May the 25th, 2023 - The Croatian Atlantic Group (Grupa), headed by Emil Tedeschi, is returning to making acquisitions with an offer for Strauss Adriatic, which has since been accepted.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, following several years of disinvestment and so-called non-strategic business operations, the well known Croatian Atlantic Group is returning to acquisitions.

Over more recent days, the company announced that they had submitted a binding offer for the purchase of the Strauss Adriatic company, which is located in neighbouring Serbia, and which the Strauss Group has since officially accepted.

The conclusion of the transaction, which for the Croatian Atlantic Group means strengthening the competitiveness of the regional coffee industry and local brands, remains subject to the prior approval of the Serbian Commission for the Protection of Competition.

The binding offer is based, according to the Atlantic Group "on the total value of the transaction (enterprise value) of 40.5 million euros, without debt and cash, and assuming the regular level of normalised net working capital on the day of the conclusion of the transaction".

Strauss is known for its strong coffee brands on the Serbian market - Doncafe and C coffee. By closing this acquisition, they should join regional leaders such as Grand coffee and Barcaffe, which are already part of the Croatian Atlantic Group's widening and enviable portfolio and are known here on the Croatian market.

The development of the Croatian Atlantic Group's key product categories, organically and through acquisitions of other strong brands, are the basis of the company's development strategy.

The company's main man, businessman Emil Tedeschi, recently said that the Atlantic Group "is in a strong acquisition mode, ready for something that can be called a transfer acquisition - but for that, it takes two to tango”.

For more on Croatian businesses, innovation and entrepreneurs, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 23rd, 2023 - Marko Zupa is a fairly well known entrepreneur from Split who lives in Zagreb. His company, the Gallus Group (Grupa), has very firmly positioned Croatian poultry on the regional map.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, while Marko Zupa's business is dominantly in the field of marketing and communications, he boldly stepped into something quite different, more precisely the poultry industry with a new project. He did this as part of him taking over his family company from Duga Resa last year, which was founded back in 1994 by his father-in-law Srecko Vidmar.

This rather unusual business move has since well and truly paid off, as he successfully launched a new entity that is recognisable under the name the Gallus Group, and according to Zupa, it's now the leader in the specific sector of capon production. Owing primarily to its nutritional value, this well-known French delicacy has been placed within a higher price range, more specifically in the niche of luxury and free-range poultry, and it's also been setting records as a result.

"In terms of quantity, we're currently the largest producer of capons in the Republic of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. There are ten tonnes of pure meat from us that ends up in restaurants and, for now, in one large Croatian butchers' chain.

Negotiations are currently underway for our capon placement on the shelves of interested retail chains, as well as on the regional market. I estimate that we'll have very good results from all of those talks,'' stated Zupa, explaining that capons require a very a specific production process due to the demanding cultivation technology, as it is ecologically produced.

Capon production is within the Gallus Group is currently organised on three farms, but under the influence of growing market demand, Zupa has announced expansion. He is already preparing a new project for two more farms by the end of the year. All of the Gallus Group's capon farms are located in Karlovac County near Zagreb, where there are no problems with the labour force, even though they're primarily oriented towards local workers. 

''Local workers are the best solution, and we've had no problems finding them,'' Zupa said, adding that more employment is definitely on the cards.

In the process of improving his activities, Zupa first reorganised the business, which today he runs operationally through three divisions: Gallus Hatchery, which produces day-old poultry, Gallus Food, which raises said poultry and produces poultry products, and Gallus Trade, through which they import scarcely available and luxury poultry products.

"As part of the Galus Hatchery, this year we;ll produce around 700,000 one-day-old chickens, as well as one-day-old turkeys. Part of the production goes off to cooperative farms, and after the cultivation process is finished, we market the birds to our wholesale and retail customers. Our distribution network already includes about 60 wholesale stores and is constantly growing, and the goal is to expand our network of subcontractors and end customers by about 30 percent by the end of the year with additional activities," explained Zupa.

He considers this goal to be realistic for the Gallus Group, as a response to the multitude of problems on the market, visible through the decline in the margins of producers and sellers, and the increasing turn of customers to cheap poultry from supermarket shelves, which are also often imports.

"In order to overcome this problem, we've been trying to maximise our business processes as much as possible because we're aware that the higher the numbers, the lower the input costs we can negotiate. In short, we amortise this drop in the margin through a large volume, and that's why growth is important to us. Input costs are rising – for example, hatchery egg costs have increased by more than 50% compared to 2022, and that price has already changed three times this year. Of course, we cannot, nor do we want to transfer all of this growth to the customer, so we as producers bear a large part of it. We fixed our prices back at the beginning of the year and haven't changed them yet, and the same approach is shared by everyone in our production chain, including our subcontractors," he assured.

Although the Gallus Group is in the group of small enterprises in the Croatian poultry industry, the focus is primarily on the ecological component of production and free-range farming, which, as Zupa claims, they will persist in because it's "the biggest difference between us and the majority on the market, and also the support for competitive growth".

"We're guided by proven knowledge that when chickens get to live in less stressful conditions, the meat is juicier. In addition to that, our production of capons has attracted the interest of a scientific institution, so that through a development and research project here in Croatia, the cultivation of capons will be monitored throughout their life span,'' explained Zupa.

For more, check out our business section.

May the 19th, 2023 - The well known Croatian brand Valamar is bringing more Michelin stars to Croatia thanks to their long-term cooperation with no less than the Italian Cerea family.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Valamar has entered into a long-term cooperation with the world-famous Italian Cerea family, the holders of as many as three Michelin stars, which will raise the international recognition of Istria and indeed the rest of the Republic of Croatia to the level of a globally recognised gastronomic tourist destination. The first act of cooperation is the opening of the restaurant Miramare by Fratelli Cerea in the Valamar Collection Isabella Resort on the island of Sveti Nikola near Porec.

This season's opening of Miramare by Fratelli Cerea will bring a new dimension to the Croatian and Istrian gastronomy scene. The Miramare by Fratelli Cerea restaurant will offer classic Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, including several signature dishes from the famous Da Vittorio restaurant crowned with the three aforementioned Michelin stars, as well as a specially created tasting menu. Valamar's cooperation with the Cerea family also includes several months of training for Valamar's chefs, restaurant managers, sommeliers and other restaurant employees in both Croatia and Italy in the Cerea family's restaurants, in which the Miramare restaurant team, as well as numerous other food and beverage specialists in Valamar, will participate.

"Enrico "Chicco" and Roberto "Bobo" Cerea are two of the most influential European chefs of today, whose Michelin stars have done a great deal for the Italian area of Bergamo, as well as for all other destinations where they've opened their restaurants. It's an exceptional honour for us to be able to collaborate with these gastronomic virtuosos again, and even greater that our employees will have the opportunity to learn their craft from them. This beginning of this cooperation is the basis for building relations with the Cerea family and joint projects of the highest level in the future,'' said Dario Kinkela, the director of the food and beverage sector within Valamar.

The Cerea family otherwise nurtures a culinary tradition spanning more than 55 years, ever since they opened their very first restaurant in Bergamo, after which they opened several more in the following years, including in St. Moritz and in China. Da Vittorio is one of the few Italian restaurants with the famous three Michelin stars and is among the most prestigious restaurants in all of Italy.

For more, check out our news section.

May the 19th, 2023 - The Croatian Infobip Shift conference is ready for its very first edition across the pond later this month in the American city of Miami, bringing together American and European speakers.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Infobip Shift conference, aimed at developers, will have its very first US edition on Tuesday, May the 23rd in Miami. The Perez Museum, a recognisable landmark of Miami, will host speakers, companies and visitors who mostly come from the US, South America and Europe. With its first event on another continent, this absolute favourite Croatian developer conference will take a big step towards achieving its goal - connecting and strengthening the global developer ecosystem.

"After months of organisation, everything is finally ready for the Croatian Infobip Shift conference in Miami and I believe we have a great event ahead of us that will showcase Shift to the American developer audience in the proper way. The conference is smaller in size than the one we have here in Croatia, but its content and programme remain in line with our high standards, which is how we want to stand out on the challenging American tech scene. We've prepared an impressive list of speakers, since we want to present ourselves as being top quality and leave a real impression following the first edition, and I'm sure that we're going to achieve that on Tuesday,'' Nikola Radisic, the head of the Shift Miami project at Infobip, stated.

In addition to this gathering of developers, the goal of the Croatian Infobip Shift conference is to bring this remarkable domestic company closer to the American developer community and thereby continue to strengthen the footprint of the first Croatian unicorn across the pond over in the USA. The organisers pointed out that Miami was chosen because it's a city that is rapidly developing as a new technology centre, and they want to make Shift an annual event in Miami that will grow over time and become recognisable on the American and international tech scene.

The all-day programme of Shift in Miami will be opened by John Romero, a video game developer behind more than 180 titles, among which the most famous are Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein. Romero is also called the ''father'' of this type of video game, the so-called First Person Shooter (FPS), and when in Miami, he will share his rich experience gained during more than 30 years of work in the challenging gaming industry.

In addition to him, fifteen other speakers, developer experts from well-known technology companies, including Postman, Gitlab, Cloudlfare, Elastic and Hashicorp, will give lectures at the conference. The topics which will be discussed will cover various aspects of today's industry, including the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the development profession.

"The Croatian Infobip Shift conference in Europe is undoubtedly one of the most impressive conferences I've spoken at, and I believe that the same awaits us in Miami. I appreciate the fact that the organisers put a lot of effort into the quality of the speakers, topics and programmes, and such a level of invested effort is always seen and felt at the conference," said Gift Egwuenu from Cloudflare, whose technology supports more than 25 million websites, and who will be one of the speakers at the conference.

During more than a decade of being held in Europe, Shift has distinguished itself on the technology scene thanks to a strong focus on the quality of the programme that it combines with a relaxed atmosphere where developers can more easily connect with their colleagues. It will try to repeat this exact formula in Miami.

"Developers come to conferences not only to listen to lectures, many primarily come to meet other developers and companies, that is, potential clients, partners, colleagues and employers. That's why we prepared the EXPO part with the sponsor's exhibition stands, the lounge parts for meetings, and we'll end the day-long gathering with a party in the Wynwood district, the artistic heart of the city,'' concluded Radisic.

This combination of high-quality educational, business and entertainment content provided by Shift has put Croatia on the map of must-see tech destinations in Europe. In addition to Miami, the Croatian Infobip Shift conference will also be held in Zadar on September the 18th and 19th this year, and two editions in one year will further strengthen the position of this conference as an event that successfully gathers the global developer community around it.

For more, check out our news section.

May the 18th, 2023 - TZV Gredelj (Zagrebacka tvornica zeljeznickih vozila Gredelj) is completing a set of so-called de luxe night carriages for the transport of passengers across Europe.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, TZV Gredelj boasts a tradition spanning longer than 120 years in the provision of services for the production and repair of railway vehicles, and it has now seemingly having recovered following the introduction of a new ownership structure. TZV Gredelj got itself out of somewhat troubled waters and is now performing beyond successfully with all of its international competition, and in April this year, it began cooperation on night train carriages Siemens Mobility, which is one of the absolute global leaders in the railway industry.

As such, with Siemens Mobility as its customer, TZV Gredelj will ensure the final completion of 35 carriages for night trains, and as they say, this represents highest level of quality intended for passenger transport across Europe.

"Approximately seventy production workers, logisticians, technologists and engineers will be employed. The project began in April and the completion of the first part is planned for the end of 2023, with the possibility of further continuation of other selected projects", they stated from TZV Gredelj. According to the President of the Management Board of TZV Gredelj Ivan Petricek, the expert teams from both Siemens Mobility and TZV Gredelj are actively cooperating on their first project together.

"We expect for this cooperation to bring us not only new business opportunities, but also significant orders from the rest of the railway industry and the strengthening of our position on the market of railway vehicles,'' stated Petricek. As for this new job which is significant business for a customer like Siemens Mobility, they pointed out that several months of negotiations resulted in the eventual signing of a cooperation agreement, which made Croatia's TZV Gredelj a success among its international competitors.

The first eight such wagons were taken over at the Resnik freight station on April the 20th, 2023. After their delivery to the production facility of TZV Gredelj, a technical inspection of the condition and preparation for the execution of the contracted works began according to the previously agreed schedule.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 16th, 2023 - The very young Croatian startup Turneo hasn't even been on the market for a whole year yet, but despite that, their product is already being sought by the Americans.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, at an international level, the tourist experience market (at least the one that represents excursions, tours and attractions and is worth as much as 250 billion US dollars) has somehow remained "offline", and it's even managed to do so in the time of ubiquitous digitisation.

The reservation of what most people travel to different countries for still takes generally place in a more or less old-fashioned way - at hotel receptions, at travel agencies, at an organiser's office or stand... But the young Croatian startup Turneo, founded only in March 2022, wants to change all of that.

After half a year of work on the development of the platform, two friends and founders, Matija Marijan and Fran Kauzlaric, offered the market a B2B platform in August that brings together what was previously incompatible - hotels (sellers), organisers (those who offer experiences), and tourists. And doing that, according to these young entrepreneurs who left successful careers to start their own business, was a big, if not their biggest, challenge to date.

"We had to find a way to solve a problem for which no one has yet found a solution at the global level. So, out of nothing, we needed to create a functional platform that would be useful to all of the aforementioned groups. How demanding the task was for us was also showcased by the fact that Airbnb recently paused their "Airbnb Experiences" project, which was supposed to connect tourists with the local offer of tours and attractions. The Tour platform is different because it is oriented towards the business segment, i.e. hotels, apartments, campsites, etc., which, through Tour, can digitally offer their guests a selection of tours, activities, excursions, wellness treatments, etc.'' explained Marijan.

The fact that the creators of the Croatian startup Turneo is very much on the right track when it comes to conquering the market has been also shown by the fact that today, only nine months after entering the market, 39 hotels and about 30 organisers are using the platform. Most of them are Croatian clients, but hotels in Prague and even in distant Zanzibar are also now using it.

Investors were also quick to recognise the potential, and back at the beginning of this year, the Croatian startup Turneo received its first investment of 800,000 euros. That investment round was led by Ascension Ventures and Underline Ventures, with participation from Silicon Gardens and numerous angel investors. Their goal is to conquer the European market for now, but the potential is global.

The founders of the Croatian startup Turneo have pointed out that they already have some serious inquiries from across the pond in America, but they are still a small team, numbering a mere eight people, so their focus will be on Europe for some time yet. The largest part of the investment, as Marijan pointed out, will be invested in the development of the platform, as well as in the operational part of the business, i.e. the management of reservations, the overall user experience, requests and so on.

"We'll be constantly upgrading the platform in accordance with the experiences from the field," explained Matija. In addition to all of that, they 'e only now taking a bigger step into the market and the sales world, which they have not dealt with intensively as yet because they were primarily focused on development and their existing clients. The advantages of using their platform, according to Kauzlaric, are multiple.

"The main thing is the satisfaction of the guests. Guests who book a tour or a specific activity together with hotel accommodation are on average 18% more satisfied than guests who only book accommodation, TUI research has shown. This is also the main reason why hotels choose to use our platform. The next benefit is is that, from the commission on the sold tour or excursion, they generate additional income, and the third is that our service relieves the staff at the reception, because the guests now have all the information about additional activities on offer to them in one place, through the Tour application,'' he pointed out.

In addition, he added, organisers also profit from their platform, as they no longer have to go around hotels offering guests their activities and tours. "When an organiser connects to our platform, they're automatically connected to all the hotels within our network," explained Kauzlaric.

This small and ambitious team is also working on the automation of support for hotel guests in the experience segment through the Marc chatbot, which was created through the implementation of the controversial ChatGPT. They plan to offer this "virtual concierge" product, whose function is to advise tourists on what to do and see when on holiday in a certain place, to major global hotel chains.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 16th, 2023 - A company within the scope of well known and wider Croatian company Djuro Djakovic has contracted a job for GATX Rail Europe worth almost ten million euros.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Djuro Djakovic specijalna vozila (special vehicles), a company which operates within the wider Djuro Djakovic Group, has contracted a job totalling the aforementioned amount for GATX Rail Europe. It regards the production and delivery of freight wagons which the Slavonski Brod-based company will deliver to their client during the second half of this year.

It is worth noting that according to the data from this company's financial report for the first three months of 2023, the wildly successful Djuro Djakovic specijalna vozila branch enjoyed profits totalling 1.2 million euros and consolidated revenues of 23.1 million euros in the first quarter.

"Djuro Djakovic specijalna vozila managed to reach the company's planned level of production, sales and costs and achieved a positive net result overall. The EBITDA margin is 8.4 percent, while the net result was very strongly influenced by financial expenses.

The growth of the EBITDA margin in relation to 2022 was mostly contributed to by high levels of realisation mainly resulting from the delivery of 201 wagons in the first quarter of 2023 and the optimisation of the company's operating costs," the report stated.

As has been pointed out, this well known domestic company generates the majority of its revenues from exports, and this trend is expected to continue throughout this year and into the future as well, on top of that, the continuation of activities being carried out on additional business improvements is also expected.

For more on Croatian companies, innovation and entrepreneurs, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 11th, 2023 - The Croatian startup Ani Biome wants to take on and conquer the ever-demanding global market with its fermented microbeverages, but it needs to raise a few million euros first.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, the Croatian startup Ani Biome, which has developed a very personalised approach to microbiome health, has opened a new investment round in which it aims to raise a massive ten million euros.

The lowest amount that can be invested is 100 thousand euros, and they have already collected their first 100K. The investor, as revealed by Bruno Balen, the co-founder of Ani Biome – is a lawyer and business angel from Germany, and he cannot reveal his identity. According to Balen, co-founder Nika Pintar wrote the contract with the help of the controversial ChatGPT.

"The investor said it was excellent," he pointed out. The young TechAgeBio company, with the very ambitious goal of becoming number one in the world in the longevity industry, plans to invest a third of the desired 10 million euros in scientific integrity, i.e. into studies that will prove that the product they are working on is not just a "cute brand'', but that it is backed up by science. They plan to invest the second third in their production capacities, in which 600 thousand euros have been invested so far, Balen announced, adding that the last third will go to marketing efforts.

Metabolite studies

The products the Croatian startup Ani Biome plans to conquer the world with are fermented microbeverages. "Our product is a kind of revolution in potential intervention in the field of the longevity industry, that is, in increasing healthy longevity. Therefore, it isn't only important how long we live, but how well we live. We see metabolic fermentations as a tool that can improve everything that is damaged during the aging process and by diseases related to aging,'' explained Iva Hlapcic, the coordinator for scientific projects at Ani Biome, who also pointed out that the Croatian startup Ani Biome is currently in the phase of comprehensive metabolite research.

"We're investigating their interactions, their synergistic influence, i.e. in which metabolic pathways they're involved, so that we can use them to target exactly that pathway and use it as an intervention for a health condition that has caused impairement," explained the young scientist in the field of biomedicine and healthcare, who joined the Ani Biome team three months ago. They also want to confirm the effects of their products with ongoing clinical research.

At the event held at Zagreb's Bird Incubator, where the Croatian startup Ani Biome announced their plans, Hlapcic explained that in addition to metabolite research, their goal is to combine everything discovered with machine learning models in order to personalise them as much as possible. Ani Habit, an app for interacting and anticipating client needs, is already out, but will continue to be upgraded.

Ani Biome's fermented microbeverages improve the overall health of the intestines, that is, the gastrointestinal tract, according to Hlapcic. "We know that the intestines aren't isolated and that they communicate with all parts of the rest of the organism in multiple ways. Today, for example, we know that various neurological disorders such as depression, anxiety and similar conditions can be influenced through gut health. We also know that at the level of mitochondria, which are responsible for the energy levels in the body, we can carry out certain interventions in the body using metabolites and thus improve the level of energy and vitality present. This is something we strive for and something we ultimately believe in," Hlapcic pointed out.

In order for the effect of their products to be as good as possible, the Croatian startup Ani Biome is also developing a bank of metabolites, which currently holds 1,500 of them and which will serve for a personalised approach to each client.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 9th, 2023 - The large Croatian company Podravka, based in Koprivnica, is set to invest a massive 100 million euros into doing greener business and focusing on sustainability.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, Podravka will pour as much as 100 million euros into development based on sustainability by 2030, according to an announcement from Martina Dalic at a recently held presentation of the Sustainability Strategy of this corporation.

"As one of the leading food companies in Central and Southeastern Europe, Podravka is aware of its economic importance and responsibility for the environment and the community. Just as we constantly strive for excellence in terms of our basic business, we also want to follow the highest standards in the implementation of the principles of engaging in sustainable and responsible business," said Dalic.

She added that the Koprivnica-based company celebrated 75 years of doing business last year. "In order to be just as successful or even more successful in the coming decades, we must treat the environment, resources, all our stakeholders and the community in which we operate responsibly. The numerous challenges we've been facing in the last few years further indicate that there's absolutely no alternative to doing sustainable and responsible business. This isn't merely an option, but the only way any company can survive and remain successful in the long term. By adopting the Sustainability Strategy of the Podravka Group, we're publicly committing ourselves to the fulfillment of specific goals, which is an additional incentive to successfully and completely realise all our plans. We are investing 100 million euros into the fulfillment of these goals, which are significant financial resources, but we're convinced that in this way we will further improve our competitiveness and strengthen our market position,'' said Dalic.

As explained by Ines Ignjatovic, Director of Strategic Business Development of Podravka, the key investments that support and enable the fulfillment of the wider Podravka Group's sustainability goals include, among other things, the expansion of their solar power plant, the construction of a cogeneration plant, the concentration of bakery production in neighbouring Slovenia at one location, the modernisation of their fleet and the construction of a new logistics and distribution centre at home in Koprivnica.

In the area of healthy eating, Podravka will increase the number of products it sells with a lower content of salt, added sugar and saturated fat per serving, as well as products that contain positive ingredients and/or promote a healthy, balanced and sustainable diet. In the area of a clean environment, Podravka will focus on goals such as reducing its own carbon dioxide emissions, increasing the share of renewable energy sources (OIE) it uses in its total energy consumption, using recyclable packaging, reducing mineral fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural production, and many other things.

When it comes to caring for employees and the wider community, Podravka will continue to work actively on equal gender representation and reducing the difference in wages between men and women, improving the general material rights of employees and their working conditions, as well as developing new skills, gaining new knowledge and furthering the competences of their employees. Looking at more concrete figures, by the year 2030, Podravka plans to have 100% of its electricity come from renewable sources in production in the European Union (EU) and 50% of its heat energy from renewable sources in production.

Sasja Beslik, an international financial expert and advocate of sustainable business and the author of the global bestseller "Where the money tree grows", also gave an interesting lecture at the presentation of Podravka's sustainable business strategy. Beslik spoke about the importance of integrating a more sustainability strategy into the company's business strategy, stressing that it is the only path to profitable growth with a positive impact on society and the environment.

At the very end of the event, one of the leading Croatian experts on sustainability topics, Dunja Mazzocco Drvar, Director of the Directorate for Climate Activities of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, spoke about climate change and the need for urgent action from us all.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

May the 6th, 2023 - The brand new HBOR credit instrument boasts an impressive 400 million euros of potential, and large Croatian companies will now finally have a guarantee scheme offered to them by this particular body.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, after a decade and a half of questions and comments being fired back and forth on this particular issue, HBOR, supported by the operational decision of the Croatian Government, is finally going to start offering a proper guarantee scheme for large domestic companies as well.

As part of the sixth instrument implemented by the NPOO, HBOR has launched an attractive financial product on the market - "a credit guarantee as a way out" for investment projects of large companies in situations where there is a lack of own collateral, either due to the inability to access the necessary loans or owing to a lack of free assets.

For this purpose, nearly 80 million euros were allocated to HBOR from the NPOO, which, for the private sector at least, also comes as a trigger for investment projects with the aforementioned obstacles, but also for the public sector because this will greatly relieve the burden felt by local budgets. Large entities will definitely want to use the new HBOR credit instrument, as the total guarantee potential of this new financial product stands at around 400 million euros.

Beneficiaries of the new HBOR credit instrument can be commercial banks and leasing companies, and HBOR itself when acting as a creditor. With the new product, this institution will become a development bank in the full sense of the word for large domestic companies, and it will also involve taking on new risks in the name of and indeed on behalf of the Republic of Croatia as a nation.

The product became operational with the Croatian Government's decision to appoint a commission that will "nominate" consent givers for guarantees, so that their role becomes crucial in encouraging investments for the purpose of launching, modernising and digitising business as we go forward.

A maximum of 30% of such new HBOR loans can be used for working capital, and the maximum guarantee coverage is up to 80% of the loan principal for investments in special areas of the Republic of Croatia, the green and digital transition, research, development and innovation, while for other investments, coverage is up to 70% of the loan principal.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.