Business

ZAGREB, September 14, 2019 - Croatian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Darko Horvat met with Russia's Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev in Dubrovnik on Friday and the Russian minister underscored that interest exists to further expand cooperation between Russian and Croatian companies and invited Horvat to attend the Agro-Industrial fair that will be held October 9 - 12 in Moscow. The ministry said in a press release that over the past three years economic-trade cooperation between Croatia and Russia was constantly increasing, which can be seen in commodity exchange statistics as well as in the growing number of arrivals…

September 14, 2019 - Why does Croatia have no car industry to speak of? Is there any potential? That man Mate Rimac thinks so. A look at what is happening in Slovakia.  The Facebook post which has made me smile the most this month so far came from Mate Rimac. The electric car supremo was celebrating the latest success of his Greyp bike: The Greyp G6 is the world’s most innovative e-mountainbike. Officially. Designed and made by 70 girls and boys in some little place called Sveta Nedelja in Croatia. Enjoy it all! I have met Rimac three times and…

ZAGREB, September 13, 2019 - The government and trade unions in the healthcare sector on Friday initialled an annex to the branch collective agreement whereby additions to salaries in this sector are regulated. The document was inked in Government House after the two sides agreed on a 7-percent rise in wages of the healthcare sector as of 1 September. The agreement reached on Friday morning envisages a 3% increase on working conditions for all employees in the sector plus 4% for responsible duties performed by those included in the process of diseases diagnosis and treatment. For this purpose, the government…

ZAGREB, September 13, 2019 - Croatia has invested slightly over €1 billion in Bosnia and Herzegovina to date, which makes it the second largest investor in the country, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) said in a statement on Friday, citing central bank statistics. FIPA presented the data to the newly-appointed Ambassador to Croatia, Aleksandar Vranješ, with a view to further promoting cooperation between the two countries. The data covers the period between May 1994 and the end of 2018, during which time Croatia invested 2.293 billion convertible marks or about 1.172 million euros. Croatian investments account for…

Some of Croatia's most successful entrepreneurs gathered in Zagreb on September 12, 2019 for the first Entrepreneurial Mindset conference. It was quite a day.  About 18 months ago, I met entrepreneur Nenad Bakic for a coffee in Varazdin. During the discussion, he told me that he had decided he wanted to show me something interesting, a different view of Croatia that would surprise and inspire me.  And so it proved. A few days later, I found myself in a room with 300 people from the top of the emerging Croatian entrepreneurial class at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year dinner…

As Jozo Vrdoljak/Novac writes on the 12th of September, 2019, the new headquarters of the Croatian pharmaceutical company Salvus have now been opened in Donja Stubica. This is the largest private investment in Hrvatsko Zagorje in recent times, worth more than 50 million kuna. This is Salvus' first own space since its founding back in 2003, spanning 4444 square metres, and its construction and furnishing has been co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Most of the highly qualified 145 employees are currently working at the new headquarters, and in addition to its current office and distribution purpose, Salvus will…

With its new capital, the successful Croatian company Include is expected to expand its product offering in the smart cities area. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 12th of September, 2019, the Republic of Croatia's largest VC fund, Fil Rouge Capital, has invested a massive four million kuna into the Solin-based startup Include, founded and managed by innovative entrepreneur Ivan Mrvoš. The young entrepreneur and Incude CEO boasted on Facebook that this was a step closer to the company's informal goal of as much as thirty million kuna in investment, which is an aim he had set for himself…

ZAGREB, September 12, 2019 - Croatian government budget revenues reached 65.1 billion kuna in the first half of 2019, an increase of 8.5% on the same period in 2018, while expenditures increased by 8.3% to 66.9 billion kuna, according to a report on budget execution adopted at a government session on Thursday. The budget deficit was 1.88 billion kuna, roughly the same as last year. Presenting the report, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Zdravko Zrinušić, said that positive economic developments had continued in the first half of the year, with real GDP increasing by 3.1% compared with…

ZAGREB, September 12, 2019 - The government on Thursday gave its consent to the Jadrolinija passenger ferry company to borrow 51.3 million kuna from Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ) for the purpose of refinancing the purchase of a new catamaran for passenger transport. The offer made by the PBZ lender refers to the ten-year loan in the amount of 51.3 million kuna (approximately €7 million) with a fixed annual interest rate of 1.50%. "The aim is to refinance the purchase of the Jelena catamaran which was already bought by (the company's) own funds at a price of €9.25 million. The catamaran…

When it comes to entrepreneurial ideas, attracting investment and indeed attracting the interest of massive industry like automotive production, there is no better person than Mate Rimac. This innovative man who was created from humble upbringings in Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is without a doubt Croatia's most inspiring success story. Who better, then, to offer their vast experience and knowledge to the Croatian Technical Culture Community? As Ivan Tominac/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of September, 2019, the newest member of the Croatian Technical Culture Community is the famous innovator and entrepreneur Mate Rimac, the owner of Rimac Automobili, and…