Made in Croatia

April 29, 2020 - Glas Poduzetnika suggested the measures for May to the Croatian Prime Minister -take care of parafiscal charges, seasonal employers and workers, and loans for groups at risk. The May package of measures should respond to open questions that were not addressed in the April set of measures, and finally to solve the problem of parafiscal charges that burden the economy with nine billion kunas per year. In the first two weeks since its foundation, the Glas Poduzetnika Association approved membership requests to 9,000 members, entrepreneurs, self-employed and physical persons, thus having become the largest unforced association…

April 29, 2020 - Beware the Croatian inspector - a new series courtesy of Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs), highlighting a Croatian business reality that helps kill growth, profit, and entrepreneurship. Now you have nothing. I have seen them operating all over the country over the last 18 years, the most feared visitors to Croatia's cafes, restaurants, and other businesses - the Croatian inspector.  As with many corrupt countries, the role of the inspector should be to make sure that the rules are being adhered to in the particular area they specialise in - sanitary, fiscal, etc - but in…

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 28th of April, 2020, in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, a new high-tech manufacturing facility is emerging right here in Croatia. The innovative Zagreb-based company, Mareton, has begun the construction of a small, highly roboticised factory that will produce electronics for smart railways. The Ministry of Economy has sent the aforementioned Croatian company a decision on the awarding of a massive 2.12 million kuna in grants on the basis of the S3 Competition in order for the company to further commercialise its innovation - a bidirectional converter. The rest to the full…

Zagreb, 28th April 2020 - In the work of Association so far, many politicians reached out to us with questions, suggestions, and support. The Glas Poduzetnika Association minimized any direct relations with any political option because we do not want anyone collecting their political points through this initiative. Of course, everyone is invited to support our clear agenda and all demands that take us to Croatia 2.0. We've been communicating from the beginning, despite the wishes of some of our members, that direct involvement in politics is not in our plans and that we are a supra-party organization that cares…

April 28, 2020 - Beware the Croatian inspector - a new series courtesy of Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs), highlighting a Croatian business reality that helps kill growth, profit, and entrepreneurship.  I have seen them operating all over the country over the last 18 years, the most feared visitors to Croatia's cafes, restaurants, and other businesses - the Croatian inspector.  As with many corrupt countries, the role of the inspector should be to make sure that the rules are being adhered to in the particular area they specialise in - sanitary, fiscal, etc - but in reality, the prime motivation…

Zagreb, 27th April 2020—The Event Committee of the Glas Poduzetnika Association has sent four emergency measures to the Ministries of Culture, Tourism, and Economy. These measures are crucial for the survival of the Croatian event industry threatened by the prohibition of public gatherings. Four suggestions have been sent to the addresses of minister Obuljen Korzinek, and ministers Horvat and Capelli for the beginning of the fight to save the industry that brings more than 4.5 billion kunas of income per year: Urgent adoption of the plan for the release of measures prohibiting the public gatherings—especially for events of 100, 500,…

April 27, 2020 - The latest Glas Poduzetnika survey focuses on changes in legislation in Croatia. Croatia is known in international circles as a country that changes its laws and subordinate legislation very often. That is a significant barrier for many foreign investors to decide to invest in Croatia or, for those who are already here, to stay. Of course, the speed and lack of clarity of all these rules, in particular, harm the work of all domestic entrepreneurs, who must deal with a mass of unclear, trackless, and often contradictory documents. During this time, we saw that many decisions…

April 27, 2020 - Beware the Croatian inspector - a new series courtesy of Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs), highlighting a Croatian business reality that helps kill growth, profit, and entrepreneurship.  I have seen them operating all over the country over the last 18 years, the most feared visitors to Croatia's cafes, restaurants, and other businesses - the Croatian inspector.  As with many corrupt countries, the role of the inspector should be to make sure that the rules are being adhered to in the particular area they specialise in - sanitary, fiscal, etc - but in reality, the prime motivation…

April 26, 2020 - Beware the Croatian inspector - a new series courtesy of Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs), highlighting a Croatian business reality which helps kill growth, profit and entrepreneurship.  I have seen them operating all over the country over the last 18 years, the most feared visitors to Croatia's cafes, restaurants and other businesses - the Croatian inspector.  As with many corrupt countries, the role of the inspector should be to make sure that the rules are being adhered to in the particular area they specialise in - sanitary, fiscal etc - but in reality, the prime motivation…

April 26, 2020 - Did you know that Homer drinks Zuja? The Croatian connection to hit show The Simpsons for Hvar and Brac. One of the things that I love about writing about all things Croatia is that it is a constant journey of discovery. Croatians are serial overachievers in general, and their contribution to the world is disproportionately larger than the size and population of the country.  We all know about Nikola Tesla, the ethnic Serb born and raised in a village in modern-day Croatia, the necktie, and Penkala's pen, but the more you look, the more you find…