As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 1st of June, 2020, the City of Zagreb presented contactless smart containers for waste management at European Square (Europski trg) on Tuesday. The products are made by a Croatian company called Eco Mobile, an IT company specialised in the development, production and implementation of advanced information and communication solutions to support processes in waste management.

What this Croatian company has designed is a ''green island'' that contains smart bins for paper, plastic, metal packaging and glass, and separate containers for small mixed municipal waste. The system uses a press to compress and reduce the waste by seven times.

Jure Leko, director of Cistoca, said that what has been made and presented by this innovative Croatian company is a pilot project and that they plan to install more smart bins at different locations around Croatia's bustling capital city.

"We're going further in the procurement of these bins, especially for containers for mixed municipal waste, which we'll set up on the stretch from the Main Station to Ban Josip Jelacic Square. By the way, we currently have to empty our containers six to seven times a day, which requires a greater need for workers and vehicles, and when we install these smart bins, we'll only need to empty them once a day,'' said Leko, adding that the smart bins will also be installed at all tram stations.

Containers for the disposal of waste paper, plastic, metal packaging and glass, as well as separate containers for small mixed municipal waste, including the shredders that reduce the disposed waste by seven times, cost about 37,000 kuna.

"The system is the result of many years of work by local experts from the Croatian company EcoMobile, and the system is fully manufactured in the Republic of Croatia," said Aleksandar Ivanovic from EcoMobile when presenting the innovative smart bins.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

As Novac/Matea Grbac writes on the 21st of May, 2020, the innovative Croatian startup, Fortis Labor, has developed an application which promotes transparency aimed at cities and associations for the monitoring of the spending of public money.

The move represents a new upgrade to their ''Email notification system'' app, better known as SOM. Although the whole system was created primarily as an auxiliary tool for sports associations, it quickly became clear that it could quite easily be applied to all kinds of associations, and that it can also serve as a tool for the more clear cut and transparent monitoring of the distribution and spending of earmarked funds paid from the city budget.

Its main feature, points out the founder of this Croatian startup, Lorenzo Gasparic, is that the application can be accessed from any device, whether it is a mobile phone, tablet or simply a laptop.

''Through this system, the city always has an insight into how and in what way public money is being spent. So far, this hasn't been possible. Namely, at the beginning of the year, the city would announce a public tender to which associations would apply, which would then be allocated a certain part of those funds. They would then justify the money spent to the city only at the end of the year by submitting a yearly report. In this way, through a just a few clicks, associations can immediately enter data, or attach an invoice for the funds spent, and this information is then visible to everyone and is made available in real time,'' he explained.

In addition to easier and faster entry of invoices, associations have an insight into the remaining funds through this Croatian startup's useful system, while cities receive all the data in one place, and a more transparent way of doing business with reduced paperwork is thus provided.

Gasparic added that this system is really impossible to cheat because even if someone receives funds for one item, and tries to justify the money spent in some way when it was actually spent on something completely different, everything is always made perfectly clear through this system and there can be no such cover ups.

''Let's put it this way. If some association has received funds for the maintenance of a field, and instead a bill from the restaurant is attached and someone accepts it as a valid excuse, later on, during the check, someone can catch you committing that sort of fraud. Which person approved it remains in the system, and I doubt that someone would risk playing with their own career by trying to cheat like that,'' he noted.

Currently, this Croatian startup's system is used by about 200 associations which are mostly sport oriented, they're from Bjelovar, Sisak, Vodnjan and Rovinj, while Vrbovec was the first to use this system to monitor the work of 89 sports and non-sports associations within the city.

''We started engaging in negotiations with cities back at the beginning of the year, and now we have five more cities that want to use our system. Of course, these conversations have now come to a halt due to the coronavirus crisis, but our goal is to offer our application to everyone. I think that only now, after the pandemic, has it become clear just how important transparent and digital business truly is,'' he said.

The value of the entire project stands at a huge 1.3 million kuna, of which 80 percent has come from European Union funds, which marks the second project of a Croatian startup from Zagreb financed in this way. Fortis Labor doesn't plan on stopping there, either.

Next year, they plan to offer cities a similar programme through which the digitisation of applications for public tenders can be enabled. In this way, they would connect the new system with the existing one and thus almost eradicate the infamous and daunting Croatian paperwork which is typically involved in such processes.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

As Novac/Matea Grbac writes on the 19th of May, 2020, although the domestic and world economies are gradually opening up again, and people's lives are returning to a slightly altered sort of normalcy, the Croatian economy is still far from out of the woods. Kutjevo has set job preservation as one of its main strategic goals in these strange times.

In these moments of crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, preserving jobs has become the biggest challenge for each and every employer. Day by day, we're witnessing the devastating statistics on the growth in the number of unemployed people, of which there are currently just over 160,000 in terms of the Croatian labour market.

In addition to those who simply lost their jobs practically overnight, more and more workers are on the state-guaranteed minimum wage introduced by the Croatian Government in a package of economic measures designed to keep the Croatian economy's proverbial head above the water. Despite the uncertainty and the fact that it is already clear that the plans for this year are one thing, and their actual implementation is something else, one of the most important agricultural producers in Croatia, Kutjevo, has set job preservation as one of the main strategic short-term and long-term business goals. It is for this reason that the Kutjevo winery has no intentions of encroaching on the rights of 622 employees.

''We have 593 full-time employees and 29 part-time ones. Preserving their jobs while also preserving financial stability and uninterrupted production processes is our business priority because the main seasonal work and preparations for harvest that awaits us at the end of August take place on arable land and on vineyards,'' explained Kutjevo Management Board member, Dino Galić.

He pointed out that for now, they have applied only for job preservation measures and that workers' salaries have not been adjusted, but kept at the level they were at before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, in order to preserve their standards and the respective household budgets of Kutjevo's employees, a move they're extremely (and rightfully) proud of.

''So far, we haven't utilised any of the other measures offered by the Croatian Government to businesses. We believe that as a large system, we have a responsibility to all public and private institutions to fulfill all of our obligations on time. Of course, as long as the financial construction of the business allows that to happen. We're actively monitoring the development of the situation and we're being informed and consulting with all of the relevant institutions regarding possible frameworks and support on a daily basis,'' he emphasised.

In addition to its workers, Kutjevo also takes care of a large subcontracting base within which it has contracted cooperation with as many as 242 farms that take care of a massive 370 hectares of vineyards. Therefore, this well known Croatian company is constantly trying to make consumers aware of the importance of buying and consuming domestic products above all, thus indirectly providing support to the survival of Croatia's many producers.

Kutjevo has stated that even during these economically trying times, they still worked at full capacity and that due to the nature of the work, most of their employees still came to work physically as normal.

''Since we're a company whose primary activity is agricultural production, we worked at full capacity, of course, in compliance with all of the prescribed measures of the National Civil Protection Headquarters in order to protect the health of our employees at the maximum level. I must also point out the contribution of all of our colleagues who, through their efforts and hard work, ensured that work taking place with field crops and in vineyards was done within the given deadlines,'' he emphasised, adding that like many other companies across the country, office work and work related to sales and marketing was organised in a way so that people could work from home.

The closure of the HoReCa system, the plethora of coronavirus-induced economic issues, the rise in excise duties on alcohol and tobacco products - all these represent challenges that the wine industry has faced this year, and we're only in May. In addition to all of these troubles, Galić stated that according to information from the sales index, the growth of wine sales in retail chains is visible, but this data still doesn't go in favour of domestic winemakers. Namely, although the growth is visible, it is more related to imported wines which come in lower price categories, and the sales of top wines from Croatian wineries are unfortunately continuing to decline.

Despite the less than encouraging numbers, they still see something positive in everything. It is precisely the growth of online sales that has flourished in the last two months. Along with the growth of e-commerce, a positive shift, he added, is also visible in the gradual change in the habits of local consumers who seem to be beginning to appreciate quality domestic products more.

''Changes in consumer habits have been visible for a long time. Croats are becoming more and more educated about wines, as well as in pairing that drink with certain meals, thus raising the bar for local winemakers. This is an excellent indicator for us because, in line with this trend, we're constantly investing in production processes in order to achieve better quality,'' explained Galić.

Kutjevo winery, known for its "queen of the cellar", Graševina, sells sixty percent of its wines on the domestic market through hotels and restaurants, which is why it views the reopening of the HoReCa system positively. For example, last year alone, they sold a little more than five million litres of wine through this sales channel on both domestic and foreign markets alone.

''Without caterers and hoteliers, the viticulture sector has no chance to sell wine and maintain the current dynamics. Wine is mostly consumed at gatherings such as celebrations, concerts, weddings and other occasions. We're currently making additional efforts to prepare for the season ahead, despite a large number of questions and unknowns hanging over our heads. We're obliged to deliver the top level of quality to our partners and consumers, regardless of the economic situation through our wine assortment and our service, which we're extremely proud of,'' concluded Kutjevo's Galić.

For more, follow our business and Made in Croatia pages.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of May, 2020, this large Slavonian company was motivated to launch a new product by the demand for protective equipment, but also by the fall in the market of front/entrance door panels in Croatia and in the surrounding countries.

Vinkovci's Grad-Export, one of the leading European manufacturers of decorative panels for front doors, is a Slavonian company which reacted remarkably quickly to the current changes in the market caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Just under two weeks ago, the company placed a disinfection barrier for footwear on the market, which is supposed to be placed in front of the front door, Jutarnji list reports.

''The idea for the DS barrier is mine, it was developed by my associates in the company and, most importantly, it was well received by the market,'' explained Petar Simic, the founder, owner and director of this Slavonian company.

The placement of Grad-Export's new product was motivated by the demand for disinfection and protective equipment, but, as he pointed out, the market of front door panels in Croatia and in the surrounding countries also fell by about 50 percent.

''I had to do something, at the time when the coronavirus crisis broke out, I had to send fifty percent of the company's employees home because there was simply no work for them. However, I didn't fire any of the 186 employees who work for Grad-Export, and right now as we speak, we've started working on 160 DS barriers for clients. We won't be able to do everything today, so we'll work on Saturday as well,'' noted Simic, who has so far sold about 700 of his DS barriers, the application of which possible in almost all institutions, from shops and business premises to households.

The barrier consists of vacuumed and profiled PVC, steel infill, anti-slip EPDM rubber and fasteners. The Slavonian company Grad-Export is otherwise one of the largest companies in Eastern Croatia with an annual revenue of around 90 million kuna.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

One of the leading Croatian manufacturers of cleaning products, the Zagreb company Labud, which is part of the Meteor Group, has focused all its efforts on multiplying the production of disinfectants since the first days of the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Croatia.

As Novac/Boris Oresic writes on the 14th of May, 2020, working as needed and in three shifts six days a week, Labud has managed to multiply the quantities they deliver to consumers, among which health institutions have priority.

In this Zagreb company's plant in Zitnjak, for weeks now, few people have become bogged down with the accumulated fatigue and stress. Their phones don't stop ringing, and orders arrive minute by minute. A special team receives all of the requests and compiles waiting lists according to which the procurement and production plans are harmonised on a daily basis. This Zagreb company's production plants, fortunately, weren't damaged in the recent earthquake, so they were able to resume production immediately after they got the green light to do so.

Full boxes of various packages of disinfectants are loaded onto trucks every day, as well as other products that Croatian customers are used to in their households, which are very much in demand during this pandemic. To beat the coronavirus epidemic, we must pay special attention to hygiene, both personal and the spaces in which we reside and spend time.

''There is a huge demand for disinfectants, liquid soaps and other cleaning agents. Disinfectants are a strategic product and it's our moral obligation to satisfy the market, primarily for health and other public institutions, but also the food industry and all other industries that use large amounts of disinfectants to do their job. We've also provided additional capacities in our plant in Đakovo,'' pointed out Laura Justinic Skoko, the sales director of this Zagreb company.

According to her, we need to learn some lessons from these bad times. The epidemic has definitely shown how important it is to have and encourage Croatian production and be as independent as possible from imports. According to Justinic Skoko, this doesn't only refer to finished products, but also to raw materials and packaging. The procurement of alcohol as the main raw material was the biggest challenge for Labud, especially in the first weeks after the introduction of the restrictive measures, which made the transport of goods extremely difficult, borders were closed, and some countries restricted the export of strategic raw materials.

''Most of our suppliers are from Hungary and Bulgaria, and we've had certain extensions of deliveries there. Part of the ordered quantities didn't even manage to get to us. We managed the situation in various ways, looking for alternative suppliers. Fortunately, Badel 1862, which is within our group, gave us a certain amount of alcohol,'' revealed Laura Justinic Skoko. Badel 1862 also provided them some workers, considering that the need for labour was increased in Labud.

Prior to the easing of the measures which saw the suspension of public transport, some of Labud's workers had no way to get to work. Workers who did continue to work in these difficult conditions were additionally rewarded for that, and in order to protect themselves from the spread of coronavirus at work, it became mandatory to strictly adhere to all of the recommendations and measures prescribed.

In addition to the price of labour, this Zagreb company's sales director points out, the price of raw materials and transport jumped compared to the time before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. But despite all these increased production costs, they kept their products firmly at the same selling price.

The marketing director of the Meteor Group's Labud, Milica Damjanovic, believes that this situation will teach us to depend on each other more, it will teach us about the importance of togetherness and mutual support, aboout the empathy and strength we have, without even being aware of it, but also about the importance of domestic production.

''We need to invest more in domestic production. Every day, we applaud all of the Croatian producers who provide us with the necessary food, raw materials and finished products important for life, every Croatian farmer, every small producer who makes masks and protective equipment to make our people safer and to ensure that our society can function in such crisis situations, because we know what challenges they're facing,'' Milica Damjanovic pointed out.

For more on Croatian companies, products and services, follow Made in Croatia.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of May, 2020, video-on-demand platforms are the fastest growing way to use audiovisual content, and during the time of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, they recorded a significant increase in traffic. This gave one innovative Zagreb company a boost.

Here in Croatia, Netflix, HBOgo and Amazon are by far the most popular VOD (video on demand) platforms, but over time, some specialised ones have found their place among the competition, including the aforementioned giants.

One of them is Svevid, the first Croatian on demand platform that started operating in early May via the website www.svevid.net, created by a Zagreb company. The Croatian platform will more than likely bring a smile to the faces of all fans of Croatian and regional cinema with film titles from the former Yugoslavia from the 1940s until the present day.

Svevid is SVOD (subscriptional video on demand), which means that the user accesses the complete offer of content according to the subscriber model, and not on the basis of individual transactions (TVOD) for each title. The service is provided according to the model of monthly, semi-annual and annual subscriptions, and by choosing larger packages, the user manages to rack up some rather significant savings.

Registration starts at a mere four euros per month, and by activating the subscription, the user is given a trial period of two weeks within which they can cancel the service should they so wish, and without any obligation. As explained from this Zagreb company's David Slaj, the Svevid platform is intended for everyone who appreciates and follows regional cinema and those who want to get better acquainted with it. It is currently available in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro.

"In our ever-growing catalog, we offer content that originated exclusively in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, from the beginnings of cinema in this area right up until today. We offer titles in the best available picture and sound quality, and we're working intensively on the implementation of multilingual support for all of our content.

The Svevid platform is specific in that our goal is to promote regional production and local creators. We paid a lot of attention to the accompanying content of the catalog, in collaboration with film critic Nenad Polimac, to provide users with the historical and spatial context of everything they watch,'' explained Slaj, adding that their goal was not to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis, but instead to merely speed up their product launches and further optimise their platform to provide customers with the highest quality service.

The team that came together within this Zagreb company and embark on this project mostly come from creative backgrounds and the audiovisual sector. The core team consists of five people, divided into creative and executive segments - David Slaj, founder and CEO Filip Lozic, CAO Danijel Popovic, CFO Inga Lozic and creative manager Luna Zimic Mijovic. They collaborate with a dozen other external associates in the marketing, design and systems support sectors. All of them, according to Slaj, have worked on numerous independent productions for the last five or more years, which has additionally encouraged them to think about the placement and visibility of these works.

According to market research conducted internally, the average user in Croatia actively uses at least two VOD platforms, and there is a significant decline in the viewership of conventional television channels. Furthermore, as Slaj explained, users are increasingly turning to the possibilities that VOD platforms provide them, which is to control when, how much and what sort of content they consume.

"Another significant advantage provided by the VOD platform is that the content is not intermittent and saturated with promotional messages and advertising blocks, which users point out as one of the most important features when choosing a service," noted Slaj.

The name and theme of the whole platform comes from Slavic mythology. Svevid or Svantevid is the oldest Slavic deity, deeply rooted in a common cultural heritage.

"Our market segment counts about 40,000 households in each country in which we operate, which puts numerous challenges in our path, as well as numerous opportunities in the years to come," concluded Slaj.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

HAMAG BICRO has received a large amount of applications from Croatian business owners across the spectrum for loans. These enterprises have made their applications due to the fact that they have been financially hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis that has emerged from that.

As Novac writes on the 5th of May, 2020, the Croatian Employers' Association and the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation and Investment organised a webinar with the aim of clarifying the measures in place to preserve the liquidity of small and medium Croatian companies.

Croatia's business owners have now been being offered various working capital loans for over a month, these include the ESIF Mirko working capital loan, the COVID 19 working capital loan and the micro working capital loan for rural development.

Representatives of HAMAG BICRO, Iva Debanic and Josipa Kutle Stepancic, explained the dynamics of receiving and processing these applications:

''To date, a total of 2237 applications have been received by HAMG BICRO for these three loans and 445 have been processed with an average approval rate of 70 percent. Looking at the figures, it's important to understand that the higher pass rate of applications for the COVID loan is associated with a larger number of eligible activities, ie, applications from ineligible activities created more negative ratings for other loans. When we talk about these loans, it's important to know that the aid currently being granted is de minimis aid. Aware that the prescribed limit of a maximum of 200,000 euros per business owner over a three-year period is a restriction for some, HAMAG BICRO is in the process of drafting a new set of rules on state aid that is better adapted to the current market situation and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

In several loan applications, there were requests for the financing of fixed assets (investments in equipment or adaptations), but this is not allowed via these financial instruments. It's also not possible to refinance existing liabilities, such as closing leases, existing loans and such things. For COVID loans, VAT is an eligible cost, while for the remaining two micro loans, it isn't (for PRR loans, the cost is eligible if the applicant is not in the VAT system).

In the case of the ESIF microloan and the microloan for rural development, a significant difference in relation to the COVID loan is the ineligibility of medium-sized entities. Furthermore, the grace period, which was previously up to 6 months for the ESIF microloan, has been extended to 12 months. Upon approval, the funds are paid into a special purpose account and used for a period of 3 months for micro loans or up to 6 months for COVID loans. For all of these loans, it should be noted that when they're approved, the average quarterly or six-month amount of regular (working) expenses is analysed, and the loan amount is then approved accordingly.

With the funds for micro loans, it's possible to settle obligations that are up to 3 months old from the date of the receipt of the loan application, while with COVID loans, all costs incurred throughout 2020 are eligible. However, it may not be used to pay bills already paid or for investments used for private purposes.

In recent days, a large number of inquiries from Croatian business owners have arrived at both HUP and HAMAG BICRO's doors regarding the new obligation to register on the FINA portal, so, the most common doubts and questions were clarified:

- All applications for HAMAG BICRO loans must come directly to them together with all of the prescribed and required documentation

- Registration on the FINA portal is mandatory but represents an additional step and cannot replace direct application

- Registration on the FINA portal replaces the need to submit a HROK credit report because FINA submits this information on the business owner, which includes the Croatian National Bank's assessment on any existing debts

- When assessing the acceptability of a loan application, the business plan and the accompanying financial indicators of the business in question are fuly taken into account, and not only the ''COVID score'' created on the FINA portal

- The FINA portal does not allow for the reporting/registering and proving of the loss of future income (in the second quarter of 2020) but this does not affect the passability of the request because the same is proven directly in the report to HAMAG BICRO

After approving the funds, the user/business owner must then open a special purpose account. All payments must be made directly from that account to the supplier’s account and must never be paid in cash. In the case of the need to pay salaries, on the day of the payment of salaries, part of the money may be transferred to a basic account and later on through statements, the business owner can prove to HAMAG BICRO that the funds were indeed spent for the intended purpose (on the payment of employee salaries).

This business plan defines the regular monthly expenses and is therefore classed as an eligible expense. What is important to note is that if the monthly agreed payment is for rent, you cannot pay it outside the agreed terms of use (for example, the annual rent cannot be paid). However, if the business owner has a previously agreed annual payment of rent that is due at the time of using the loan, then the same is acceptable.

In the case of an ESFI loan, when paying a VAT invoice, the company pays the VAT cost from the regular invoice and then pays the full amount of the invoice to the supplier.

Financing the salaries of the beneficiaries of the Croatian Employment Service's measure for the preservation of jobs doesn't pose an obstacle for the beneficiaries of HAMAG BICRO loans to finance everything above the amount of received support (if the employee's salary is higher than 4000 kuna) or to finance the salaries of employees not covered by the aforementioned institution's measures in order to avoid double financing.

Regarding the dynamics of the processing of these requests, it's worth understanding that more requests were received in just one single month than were received during the whole of 2019.

At the beginning, a large number of requests were received without any supporting documentation, which was tolerated at the time owing to panic and a general lack of understanding, but this additionally burdens the already stretched evaluation resources which are working to resolve backlogs.

In order to work as efficiently as possible, the appeal is for the complete submission of all required documentation because then the processing procedure is faster and more smooth.

The materials from today's webinar will be published on the HUP website, and in a few days, a consolidated document with the received questions and answers will be published so that as many business owners as possible receive the necessary clarifications to their questions and confusion.

Follow our business page for more. Stay up to date with our dedicated section for all you need to know about coronavirus in Croatia.

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of May, 2020, given the fact that the COVID-19 crisis has shaken the global, and consequently Croatian society, and the economic damage that the pandemic will cause when everything is ''totalled up'' is still unknown, public calls are being made in Croatia for the abolition of a series of state, public and local institutions and fiscal and especially para-fiscal levies. Many Croatian companies are seeing an opportunity in the midst of the crisis.

While certain people think that now is the time to change the territorial structure of the country with one stroke of a proverbial brush overnight, abolish a number of chambers and agencies and to reduce, delay or ultimately abolish many fees, it's more realistically clear that this will not happen either quickly or go smoothly, and most of these things cannot simply just be abolished after having been in function, be that a good thing or a bad thing, for such a long time.

One of the most controversial para-fiscal levies is the one paid for the care of Croatian forests, which has long been being paid by business owners in Croatia. A few years ago, the new Forest Law stipulated that SMEs would no longer have to pay this fee. In particular, when the law was passed in mid-2018, of the previous 202,162 taxpayers, 181,794 of them were exempted from paying these fees.

But what is this actually all about? From Croatian Forests, they warn of the dangers that abolishing this fee entirely could have on the safety and functioning of the entire economy, as well as society. Krunoslav Jakupcic, President of the Board of Croatian Forests, pointed out that we're witnessing many wanting this fee, along with other fees paid by Croatian companies, to be abolished.

He explained that 30 percent of the funds raised through this ''forest fee'' goes to mine clearance in forested areas.

"We're sorry to see this [fee] classified as a ''para-fiscal levy'' at all, it would be more correct to say that it is one of the few fees for which its purpose of use is actually specified by law. The abolition of compensation for the generally beneficial function of Croatian forests would have unprecedented consequences for the karst forests, which are threatened by fires and the other catastrophic consequences of accelerated climate change,'' warned Jakupcic.

He specified that 37 percent of the money raised from this fee goes specifically to karst forest management (in Dalmatia, Primorje, and Istria) which don't have an economic role in terms of timber production, but play an invaluable role in terms of oxygen production, carbon sequestration, tourism, recreation and much more.

30 percent of the collected funds from this fee paid by certain Croatian companies goes to the demining actions in forested areas, and 20 percent is pumped into preparations for fighting fires during the warmer months and implementing protection in time for the the fire season. Forest owners see 12 percent of the collected funds, and a mere (and truly symbolic) 1 percent of that same money goes to the scientific research work of the Forestry Institute and the Forestry Faculty.

One issue that is often raised is the fact that 37 percent of the money raised through this ''forest fee'' goes to Croatia's karst forests that have no actual economic role.

''Past amendments to the Forestry Act have worked to offset the cost of small Croatian companies, exempting as many as 90 percent of Croatian business owners from having to pay this particular fee. Therefore, the fee is currently paid exclusively by Croatian companies with annual revenues in excess of 3 million kuna, amounting to only 0.0265 percent of total revenues.

For example, if a company has revenue of three million kuna, the annual amount of compensation is 795 kuna, while a company with revenues of 10 million kuna pays a compensation of 2650 kuna per year, in four installments,'' explained Jakupcic, adding that the funds raised through the implementation of this fee help to achieve immeasurable benefits in terms of demining and protecting forests from fires, which is of great importance for both tourism and health and encourages employment in Croatia's numerous rural, karst regions.

For more on Croatian companies, follow our business page.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused not only a global health crisis but a continually unfolding economic one. Croatia, despite its excellent and stringent anti-epidemic measures, hasn't managed to avoid the tremendous and sudden negative economic impact the virus has had. Owing to that, the Croatian Government came forward with economic measures to help stop the domestic economy from sinking, and Croatian employers have been entitled to numerous benefits owing to its introduction.

Just which Croatian employers have received grants from the government, and how much exactly have they been provided with? The issue of transparency is a hot one in Croatia, and the desire for everyone to be able to see exactly where the state grants are going has been a subject of much discussion.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of April, 2020, a total of 1.5 billion kuna in support was received by almost 84,000 Croatian employers for nearly 485,000 workers, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated on Wednesday.

''The government has responded quickly and generously to Croatian employers to make sure they have access to minimum wage funds. That measure was quickly introduced. Within ten days of receiving a request [for the grant by a Croatian employer], that request was realised and everything was done completely transparently. I'd like to reiterate the fact that almost 84 thousand companies received grants for almost 485 thousand workers for the first round of support of 1 billion and 550 million kuna.

The Croatian Employment Service (CES) and the Tax Administration will ensure that no abuse of the measure occurs, and the Ministry, in cooperation with the CES, will definitely act swiftly and efficiently for April, too, with the amount for April being 4,000 kuna,'' said Plenkovic.

The largest number of grants - 77,057 of them, were paid for workers employed by micro-employers which have up to 10 employees. For employees working for small businesses, 5,876 grants were paid out, for medium-sized companies (boasting 51 to 250 employees) 889 grants were paid, and for large companies (with more than 250 employees) 147 grants were paid.

The largest share of government aid seekers lies among micro-entrepreneurs - making up 92 percent. Small businesses make up seven percent, medium-sized companies make up one percent, and large companies make up 0.03 percent.

You can find out more about the grants Croatian employers have received, and futher support, by clicking on the links provided below:

March 2020 - User list

March 2020 - Statistics

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, visit our dedicated section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 28th of April, 2020, in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, a new high-tech manufacturing facility is emerging right here in Croatia. The innovative Zagreb-based company, Mareton, has begun the construction of a small, highly roboticised factory that will produce electronics for smart railways.

The Ministry of Economy has sent the aforementioned Croatian company a decision on the awarding of a massive 2.12 million kuna in grants on the basis of the S3 Competition in order for the company to further commercialise its innovation - a bidirectional converter. The rest to the full project value of 5.3 million kuna is funded by Mareton itself.

Marko Stetic, founder and director of Mareton, says that the subsidy will help finance the improvement of this Croatian company's business organisation, the hiring of two experts and the development of software to make the machines for the new plant, which the company has purchased itself, ready for production.

"The minimisation and mechanical compactness of the product requires production with very advanced and precise computer-controlled machines and devices," explained Stetic. Mareton became known to the general public just two years ago when the company became the biggest winner of the second round of IRI tenders.

Then, the Zagreb-based manufacturer, in collaboration with the Faculty of Electronics and Computing in Zagreb, received a million euros in grants to develop the technology Elon Musk wants to offer in cars and households.

Mareton's brand new piece of innovation, a bidirectional converter, is a universal power converter that enables smart grid monitoring and simplifies the upgrade of electrical grids to new energy sources. In the increasingly popular e-car industry, converters are rumoured to be key because such vehicles can return electricity from their batteries back to the smart grid at night.

Stetic pointed out that Mareton has primarily focused on the needs of railways because they use a variety of electrical devices from switches and ramps to signaling, and therefore have increasingly complex energy networks that ensure the continued operation of such devices. Mareton has simplified all of this by replacing all of the different types of converters with one - its very own.

"Siemens from Switzerland and Gustav Klein from Germany have commissioned the development and prototype production from us, and we've borne all of the development costs and the complete risk of placement," noted Stetic.

He added that last year, after testing involving the Koncar Institute, Mareton delivered a test series of seventy bidirectional converters, and they proved to be great. They made them manually, and now they plan to automate that process. Back in 2018, Mareton had revenue of 6.25 million kuna and a net profit of 344,092 kuna. Last year, they said, they continued to grow slightly. With this brand new device, Mareton's growth will likely accelerate to 9.1 percent in two years.

"When this project is completed, we'll be able to offer our converter not only to railways, but also to anyone who needs more stable energy networks and separate industrial systems," concluded Stetic, adding that his company's products are used even on platforms in the North Pole.

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