April the 13th, 2023 - The Croatian Orbico Group is aiming high for this year with its logistics and distribution centre, after rounding off 2022 with a fantastic turnover and earnings.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jolanda Rak Sajn writes, the Croatian Orbico group ended last year with an extremely impressive turnover of 3.2 billion euros, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) of around 72 million euros in total.

The achieved growth stood at about 15%, and it was similar right here in Croatia, where Orbico achieved a record 520 million euros in turnover. In an interview with Vecernji list, Branko Roglic, the owner of the group which is currently the largest European distributor of consumer goods, announced that the construction of their LDC (logistics and distribution centre) in Zdencina will begin at the end of this month.

"The total cost of the construction should be around 55 million euros, while the necessary equipment and automation systems that are planned imply an additional 15 million euros of investment. As far as moving in is concerned, we're tentatively talking about the period from the 2nd to the 4th quarter of 2024. With an additional 42,000 m2 in the first phase in Zdencina, the total storage capacity of Orbico in Croatia and Slovenia will rise to 114,000 m2. We do business with more than 100 suppliers, and more than 340,000 pallets of various goods pass through our centres based in Croatia annually."

Roglic also stated that the Croatian Orbico group is working on a permit for the construction of a marina in Omis in Central Dalmatia, but that project is still in the early stages and it is necessary to obtain a permit first.

"Investments outside of the Republic of Croatia alldepend on the end of the war in Ukraine. I hope that will occur soon and that peace will return to Ukraine and its citizens. We do business in 20 countries, but due to the war in Ukraine, we froze our work in the Russian Federation, shut down our operations in Belarus, while we're continuing to work in Ukraine with a slight drop in traffic," said Roglic, revealing the Croatian Orbico group's current five-year plans.

"We're counting on great development. By the year 2030, if everything goes well, we will have a turnover of 6.2 billion euros, which would mean that we will double it in the next seven years,'' Roglic concluded.

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January the 31st, 2023 - The Croatian Orbico Group, a well known company headed by entrepreneur Branko Roglic, is set to open its biggest logistics centre yet, in Zdencina near Zagreb.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the largest European distributor of consumer goods, the Croatian Orbico Group is continuing strongly with its development policies this year. With new investments financed primarily from the company's own funds and carried out according to the proven best model of cooperation with developers, Orbico's largest logistics and distribution centre is starting to be realised.

"With the investment of the company Orbico Hrvatska (Croatia) in Zdencina, a place situated along the Zagreb-Karlovac route, the construction of the first phase of our new logistics centre covering approximately 40,000 square metres is now beginning. We plan to move into it at the beginning of 2024," announced Roglic after the contract with the contractor was signed.

In the continuation of the project at the same location, a second phase is expected through the expansion of the centre to include another 20,000 m2. With this, the Croatian Orbico Group is sticking with the characteristic transformation processes of its business, all led by digitisation and robotisation and investments in logistics.

The new logistics centre is in the function of business optimisation through cost reduction, and the location itself was chosen based on the same assumptions of economy, productivity and the profitability of business.

Record revenues in 2022

For more than half a year, they considered several locations for a new investment, including nearby Sveta Nedelja, the home of Rimac Automobili, as well as near the Hungarian-Croatian border. In the end, the calculations showed that Zdencina in Zagreb County is ideal for a number of reasons for the new momentum of Orbico's business in Croatia.

The company already owns a number of warehouses across the country, and since a few years ago a large logistics centre in Dugopolje, as their main one in Dalmatia. With the new centre in Zdencina and further on the link with the existing one in Dugopolje, Orbico is completing a concrete solution for the biggest distribution problem in Croatia, which manifests itself in highly pronounced seasonality.

"When it comes to the distribution of goods, the main issue in Croatia is how to solve seasonality in the ratio of 1:17. This means that you need 1 tow truck for distribution in the winter, and as many as 17 in the summer, and I think this is the most difficult problem for all distributors in general. Under these conditions, you should also have optimal human resource management," explained Roglic.

The investor in the new project is Orbico Hrvatska with around 1,250 employees out of a total of 7,500, and its activities in 2022 totalled a record 520 million euros in total revenue. The entire system boasts operations in 20 European countries, all of which also enjoyed business growth, generating an impressive 3.2 billion euros in total revenue last year.

In its expansion and development on the basis of the adopted business plan in the medium-term period, i.e. on the horizon of 2028, Orbico should generate revenues of 6 billion euros, which means that it will become twice as large as it is today. Within its current framework, growth is being achieved using the leverage of modern logistics, meaning that the Croatian Orbico Group is leading the way with investments in more than 200,000 m2 of storage space and a total of five LDCs. In addition to Croatia, there are also new logistics centres in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Around 40 million euros was pumped into this investment

For this investment, which is still in the stage of tendering for the selection of developers and contractors, it was stated that the amount involved was around 40 million euros. Roglic hasn't revealed how much the post-pandemic crisis with the additional factor of inflation affected the final amount of the investment for now, but he did make sure to clarify that the company will first work under lease in the new centre, and that after the lease expires, Orbico will take over the facility fully.

"Through the rent, we pay for the investment and realise more new projects in cooperation with developers who are building our new logistics capacities. This is the best way to develop a business, especially when it takes place in several countries. Orbico operates in 20 different European countries, and we're continuing to grow at a good pace, and I must highlight the fact that we don't take loans. After some time has passed with our lease of the new LDC in Zdencina, we will buy the logistics centre," concluded Roglic.

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March the 10th, 2022 - Branko Roglic is very well known name among business and investment circles across the Republic of Croatia, and he, one of the most wealthy Croats at the moment, has stated that he has no idea how Russia will survive the harsh sanctions placed on it, and that he hopes the country goes bankrupt.

As Jutarnji list/Novac HR writes, Branko Roglic, one of the most well off Croats who owns a company that operates in about 20 countries across Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, was a recent guest on Dnevnik Nova TV.

"We have 50 people over in Ukraine. We have 150 people in Russia, as that's a bigger company. At the moment we know that our employees have spoken out against the war and we paid those in Ukraine two salaries as soon as the Russian aggression against that country started, we also offered them relocation to Poland, to which they all said no and instead chose to remain in their homeland,'' Branko Roglic said at the beginning of the conversation.

"At the moment, almost all distribution chains have been cut off and this will affect product prices in every country and when it comes to Russia... I don't know how it will survive that," Branko Roglic said.

The biggest price increase, he said, will be for food products. Last year, a 30 percent increase in inflation was announced, and now he thinks that figure will be even higher. "The government is currently between a rock and a hard place. It can't help the economy much because it has to pay its own costs, it's not easy. No one has experienced blows to the government like Prime Minister Plenkovic has," Roglic commented.

He believes Putin will go on to ban exports to Europe. "They'll certainly do that. We're waiting for counter-sanctions. It isn't easy for the European Union either. Russia cannot last long," he said.

Russia's bankruptcy is predicted by some to occur on April the 15th, when they must repay their first loan to international institutions. "It would be good to get rid of another dictator and get another democratic country that will be a partner for Europe," Branko Roglic firmly believes.

"They thought they would just be able to walk easily through Ukraine and behave in such a way. That they would bring their man to the helm there - that didn't happen. It turned out that the Ukrainians are a much stronger opponent than they could have ever expected. This is a great advantage and opportunity for Europe to unite. I think that the war should end with negotiations and that the Russians should return to the borders of their own country," Branko Roglic added.

As for the question of the sensitivity of the Croatian economy to the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia's recent unjustified invasion, Roglic believes we're very lucky to have Slavonia and the agricultural richness of that Easternmost part of the country.

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February the 18th, 2022 - Prominent Croatian businessman and company owner Branko Roglic has been named the first president of the Bulgarian-Croatian Business Club which has been founded in the City of Zagreb.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Bulgarian-Croatian Business Club was founded in Zagreb and includes Bulgarian companies which can be found operating here on the Croatian market and Croatian business circles cooperating with and within Bulgaria in order to expand and deepen mutual their contacts and encourage further investment activities.

The well known founder and owner of the Orbico Group, Branko Roglic, was elected president of the new club, and Martin Kasabov, the executive director of Meblo Trade, was elected vice president, as the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria reported.

The founding assembly was attended by representatives of the largest companies operating on both Bulgarian and Croatian markets, such as Branko Roglic's Orbico Group itself, Podravka, Fortenova (formerly Agrokor), Meblo Trade, Rubicon Engineering AD, Elmark Group and more.

One of the first initiatives of the newly founded club will be the organisation of a Business Forum with representatives of the Regional Chamber of Commerce - Sofia in Zagreb this summer. As was pointed out, the Bulgarian-Croatian Business Club is expected to actively participate in holding various other regional business gatherings, such as hosting business delegation from Plovdiv in the Dalmatian city of Zadar, from Gabrovo in Sisak and from Vidin in Vukovar.

Congratulations on the formation of the Bulgarian-Croatian Business Club were sent by the Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Industry Kornelia Ninova, and the participants in the founding assembly were greeted by the Bulgarian Ambassador to Croatia, Genka Georgieva.

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