ZAGREB, 26 May, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange indices ended the day in different directions on Wednesday, with investors focusing on the preferred shares of the Adris tourism and insurance group and the Valamar Riviera hotel group.

The Crobex fell for the fourth day running and dropped by 0.16% to 1,932.26 points. 

After falling for two days, the Crobex10 picked up and ended the day at 1,197.56 points, increasing by 0.20%.

Regular turnover amounted to HRK 8.85 million or about 450,000 more than on Tuesday.

The most liquid stock was the Adris Group with a turnover of HRK 3.2 million of its preferred shares, which closed at a price of HRK 410 per share, down 0.49%.

The Valamar Riviera hotel group was the only other stock to cross the million kuna mark. It generated a turnover of HRK 1.2 million. Its shares jumped in price by 0.67% to close at 30 kuna. 

Of the 36 stocks that traded today, only 9 registered share price increases.

(€1 = HRK 7.505183)

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ZAGREB, 26 May, 2021 - Amendments to the Capital Market Act, which are aimed at further aligning Croatia's regulatory framework with the EU acquis, were supported on Wednesday by both the Opposition and the ruling majority in the parliament, who expressed hopes for the revival of the capital market. 

This is one of the most complicated laws that summarises what kind of capital market Europe wants, said Social Democrat MP Boris Lalovac, warning that Croatia's capital market was far less developed than the European.

"The value of the capital market in Croatia is HRK 276 billion, 140 billion are stocks and 130 billion securities, the annual turnover of the Zagreb Stock Exchange is around HRK 3 billion while the turnover on the OTC market is HRK 27 billion," Lalovac said.

That shows that outside of the stock exchange and capital markets, which have strict rules, trading is ten times greater, Lalovac said, expressing hope this would change.

Grozdana Perić of the HDZ said that better oversight and regulation would enable further development of the capital market in Croatia.

She warned, however, that the coronavirus crisis had caused an outflow of funds from investment funds and that their value had dropped by more than 35% or HRK 8 billion.

That is one of the reasons for amending the law, said the State Secretary at the Finance Ministry, Stjepan Čuraj, who presented the amendments to MPs.

"If we take as an example the Zagreb Stock Exchange alone, during the pandemic in 2020 it dropped by more than 35%, from 2,000 to 1,300 basis points," Čuraj said, noting that there was room for improvement.

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ZAGREB, 26 May, 2021 - The volume of construction work in March 2021 was 16% higher than in March 2020, while compared to the previous month, it dropped by 0.4%, show preliminary data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

March was the tenth consecutive month with a year-on-year increase in the volume of construction work.

The volume of construction work on buildings in March this year was 16.5% up from March 2020 while the volume of work on other structures rose 15.3%.

Compared to February 2021, construction work on buildings in March was up 0.5% and on other structures it was 3.9% higher.

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ZAGREB, 25 May, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) Crobex dropped 0.27% to 1,935.39 points and the Crobex10 fell by 0.40% to 1,195.19 points on Tuesday.

Today's turnover totalled HRK 8.4 million, or HRK 900,000 more than on Monday.

In terms of the volume of trading, the best performer was the HT telecom company (1.4 million), and its share price rose 0.54% to HRK 185.

The preferred shares of the Adris Group turned over 1.3 million, and their price slid 1.20% to HRK 412.

The Valamar Riviera stock turned over 1.1 million, and its share price increased 1.36% to HRK 29.80.

The Atlantska Plovidba shipping company generated a turnover of slightly over a million kuna, seeing a share price fall of 1.63% to HRK 361.

A total of 39 stocks traded today, with 16 of them registering share price decreases, 14 rising and eight remaining unchanged.

(€1= HRK 7.506870)

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ZAGREB, 25 May, 2021 - The Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) has proposed measures for maintaining liquidity and launching private investments which include retaining jobkeeping measures and covering a portion of fixed costs, ensuring favourable loans and prolonging loan maturity.

In expectation of COVID measures and lockdown of businesses being lifted, HUP addressed Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and underscored that maintaining liquidity is not only relevant during the lockdown period but should be extended for a longer period, and that recovery can only be possible if investments are boosted.

HUP proposes that jobkeeping measures be extended even after busines restrictions are lifted until such time that  all enterprises generate at least 90% of their pre-pandemic revenue in 2019. HUP believes that abolishing support measures for the economy should be gradual, depending on the epidemiological situation, but also on the circumstances in each individual sector so that Croatia is not faced with a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs.

HUP also calls for a portion of fixed costs to continue to be covered, taking account of the percentage revenue has decreased, and for facilitating access to loans for liquidity and working capital, including guarantee schemes for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

HUP advocates possibly transforming a portion of loans into grants and for the moratorium on loan maturities to be extended for existing loans, along with state guarantees, at least until the end of this year and longer if need be, based on transparent criteria.

HUP proposes additional support loans for exporters and enterprises investing in the 4.0 industry, and support for investments by large companies through increased support for EU co-funded projects.

It also recommends the possibility of deleveraging debts between companies to prevent a chain reaction, and for non-recoverable loans to be identified faster, as well as speeding up bankruptcy procedures, and introducing additional tax cuts.

"We believe that government subsidies to cover the disrupted economic activities due to the COVID crisis should continue until such time that enterprises can do business normally and save jobs without that support," HUP said.

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May 21, 2021 - With math seeing more and more appreciation, it's still, quite rightfully, a challenging discipline that not everyone can comprehend. Quality lessons, additional instructions, and motivated lecturers and teachers are the obvious recipe to both help those who struggle with math and those who are good at it to achieve their best possible potential.

However, the coronavirus pandemic is still present and is still causing difficulties in the Croatian education system, forcing pupils and professors to switch from online to live lectures or a mix of the two, putting additional pressure on sharing knowledge on any imaginable subject. With math being a discipline that requires lots of practice and explanations, it's perhaps the subject which has suffered the most.

Still, as Srednja.hr reports, a great potential solution to this issue appeared back in October 2020 when Robert Pavlik started E-Matematika, a website, for online math instructions.

''The site is focused on all students that need help with math, whether it's about fixing a bad grade or preparing for an exam“, writes Srednja.hr.

E-Matematika currently offers 45 minutes of lessons, offering solved mathematical tasks with the procedure detailed, as well as a video explanation.

These instructions are paid for simply through the ''order instructions''check-out process, and it's all quite automated. However, phone and videocalls for arranging instructions are an option for the safety of kids so that parents can see with whom they'll be communicating. Reliable platforms for communication such as Zoom, Google Meet, and MS Teams are also used, and two conditions need to be satisfied for the instructions to work: easy platform access for the student and an uninterrupted video connection. Each instruction ends with the service sending a questionnaire to the students to see how happy they are with the whole experience, as well as a receipt. The questionnaire builds the personal rating of the instructor.

There are four levels of instructions: lower elementary classes, higher elementary classes, high schools, and faculties, which offer more effective services as some instructors prefer to work with teens, and others are specialised working with younger kids. The site so far boasts 100 instructors, and in addition to maths, Croatian pupils can also find instructions from the subjects of physics and chemistry. Srednja.hr adds that students from field-related faculties recognised the work of E-Matematika and want to participate.

The site welcomes anyone interested to apply to become the next instructor, as long as they satisfy the following conditions: two years of instructing experience as a minimum, excellent communication skills, reliability, flexibility in organising instructions, along with patience and the ability to focus on a student.

It's also worth mentioning that the first concept of online instructions in Croatia (again, for math, but also for statistics) appeared in 2011, when a mathematics professor at the Faculty of Science (PMF), University of Zagreb, Toni Milun, started posting videos explaining the curriculum online and for free. And you guessed it; it was a huge hit.

Despite Milun offering additional mathematics lessons for free, E-Matematika having more than 500 registered users and 2000 orders, it seems it can justify the paid offer with its value and use.

However, it will be interesting to see will this trend continue when the pandemic is over and the face-to-face instructions return as normal. Currently, the Croatian media landscape is seeing more and more pupils and parents stepping out and saying that nothing can replace face-to-face classes.

Learn more about Croatian inventions & discoveries: from Tesla to Rimac on our TC page.

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ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Amid a moderate trading on the Zagreb Stock Exchange on Wednesday the main indices fell slightly, ending their rising streak over the past few days, with the Podravka food manufacturer's stock drawing the most attention after it proposed a dividend of HRK 9 per share.

The Crobex fell slightly by 0.15% to 1,949 points, breaking its four-day climb. At the same time the Crobex10 weakened by 0.31% to 1,203 points, after rising for three days in a row.

Among the sector indices, the construction index fell by 2.13% while the transport sector strengthened by 0.97%.

Regular turnover amounted to HRK 9.25 million or 2.25 million more than the day before.

The highest turnover of HRK 3.3 million was generated by the Podravka company. The price of its shares weakened by 0.33% to HRK 600.

Podravka's management announced that the general assembly is scheduled for 29 June when shareholders are expected to decide on a HRK 9 dividend, just like last year.

The Valamar Riviera hotel group generated a turnover of HRK 2.33 million. Its shares closed at a price of HRK 29.7, up 0.67%.

A total of  42 stocks traded today, with 16 of them registering share price increases, 17 recording share price decreases and nine remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.511281)

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ZAGREB, 18 May, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices continued their upward movement on Tuesday. 

The Crobex jumped by 0.49% to 1,952 points, continuing its rise for the fourth day in a row, while the Crobex10 gained 0.42% to end the day at 1,207 points, rising for three straight trading days.

Turnover at the close of the trading session was HRK 7 million, about 1.9 million lower than on Monday, and three stocks passed the turnover mark of one million kuna.

The highest turnover, of HRK 1.4 million, was generated by the stock of the Podravka food company, which closed at HRK 602 per share, up 0.33%.

It was followed by the preferred stock of the Adris tourism and insurance group, turning over HRK 1.38 million. Its price rose by 0.24% to HRK 423.

The stock of the HT telecommunications company turned over HRK 1.3 million, ending the day at HRK 185 per share, up 0.82%.

A total of 39 stocks traded today, with 20 of them registering share price increases, 12 recording share price decreases and 7 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.517964)

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ZAGREB, 14 May, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) Crobex index went up 0.12% to 1,940.04 points on Friday, while the Crobex10 dipped 0.11% to 1,193.82 points.

Regular turnover was HRK 6.86 million, with only two stocks crossing the million kuna mark - the Atlantska Plovidba shipping company, which turned over HRK 1.5 million, closing at HRK 336 per share (+0.30%), and the Podravka food company, which turned over HRK 1.26 million, stable at HRK 590 per share.

Forty-nine stocks traded today - 28 increasing in price, 11 decreasing, while ten were stable.

(€1 = HRK 7.520412)

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ZAGREB, 13 May, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices dropped by about 0.5% on Thursday, with the Crobex falling for the third day in a row, by 0.47% to 1,937.73 points, and the Crobex10 slipping by 0.51% to 1,195.17 points, down from Wednesday.

Regular turnover amounted to HRK 8.7 million or almost two million less than on Wednesday.

The most traded stock with a turnover of HRK 3.1 million was the Atlantska Plovidba shipping company. The price of its shares continued to fall for the third day in a row, by 3.18% to HRK 335.

The HT telecommunications company generated a turnover of HRK 1.46 million with the price of its shares dropping by 0.54% to HRK 184.50.

The Podravka food manufacturer closed at HRK 590 per share, down 1.01% from Wednesday, generating a turnover of HRK 1.22 million.

The Valamar Riviera hotel group also crossed the million kuna mark turning over HRK 1.02 million. Its shares plunged by 1.97% to HRK 29.90.

A total of 36 stocks traded today, with 19 of them registering share price decreases, 12 recording share price increases and 5 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.531968)

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