Business

ZAGREB, April 29, 2019 - A delegation of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) that was briefed about the situation in the Uljanik and 3. Maj shipyards at a meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Monday, said they would voice their opinion about the docks after touring them. The chairman of the CSIC Board of Directors, Hu Wenming, said PM Plenkovic presented the situation in the two docks in detail. "We will tour the shipyards and we will give a serious thought to it" Hu said after the meeting, adding that they realise the two shipyards are an important…

There has been much talk, both positive and negative, about the potential for Chinese investment in Croatia. They're already building the long awaited Peljesac bridge down in Dalmatia and have since expressed great interest in the Port of Rijeka and in constructing a railway line linking Rijeka to Karlovac.  Many believe that the apparently huge interest of the Chinese (and their money) is a bad omen, and that Croatia will end up trapped by yet more debt it can't pay off in the end. Others see it as a welcome move, despite their suspicions. Whatever the truth behind China's interest…

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of April, 2019, through its subsidiary Sugarhill Investments B.V., the Croatian hotel group Arena Hospitality Group d.d. from Pula has concluded a framework agreement with MK Aviation Services d.o.o. to take over the "88 Rooms" hotel, a four star hotel in Belgrade, Serbia. The completion of this transaction is of course still subject to certain steps and to the fulfillment of certain conditions, as they have stated from the aforementioned Croatian company. "88 Rooms" is a modern, four-star hotel situated in a prime location on Takovska Street in Belgrade, close to the business…

ZAGREB, April 28, 2019 - A study of foreign trade involving Croatian counties shows that last year foreign trade remained strongly concentrated on Zagreb, which accounted for nearly a third of total exports and nearly half of imports, and on a small number of other regions. According to the study, conducted by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and released earlier this week, Croatia exported 107.7 billion kuna worth of goods in 2018, of which 33.28 billion or 30.9% accounted for companies based in Zagreb. Imports totalled 175.5 billion kuna, and Zagreb's share was 48.9%, with companies based in the…

ZAGREB, April 27, 2019 - Zorislav Antun Petrović, leader of the nonparliamentary ORaH party, said on Saturday that nine members of the European Parliament from the Green group had asked of European Commission Vice-President Maros Šefčovič, in charge of Energy Union, that the EC immediately stop supporting the project to build an LNG terminal off the northern Croatian Adriatic island of Krk. Petrović said that energy independence was in Croatia's interest and that it was achieved by investing in renewables rather than spending money to enable the import of foreign energy products in Croatia. He said that energy transition was…

ZAGREB, April 27, 2019 - Moody's Investors Service on Friday changed Croatia's outlook to positive from stable, and affirmed the country's long-term local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt credit rating at Ba2. The credit rating agency recalls that in 2017 Croatia recorded the first budgetary surplus of 0.8% of GDP and that the positive momentum "was confirmed in 2018, although the surplus was lower (0.2% of GDP), in large part due to the activation of the state guarantee regarding the Uljanik shipyard." Moody's underscores that "the improved fiscal performance is mainly attributable to a significant reduction in…

ZAGREB, April 26, 2019 - Three trade union federations will start collecting signatures for their retirement referendum petition at Friday midnight and as many as 300 movable stands will be set up throughout Croatia in the next two weeks for that purpose. One of union activists, Robert Brozd, on Friday morning called on the Croatians to give their signatures for this initiative. An estimated 385,000 signatures will be needed for the petition to be valid. The three union federations – NHS, SSSH, and MATICA (Association of Croatian Trade Unions) – have launched their "67 is too much" campaign to call…

Next week, a delegation of eighteen people from the largest Chinese shipyard, the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, are set to visit Croatia's ailing Uljanik. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of April, 2019, this is the second day is the National Economy and Entrepreneurship Consulting conference, organised by the Ministry of Economy and Entrepreneurship in Vodice. Economy Minister Darko Horvat told N1 televizija that the Republic of Croatia ''wants to become a country of investment and development, even if it isn't there yet". "What I do dare to say, and with full certainty, is that Croatia has an innovative…

What with all the stories about the ailing Uljanik and 3 Maj shipyards in Pula and Rijeka, the dire situation with the seaplanes, and even the old sagas about the plight of the former Agrokor, which is now of course Fortenova, we often forget about one of the most strategically important companies there is in this country - Croatia Airlines. While news of the seemingly rather unpleasant impending fate of Croatia's shipyards and shipbuilding industry circulates and dominates the media, news about Croatia Airlines and its very internal struggles tends to get buried. The reality, however, is that Croatia's flag…

ZAGREB, April 26, 2019 - The head of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Zlatko Komadina, on Thursday met with a delegation of the China International Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector (CICCPS) and the Huzhou Mingshuo Optoelectronic Technology company, who were informed of cooperation possibilities in the city of Rijeka and the rest of the county. The Chinese delegation expressed interest in cooperation in developing new technologies and smart cities and were shown local potential in that regard, including enterprise zones and the possibility for Chinese partners to position themselves in the region as the door to Europe, said Komadina. He…