construction industry is hungry for workers in spite of the ongoing coronavirus crisis which has thrown a proverbial spanner in the works of almost every segment of the economy and as such jobs. The sector is even keeping its eyes on foreign workers as the need is now so great. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, from the beginning of this year to June the 11th, 2,434 employers submitted 14,437 applications to the CES for positions in the Croatian construction industry, for which a labour market test doesn't need to be conducted. Most of…

June 14, 2021 - TCN meets Sime Lisica, the director of Audio Visual Group d.o.o. who is shaking up the Croatian fitness industry with a new product - FitnessTV. I was born and bred in Sydney Australia, a city of 5 million people, with an extremely fast pace of life. In my early 30s, I had realized that my calling, my higher purpose in life was coming from Croatia, so I decided to do something about it. I had come to the conclusion that Australia had dramatically changed from the country that I once knew, the country that I grew up in would…