As much as people prefer to stick with the depressing stories of there being no jobs, or no workers, or whichever saga fits best with their coffee that morning, there are moves being made in the continental part of the country for the greater good, and one economic boost for Croatia is on its way, in the form of one of the largest tea factories in not only the region, but the whole of Europe.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of December, 2018, the current plan is to allow for the completely uninterrupted operation of the factory in order to continuously deliver ready-made products to markets that have already been contracted.

In what is certain to be a significant economic boost for Croatia, in the Rakita business zone in Kladare, the Spider Group is building a large, modern tea factory worth 28 million kuna, in which as many as 400 million teabags will be packed annually. In addition, fifty new employees will also be sought and recruited. As mentioned, this factory will be the largest tea factory in the region and among the largest in Europe, according to a report from Glas Slavonije.

The Spider Group specialises in the processing of medicinal and aromatic herbs and the production of teas and preparations based on such herbs. All of the Spider Group companies - Spider Group d.o.o., Biofarma d.o.o., Dolla d.o.o., Jan-spider d.o.o., as well as Herbarium d.o.o., are integral parts of a solid business unit which produces high-quality, finished products on both the domestic and on international markets.

One of the main features of the Spider Group is intense growth and continued investment in technology, as well as infrastructure development, which confirms that previous investments made by the company are being continued forward with more new ones.

Back in 2016, an investment cycle of more than 15,000,000 kuna was completed, which directly strengthened the group's overall competitiveness on the world market. In mid 2018, a new investment was successfully launched, amounting to more than 28,000,000 kuna for the construction and the equipping of factories for the packing of teas in the Rakita business zone in Pitomača, according to Denis Nemčević of the aforementioned group.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more news on the Croatian economy, as well as on doing business in Croatia and the country's overall business and investment climate.

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th of December, 2018, with the final approval of the settlement by Agrokor's formerly embattled creditors, which was confirmed by the High Commercial Court back at the end of October, numerous recruited advisors involved in the process of extraordinary administration, from those dealing with restructuring to financial and legal advisors, were also entitled to compensation for such a welcome success.

There are a whole range of advisory profiles within the gigantic Agrokor Group, some of whom have been engaged since the very beginning of this long and arduous process, and some who arrived at the company only at the later stages, on the basis of the success of Agrokor's creditor's settlement, these advisors gained a handsome sum, amounting to 18.9 million euro or about 140 million kuna.

In addition their "regular" fees over the past year and a half have amounted to a massive 66.4 million euro, which is slightly less than half a billion kuna.

These figures were revealed by Agrokor's extraordinary administration team headed by Fabris Peruško, within the framework of the latest monthly report on Agrokor's operations, as well as the respective operations of key Agrokor companies, which has been accompanied by more detailed explanations for the high costs of these various advisors and consultants.

In the case of Agrokor, the huge sums paid to advisors were found to be at such a ''special volume'' primarily because of the political patronage that has dogged and shown a grim persistence in the entire process, coupled with the controversies that came to the very forefront of the formerly ailing company's chronic issues because of the total lack of transparency in the Lex Agrokor preparation phase.

However, according to the new monthly report, at the end of October this year, Agrokor d.d. showed that it had spent 726 million kuna on the company's total advisory and consultancy costs, with more than a tenth of that amount (11 percent or 10.4 million kuna) actually ending up in the state budget. Additionally, the total cost of the advisors, besides their already large fees and creditor's settlement rewards, also includes the accompanying material costs (two percent of the total amount), the report states.

Until the absolute completion of the settlement, which is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and on which more than 350 people are currently working, these costs will rise by tens of millions of kuna.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated business page for all the information you need on not only Agrokor, but on doing business in Croatia, the current economic, investment and business climate, Croatian companies, products and services, and much more.

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

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of December, 2018, Eccos, a Zagreb company, has recently received a very valuable contract in Brussels worth about four million euros with the European Commission.

More specifically, according to Krešimir Paić and Silvio Pregelj, the directors and co-owners of Eccos, what we're talking about here is a four-year agreement on the improvement and maintenance of electronic and electromechanical control systems for both human and vehicle access to all eighty of the European Commission's facilities in Brussels. This includes the headquarters of the European Union where all major events take place and the key decisions that decide ''our destiny" regularly occur.

"We're proud of the fact that we recently managed to win in the strongest European tender and that we managed to conclude a four-year contract with the European Commission.

This job is the crown of our efforts to bring Croatian savvy, knowledge and experience to the European Union, under the Croatian name and the Croatian flag, and not just as cooperators of large foreign companies. When it comes to foreign markets, we intend to do more work on integrated value-added electrical engineering in the form of our software and project solutions, since we have enough knowledge, quality, experience and will,'' Paić said.

From the Zagreb company itself, they acknowledge that their decision to bid to the EU tender happened quite randomly, as their business activities are mostly related to Croatia and the wider region. Namely, this job is indirectly being credited to the negative trend of Croatian labour force departure to Western Europe. Recently, they admitted, a colleague who sought a future in a similar company in Belgium recently left the company.

As we remained in a good relationship, we continued to socialise occasionally and in those gatherings we realised that they didn't really do anything better than us and that we ourselves could actually come out with their strength and knowledge in any tender in Europe.

Since Croatia is member of the EU, we decided to take advantage of this and we started to follow the tenders in the EU and one came up which was interesting to us, and in which we ultimately won,'' Krešimir Paić recalls.

He added that this is a project where all their knowledge and creativity will come to fruition, because ultimately, the exact value of the contract will depend on what the contracting authority can offer and actually go ahead and implement. Although it's a multi-million euro job, the Zagreb company says it's more valuable to them because of the references they will acquire through it, rather than simply because of the high value of the actual contract.

Eccos is engaged in the development and the implementation of sophisticated solutions in the field of electrical engineering, information technology and security.

This year, they celebrated their 20th anniversary, and currently have 115 employees, half of whom are graduate engineers, and their annual revenue is at the level of one hundred million kuna. Paić and Pregelj recall that their first jobs were installing alarms in family houses, and their first major job was at the Rijeka Oil Refinery, in which they were engaged in designing complex systems in the field of electrical engineering and technical protection.

Energy is still a significant sector for them and they have, along with an American partner, just developed a project for monitoring various pipelines (gas pipelines, etc) through which they're hoping to boost global interest.

Today, as they explain, there is hardly any company in Croatia with which this Zagreb company hasn't cooperated to some extent or another. Silvio Pregelj points out that they are particularly sought-after when a company wants to integrate more than one system into a complete solution.

"In the development of this system, we're striving to unify information from all peripheral devices and sensors, which are all the more smart. This information is collected through various algorithms and by using artificial intelligence, and in this way the behaviour of the system is adapted to the specific needs of its users. We're developing our own software and hardware solutions that are part of our projects (Epsimax, Orgman and ICMS). Today, our development team has about twenty engineers,'' says Preglej.

They have worked on such solutions in both IKEA department stores in the region, in Zagreb and in Belgrade, and there are almost no airports in this area in which they aren't present. They provide a range of electrical and information services, and they are probably the most recognisable publicly for their smart parking systems.

The product of this Zagreb company is also the systems that are being built in the capital and in a number of other cities across both Croatia and the region, and the latest product is the so called smart kiosk, which can already be seen in the centre of Zagreb.

"The new car parking metres in Zagreb are smart kiosks that, besides dealing with parking charges, also provide information to tourists on the sales of other city services, items etc. We have the strongest partners in the world, and we're complementing our solutions with the Eccos Smart City Entablation Platform, which brings together all the participants involved in the process and offers full and complete reporting,'' says Preglej.

Like most other companies, Eccos say they have noticed a lack of workforce, with particular issues regarding successfully attracting young engineers, but for now at least, the situation for this Zagreb company is not alarming.

"We retain people in the team by fostering quality and open relationships, investing in education, the ability to progress in line with the results achieved and by stimulating quality work and effort.

We offer our people the opportunity to participate in sophisticated projects in Croatia, in the countries of the region, and in the European Union, and to expand their knowledge in software development, the hardware, implementation of complex engineering solutions, project management, and all other aspects of our activities,'' says Krešimir Paić.

For now, the company has a head office in Zagreb and Sarajevo, with offices in Split and Dubrovnik, and the opening of an office in Brussels is underway. Their intent is to become more and more present in western Europe and that the existing ratio of domestic market revenues and exports of 80 to 20 will change in the coming period. In that light, there is no exclusion of the opening of new offices in Europe for this successful Zagreb company.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more information on Croatian companies, products and services, as well as on the investment and business climate in Croatia.

If it's just Zagreb you're interested in, stay up to date with Total Zagreb.

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

Croatia's capital has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, and not just in terms of Advent in Zagreb and other tourism oriented matters. Zagreb startups are being given developmental help from the City of Zagreb and other bodies, with large non-refundable cash sums being allocated to many.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of December, 2018, the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb Innovation Center (ZICER) have successfully completed the third cycle of the Startup Factory pre-acceleration program. Through the last three years, along with quality education and the support of world-renowned mentors and incentive infrastructure, more than 2 million kuna in non-refundable funds have been awarded to the best Zagreb startups.

The time period just gone was exceptionally positive for the whole of the Zagreb startup community. This year, the City of Zagreb joined its most important projects together for startup entrepreneurship - the pre-acceleration program entitled Startup Factory, and the international startup conference, Zagreb Connect. More than 600 startup enthusiasts gathered at Zagreb Connect, eager to gain and share their knowledge, as well as high-tech ideas.

Discussions between Zagreb startups on pre-seed investments and investments in the early development stages of a startup took place, as did those about the experiences of domestic startups that successfully launched their products on international markets, in addition, future technologies were also discussed. Gradually, the atmosphere at Zagreb Connect became more and more heightened.

The reason for this was the presentation of the finalists of the Startup Factory program which fought for a non-refundable amount of 860,000 kuna, which the City of Zagreb readily provided in the name of further development. The top five teams - OmoLab, Wingo, Stratowave, MAKABI and Zebra Cross - were awarded 160,000 kuna in non-refundable cash, while the best pitch at Zagreb Connect was won by Silver Monitor, which was awarded 60,000 kuna.

38 teams have passed this intense pre-acceleration program so far, while 17 Zagreb startups them have received more than 2 million kuna in grants for the further development of their various projects.

Startup Factory's initiator and the director of ZICER, Frane Šesnić, said:

"The third generation of our pre-acceleration program has successfully come to an end. On December the 5th, five teams received financial support, but what is even more valuable - knowledge, experience, socialising, new contacts, association with the community - that's what all of our finalists carry with them. Every year, we improve the program. The market is rapidly changing, and to succeed on it, we all need to adapt to it, too.

In addition to our powerful internal team, which were crucial to the success of the program, this year we brought the best of the best, some from Croatia and some from abroad, to the first floor of the 12th Pavilion at the Fair (Velesajam). The teams developed through the adoption of the Lean Startup Drill and IBM Design Thinking. Snježana Šlabek and Emir Džanić taught them gemifiction, Marko Kovač taught them business development, and Tina Lee Odinsky Zec taught them about storytelling.

Our teams got together and mingled, learned and were inspired by Luka Abrus, Chris Outa, Jim McGougas, Martin Reent, Tomislav Grubišić, Matija Žulja, and many others. The subject of the legal aspect of doing business was covered by our PwC partners, and the topic of attracting investment was dealt with by the experts from South Central Ventures.

The quality of the program and the overall such preacceleration concept as such has been confirmed by the first and second generation teams who are still continuing to develop through the ZICER Incubation Program, and some of them generate their revenues globally. I'd like to thank all those who, through their selfless work, effort and engagement, have contributed to making all of us able, as a society, through these projects and programs, to keep going forward.''

Seventeen Zagreb startups, more specifically teams, developed through the third generation of the Startup Factory program, and all of their projects are in line with the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the Republic of Croatia (S3).

The Zagreb Connect International Conference, traditionally held at the beginning of advent, surpassed all expectations.

Mirko Jozić, head of the City Office for Economy, Energy and Environmental Protection, spoke about this important startup event and the plans of the City of Zagreb for the further development of Zagreb startups.

"We're keeping track of trends and we're introducing something new every year. I'm happy with this year's Zagreb Connect. We've brought some excellent speakers to Zagreb, and our partner country was Israel.

The excitement for the presentation of our Startup Factory finalists was enormous. We believe in this program and concept, which combines pre-seed investment, education, mentoring, and infrastructure support. That's why we have allocated the most funds so far this year, giving the best startup solutions a cumulative 860,000 kuna in non-refundable funds.

We won't stop there, either! We believe in projects that enable young people to work and develop here in Zagreb. In addition to the ongoing procurement of equipment for six new laboratories to be located in the premises of ZICER at the Zagreb Fair, the expansion of infrastructure capacities intended for the development of innovation and the start-up of entrepreneurship is under preparation.'' concluded Mirko Jozić.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more on Zagreb startups, Croatian companies, products and services, as well as all you need to know on the business and investment climate in Croatia.

If it's just the capital you're interested in, make sure to follow Total Zagreb.

As Novac.hr/Jasmina Trstenjak writes on the 9th of December, 2018, two Croatian dome producers have managed to conquer the often overlooked world of domes. Yes, domes. From very humble beginnings, they now export their products to countries including Finland, the Czech Republic, and even Japan.

ever noticed that most large events nowadays use some type of dome shaped structures, and not tents? If you've not paid attention to that, you're probably wondering what domes we're talking about. You know those structures that look a bit like oddly shaped balloons? You may have noticed them at Advent in Zagreb or at some concert. Well, they're the domes in question.

Specifically, those currently being used at Advent in Zagreb, eight of them to be more precise, are original domestic products, made by Croatian dome producers. It may come as a surprise, but Croatia boasts one of a dozen serious dome producers in the whole of Europe, and this type of typically entirely overlooked genius exists in a form which allows for easy adaptation to all roles and different event-like circumstances. These domes, as adaptable as they are, can play the role of a concert roof, a bar, an advent stand, and they can also be used for exhibitions at fairs or for glamping among other similar things.

Behind the innovative and interesting product stands the Croatian dome producers, more specifically their company - Domes (Kupole) better than a tent, and the story of the company's name is a short and rather charming one. Marko Matošić and Jakša Borić, the two Croatian dome producers, say that the company should have just been called Domes (Kupole), but they received a rejection to that name, a rather common occurrence on the long and ridiculous road of opening any type of company in Croatia. As they told Novac.hr, they sat across the street from the Commercial Court itself upon rejection and had to quickly think of a new name.

"We wondered what we were, actually, and we concluded that we were better than the tent, and so, that's the name. We figured it sounded a bit stupid and ungainly, but I'm convinced that out of the ten people who noticed it, at least four of them went on Google to search for what it is,'' joked Borić, who ended up as one of two Croatian dome producers from the advertising industry, while Matošić came from the club scene.

That's probably not too far from the truth because being unusual and unique isn't a bad tactic, and both of those words could easily be used to describe their domes. As they describe themselves on their web site, "the geodesic dome is the most stable structure ever imagined, at the same time, the most moderate and the strongest." And definitely better than a tent!

Domes like these are a luxury niche on an otherwise big marketplace, and it isn't that much of a cheap business. There is definitely a future for it despite any obstacles, however, as over the last couple of years, these domes have managed to become the "industry standard".

It's interesting to know just how the two succeeded in recognising the value of that niche at the right time, how they entered into it, how much capital they needed, and are they able to make a real living from it all.

"We worked on a festival at Bundek (popular park in Zagreb), where a dance group from Israel had a gig, they used a similar construction as part of the scenography, but it was made from wood. That's when we saw it for the first time.

The gig they had before coming to Zagreb was somewhere far away and they needed to bring that construction to Croatia, which cost a lot. Their technical director then suggested that he would give us a draft for us to make it [a dome] for them in Zagreb because it would be cheaper than to obtain one from far away. We did this and agreed to it. It was a construction made of wooden sticks that had to be cut and then tied together. But on the day of the show, it started to rain, so we had to cover it up and wrap that structure with the foil. It looked awful, but it worked. They danced and didn't get soaked by the rain, we stood at the side, watched them dancing and that structure, and concluded that it would be nice when done as a type of a tent,'' Borić recounts.

They began to explore and discover that some people are already engaged such business in a pretty serious manner. Then the game started, Matošić added, in which he was initially helped by the knowledge of a now retired professor from the Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering, Zvonimir Žagar, who is a great fan of geodesic domes. He helped them with advice on the first dome, as well as the first prototype. At that time, they did not have nine employees or their own designer like they have today, and they were helped by the professor, and the first dome, named 3v14, left the confines of ideas on paper and became a reality back in 2008.

"The initial investment was about 40,000 kuna, that was all we had and spent it all on the prototype, but that's completely irrelevant in this type of business. That was money we literally took and then threw out of the window. We used it all up on making mistakes, to figure out how it all works. We didn't get any loans, but we made the first dome, we rented out it for a while, and we did it all with great abdication. We didn't pay out any wages, we just always invested in new products. The more there were, the more we made, and then we started to hire the first people. We've grown organically, bit by bit,'' explains Borić.

Matošić added that all of that work was put to good use at the Gričevanje festival during the advent period back in 2011, when Advent in Zagreb was far from developed, which was organised in Zagreb's Upper Town (Gornji Grad) to promote their product. They wanted the main star to be the dome, of course.

"We invested a huge amount, set three domes up, got exhausted and frozen, but people saw the domes. They'd heard of them. Then we got our first clients,'' says Matošić.

"In fact, every gig in which our products appear is worth more than 100 ads, because our customers don't bother with it unless they've seen and felt what it's all about. Nobody is going to spend one hundred thousand kuna because they've seen a picture of a dome,'' adds Borić.

Up until this very day, these two Croatian dome producers have continued to develop new domes of varying dimensions which can be used for a variety of purposes.

One of them on offer is the 2v5 bar, a semi-open dome of 18 square metres with a bar, total length of 17.5 metres, and a dome that can easily be turned into a stage, a bar, a store... The Croatian company have specific domes on offer for various festivals, both the corporate and promotional type, and in its portfolio today, there are more than 20 in different sizes of five, seven, nine, twelve and fourteen metres.

Their selling prices vary depending on the model: some are 50,000 kuna, some 60,000, some are 250,000, some are 280,000. Rent, however, is invoiced per term, and one term consists of four days: from five thousand to thirty thousand kuna, depending also on the dome model in question.

The monthly costs for the Croatian dome producers are extremely high, usually above 100,000 kuna, but they are okay, although sometimes they themselves admit things can be a bit tight. They live well, and their top priority is to reinvest everything they make back into the company to continue on its already very successful path.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more on Croatian companies, products and services, as well as info on the business and investment climate in Croatia.

Click here for the original article by Jasmina Trstenjak for Novac.hr/Jutarnji

One Croatian company has developed a type of artificial intelligence purely for hotels, and as of next summer, various hotels belonging to the Jadranka Group will have the brand new system made available for their guests from around the world.

''Alexa, what can I do today?'' a guest of the Lošinj Bellevue Hotel will soon be able to ask.

''You can go and visit Susak and Ilovik, or visit the wellness pool. In the evening, I'd suggest going to the Matsunoki Japanese restaurant,'' Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant, will respond.

As Novac.hr/Filip Pavic writes on the 10th of December, 2018, no, we're not talking about some dreamlike hotel in the year 2048, but about 2019's tourist season in the hotel accommodation belonging to the Jadranka Group. This Croatian hotel company, will become the first in Croatia, and in the world, to introduce a special type of ''hotel artificial intelligence'' to its accommodation facilities.

"We've created a system of artificial intelligence that will give to each guest, in a given moment, taking into account the enormous amount of data, a prediction of the type of content and services the hotel has that they might be interested in," explained Marko Lukičić, a member of the board of directors of the Jadranka Group, who is also the co-founder of Acquaint, the Croatian company which thought of and then designed this artificial intelligence system, which is solely for hotels.

As has been said, the whole system, which is currently called Amenity Recommender, is fully functional and is currently being tested in five hotels belonging to the Jadranka Group on the island of Lošinj - The Bellevue and the Alhambra, which are both five-star facilities, as well as in Aurora, Vespera, and Punta, each with a four-star rating.

''The plan is to equip the rooms of Hotel Bellevue with Amazon Echo, which are speakers through which the guest can talk to Alexa the virtual assistant, before the next tourist season. She will ''lend'' her voice to our artificial intelligence system. We will also connect the system with the hotel TV system and customer relationship management system (CRM) to be able to communicate with the guest across all channels,'' Lukičić added.

Namely, this hotel artificial intelligence system will be a kind of virtual consultant and tourist guide that will try to predict what the guest wants to see and experience while on holiday. Excursions, restaurants, museums, wellness, diving courses, massages, yacht rentals, etc.

The ''virtual receptionist" will choose three specific recommendations for the guest among the 750 available services, taking into account enormous amounts of available data. Among other things, the age, sex, country of origin of the guest, as well as who they're with on holiday, the room in which they're staying and the which period in which it is will be taken into account to provide the best recommendations. As extensive as that is, that is not all. The system will also ''keep its eye'' on the weather and change the offers recommended should the weather take an unfavourable turn.

''It's important to emphasise the fact that this artificial intelligence deals with anonymous guest information and based on this data, it is not possible to detect the guests' identity. It doesn't accumulate data, it simply processes it,'' explained Lukičić, noting that the rules of the Personal Data Protection Act (GDPR) will be absolutely respected.

The constant advancing of technology has been bringing in the question of just what will happen to staff, human staff, that is, who used to be the ones to perform such tasks. Will they be replaced by artificial intelligence? No, says Lukičić, stating that the intentions behind this innovative invention were never to remove the need for a human touch in this industry.

''The receptionists will have a key supervisory role, and they'll also get acquainted with artificial intelligence with courses. Provided with information, they will be able to offer a more quality service and create an even better experience for the guest,'' added Lukičić.

Otherwise, the whole story came to light just two years ago. Back then, Lukičić, as the responsible person for the digital transformation of the Jadranka Group, was given the opportunity to test his ​​artificial intelligence idea which has been ''seducing'' him continually from back in his student days spent at FER.

"When we began with that whole story, of course, we tried to find an already finished solution. We contacted companies which already have their own artificial intelligence platforms, such as Google, IBM and Microsoft, but we've come to the conclusion that they could only offer us generic intelligence or a chatbot. We needed something much more precise,'' recalls Lukičić. His list of criteria for the hotel system of artificial intelligence was highly specific and seemingly impossible to reach at the time.

"We were looking for a company that had profound expertise in hotel industry, expertise in machine learning and data knowledge, as well as programming, to make us a special type artificial intelligence. As expected, we couldn't find such a company,''

Lukičić realised that in order to truly get their hands on what they needed, they had to set up their own company that would bring all these skills together properly. In other words, start completely from scratch. He readily admitted that after this Croatian company was created, the actual process of developing artificial intelligence was a painstaking one.

''A lot of statistics, linear algebra, learning, programming, studying, and discussion were needed to eventually have a very small number of code lines. And, there you go, the artificial intelligence was born. But with the science-fantasy part of the story, there was also a business story,''

According to Lukičić, besides its futuristic possibilities, artificial intelligence also provides the possibility of raising hotel revenues in a very specific way. Namely, artificial intelligence of this kind requires very little investment and relies solely on customer spending. There is no need to expand accommodation capacities or raise prices, which are the traditional ways in which to raise revenue. The goal, he says, is to increase the overall value of the facilities through subtle content delivery, without aggressive and offputting sales pitches and a bombardment of offers.

''According to our tests, in regard to a four-star luxury hotel on the island of Lošinj, which has very low maintenance costs, the profits after the introduction of artificial intelligence doubled,'' stated Lukičić, noting that the benefit will depend on a number of factors, such as the type of hotel, its existing maintenance costs, as well as any planned investments for the future.

As far as further plans are concerned, Lukičić hopes that by the end of the year, Acquaint, which currently has only six employees, could sign a global agreement to introduce their system to some European and Asian hotels.

''We're already working with Oracle engineers to create a certified interface for our product. That would make Oracle one of our sales channels,'' says Lukičić, referring to the Croatian company's collaboration with a multinational IT company. They are also in contact with Amazon, the largest e-merchant whose voice technology is being used already, but for any type of official co-operation, he will have to open an office across the pond in the United States.

"All this gives us enough arguments to say that what we do makes sense even though we're currently a research and development company and we aren't making any revenue," Lukičić concluded.

Make sure to stay up to date with more information on Croatian companies, products and services, as well as the business and investment climate in Croatia by following our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages.

Click here for the original article by Filip Pavic for Novac.hr/Jutarnji

The Investment Plan for Europe (Juncker's plan) is one of the key EU steps in boosting investment in Europe, aimed primarily at creating jobs and boosting growth. A large sum of money from the plan will flow into both small and medium Croatian companies.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of December, 2018, the European Investment Fund (EIF) will support Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ) with the guarantee contract for 25 million euro's worth of new credit for innovative small and medium-sized Croatian companies (MSPs) and those of a smaller size (up to 500 employees).

The EIF guarantee has been secured through the Investment Plan for Europe (Juncker's plan), through the Innovfin SME Guarantee Program, established by the EIF, part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission (EC).

Innovfin's guarantee enables innovative MSPs and small and medium Croatian companies to borrow under more favourable conditions than currently available on the Croatian banking market, meaning that the loans included in the Innovfin portfolio will enable MSPs, among other things, to grow and and open up new job opportunities.

Carlos Moedas, the EU's commissioner for research, science and innovation, stated: "I welcome the new contract supported by Juncker's plan and Obzor 2020 in Croatia, which brings new funding for innovative Croatian small and medium companies, and that's often exactly what they needed to launch their new products, integrate innovative processes, create new jobs, and expand their business outside of the local market.''

Dario Scannapieco, EIB's vice president said: "Innovation and MSP support is one of the top priorities for the EIF and the EIB Group. Innovations and MSPs are crucial to Croatia and to the European Union in its efforts to improve and maintain competitiveness on local and global markets, create new jobs, and create conditions for sustainable economic development. We're happy to find a reliable partner in PBZ for such an important task.''

Dinko Lucić, CEO of Privredna banka Zagreb, said: "For many years, Privredna banka Zagreb has been very active in establishing and supporting programs aimed at developing the MSP segment and striving to contribute more to the strong growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the country. The bank has confirmed this by participating in the COSME program and now in InnovFin, through which innovative MSP clients will have further facilitated access to funding sources and more favourable lending will be enabled.''

The Investment Plan for Europe (Juncker's plan) is one of the key European Union steps in boosting investment in Europe, creating jobs and boosting growth. The EIB Group plays a key role in this investment plan.

With the European Investment Funds (EFSI) funds, the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF) can take on a larger share of risk in projects, encouraging private investors to participate more in these projects. Initially, EFSI was to launch 315 billion euro in investments across the European Union over a period of three years, until mid-2018.

In December 2017, the European Parliament and the EU's member states reached agreement on extending EFSI's lifetime to the year 2020 and thus increasing the financial resources to a massive 500 billion euro. In addition to the EFSI, the new EIAH advisory platform helps both the public and the private sector's project promoters to structure investment projects more professionally. The investment plan should also create an EU regulatory environment that is favoured by investments.

Until November 2018, Juncker's plan has already mobilised 360 billion euro in additional investment, including over one billion euro in Croatia alone, with 850,000 small and medium Croatian companies benefiting from easier access to finances.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated business and politics pages for more information.

A huge cash loan from the European Investment Bank for Mate Rimac's company Rimac Automobili has been signed and sealed.

Mate Rimac is without a doubt the face of one of Croatia's most inspiring entrepreneurial stories ever. Success doesn't come easily in Croatia, and while many prefer to complain about that face or simply go off and seek it elsewhere, only to realise that nowhere is quite as easy to navigate as you're told, people like Mate Rimac keep on fighting and make things happen.

Croatia is full of talent and it spills out onto all possible fields, from sport to business to invention and innovation, this little country of approximately four million people has it all. Despite being the home of people like Luka Modric and Mate Rimac, what Croatia doesn't have, however, is a set of state authorities who want to make life more simple for that talent to not only remain within the country, but to manage to develop and flourish here. Just like what was stated previously, Mate Rimac and Rimac Automobili have conquered those barriers, meaning others can, too.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of December, 2018, the vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Dario Scannapieco, has signed a contract with Privredna banka Zagreb for a loan guarantee for Rimac Automobili, totalling an enormous 30 million euro.

The European Investment Bank and Rimac Automobili then signed the very welcome loan of 30 million euro for research purposes, as well as for the company's capacity development and expansion in Sveta Nedjelja.

In addition to the huge loan provided to Rimac Automobili, another loan worth 25 million euro loan was given to innovative small and medium-sized companies.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia and business pages for more information on Rimac Automobili, other Croatian companies, products and services, as well as all you need to know about the business and investment climate in Croatia.

Ever since the Agrokor crisis threatened to sink the domestic economy, the Croatian market has been a rocky one, but despite that, Konzum is back on its feet and is even attracting purchasing potential.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 7th of December, 2018, Milo Ćurković, the owner and CEO of the popular shopping chain, Plodine, said that although he doesn't believe we that Plodine are the only interested party, he believes that they would be the most ready to take over Konzum.

In terms of revenue and income, Plodine is by far largest company in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, and when it comes to the top-list of retail chains in Croatia, they're in third place, with a share of between 10 and 20 percent, just like both Lidl and Kaufland, while the almighty Konzum is still gripping onto first place, according to a report from Novi list.

"The crisis in Agrokor was dangerous for the entire economy, however, everything was fine in the sense that the taxpayers didn't have to bear the consequences of it, and that's what is most important," said Ćurković for Novi list, revealing that Plodine is very much interested in purchasing Konzum.

''We absolutely are. The question is, of course, what the [Agrokor's] new owners will do. The new owners are bankers, creditors, and my estimate is that for the bank, this isn't their main business, so, as soon as the company is consolidated, they'll sell that part of the business, which we're ready for and want. I think the entire consolidation process will last two to three years, and we'll be further prepared in that period so that we're fully prepared for that potential acquisition at the right time. This will be the most interesting acquisition for all of us in this sector.

We're waiting to see how the situation in Agrokor will turn out. I don't believe that we're the only ones interested [in purchasing Konzum], but I believe that we're the most ready for the takeover of Konzum. This isn't just about finances. You have to be ready for personnel, organisational, logistical matters, and we've fulfilled those conditions,'' said Ćurković, adding that anyone who succeeds in buying Konzum will definitely be the main player on the Croatian retail market and that nobody would be able to do better.

"Our goal is to be the main player on the Croatian market," concluded Ćurković.

Make sure to stay up to date on the Croatian market, doing business in Croatia, and the domestic business and investment climate by following our dedicated business page.

You know that old British saying ''It ain't over til the fat lady sings''? Well, you could easily apply that to the ongoing Agrokor saga. Yes, things have calmed down enormously, with the company having made a miraculous turnaround from pre-bankruptcy to regaining its strength and operating normally, but the story isn't over yet.

Fabris Peruško, the current extraordinary commissioner leading Agrokor's administration, stated recently that Agrokor is finally back on its feet, and not only that, but that it still has all the potential to remain one of the strongest and largest companies in this part of Europe.

While Agrokor is expected to return to totally normal business next year, under a different name and with Russia's Sberbank as a majority owner, things still aren't all steady, and this is one of them. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 5th of December, 2018, Russia's Sberbank, one of Agrokor's largest shareholders, has already begun receiving bids for its huge share in the Agrokor Group.

Maxim Poletajev, advisor to the CEO of Sberbank, stated that Sberbank has already begun receiving bid for its share from various funds from the United States, Canada, and much closer to home in Europe, from the United Kingdom, according to a report from N1.

"Everything will depend on the price, we're currently considering offers," Poletajev stated very briefly. He also said that Russia's Sberbank was currently in talks with various investors who could potentially take part in refinancing Agrokor's debt.

Fabris Peruško should become the president of the board, Poletajev added.

As the Agrokor story continues to write its own pages and as its former owner, Ivica Todorić, pays a million euros in bail to leave prison and announce his entry into the Croatian political world, it's more and more difficult to predict exactly what will happen next, but in any case, follow our dedicated business and politics pages to stay up to date.