ZAGREB, June 30, 2020 - EU member states will on Wednesday open their borders to 15 countries, including Serbia and Montenegro, while Croatia has added Bosnia and Herzegovina, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Tuesday, adding that there were fewer new cases of COVID-19 in Bosnia than in Serbia and the decision is in Croatia's economics interest.

Bozinovic assessed that this is not a political decision related to the coming election but that it is in the interest of the Croatian economy. He said that the final recommendation from Brussels is still pending.

"We do not expect any additional problems due to opening the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina because the import of infected people was far higher from Serbia than from Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Bozinovic. Twenty-five cases were imported from Serbia and only eight from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said and added that authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including epidemiologists, were taking the necessary steps.

"The thing that is important is that hotspots are under control in Croatia. It is not unexpected that the number of people infected will increase in some areas of Croatia, just as they are growing in other European countries. Given that the clinical picture is milder, the health services are not overloaded, I think that only one ventilator is currently in use," he said.

Bozinovic reiterated that at the moment decisions were being made in favour of economic activity, primarily tourism. He said that he has noticed that people are adhering more to the recommendations and that this is "a preparatory period for the autumn when more respiratory problems are usually prevalent."

Commenting on night clubs being the source of new infections in Croatia, he said that inspectors would be issuing warnings at first but then would impose sanctions for those breaching measures.

Though the sought after produce and shopping aims may alter, Croats will likely always be hopping over the Bosnian border for something or other...

As Novac/Stanislav Soldo writes on the 23rd of January, 2020, previously, oil, milk, sugar were being bought over the border in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, and today it is mainly fuel, because the aforementioned basic foodstuffs are now being sold much more cheaply than they used to in large shopping centres in Croatia, which are increasingly attracting buyers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in a rather ironic trend reversal.

Thus, Dalmatians now travel over the Bosnian border to purchase fuel and cigarettes, while citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina come to Croatia for consumer goods that are sold in typical Dalmatian shopping centres.

Although fuel has now become significantly cheaper here in Croatia, it is still cheaper over the Bosnian border, and on top of that fuel stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina typically accept not only the Croatian kuna as payment, but euros and various types of card.

Because they can save about a hundred kuna, residents of Dalmatian border areas, such as the Neretva valley and wider region, Vrgorac, Imotski and the surrounding areas have been taking a quick trip over the Bosnian border and tanking there for years on end now.

The most sought-after Eurosuper 95 from over the Bosnian border costs 2.20 BAM (convertible marks), which, when converted to kuna, stands at around HRK 8.47, while in Croatia, the same fuel comes with a price tag of HRK 9.98.

Therefore, the price over the Bosnian border is lower by about HRK 1.51 per litre of petrol. Diesel in Bosnia and Herzegovina costs 2.30 BAM or HRK 8.85, while its price in Croatia is HRK 9.85, so, over the Bosnian border it is significantly cheaper per litre. The calculation is simple, and the monetary savings per litre of fuel are more than reason enough for more and more drivers from Dalmatia to fill their tanks out of Croatia and just over the Bosnian border.

Despite the lower price of fuel in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croats who still don't take advantage of the bargains refrain from doing so owing to fear that it may be of lower quality than that sold here in Croatia. Specifically, lower quality standards are applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina than in Croatia, so some types of derivatives contain higher amounts of sulfur than those purchased within Croatian territory.

However, a lower price breaks down the majority of barriers for all sorts of people, especially in these more difficult times when people's pockets are shallower and wallets often somewhat lighter.

In addition to refueling, certain brands of coffee can be drunk at fuel stations across the Bosnian border for about HRK 4, and cigarettes, which are on average cheaper by about HRK 5 per pack.

''Even if fuel and cigarettes in Bosnia and Herzegovina were to get more expensive, it will still be more profitable for us to buy it there than in Croatia!,'' customers from Dalmatia state. They are not afraid of potentially poor quality fuel being sold over the Bosnian border.

''Oh, they're just stories, you can usually get simple 95 or 98, which is better quality than it is in Croatia,'' they claim.

All this is reason enough to "pull" many Dalmatians across the Bosnian border at least twice a month for fuel and cigarettes or cut tobacco, which cannot be legally brought into the Republic of Croatia.

''I know cigarettes are harmful, but I can't stop smoking, that's the only pleasure I have. I have no money for a box of "Croatian" cigarettes. I used to buy cigarettes over the border, and now I only buy tobacco and I roll it myself,'' one pensioner stated, who barely makes ends meet with her 1,800 kuna pension. When purchasing it over the Bosnian border, a mere 20 BAM spent is enough for a whole month of enjoying nicotine for her.

Experienced Croatian cross-border shoppers and seasoned bargain hunters claim that sell shopping malls are receiving kuna in the shopping centres close to the Bosnian border with Croatia, but the exchange rate is not that favourable, so it is more profitable to pay with a card.

However, if you go deeper into Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian kuna stops being accepted tender. They want only Bosnian convertible marks there, or you'll need to pay with a card. However, even in this case, it's also still well worth the purchase for most.

Another added benefit is VAT refunds at the Bosnian border and the only condition is that the goods must be removed from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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The unemployment rate for young people up to 29 years of age is the highest among Croatia's domestic population, and the lowest among young people from third countries.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of April, 2019, the Republic of Croatia is among the countries of the EU with the best integrated immigrants from third countries, which can only be met with surprise by those people who do not know that these ''immigrants'' are actually mostly just Croats born in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by a few immigrants from Serbia, Germany, Slovenia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

According to the latest census, 584,947 (13.7 percent) of the population of Croatia were born abroad. The number of migrants are as follows: Serbia (9 percent), Germany (5.8 percent), Kosovo (3.5 percent), Slovenia (3.4 percent), Macedonia ( 1.7 percent). Immigrants to Croatia, predominantly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, are doing much better in terms of the employment rate of young people up to 29 years of age, meaning that they're significantly better integrated into the Croatian labour market than those born in Croatia and those from other EU countries.

This data were presented by sociologists Snježana Gregurević and Sonja Podgorelec, and social geographer Sanja Klempić Bogadi from the Institute for Migration and Ethnicity in the presentation "The Influence of Immigrant Groups on the Social Cohesion of the Receiving Society - the case of Croatia".

A large number of Croatian residents born in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the result of labour migration during the socialist period of Yugoslavia and immigration during the Bosnian war. Most immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina live in Zagreb (98,579), Split-Dalmatia County (36,864), Zagreb County (35,427), Brod- Posavina (29,537) and Osijek-Baranja County (28,051), these are the "entrance" Croatian counties, those closest to the border regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the exception of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, from which emigration towards Croatia was the most intensive,'' stated Klempić Bogadi.

By the year 2015, Croatia, along with Serbia, Germany and Austria, was the most common destination for immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, since 2016, the trend is for the Bosnian population to migrate to Germany and Austria, and the number of such persons in Croatia and Serbia is steadily decreasing.

"According to Eurostat's data, immigrants from third countries, predominantly immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, are better involved in the Croatian labour market than the domestic population and immigrants from other EU countries in terms of the employment rate of young people aged from 15 to 29. The employment rate of young people from third countries in Croatia is higher by 18 percent when compared to the employment of domestic youth,'' said Snježana Gregurović.

As stated, the unemployment rate for young people up to 29 years of age is highest among the domestic Croatian population, and is actually the lowest among young people from third countries.

"Because of their small share of the total population of Croatia, immigrants haven't endangered or undermined the country's social cohesion. Because of the modest share of the immigrant population in Croatia who do not have Croatian ethnic origin, and the large share of those who do have it, the integration challenges are not yet posing any sort of significant cost to the state, or a threat to the domestic population,'' says Podgorelec.

In Zagreb, the largest concentration of immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina live in Sesvete, where the research "Influence of immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina on the socio-demographic development of Croatian urban regions" was conducted on a sample of 301 people aged 18 and over born in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Most of them (93.4 percent) were ethnic Croats, ethnic Serbs made up 3.7 percent of them, Bosniaks made uo 2.3 percent, and 0.7 percent was made up of others. Otherwise, 85.2 percent of Croats born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and living in Croatia are actually Croats, 6.3 percent of them are actually Serbs, and just 6 percent are Bosniaks.

A third of respondents hold dual citizenship, (Croatian and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Almost half of them work, of which 68 percent are mostly in trade or the construction industry. 14.6 percent are unemployed, those who stay at home make up 6.6 percent, pensioners make up 29.2 percent, and students and pupils in education make up 2.7 percent. The largest number of immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina living in Sesvete have secondary education, and 6,3 percent have higher education.

"Most respondents feel very welcome in the local community, they have a strong sense of belonging to the Croatian society, and they vote in large numbers during elections in the Republic of Croatia, but are exceptionally poorly involved in any organisation and/or civil society. Given the fact that many of them also have Croatian citizenship and therefore they vote in the elections in the Republic of Croatia, many are significantly less interested in political developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shows a high level of political integration,'' concluded Podgorelec, reports Večernji list.

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Statistics show that about 12,000 deaf people live in the Republic of Croatia, but unfortunately it is rare for them to complete their higher education.

As Ivan Tominac/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of April, 2019, Josip Ivanković was born in Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but just one year after his birth, he was declared deaf, and this fact was one of his reasons for his relocation to Croatia. His move to Croatia certainly paid off as being the right move, and Josip, despite the diagnosis, managed to develop his speech and the technique of listening. That was, as Josip himself states, a painstaking and long process.

"The situation is that I have to treat speaking Croatian as if I was speaking a foreign language," Josip Ivanković explained.

For four years now, his speech and listening abilities have been being developed at the SUVAG Polyclinic, where Josip learned to speak with vibration, tone amplification, visualisation and by learning anatomy.

"When I learned to pronounce the letter ''r'', I had to touch the vocal chords of the logopad to feel a certain vibration and titration, then I'd lean my hand on my neck to feel the same vibration, so I learned to pronounce the letter ''r'' I learned to pronounce ''ž'' in a similar way, I just put my hand on my head. Generally speaking, the hardest letters to pronounce for the deaf are l,č,ć,đ,dž,lj and nj, and the reason for that is that such letters can't be visually identified. They're explained through the anatomy of the oral cavity, just like a doctor explains the heart's organs, or where the blood enters and where it exits,'' explained Josip.

After the kindergarten era ended, in which he learned the basics of socialisation, it was decided that he should attend a regular school.

This period of schooling, without any curriculum adjustment, he adds, was defined by perseverance, and communicational misunderstandings are, in his words, quite normal and natural.

"The professors made me equal with my peers, and this proved to be a good thing because I learned so much about the world of those who can hear, and I learned how to gather information," said Josip. As stated, statistics show that about 12,000 deaf people live in Croatia, but it is rare for them to complete higher education. Josip was not one of them, and he completed a college which has some very demanding academic requirements for its students.

He enrolled at FER (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing), and the likelihood of him completing his studies was slim, yet Josip had different plans for himself.

"At the beginning of the semester, it was very difficult for me to adapt,'' recalled Josip. Before Josip's arrival, professors from Zagreb's FER didn't have any experience in working with people with impaired hearing. At the beginning, he failed several exams, but he didn't let that dampen his spirit, and later he turned to further consultations.

This combination led him to become the very first deaf person to graduated from that college.

"The professors were very approachable, and our relationship was very flexible and adaptable. I will never forget how Professor Brnetić, instead of me asking him, personally invited me to consultations during the holidays and showed me much he cared that I didn't miss anything from the lecture. On the other hand, one professor asked me during consultations why I didn't go to the lectures and asked me how I was learning. I told him that I don't go to the lectures because I can't hear them. I took out a 100-page notebook with my assignments, and the professor was surprised that I did all that without having gone to any lectures. He asked me to lend him that notebook and later I learned that he'd showed my notebook to all of the professors. Believe it or not, a year after when I came to his office, that copy of the notebook was still on his desk,'' Josip stated, recalling his faculty days.

In the end, none of the obstacles he faced along the way turned him away from his goal, and he passed 62 engagements that mostly relied solely on him and his level of dedication. This FER student didn't have to wait around long before a job opportunity came knocking, and it wasn't your regular offer. He started his working life at no less than Rimac Automobili as an Embedded Hardware Engineer. Rimac had no problems with his deafness and offered him a position after his interview.

''At the beginning of the job, I was given a pretty demanding project that I had to complete within a month, which was the length of my trial period, and when the project ended I realised that I was able to complete it and was given the green light to remain with the firm,'' Josip said. The work never stops at Rimac Automobili, and at the moment, Josip is working on a project for the development of electric car chargers.

"Communication skills are the most difficult for me, because I have to invest extra energy into lip reading and that's mentally challenging and difficult. Imagine a situation in which a colleague is referring to professional terms, and I need to decode them with and put them into context in order for me to have any understanding. Imagine switching off your ears, and focusing your eyes on their lips alone.

You aren't likely to understand because they're not using standard words, they're using technical phrases that are difficult to decode and recognise. At the beginning, it was very difficult for me to follow verbal communication and understand the complexity of the project. Of course, since working here I've changed a lot and become much more calm, more focused and concentrated on the small things. The worst thing is when a colleague does not know how to communicate with me properly, and this is where I'm concerned about information which is valuable to the project, and that's an extra effort. Each colleague has his own specific way of speaking and they aren't all the same in communication. With time, I somehow adjusted to them, and they also had to adapt to me, I accepted that this was all normal and there would always be a situation where they couldn't understand, but I'll always ask them to repeat themselves not just twice, but 1000 times!'' concluded Josip.

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Click here for the original article by Ivan Tominac for Poslovni Dnevnik

After a decade of silence and complete inactivity, the Croatian Government is moving once again towards the temptation of a highway construction project towards Dubrovnik, a move initially started by former PM Ivo Sanader.

As Kresimir Zabec/Novac writes on the 2nd of February, 2019, after a rather unnecessarily lengthy and of course unclear title, the conclusion of the ''study documentation for the road connection of southern Dalmatia to the motorway network system of the Republic of Croatia from the Metković junction to the future Pelješac bridge and from the Doli junction to the City of Dubrovnik'' (yes you can take a breath now), which was adopted during Friday's Government session held in Dubrovnik, has actually led back to the beginning of re-activating the old plan to build a highway to Dubrovnik.

The last time constructing a highway to Dubrovnik was mentioned was way back in 2009, ten whole years ago, when a construction contract worth 3.675 billion kuna was signed in Osojnik in the presence of the controversial former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, an amount which didn't include the VAT for the planned Doli - Dubrovnik section. Although the contracts were indeed signed, the money for this project was never secured, therefore the works never started and all in all, time went by and people simply forgot about it for the most part.

Although there are permits, projects and designs from that time that still exist and could be acceptable today, Croatian roads (Hrvatske ceste) will spend 4.06 million kuna this year to take a better look at the southern Dalmatian transport system in the area of ​​Dubrovnik-Neretva County and its link with the existing highway network, and determine the feasibility of any highway construction from the existing Metković junction to the future Pelješac bridge, and then from Doli to the City of Dubrovnik. They'll also rule whether or not it is simply better to use the highway through neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

EU co-financing

Croatia's Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, has already jumped the gun when it comes to the talks held on Friday, stating that the Ploče - Dubrovnik motorway will be built, but the question is when. He is counting on the EU being prepared to co-finance the project in the next operational period. However, some insist that a study is needed because the road image itself has changed over the past ten years, not only in southern Croatia, but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The motorway was built behind Ploče and the where the future Pelješac bridge will be, in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, the construction of part of the Vc corridor from Počitelj to the border with Montenegro through Popovo polje has also begun.

Compared to ten years ago, the highway would now be changed somewhat. Back then, the route went from Ploče to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina at Neum and then continued on the other side down south to Dubrovnik.

It was estimated that eighty kilometres of highway from Ploče to Dubrovnik could cost around 732 million euros.

Today, it is assumed that the direction would go from the current Karamatići junction to the Pelješac junction, from where traffic will go down to Pelješac bridge. That equals approximately twenty kilometres of brand new highway sections. The traffic would continue along the new Pelješac road to the Doli junction, and from there 29.6 kilometers of highway would be built leading down to Dubrovnik.

According to the old 2009 project, a total of thirty objects needed to be built, of which there were ten viaducts, nine tunnels, and eight underpasses. Back then, the price of one kilometre of construction was 16.5 million euros without VAT, equalling a total of almost half a billion euros without VAT. The price of the construction of the highway from Karamatići to Pelješac is as yet unknown, but this section is also a very demanding part of the project as the route passes through the Neretva valley, so a high level of environmental protection will be required. Owing to all of the above, estimates are that the entire highway from Ploče down to Dubrovnik could stand at a massive 800 million euros.

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated lifestyle and politics pages. If it's just Dubrovnik and the extreme south of Dalmatia you're interest in, give Total Dubrovnik a follow.

Click here for the original article by Kresimir Zabec for Novac.jutarnji.hr

A rather bizarre act of photoshopping on a photo of ''snowy Mostar'' by a certain Croatian tourist agency, as the ancient city in Bosnia and Herzegovina has its mosques replaced with what appear to be Catholic churches.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of December, 2018, the Croatian tourist agency in question is based in Split and ironically also organises trips to Mostar and Međugorje in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country with a large Bosnian Muslim population.

The Croatian tourist agency, Adriatic travel, has rather oddly published an iconic photograph of Mostar on its website, where two photos of the old Mostar mosques, Hadži-Kurt and Nezir-agina were ''dealt with'' thanks to photoshop, seeing them replaced by the typical bell towers of Franciscan churches and cathedrals, as well as several crosses.

Several portals over in Bosnia and Herzegovina have already written about this strange act of photoshopping out Mostar's history, and the photo has been published as promotional material by the Split-based Croatian tourist agency. It appears that the tourist agency has realised they have been caught in a rather offensive act, and after a few hours, the portals in BiH reported that the weird photo had been deleted from the tourist agency's website, according to a report from Novi list.

However, despite having been removed from the agency's website, the photo is still on show at the actual address of the Croatian tourist agency itself. The Bosnians have decided to retaliate to this somewhat offensive ''deleting'' of part of Mostar's history, so they decided to be just as petty, photoshopping a well-known panorama view of Split, but instead of being able to see the tower of St. Duje dominating the landcape, they've replaced it with a mosque.

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Ever heard of the Croatian emigrant at Pearl Harbour? His bravery not only saved many from certain death, but saw him sacrifice his own life during the infamous Japanese attack.

As Morski writes on the 8th of December, 2018, Petar Herceg Tomić was a Croat born in Prolog, a village in the Municipality of Ljubuški, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1893. He became an American hero in World War II for his heroism and sacrifice during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December the 7th, 1941, in which he lost his life. He was posthumously awarded the medal of honour, the highest American medal symbolising great courage, according to Novi list.

Just how did this boy from quiet, rural Ljubuški become a Croatian emigrant at Pearl Harbour?

Among the first victims of the sudden Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December the 7th, 1941, which began the brutal Second World War on the Pacific, was the American Utah battleship. Hit with two torpedoes, the vessel began to turn over, and only the sheer courage and devotion of Officer Petar Tomić prevented more casualties. Paying the price of his own life, Petar Herceg Tomić saved the rest of the crew from certain death.

Tomić mainaged to maintain the part of the vessel hit by the two torpedoes until most of the crew left it. All this was done under merciless Japanese aircraft. As the ship began to fail, Tomić encouraged the crew to escape. During that terrifying time, he controlled the pressure so as to avoid a devastating explosion, as in such a case, even those who were rescued would also have been killed. Despite his brave efforts, Tomić and another 58 crew members, remained forever captured in the vessel.

In the official explanation of the recognition of his bravery and priceless sacrifice, it states that Tomić, upon realising that the Utah battleship was definitely doomed, remained in his position in the engine room until he was convinced that the boilers were secured and all the staff had departed from the doomed ship's engine room. By sacrificing his own life, he saved the lives of his crew, writes the Virtual Museum of the Emigration of Dalmatia (Virtualni muzej iseljeništva Dalmacije).

Tomić was born, as stated, in Prolog, a small village which consisted of just 120 houses, in 1893. His real name was Petar Herceg, and his family nickname was Tonić, which he later transformed into his last name, Tomić. He arrived in America in 1913 and joined the army. After the First World War, he joined the Navy, where he became the chief engineer on the Utah battleship. This fateful move was how he found himself in Pearl Harbour when a sudden attack by Japanese forces on the US Navy's main base in the Pacific led the US to enter the Second World War on the side of the Allies.

The remains of the Utah battleship still lie in Pearl Harbour, and along with it lies a memorial and a plaque honouring the Croatian emigrant at Pearl Harbour's heroic deed. The plaque was initially placed there to mark the 30th anniversary of the attack.

One year after Tomić's death, in December 1942, an escort destroyer named U.S. Tomić was built at the Brown Shipbuilding Shipyard in Houston. For thirty years, the vessel served in the American Navy, before being removed from the register, and eventually ending its military ''career'' in 1974. President Franklin D. Roosevelt posthumously awarded Tomić the Medal of Honour.

No matter the incredible turn of events the life of this Croatian emigrant took, nothing was so incredible as the search for his living descendants, to whom the medal was handed. After nearly a decade of searching, and even judicial proceedings, Robert Lunney eventually found Tomić's descendants, still living in Prolog, Herzegovina. After six and a half decades, the prestigious American medal of honour was awarded to Petar Herceg Tomić's living family back in 2006 on the deck of the largest carrier of the US Navy Enterprise aircraft, which was inaugurated near Split.

Croatian emigrants dotted all around the world sent a huge amount of money via private transfers to their families in Croatia last year.

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of November, 2018, one of the consequences of Croatia's ever-concerning demographic crisis caused by the mass emigration from the country is the growth of cash inflows through private transfers, which mostly relate to the cash flows that Croatian emigrants send back to their country of origin.

With some of this vast amount of money arriving from other European Union countries, as well as from outside the bloc, more than one billion euros have found their way from the rest of the world to various households across the Republic of Croatia in 2017, which, according to Eurostat's figures, stands at 627 million euros more than was recorded the year before.

As cash flow from other countries (by more than half from countries outside the European Union, mostly from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina) has also increased, a handsome increase of more than half a billion euros; from +245 to +823 million euros, has been recorded.

The largest surplus in personal transfers to the European Union has been recorded by just four member states, but most of them are larger countries, like Portugal (+3 billion euros), and Poland (+2.8 billion euros), followed then by Romania (+2.6 billion) and Bulgaria (+1.1 billion euros). When compared to 2016, Croatia overtook both Hungary and Lithuania last year in terms of cash inflow from abroad.

Otherwise, EU residents sent an enormous 32.7 billion euros back to their respective countries of origin last year, which is, as previously stated, nearly one billion euros more than was recorded as having been sent back in 2016, along with that figure, 4.3 billion euros (13 percent of total outflow) was sent outside the European Union. At the same time, inflows into the European Union from the rest of the world reached the huge amount of 10.7 billion euros.

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Click here for the original article by Jadranka Dozan for Poslovni Dnevnik

Is an economic boost on the horizon for one leading regional producer with two manufacturing plants based here in Croatia? An extremely large cash injection might suggest exactly that.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of November, 2018, Addiko European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Addiko Bank have approved the DIV Group, which is otherwise the leading regional hardware and metal solutions manufacturer, a financial package of a massive total value of 30 million euro.

The funds are intended for the further investment in the long-term development of the DIV Group, with the end goal to be an increase of overall energy efficiency, the strengthening of sustainable working capital, and the restructuring of the leading group's balance sheet.

DIV Group is the leading regional manufacturer of numerous items in the wider region, and it boasts two production plants in Croatia, a well as plants in neighbouring Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through continuous investments in modernisation, development, new technology and staff, DIV Group has become one of the strongest producers in the entire metal industry and as a well repected and well established supplier of equipment, in the eyes of both the railway program and the automotive industry, exporting about 90 percent of its production.

Addiko Bank Croatia is well known for providing an economic boost or two, part of an international financial banking group that actively supports the growth of local businesses in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro. As of 2017, Addiko Bank has been the sixth largest bank in the Republic of Croatia in terms of total assets.

The EBRD loan has been approved under the Direct Finance Framework, which is intended to finance the growth and development of local businesses. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a leading investor in the region and has otherwise invested a huge 3.7 billion euro in Croatia, in more than 200 different projects so far.

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As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of October, 2018, in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 40 percent of tobacco products end up being exported outside of the legal trade framework, and the main culprit for such a situation is poverty and disproportionately high yields on cigarettes and tobacco products. Could a potential move of production to Croatia provide a welcome economic boost for the country?

Even though British American Tobacco (BAT) have denied media speculation that they already started with the move of the production of their cigarettes from Bosnia and Herzegovina to their plants in both Croatia and in Serbia, they haven't gone as far as to totally exclude such a possibility in the forthcoming period.

Namely, the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina have announced that BAT's management board has decided that Aurora, Code and Diva cigarettes will be moved away from production in Sarajevo to neighbouring countries.

BAT, on the other hand, told Poslovni Dnevnik that producion at the Sarajevo Tobacco Factory (FDS) hasn't stopped.

"As BAT has bought FDS's brands, it is following the policy of producing and selling according to the smokers' preferences and in accordance with market conditions,'' they stated from the company.

Unfortunately, due to the large disturbances on Bosnia and Herzegovina's market caused by an increase in excise duties and the concerning collapse of the legal market by more than 35 percent in just three years alone, the sale and distribution of FDS former brands are not compromised, but all of BAT's other brands and other competitors on the market have been, and they therefore continue to face numerous unwanted challenges in this regard.

''On the illegal market itself, more than 80 illegally produced brands have appeared. Because of all of this, the future of production, the former brands of FDS, and of all the other legally produced brands on the Bosnian market is questionable,'' BAT explained.

They added that the black tobacco market is a major problem for this whole region, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it exceeds a worrying 40 percent of the total market value. The main reason for this is the high tax burden because Bosnia and Herzegovina has the highest cigarette retail selling taxes in Europe, with the total costs representing 91 percent of the price of the cigarettes themselves.

Because of this, people in Bosnia and Herzegovina pay by far the most for cigarettes compared to the general standard of living in the rest of Europe, naturally leading them into a very tight corner, and then onto the illegal market, meaning that the economic repercussions of Bosnia's black market problems are dire, to say the very least.

BAT has estimated that Bosnia and Herzegovina's budget loses more than 230 million KM (about 115 million euro) per capita each year due the strong presence of the country's illicit tobacco market.

While Serbia, a non-EU country has been mentioned, could the safety of a European Union member state like Croatia be of some comfort to BAT and provide jobs and a possible economic boost to the domestic market if production was to be moved here?

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Click here for the original article by Darko Bicak for Poslovni Dnevnik