September the 23rd, 2021 - Knin has faced economic issues for a long time now, with many people leaving for either Zagreb, seasonal work on the coast or heading abroad. The Austrian company PicoPack could be set to turn things around for this inland Dalmatian town as it sets up local production.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, an new opportunity is opening up Knin, known for its role during the Homeland War, to do better economically and become a European brand for polypropylene jumbo bags. These bags are applied in a wide variety of sectors, including the agriculture, petrochemical and food processing industries. These are highly sought-after products that are otherwise imported into Croatia, but with this move, the Croatian packaging industry will soon get its first representative in the segment of the production of industrial packaging for bulk products.

The Austrian company PicoPack had the best conditions offered to them in Knin

The Austrian company PicoPack Group, a manufacturer and distributor of industrial packaging, is finalising an agreement regarding its new project, which they have decided to implement right here in Croatia. In order to supply their numerous customers from Europe and the Russian Federation and to invest in production capacity of about 18,000 square metres, the investor chose Knin. The inland Dalmatian town was chosen above all other options.

The holder of the project is the newly established company Velebit ambalaza, in which the Austrian company PicoPack will hold a 51 percent share and the entrepreneur Goran Jerkovic will hold one of 49 percent. Austrian entrepreneur and leader of PicoPack, Manfred Pribyl, confirmed that good offers from other countries, such as Bulgaria, were also considered for the project, but the best conditions and in that sense support for the project, after Jerkovic's engagement, were received from Knin. The new Knin factory could be one of the largest in all of Europe, Pribyl says, adding that the company is expanding its production globally under the influence of the coronavirus pandemic, in response to increased transport costs and longer delivery times.

Production in India, organised sixteen years ago, is now being redirected solely to the African, Australian and American markets, but the model of how they work will be replicated at the Croatian Knin factory. In addition to the workers at the plant, they will additionally have a larger number of them in education within their small educational institution, so they will always have enough workers. Pribyl stated that he will motivate them with net salaries of up to 1,000 euros, but also with the distribution of about 20 percent of profits to workers every six months, which is an unprecedented positive example in recent entrepreneurial practice.

Since back in 2007, nine entrepreneurs have been operating in the Preparandija zone, but Knin is completing the reconstruction of two significant facilities, one of which is the former Kninjanka facility. According to the head of the Knin Administrative Department for EU Programmes and Economy, Josko Nedoklan, the project is worth around 33.34 million kuna, is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, and the works on the facility should be completed by April 2022.

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