Business

ZAGREB, April 20, 2020 - Croatian Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Marko Pavić said on Sunday that 400 million euros from EU funds had been redirected for medical equipment due to the COVID-19 epidemic, however, the EU funding of the ongoing projects was indisputable. The funding of the existing agreements and conclusion of the planned agreements are certain, Pavić told the national broadcaster HTV on Sunday evening. There is no question mark over any project underway, the minister said. The beneficiaries of the projects have been given three more months for any deadlines so that there will be no…

ZAGREB, April 17, 2020 - The Croatian Employers Association (HUP) has sent a proposal to the Finance Ministry to start taxing, in line with the relevant EU directive, cross-border online commerce and use the tax revenue to help the Croatian commercial sector, where, it says, more than 300,000 jobs are at risk directly or indirectly. HUP claims that the growth on e-commerce during the current coronavirus pandemic has put domestic retailers in an unequal position in relation to foreign online retailers because a vast majority of them use a Croatian internet domain and create a false impression among Croatian buyers…

ZAGREB, April 17, 2020 - Transport Minister Oleg Butković said on Thursday that certain coronavirus-related restrictions in the transport sector should be relaxed, proposing the gradual restoration of public city and suburban rail transport. "As for public transport, we believe that it should be restored gradually, and public city transport should operate according to the Sunday timetable," Butković told the commercial RTL television channel when asked what measures he would propose to the prime minister to help life get back to normal. He said that they were also proposing gradual restoration of suburban rail transport in the Zagreb area according…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of April, 2020, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) announced that 1,478 people re-registered a jobseekers on Tuesday, and those individuals are mostly from the trade, accommodation, hospitality/catering and manufacturing sectors, which the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has hit the hardest. Despite government subsidies of four thousand kuna per worker, with paid contributions on top of that, 10,385 former workers remained unemployed in Croatia this month, leaving 153,122 unemployed people registered as jobseekers on Wednesday, Novi list reports. Since mid-March, when most economic activity was frozen due to the coronavirus crisis, especially in hospitality…

Zagreb, April 16, 2020 - The latest survey from the Voices of Entrepreneurs, Glas Poduzetnika, focuses on transparency in public institutions. After the implementation of measures to save the economy and job posts in the private sector, we can also see initiative aimed at the transparency of information about the users of these measures. Glas Poduzetnika supported this initiative immediately, considering the idea that transparency is crucial on all levels and in all sectors. Moreover, we suggested right away that in the spirit of openness, taxpayers should have visibility on how the money they sent to the state budget is…

ZAGREB, April 16, 2020 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Thursday budget revenues in the first half of this month were only a third of those generated in the first half of April 2019. Speaking in parliament, he said the ministry expected May and June to be even more challenging. Speaking of the effects of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, Marić said fiscalised receipts in all activities were down 40%. Responding to MPs' questions, he said HRK 13-15 billion a month was needed for the health, pension and welfare systems as well as for the measures to…

IKEA Croatia will continue to monitor the unfolding coronavirus situation in the country and support those in need, including their own employees, the community, customers and all of their partners. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of April, 2020, IKEA and of course IKEA Croatia's vision has always been to create a better everyday living situation for as many people as possible. In this emergency, IKEA Croatia wants to continue living with this particular vision more than ever before, and as such has taken steps to ensure continued support for its employees and the wider community. Although the Zagreb-based…

ZAGREB, April 16, 2020 - The adverse effect of the coronavirus epidemic cut by half the number of passengers handled by airports in Croatia in March, in comparison to their business results in March 2019. Although March usually ushers in the tourist season and brings about higher number of passengers for airports, this March the Croatian airports fared worse than in February. For instance, the number of passengers handled by Zagreb Airport last month fell by 58% compared to the statistics for March 2019. The number of flights via this airport was reduced by 1,000 to 2,310 this March, and…

April 16, 2020 - The rent-a-car industry in Croatia generates as much as 90 percent of its revenue from tourism, and the entire sector has come to a halt because of the coronavirus crisis. HRTurizam reports that the annual income of rent-a-car businesses in Croatia is estimated at approximately 150,000,000 euro incl. VAT - most of the foreign exchange paid directly from tourists and agents from abroad. Rent-a-car coordination HUP, therefore, proposes the adoption of urgent additional support measures for the sector, to ensure the retention of employees and the maintenance of rent-a-car companies until the business normalizes. The following four…

Zagreb - April 14, 2020 - Data on the use of economic measures, as well as detailed expenditures of state and local governments, must be published publicly, says Glas Poduzetnika.  Today's speech by the Vice-President of the Croatian Parliament has reopened the question of the lack of knowledge of the vital topic. Our responsibility as an association of entrepreneurs is to clarify the main parameters, that way avoiding putting into question one quality measure because of the possible cases of its abuse by individual entrepreneurs. Its primary goal is only one - to maintain job posts and to keep economic…