December 1, 2019 - Adris Group has officially become the owner of Hotel Marjan in Split!

Vecernji List reports that the process has taken years because it involved a pre-bankruptcy settlement. Split, which in the meantime has become a tourist mecca with high growth rates of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, has needed a larger, high-class hotel, and the Adris Group has made it no secret that they have serious plans for the infamous eyesore. 

“We are looking forward to the new challenge. Split is a strategic destination in the development plans of the Adris Group tourist section and in this way, we will approach the execution of the Marjan project,” Adris emphasized in a statement, from which it could be learned that they would soon have the status of a top-class hotel in Split; one that will match the quality of the newly opened Grand Hotel Park in Rovinj. Adria added that they are ready to make investments as soon as the legal process is formalized.

The decision of the Commercial Court in Split, which granted the Adris Group ownership of a hotel on the West Riva, became final. Recall, the hotel was owned by Zeljko Kerum, or his company Adriatic, which ended in bankruptcy four years ago due to unpaid workers' salaries. Adris was the company's largest creditor. This summer, the bidders auctioned HRK 324 million, which is three-quarters of the appraised value of the property. However, Adris was the only bidder, so their offer was accepted. 

But that's not all the breaking news about the Adris Group. The largest insurer in Croatia, Croatia osiguranje, which operates within the Adris Group, is investing HRK 100 million in a new core system, which it purchased from Sapiens. This will ensure additional sales growth and quick response of the company to market demands. They expect business efficiency to grow through the simplification and automation of part of the process. The contract includes the implementation and license services for Sapiens solutions.

“Such a significant investment in the digital future of Croatia osiguranje confirms our ambition to maintain and increase the company's competitive advantage,” said Davor Tomašković, the company's leader. It is already being implemented by the end of this year and will last until the second quarter of 2022.

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As Glas Istre/Dubravko Grakalic writes on the 1st of November, 2019, Adris Group's operating results in the first three quarters of this year show a significant increase in revenues and great business development. In the first nine months of this year, Adris Group's total revenues amounted to a massive 4.92 billion kuna, which is 4 percent more than in the same period last year. Net profit amounts to 663 million kuna, which is 89 million kuna, or 12 percent less than last year.

Such business is the result of strong investment and acquisition activities in 2018 and 2019 with the aim of increasing the group's profitability and long-term sustainability.

In terms of business segments, Croatia Osiguranje is the leading company in the Croatian insurance market with a total share of 27.9 percent. The gross written premium, which includes foreign subsidiaries, stands at 2.7 billion kuna, up from last year's level.

Cromaris published sales of 6,761 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up eight percent. The export markets recorded a nine percent increase in volume.

The tourist section of the Adris Group, Maistra, posted a 1 percent increase in the sale of accommodation units, with an increase in the average price of overnight stays of 6 percent, which led to a 7 percent increase in operating income. Net profit was also up by 4 percent

The current booking confirms the positive trends of revenue growth so far. Adris Group's last major acquisition, HUP-Zagreb, d.d., generated one percent higher operating revenue.

Currently, the strategic plan for the tourist part of the group for the period until 2024 is worth almost four billion kuna. The plan includes construction of new and the repositioning of existing facilities in all tourist destinations in Croatia in which Adris Group operates - Rovinj, Vrsar, Dubrovnik and Zagreb.

A formal completion of the process related to the Marjan Hotel in Split is also expected, which will allow Adris Group to enter this growing Croatian tourist destination.

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Adris Group announced on Sunday that the successful construction of the Grand Park Hotel had completed its 1.5 billion kuna investment cycle in the Monte Mulini area. The Rovinj company has raised the quality of the tourist offer of the town that has been on the list of the most successful tourist destinations in Croatia for years. Grand Park was the most significant investment in tourism in 2018; the investment reached 700 million kuna, reports Večernji List on April 1, 2019.

“We believed in this project, in the strength of our company, in the knowledge and diligence of our employees, but also in the potentials and comparative advantages of our country. We were not discouraged by an unfavourable socioeconomic situation, anti-entrepreneurial mentality, bureaucratic-administrative neglect. We do not allow mediocrity. We follow the principles of business excellence, and we will persevere in this,” said Ante Vlahović, CEO of Adris Group.

Adris has invested 5.5 billion kuna in the tourism part of its business, the Maistra company, and it will invest an additional 2.3 billion kuna during the next investment period. They recently bought HUP Zagreb, the leader in the hotel industry in Zagreb, and they own hotels in Dubrovnik. Interestingly, in its statement, Adris announced future investments in Split, where they have been preparing for a long time to take over Marjan Hotel.

Grand Park Hotel Rovinj has five stars and six floors, and it can accommodate up to 500 guests. The architectural design was developed by 3LHD, a studio that designed hotels Lone, Adriatic and Mulini Beach. Along with architects and designers, all contractors were also from Croatia. The Bruketa & Žinić & Grey agency developed the visual identity.

The hotel has six restaurants and will offer the largest selection of sparkling wines in Croatia, as well as a rich selection of local delicacies. The hotel also includes the largest wellness centre in Istria, extending to 3,800 square metres of indoor and outdoor space on two floors, including the three outdoor pools at the hotel roof.

The new hotel has created nearly 300 new jobs. Given the highly personalised offer at the highest level, all employees spent months in intensive training, in co-operation with the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, one of the best hotel management schools in the world.

Grand Park Hotel Rovinj will receive its first guests very soon, and the room rate will be 4,700 kuna at peak tourist season, which is almost double the price of accommodation at Hotel Lone.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Marina Šunjerga).

More news on Rovinj can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, November 12, 2018 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić refuted on Monday media allegations that he would resign and become an executive in the private Adris Group which specialises in tourism, insurance, healthy food and real estate.

Asked by reporters while he was coming to a meeting of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leadership at the party's main office in Zagreb on Monday afternoon, if it was true that he would leave the government to join Adris, Marić said that he remained a member of the cabinet and that he did not know who had disseminated such news and why.

"There are no talks or negotiations with anybody. I am doing my job as the finance minister," Marić said. "As far as I know, I am still the finance minister," he added.

He went on to say that he was focused on the coming parliamentary debates on a set of final bills on taxes and budget documents which the government forwarded to the legislature last week.

The Pula-based Glas Istre daily reported on Monday that according to unofficial information, Marić would continue his professional career at the Rovinj-headquartered Adris Group in early 2019.

Adris is one of the most porminent business groups in Croatia and owns a series of companies, including the Maista tourism group.

For more on Croatian tourism, click here.

ZAGREB, September 6, 2018 - Since entering the Croatian market three years ago with the takeover of the TDR company, British American Tobacco (BAT) will have invested 45 million euro by the end of this year, BAT told a press conference during a presentation of glo, the apparatus for heating tobacco.

The average salary in Microsoft Croatia is over 41,000 kuna.

ZAGREB, June 4, 2018 - Economy Minister Darko Horvat said that he does not think that the talks between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Adris Group management board chairman Ante Vlahović amounted to the interference in the negotiations on the future settlement regarding the ailing private food and retail conglomerate Agrokor.

Good news for one Istrian tourist gem, as well as for those looking for employment.

The new hotel in Rovinj owned by Maistra group will likely be one of the most luxurious hotels in Croatia

Two companies, one question, and two rather different answers...