September 17, 2021 - Set to be held in Umag on October 7-8, the Klima-Forum Conference is the event to go to for discussions on the contemporary issues of cooling systems and air conditioning in Croatia. Registrations for participation are now underway.

''Nineteen days and eighteen hours'' is displayed on the countdown on the Energetika-marketing.hr website at the time of writing this article. For the professional air-conditioning community, the countdown is more than exciting, as it points how much time remains until the 8th edition of the Klima-Forum, the event about all things related to Cooling, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning.

''The westernmost part of Istria, the first days of autumn, beautiful nature, a pleasant climate... could there ever be a better environment for a discussion and an exchange of experiences, opinions and ideas, for the presentation of new products, solutions and implemented projects in refrigeration, ventilation and air-conditioning technology?'' wonders Energetika-marketing.hr while inviting interested parties to the forum that will take place in Umag on October 7-8 at the Sol Garden Istra hotel.

Even though the application section on the website is made for registration and accommodation, the website nevertheless warns that interested people should send an inquiry to register for both participation and accommodation via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

At the moment, admissions are being taken both for those who just want to come and learn more as well as for authors who also want to present their work in the field of cooling systems. 

''The authors of presentations that will be presented at the conference are exempt from paying the registration fee on the day they present their presentation. If a presentation has more than one author, the one who will present at the conference is the one exempt from paying the registration fee,'' says the website. 

The program that includes round-tables, discussions, and lectures has been divided into six thematic sections. 

On Thursday, October 7, the themes will be Globally and Locally (on laws and practices in Croatia, Europe, and the rest of the world), Ventilation and Air-conditioning (on the pandemic, health protection, cleaning solutions, and more), and Regulation and Control (on smart grids, buildings, and similar topics).

The next day, October 8, the forum will deal with the themes of Projects and Solutions (designing, testing and implementing cooling systems, etc.), Renovation and Modernisation (nearly zero-energy buildings, energy renovation), and finally, Efficiency and Development (the energy consumption of cooling and ventilation systems and more).

With concerns about energy efficiency continuing to take a front seat for the climate change topic, this conference is another environmentally friendly step forward for Croatia. As TCN previously wrote, positive examples include the Hrvoje Požar Energy Institute (EIHP), being the first nearly-zero energy building in Croatia, and the REPLACE Project, to name just a couple of examples.

Several scientific-technical are also keenly backing this upcoming event. These five patrons are the University of Rijeka, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (University of Split), the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (University of Zagreb), the Croatian Chamber of Engineers, and the Croatian Association for Cooling, Air-Conditioning and Heat Systems.

In addition, the lead patron is the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK)

Learn more about Croatian inventions and discoveries from Tesla to Rimac on our dedicated TC page.

For more about science in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 -.The president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Luka Burilović, said on Tuesday  that further reform moves were necessary for that institution, and added that up to 150 people might be laid off.

Addressing the HGK general assembly in Zagreb, Burilović said that after 30 years, this institution would be overhauled due to the new legislation on the HGK.

Also on Tuesday, Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić outlined to lawmakers a new bill on the chamber, explaining that the purpose of the new legislation was to encourage positive changes and not to undermine the reputation of the HGK.

Last week, the government sent to the parliament a draft bill on the HGK whereby the mandatory membership fee will be waived for more than 95% of entrepreneurs in Croatia.

The bill envisages three categories of members.

The first group includes members who can apply for the fee waiver if they meet at least two of the following three criteria: their total assets do not exceed HRK 7.5 million, their annual revenues do not exceed 15 million kuna, and/or the number of people on their payroll is below 50.

The second category comprises those who surpass at least two of the above mentioned criteria, however, they do not surpass the following three criteria: assets of 30 million kuna, their annual revenues do not go beyond HRK 60 million and the number of their employees is up to 250.

The third category includes those who surpass two of the requirements set forth for the second category.

Category 1 members, an estimated 126,000 businesses whose monthly fee has been 42 kuna so far, will be exempt from the mandatory membership, however, they will pay additional services and products of the Chamber, as specified in the HGK price list.

They will be offered the possibility to pay voluntary membership aimed at stimulating the modernisation of the workings of the chamber.

Members from Category 2 and 3 are supposed to pay the mandatory membership fee and the fee will be defined for each category on an annual basis.

Addressing the HGK assembly, Burilović said that when he came at the helm of this institution in 2015, the first wave of reforms started and at the time the HGK personnel was downsized from 670 to 380. He expects the further layoffs  and also recalled that fees had been slashed four times in the said period.

After the implementation of the new law, the chamber is likely to have 230 people on its payroll.

The HGK assembly today decided to exempt businesses from the quake-hit areas from the fee payment in the rest of this year.

Also businesses from the hailstorm-affected parts of Požega-Slavonia County are exempt from the payment of membership fees this year.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2021 - The government on Thursday sent to the parliament a draft bill on the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) whereby the mandatory membership fee will be waived for more than 95% of entrepreneurs in Croatia, Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said.

The bill envisages three categories of members.

The first group includes members who can apply for the fee waiver if they meet at least two of the following three criteria: their total assets do not exceed HRK 7.5 million, their annual revenues do not exceed 15 million kuna, and/or the number of people on their payroll is below 50.

The second category comprises those who surpass at least two of the above-mentioned criteria, however, they do not surpass the following three criteria: assets of 30 million kuna, their annual revenues do not go beyond HRK 60 million and the number of their employees is up to 250.

The third category includes those who surpass two of the requirements set forth for the second category.

Category 1 members will be exempt from the mandatory membership, however, they will pay additional services and products of the Chamber, as specified in the HGK price list.

They will be offered the possibility to pay voluntary membership aimed at stimulating the modernization of the workings of the chamber.

Members from Category 2 and 3 are supposed to pay the mandatory membership fee and the fee will be defined for each category on an annual basis.

The current legislation regulating the HGK was adopted in 1991. Under that law, the lion's share of members, that is 96.7%, pay a monthly fee of 42 kuna and have access to most of the services and products provided by the chamber.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

June the 19th, 2021 - Many are hoping that the Croatian Government's aid and job preservation measures will continue being paid out until the end of the year, and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) is one of the loud voices in that particular crowd.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the Association of Hospitality Activities of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce is asking that the government measures designed to help enterprises in this sector, which has been among the hardest hit by the anti-epidemic measures in Croatia, continue until the end of the year.

The aforementioned Association within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce desires this outcome regardless of epidemiological measures in place at any given time throughout the rest of this year, warning that in the first five months of 2021, only 50 percent of the turnover recorded back in pre-pandemic 2019 was achieved. This means that there is a continued pressure being placed on the Croatian hospitality and catering sector, despite the more favourable epidemiological situation, eased measures and the gradual return of tourism from abroad.

The Association from within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce suggests that the threshold for granting an exemption from needing to pay contributions on top of employee salaries of 4,000 kuna be lowered to those with a proven 30 percent drop in turnover. They propose the same conditions for the exercise of the right to reimbursement of paid fixed costs, and to ensure the payment of this support for the duration of epidemiological measures, they want this to be the case for the entire period in which the business of those in this line of work is limited.

"Recovery will continue long after the pandemic is over. Therefore, we propose that the permanent reduction of VAT on coffee, beer, wine, soft drinks and beverages and its equating with the accommodation and serving of food/desserts to 13 percent be taken very seriously.

We believe that this is a measure without an alternative that is needed to make the hospitality sector more stable and competitive, which will directly affect the increase of employment and investment,'' says the President of the Association, Drazen Boban, adding that to save tourism in Croatia this year, we need to urgently simplify the employment procedures required when employing third country nationals.

For more, follow our business section.

June the 7th, 2021 - The much desired voluntary Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership won't come to be, despite the pleas and frustrations of many company owners who can't seem to understand what on Earth they're paying for by being forced to be members.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, about a month or so ago, the Croatian Government left the domestic economy in doubt as to what model of Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) system reform to follow. It had otherwise changed the previously announced abolition of mandatory Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership for all companies to the retention of mandatory membership, but with the exception of small and micro enterprises needing to pay any such associated fees.

The first step has now been launched in the preparation of legal amendments that will solve this long-standing and frustrating issue, which is to put into public discussion the form of the previous assessment of the Law on the Croatian Chamber of Commerce that the Ministry of Economy released on Friday.

The aforementioned Ministry states that the goal of the future law is to introduce voluntary Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership, which would stimulate the modernisation of the chamber's system and offer services that would attract new and motivate old members to stay within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. The size of any given enterprise is not stated, and therefore it can be logically concluded that this freedom of choice could indeed apply to all companies.

However, confusion was caused by the continuation of the previous assessment of that same form, in which the focus was primarily placed on releasing the obligation to pay membership fees for small and micro enterprises, while medium and large ones would "remain in the payment regime". Contrary to the set goal of introducing voluntary Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership, which entails the total abolition of compulsory membership, the continuation of the proposal communicates only the abolition of membership obligations for small and micro enterprises.

In the unofficial communication from the legal circles of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, one immediately hears the interpretation that this is probably an "awkwardly" formulated explanation, but also that the state could still abolish membership obligations for all businesses.

The Ministry of Economy clarified the dilemma - when asked about this issue, they replied that Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership would indeed remain mandatory, with the exception of micro and small enterprises, who would remain members but would not longer need to pay any fees. Such companies otherwise make up an astounding 97 percent of the chamber's members. So, nothing can be gathered whatsoever regarding the announced introduction of voluntary membership only.

A system of categorisation for the payment of Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees

At this stage of defining further reform, it isn't clear what effect things will have on the future financing of the chamber and whether certain activities will be supported by the state budget.

The Ministry only envisages that Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees will be paid according to a specific category, depending on the economic power of a given company, which will be determined by the criteria of its size, income and total assets, and it is stated that the HGK Assembly will determine the price list for the payment of such a fee.

In assessing the effects, the Ministry believes that only small and micro enterprises will see them, estimating that it will not have much of an effect because it is a release of a mere 42 kuna per month, which is "too small for such savings to have an effect."

The public debate on the form of the preliminary impact assessment of the law on the Croatian Chamber of Commerce will go on until June the 21st, and will then by followed by the drafting of the related bill. This also indicates that the proposal will not be in the parliamentary procedure in mid-July, as was previously planned.

The introduction of voluntary Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership, which will actually be reduced down to the abolition of payment obligations for small businesses, according to the set schedule will follow within 30 days after the entry into force of the new Law on the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, which will have one year to reform.

A similar reform, although not really in focus at the moment, will follow for the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts.

For more, follow our politics section.

May the 12th, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership which is bothersome to the vast majority of Croatian enterprises who frequently claim that their membership, and as such their fees to the chamber, don't offer them anything in return.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, changes to the law on the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) which were announced after last week's meeting of coalition partners and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic left many astonished. Most of those who had their jaws hit the floor in amazement have been waiting for years for a clear message that Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership should become voluntary. Of course, that isn't going to happen.

The idea is, as most expected, to keep Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership as a mandatory obligation, but to release small companies from the obligation to pay their membership fees.

The very fact that some companies will remain under the obligation to pay is doubtful because it brings enterprise owners into the muddy waters of constitutional inequality, since in settling an obligation, the constitution doesn't distinguish between categories of companies headquartered in Croatia.

The move has been made as a partial solution to the problem of dissatisfaction among some company owners with the existing Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership model, which, as lawyers say, if realised according to the announced concept, will open new divisions and continue to generate a sense of injustice among the country's various business owners.

In other words, if we're going to change and abolish Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees, then such a reform should be well thought out and prepared for. For now, neither the Croatian Chamber of Commerce nor the relevant Ministry of the Economy have received more detailed information on when the new rules should start to be applied, ie what the transitional period for releasing companies from paying Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees will actually look like or be.

Unofficially, it can be heard that this concept envisages a series of changes in the very definition of the size of companies, as well as that Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees paid by a smaller number of companies will be "corrected". There are no details on it all yet, but the existing criteria by which the size of the company and the corresponding fee were determined in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce differed from the criteria set by the law on accounting.

According to this law, companies are classified into micro and small, medium and large enterprises depending on their respective amount of total assets, income and the average number of employees during the business year.

Micro-enterprises mustn't exceed two of the three conditions - they mustn't have assets of more than 2.6 million kuna, revenues of more than 5.2 million kuna and they can't have any more than 10 employees, small enterprises may not have more than 30 million kuna in assets, 60 million kuna in revenues and more than 50 workers, while medium-sized enterprises can't have more than 150 million kuna in assets, 300 million kuna in revenue or more than 250 workers.

When calculating Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fees, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce defines three groups, the first of which, those considered small and currently make up the majority of members and should now be exempt from membership, are companies that do not exceed two of the three criteria - 7.5 million kuna in total assets, 15 million kuna in revenue and 50 employees.

The second group, medium-sized companies, are those with assets of up to 30 million kuna and revenues of up to 59 million kuna, and 250 employees. This category of enterprises currently pays a monthly Croatian Chamber of Commerce membership fee in the amount of 1083 kuna, while large enterprises who exceed two of the three aforementioned criteria are obliged to pay a considerable sum of 3973 kuna per month.

When it comes to just how much the membership fees could increase, there's no unofficial information yet, but it's likely that this will follow. At this moment in time, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce collects about 160 million kuna from various membership fees, and about 32 million kuna from other services and activities.

The open question remains as to which of the rights will be able to continue being used by enterprises who will no longer need to pay membership fees, as well as possible membership fee hikes for those who must continue paying.

The Minister of Economy, Tomislav Coric, announced that part of the financing of the activities of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce will be transferred to the state budget, but there are still no details on the delimitation of financing from fiscal and parafiscal sources.

For more, follow our business section.

ZAGREB, 16 April, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) on Friday requested that trade and construction workers, as well as those working with infectious medical waste and at cemeteries, be placed on the vaccination priority list, since they are directly at risk from catching coronavirus.

Josip Zaher, the HGK vice president for commerce and financial institutions, pointed out that those employed in trade, especially those working in shops, were much more exposed to the possibility of getting infected with coronavirus, that is, the possibility of the infection potentially spreading is higher.

"The tourist season is coming, and retailers are very important in the overall tourist offer of a country, especially when we know that the percentage of the population vaccinated will be among the most important data for travellers when assessing a destination's safety," Zaher said.

He said that a total of 205,655 people were employed in trade in 2020, or 15.2% of all employees in legal entities. The largest number of employees was in retail trade, 115,352.

For more about vaccination in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March the 27th, 2021 - The main man of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Luka Burilovic, has stated his desire to have Croatian exporters seen as priority when it comes to getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, highly positioned people from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts (HOK) and Croatian Exporters (HIZ) have asked the National Civil Protection Headquarters to put enterprises and their employees, such as Croatian exporters, engaged in international business on the priority vaccination list.

It is increasingly certain, as they pointed out in their statement, that most countries will prescribe a mandatory vaccination measure as a condition for strengthening exports, ie participation in international activities such as various types of conferences, fairs and forums.

Therefore, the leaders of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, HOK and HIZ have jointly sent a letter to the National Civil Protection Headquarters to make Croatian exporters as vaccination priorities.

"Going abroad is necessary for export activities, as well as for maintaining existing relations and negotiating new ones, and this is crucial for the entire economy. The organisers of international fairs are increasingly asking for certificates of vaccination from all participants, which is an additional reason for their urgent inclusion in the vaccination protocol,'' said the President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Luka Burilovic.

The president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce says that the daily migrations of workers to neighbouring countries should be taken into account, especially in areas of the country like Medjimurje, Varazdin and Krapina-Zagorje counties.

"For all of them, employers have to bear the costs of PCR tests, which creates a significant financial cost for them and additionally burdens their business," warned Burilovic.

For current information on coronavirus specific to Croatia, including border and travel rules, as well as testing centres across the country, bookmark this page.

March the 22nd, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Commerce has decided to continue to waive HGK membership fees for Croatian entities as the global coronavirus pandemic rages on.

Mandatory fees paid to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce have been a burning topic of irritation for Croatian companies for many years now, long preceding the coronavirus pandemic which has caused tremendous issues for the income of companies, particularly those who have had their ability to work limited or banned. 

Many Croatian enterprise owners have campaigned throughout the years for the total abolition of HGK membership fees, with some claiming that the institution is useless and does little to nothing to actually help them in any way.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen economic measures introduced by the government to try to preserve jobs and keep the heads of negatively affected companies above water. With various payments, including contributions, being written off for the time being, HGK membership fees were always due to be next in line and the continuation of the temporart abolition of membership fee payments is set to continue.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the ninth session of the Assembly of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, a decision was made to continue with the measure of the temporary abolition of the obligation to pay mandatory HGK membership fees for entities/activities whose work remains banned or in some way limited by the country's current epidemiological measures.

Given that the measures to control the infection will continue to be applied in this form until March the 31th, 2021, the Assembly voted to propose to continue, at least for that period, with the abolition of the obligation to pay HGK membership fees for Croatian companies whose operations have been forced to be limited.

It's worth noting that the decision of the Assembly of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce to temporarily (from January the 1st to March the 31st, 2021) abolish the obligation to pay HGK membership fees for members of the Chamber also refers to those companies based/headquartered in the areas affected by December 2020's Petrinja earthquake, and who were prevented from doing business due to those circumstances.

For more, follow our business section.

ZAGREB, 10 March, 2021 - Former Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) head Nadan Vidošević told the court on Wednesday that he did not participate in fictitious business deals, dismissing as lies claims by Davor Komerički, who turned state's evidence, that Vidošević had asked him to launder money for him.

"The indictment is a cobweb and I know why Komerički gave a false testimony... so that he is freed from criminal charges and to have his company's accounts unblocked. There were no fictitious deals and Komerički is the only witness the prosecution has," Vidošević said at the Zagreb County Court while presenting his defence in a case dubbed Remorker.

Vidošević repeated several times during the presentation of his defence that he and his associates had not caused any damage to the HGK or the Kraš confectionery company, and that they had not siphoned money from them. "There is not one piece of material evidence against me, nor any message or text message that I might have exchanged," he said.

He also said that he had been barraged by some media outlets even before the trial started and that two-thirds of the indictment were based on his property whose value some of the media had exaggerated and which, he said, he had obtained legally.

Vidošević added that during a search of his home, documents referring to his artworks and the construction of his house in Gorski Kotar disappeared, of which he accused the police anti-corruption office PNUSKOK, saying it had made his defence more difficult. He also said that the expert estimate of the value of his property was "grotesque."

Defence presented four years since trial started

Vidošević's defence comes four years after the trial started in the Remorker case in which the former HGK head was accused of siphoning money from the HGK which he had led for years.

Vidošević's long-standing associate Zdenka Peternel was also accused in the case as was Josipa Mladinov, Jasna Mikić and Jadranka Ivčić, who have all pleaded not guilty.

Four other co-defendants pleaded guilty prior to the trial and were convicted after plea-bargaining with the prosecution. They are the key figures in the scandal - Igor Premilovac, who was the first to own up to issuing fictitious invoices via his Czech-based company Remorker and returning laundered money to Croatia for a commission; Davor Komerički, a marketing expert who accused Vidošević of being involved in a chain that was siphoning money from the HGK; real estate agent Vesna Rodić who advised Vidošević, and Jasna Mrakovčić Grubić, who admitted that she had siphoned money from the HGK with Vidošević by faking artwork purchases.

The USKOK anti-corruption office pressed charges against Vidošević and the eight other defendants in July 2015. USKOK proposed that assets equivalent to the HRK 33.4 million that was allegedly siphoned be confiscated from Vidošević.

However, a new expert analysis has shown that Vidošević acquired 26 properties and 444 works of art, worth HRK 22.3 million, legally and that property worth only HRK 9.2 million remains suspicious.

In mid-December 2020, USKOK withdrew its motion to expand the confiscation of Vidošević's assets after it was determined that the discrepancy between his income and expenditure was smaller than the value of the assets he was charged with having illegally gained.