As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak/Privredni.hr writes on the 9th of August, 2019, Tromont, a Split-based company, has just completed the expansion of its manufacturing facility. Now that it has obtained an operating license for the new production hall, it is moving to manufacturing parts for the rail industry, more specifically components for train manufacturers.

The investment in the new 3,400-square-foot production facility, as Tromont's CEO Ivan Parčina points out, is worth approximately 25 million kuna. Last year, Tromont invested 9 million kuna into its existing manufacturing facility, built back in 2012, with 35 percent of that amount being withdrawn from European Union funds. The bulk of that investment was related to the purchase of machinery and equipment. For the new hall, however, Tromont did not have the option of withdrawing European money.

''With the new facility, we have enabled the expansion of production and the acquisition of new projects in our component production segment for the rail industry. These are components and parts that are intended for train manufacturers and are also installed in trams. We manufacture various metal parts, train air conditioning and ventilation parts, for one manufacturer we produce the roofs and the sides of the train, cable trays, secondary metal parts, load-bearing parts for trains, control cabinets, control panels, wagon body parts... We plan to hire 25 new workers before the end of the year,'' explained Ivan Parčina.

''Most of the products are intended for export, mainly to Germany and Switzerland. We produce a small part for Končar. We mainly work for Stadler, Siemens, Bombardier Transportation... We also have significant cooperation with train system manufacturers, such as Knorr-Bremse, which is one of the larger suppliers of train and locomotive manufacturers,'' Tromont's CEO continued.

In its production facility in the Čaporica business zone, opened in 2012 on an adjacent parcel, Tromont produces metal parts and electrical cabinets. 80 workers work there.

''In addition to products for the railway industry, from this facility we also market products for the needs of our core business, and part of the production is placed on the Croatian market,'' Parčina revealed.

Tromont, like other Croatian companies, is finding it increasingly difficult to find a qualified, skilled workforce, but they aren't surrendering to such issues, Parčina says, but is instead trying to attract them in different ways.

Last year, this Split-based company generated revenue of around 210 million kuna. At the moment, it employs 230 workers, 30 of whom are from abroad.

''Last year was challenging. The construction sector is recovering somewhat. We're facing various challenges such as labour shortages and rising labour costs. The Croatian Government should see wages raised,'' Parčin warned, adding that they have about a dozen workers from Nepal and the rest are from Ukraine and Croatia's immediate region.

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As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of August, 2019, there have been stories of this Croatian company being funded with investment capital, especially since its formal global headquarters are in London, but this has always been strongly denied by Infobip. However, they have now confirmed that they were constantly receiving offers from various corporations for takeovers.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Infobip is changing its investment policy. This Croatian startup, founded by Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić, no longer hides the fact that it is interested in investment, and the main topic of concern in the industry is whether or not Infobip is worth more than one billion US dollars already.

Although there are those who are firmly convinced in that, the fact is that this still remains entirely unknown. Several people have claimed that Infobip is already worth more than one billion US dollars, but nobody wants to speak publicly about it.

It would be logical for investors to be the ones to answer this question, as in the case of Rimac Automobili after its last investment. Mate Rimac said at the time: "... as far as ownership is concerned, I now hold 47.7 percent. The Chinese Camel group holds 14 percent, Hyundai holds 11 percent, Porsche holds 10 percent, Kia holds 2.7 percent, and the rest are smaller shares which investors so far from 2012 and 2013 hold.''

From this, it can be calculated that Hyundai and Kia invested their 80 million euros into Rimac's company with a valuation of 584 million euros, or 4.3 billion kuna. In other words, investors have confirmed that Rimac's company is halfway to becoming a startup worth at least one billion US dollars in market value. In Croatia, so far, at least publicly, there are no startups which carry such value.

A number of other Croatian startups which have good foundations and could one day reach such high valuations. The latest in the series is ReversingLabs, which just won the Black Unicorn Award in Las Vegas, this company isn't worth one billion US dollars, but its business moves do reveal what the plan is for this high-tech company from Zagreb.

There is a lot of ambition in many Croatian startups, such as Tolar and Zizoo, as well as Agrivi, Altpro, Bulb Technologies, Electrocoin, Include, Gideon Brothers, Nanobit, Oradian, Photomath (and Microlink), Visage Technologies and Zipato.

The above list is certainly not complete, nor does it mean that all of their aspirations will be realised at the same time. But, for the development of the Croatian startup ecosystem, the next turning point will be the emergence of the first Croatian company to be worth one billion US dollars. After Microsoft bought the Estonian startup Skype for a dizzying 8.5 billion dollars, a lot has changed in that country, and with it, much more has now become possible.

Skype's founders and co-founders now have the capital and knowledge to be able to transfer that over into Estonia's local ecosystem and further accelerate its development to the point that the whole country has started to look more digital, making the Estonians the champions of the whole of the EU in that regard today.

From this perspective, it is good that a Croatian company worth one billion US dollars will finally emerge, regardless of whether it is Rimac Automobili or Infobip. While Rimac is steadily climbing towards this goal through genuine investor interest, Infobip is in a slightly different position. After all, two of the three founders are brothers (the Kutićs), but they are working to alter the ''family'' perception in the wider public. 

According to Silvio Kutić, who, in addition to being the co-founder, is also the CEO of this Croatian company, nfobip also transferred ten percent of its shares to its employees.

In addition, and they didn't want to announce which companies they were talking about, Infobip has partnered with almost every major internet company in the world, from Facebook and Uber and beyond. Infobip also has several times the revenue of Rimac Automobili.

This Croatian company has grown by 30 percent for two consecutive years, and on top of all that, it has been favoured to become the prime competitor by all business indicators by America's Twilio.

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As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 2nd of August, 2019, since back in 2010, Kaspar Paper (Papir) has been manufacturing a very specific product in its production facility in the small, continental Croatian town of Prelog - sublimation paper that is used for colour transfer for various media.

They are the only manufacturer of this type of paper in the whole of the Republic of Croatia. Their expertise lies in manufacturing for transferring to polyester fabrics. This therefore enters into many worlds; marketing, fashion, sport, the furnishing of interiors, flags, and various posters and pictures. However, the application of this product is much wider, and can be found on rigid materials, on furniture, on skis and on metal surfaces. This wide range continues to grow year by year.

"We use our own development, employ professional and quality people who have been present in this segment for many years, which enables us to provide timely information and follow global trends in the industry. This also enables us to constantly develop our products to provide customers with the necessary quality," Davor Belić, the director of this Croatian company, explained.

Last year, they made more than 50 million kuna on various markets around the world, and their plan is to continue on with this double-digit growth, which they have said has gone smoothly so far. Here in Croatia, they cooperate with several customers, while the majority of the company's production is intended for export, and more than 95 percent of it leaves Croatian territory and goes abroad.

This Croatian company is also present at the world's leading fairs for the digital printing industry, and they strive to enter onto new markets year after year. "This year, we exhibited in Germany, France, Spain, and we're preparing for Mexico in late August, and in October, we're in the United States of America at the Dallas Fair.

In Asia, we have an office in Singapore in charge of the markets of Asia, the Pacific and the Americas, while in Slovenia, we manufacture base raw materials that are further completed in Prelog,'' Belić said.

The company currently employs 35 people, and Belić hopes that this figure will increase further by the end of 2020.

"For the time being, we're ready to respond to all market demands, but if the need arises, of course we will call for a job increase. We're doing well as far as the workforce is concerned, and we try to ensure our employees good working conditions, so that we we attract and retain them,'' he pointed out. In addition, this successful Croatian company has applied for the Internationalisation of small and medium-sized companies, phase two, which is being conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts.

The project, edtitled ''Strengthening Kaspar Paper through performances at foreign fairs'', is worth 1.1 million kuna, and the company received 895,000 kuna in European Union (EU) grants.

"As part of the project, we're planning and preparing, with the approval and signed co-financing contracts, to further increase our presence at leading industry fairs. The materials for FESPA Madrid 2020 are already underway," the director announced.

The experience so far, he stated, indicates that each additional presence brings results for this Croatian company, and with this project, he added, they are embracing new segments and wanting to introduce even more brand new products.

"I'd like to emphasise, instead of talking about concrete figures, that we're in the process of implementing new projects for equipping and development that will enable us to be even more competitive on demanding international markets," Belić pointed out.

Their goal, as they say, is to continue developing quality products, invest in the development, education and further training of employees, and keep up with global industry trends that will allow them to continue to grow and be recognised on the market.

"I'm proud to say that Kaspar Paper has positioned itself among the leading manufacturers of sublimation papers as a worldwide brand and is recognised as such among the leading global brands in the textile industry and beyond. Our aim is to raise that bar to an even higher level in the future," Davor Belić concluded.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of July, 2019, the Croatian company owned by Mario Kralj stated that after fifteen years of engaging in successful business, it is now entering a restructuring phase.

All the accounts belonging to the Croatian company ''Hangar 18'', which comes from the continental town of Koprivnica and is best known for its popular NOA mobile phones, have now been blocked.

According to the local portal Danica.hr, one commercial bank blocked Hangar 18's account, which had an extraordinary amount of money on it, on Tuesday.

According to official figures, Hangar 18's short-term liabilities (mainly to creditors) jumped up by as much as 45 percent last year to close to a massive 84 million kuna. The company's long-term liabilities also increased from 23 million kuna to 25 million kuna.

Over the past year, liabilities to this Croatian company's numerous suppliers have doubled - from seven million kuna to more than double, up to fifteen million kuna. As previously mentioned, Koprivnica's Hangar 18 is now entering into a business restructuring phase.

"After fifteen years of successful operations, Hangar 18 is currently in a restructuring phase, which means that it will try to find the best solution for the current situation in consultation with the banks. On the other hand, given the number of employees, the activities it deals with and the markets in which it operates, Hangar 18 will make certain organisational changes and introduce improvements to its business processes.

It is in everyone's interest that this company, with its 100 employees, survives on the market and continues to function normally, as in addition to operating in Croatia, it operates in eight other countries,'' stated a press release that came from Hangar 18 after the media began publishing reports on its current business problems.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of July, 2019, work in this Labin company has grown to twenty employees in four years, and we still do not function as a classical business system, but rather as a family gathering around the same job, says director and owner of Lloyds Design, Domagoj Ostović.

Today, Lloyds Design is one of the best Istrian IT companies, and has its headquarters in Labin, a city of rich mining and industrial traditions that have shaped and defined the identity of Labin for a long time, Milan Pavlović writes for Glas Istre.

And although the mines have long been closed or turned into a tourist attraction, and large industrial systems disappeared during the period of transition, Labin's identity has survived and is likely to remain as the strongest symbol of the city for a long time.

However, it is really at a purely symbolic level now, because for a very long time now, Labin hasn't lived from mining or any particular type of big industry. The new times belong to some new, innovative entrepreneurs and their stories and experiences that slowly but steadily lead their own way into an increasingly demanding business world. At the same time, they lay the foundations for Labin's new, alternative identity that will make it recognisable to new generations and the modern world.

One of those entrepreneurial stories is that of Bjelovar native Domagoj Ostović, whose love and entrepreneurial spirit led him directly to the eastern coast of the peninsula, where he started work over a decade ago. That move and that hard work saw one of the most successful Istrian IT companies emerge from nothing.

He started by designing a school paper and then posters for various Rijeka student parties, and after completing his studies, he was employed at a tourist agency in Opatija where he was in charge of the digital part of the business and where he first became acquainted with HTML and CSS programming languages.

Labin's Lloyds Design Studio, a company specialising in web design, development, software development and mobile applications, came from the first independent business which Domagoj entered into after his decision to leave his work in the travel agency and move permanently to beautiful Istria back in 2012.

The Labin company has grown over the last few years, having drawn its roots from work that Domagoj isn't proud of himself, and now employs twenty people and deals with clients from across the globe.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 16th of July, 2019, several days ago, a summer school started at a Croatian software company, Agency04, which is based in Zagreb, to which 582 candidates applied.

Via a selection process, 36 of them were chosen by this Croatian company and will be learning about developing a Java application using the Spring Boot Framework for the next five weeks, where they will eventually obtain a certificate, and can also apply for employment right there at Agency04.

As explained by this Croatian company which is running a summer school for the second year now, attendees will work on specific examples from Java and Spring Frameworks and see how business applications work in practice. They are divided into small teams of six people, and each team comes with two mentors.

"On the last day of the school, a hackathon is held, during which these teams compete, and at the end, the attendees receive certification and employment opportunities within our company. After we held last year's summer school, four people gained employment with us, and we'll continue on with this practice this year,'' they state from the company.

Otherwise, this Croatian company is made up of software exprerts, and the company manages to generate more than sixty percent of its revenue on the United States and Western European markets, with special emphasis on earnings made in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where they work for companies such as Strabag and ELCA, XebiaLabs and A1.

When it comes to new markets, this Croatian company is continuing to look close to home in Europe, with the British, Scandinavian, and Benelux countries being attractive to them. Their income, as they say, grew from an already very impressive 6.95 million kuna back in 2017, to 13.5 million kuna last year.

"We plan to employ a hundred employees in the next twelve months, so we have nine open positions for which we're looking for staff, precisely because of the workforce, we choose projects that are technically excellent so that it's a pleasure to participate in them.

Our clients are 75 percent overseas clients, and in turn are world leaders in their respective branches. We provide good conditions for work and life, and when you have an excellent team, then it's easier to attract customers as well,'' they say from Agency04.

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As Novac/Viktor Vresnik writes on the 15th of July, 2019, Axel Kalinowski, director of the London Stock Exchange for Central and Southern Europe, has been working hard for years with representatives of Croatia's market as part of his task of building a bridge between the new Europe and London as the centre of global financial and capital flow.

Novac and Kalinowski talked at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb, where he was Deloitte's main guest at a capital market conference.

The Croatian market is very small, even if we look at it together with the Slovenian market. Does it make sense to have a local stock market in such a market?

''This is a question that is constantly being repeated, and can be put everywhere in Europe. Every European country today has its own stock market. Some have more of them, such as Germany, where there are seven, though, despite the size of the market, the capital market culture is in fact not significantly developed.

Our idea is to concentrate activity and regulation in one place. It's a job I've been dealing with for a while. European and even Croatian companies don't compete solely on local markets, they're also struggling for their place on the regional and global markets.

The lack of strategic capability for access to funds on a large capital market can be considered a handicap compared to the companies whose access to that is secured, which are therefore far more liquid and ready for investment exploits. Europe must do everything in its power to make it easier for its companies to access money sources.

These aren't just capital markets, there are also a variety of alternative funding methods that diversify the traditional ways of collecting money. Europe is too bank-oriented. Banks are, of course, important, but when they become the main source of capital, then that becomes dangerous.''

London is a huge market, one of the largest in the world, and the most important in Europe. Can it keep hold of that position after Brexit?

"It depends on what sort of Brexit we have in the end. Only then will we understand how close our relationship will be.

The London Stock Exchange has always been very closely connected with the continental part of Europe. We're a very European organisation, we are the owners of the Italian Stock Exchange, parts of the French market... I think Brexit will ultimately not prove crucial to our business. The London Stock Exchange is over 200 years old, older than the very first idea of ​​the European Union.

It has always been one of the world's largest markets. If London loses out on the EU's political map, it doesn't mean that it will come out of the market. Europeans will then use the London Stock Exchange as one of the overseas markets on which their companies are listed. Such a separation is probably a mistake, but I don't think that it will harm the position of London as a global capital and finance centre in the end.''

Could Brexit actually be good for London because it puts a strong market in the position of being on neutral ground?

"We already have the opportunity to see some companies which list their shares in London, even though they're already on one of the world's major stock exchanges. We mustn't forget that today, money plays a big role on the market, money from the Middle East, from Asia... for them, London has always been a neutral point, unburdened by European political turmoil. In the long run, Brexit could really boost London towards the position of an actual global market. It's difficult to foresee what the situation will be in the short term. Anything can happen in that respect.''

Does Trump's chaotic US economic policy help you there?

''There's no doubt that his sentences often have an impact on the US market, and everything that affects the US market then has a global impact. We've noticed that the interests of North American companies for the London Stock Exchange have become significantly higher over the last few years.

I don't think that's just because of politics, I think it's more about structural issues. The London market is more neutral, internationalisation is more mature when talking about medium and small businesses. The American market is huge, but it's oriented towards the largest corporations like Google, Facebook, Amazon... If you're small, you can quickly get sucked up there. The London market is not marked by these megatranslations, but it has the most stable flow of money in both large and small companies. The ecosystem in London is far more sophisticated and more lively than that of New York. We offer a better environment for middle business, and they have recognised that fact.''

What exactly is your job as the head of the Eastern European Division of the LSE?

''Today, around 2,200 companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange and they come from 110 different countries.

We're trying to strengthen our presence in areas where we don't think we've fully exploited the potential and where there are opportunities for companies to better understand what the capital market is. We think that this part of the world, Middle, Eastern and Southern Europe, isn't yet sufficiently serviced.

The market culture here lags behind other parts of Europe. We're trying to build a bridge that will link local companies to global investors. That's my role. To help companies understand the role, as well as the capability of capital markets, as well as numerous other, alternative business financing opportunities. Break the fear of ''big'' London, which people who sit far from the centre sometimes make out is a big, weird, dangerous place, full of predatory banks and institutions.''

The London market has strict rules, many companies fail, nor do they want to play under those rules...

''Yes, the rules are firm and have been being applied like that for a long time now, but I think the fear of such an approach on the continent is exaggerated. London is, above all, a place of great networking and exchange of ideas. It's a meeting point.''

Which markets have you recognised as the most developed in the part of Europe for which you're in charge?

''It's an exciting region, a region that, at growth rates, suggests a potential that is bigger than the one in old Europe, where the lowest growth rate is still considered good today.

That's why new Europe is more interesting to investors than old Europe is I think the people from this region suffer from the prejudice that the global investor community is't interested in it. That's wrong.

That is wrong here in Croatia, too, where many aren't interested in London investors as they're based in Croatia. It's true that companies in the vicinity of Croatia have recognised the opportunity use the London market very successfully. Romania has an excellent privatiaation program, and their privatisation agency is listed on the London Stock Exchange. There are a large number of large, formerly state-owned companies which are listed on the exchanges in Bucharest and in London. Slovenia has recently listed the new Ljubljana bank in London, which we consider to have been a success, as well as the selling off of Serbian bonds at historically low interest rates...''

Two large Croatian companies, Pliva and Zaba, left the London Stock Exchange because it did not pay for them to be there...

''This has happened a long time ago, today things are different, the stock market offers far more opportunities than it did before and we're more open to different types of companies.

There are several different segments of the market with different standards. AIM, a market oriented towards small and medium-sized companies, has very simple standards today, all of which aare aligned with the needs of the investor.

There is no minimum threshold for listing, and given the fact that we're talking about new companies here, we don't investigate their financial history. Even on the regular market today, we have a split into two segments. The standard segment follows the rules of the EU, which apply to most European markets, and even in Croatia, only the premium segment applies the specific rules of the United Kingdom which, I would say, are at a more strict level than the continental ones are.

However, this regulation is based on good business practice, which is significantly different from that of the US, where strict rules must absolutely be followed. Our philosophy is different. If you don't abide by any of the rules that have been set, you must be given the opportunity to explain why that is. If that's acceptable to investors and regulators, then it can be adopted.''

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Orbico's owner Branko Roglić has become the majority owner of Interbrands, Romania's largest consumer goods distributor.

As Novac/Adriano Milovan writes on the 8th of July, 2019, as they have explained from Orbico, after having agreed with Cyprus' Holson and taken over 25 percent of Interbrand back in January, at the end of last week, on July the 4th, the second phase of the takeover of this large Romanian distributor was completed, during which Croatia's Orbico purchased an additional 35 percent of the company, thus becoming the majority owner of Interbrands.

The takeover of an additional stake in Interbrands was preceded by the approval of the competent body and the fulfillment of other sales contract terms, which were signed back in January, according to this company from Croatia's statement. In the take over of sixty percent of Interbrands, we know that Orbico had to set aside about forty million euros.

''We will restructure the company and strengthen its position on the Romanian market, which is the second largest market among the new EU members,'' Branko Roglić, the owner and chairman of the Orbico Supervisory Board stated.

Roglić pointed out that he is satisfied with taking over Interbrands, as Orbico has now become the leading distributor of consumer goods in Romania. Interbrands is one of Orbica's leading distributors of numerous global brands in Romania, including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Procter & Gamble, Coty, Danone, Duracell, Fater, Nestle and many others. The annual revenues of Interbrands amount to about 200 million euro, its EBITDA is around EUR 10 million, and according to Orbico's data, about 2,000 workers are employed there.

This company from Croatia would, in agreement with the former owner of Interbrands, take over the remaining forty percent of the company over the next three years, becoming the sole owner of the Romanian company. Until then, a minority partner will hold a minority stake of forty percent.

Orbico operates in twenty European countries, of which Poland and Romania now occupy an important place. According to the company's data, it employs some 8,000 people and earns about two billion euros in revenue. The goal of Croatia's Orbico is to become the leading distributor in Europe.

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Mate Rimac, Croatia's golden entrepreneur gave an example to the Croatian Government when it comes to attracting investment and the automotive industry - that example was Slovakia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of July, 2019, over in Slovakia, which is hardly on the other side of the world geographically, however seems to be in every other term when compared to Croatia; Kia provided incentives of as much as a billion euros, with which they built a brand new factory.

Two years ago, the young innovative Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac invested in developing a strategy for attracting the automotive industry to Croatia, and the project he presented to the Croatian Government was designed to be the basis for new measures for this sector, Marina Šunjerga writes for Večernji list.

As stated, the apparently endlessly talented Rimac found inspiration in the most successful country in this sector - Slovakia. The timing is now excellent considering that at this point, consideration is being taken in how to boost the development of electric car technology for the new century.

Rimac Automobili is a Croatian company that has been recognised as a real generator of knowledge and experience in producing the best electric batteries in the automotive world, with the development of the fastest electric car in the world, and there lies an opportunity for Croatia to take advantage of what Rimac has achieved against the odds and properly position itself the ''car map'' of the world.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković briefly commented on yesterday's session of the Government on Rimac's initiative, saying that he believed his suggestions and ideas would be of particular importance to the Ministry of Economy for the further improvement of Croatia's investment and business climate, as well as other institutions through the aspect of education and the labour market, to contribute to further attracting the automotive industry to Croatia.

We have not yet heard the new measures that could attract companies such as Hyundai or Volkswagen to Croatia, and from the Ministry of the Economy, which Plenković has been pushing to develop new measures, they stated that Rimac and other automotive investors can count on all the measures within the Investment Promotion Act, which includes a reduction of the profit tax base and incentives for every new employee.

They also added that consideration is being given to the possibility that the realisation of a Rimac Campus would be facilitated by the Croatian Government, by giving the company land owned by the state.

This is a project that comes with a hefty price tag of between 80 and 100 million euros, which would include a centre for development and innovation for as many as 2000 employees.

While it all sounds straightforward enough, this is still Croatia, and the idea of realisation through land-delivery is not as feasible as it might sound at first, because they would have to go through a local unit that could eventually provide the company with a free location. This doesn't happen overnight.

With that land, Rimac would be able to count on all the standard incentives like all the other investors in this field do. According to the investment calculator, the investor would receive about 12 million kuna of direct incentives and about six million kuna of tax incentives in support for employment, which is a substantial amount for an investor as it exceeds 15 percent of the investment value.

Croatia gets a lot of bashing for its poor investment climate, but there are actually measures in place which are quite favourable, and although incentives in Croatia aren't small, the automotive industry's attraction to the country is spoiled by the poor attitude and the slow, cumbersome approach that has become synonymous with Croatia, and are looking for a much more proactive approach from politicians.

Slovakia has attracted billions of euros in investments over the past twenty years, resulting in the realisation of 34 large projects, and it's now the country with the highest number of cars per capita in the world. The project started with a smaller VW investment in Bratislava way back in 1993.

Slovakia cut profit tax from 40 all the way down to just 19 percent, and the investors completely free from having to pay tax for five years. Like Croatia, it offered quite handsome incentives in terms of employment, and he Slovakian politicians were at the disposal of investors. VW has invested 302 million euros in Slovakia so far, and has received tens of millions of euros in incentives from the Slovaks. It's a relationship which works harmoniously, and is also something that is difficult to imagine for Croatia and its draconian laws and rates.

Could everything be about to change? Has spending time with the amazing Mate Rimac opened the Croatian Government's tightly closed eyes? Only time will tell.

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A touch of Slavonia, Croatia in Austria.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 4th of July, 2019, there are many souvenirs that tourists buy during their stay in the Austrian capital of Vienna, such as refrigerator magnets embellished with the most famous Austrian tourist attractions such as the Schönbrunn Palace.

It might be easy to imagine the Chinese churning out endless supplies of these small but meaningful little keepsakes, but many are actually made by a Croatian entrepreneur, Zoran Bašić, from Trnjani in Slavonia. In Trnjani, an Eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, lie the production plant and the headquarters of Decoupage Repromaterijal Bašić Art, the first Croatian souvenir magnet making factory. For years, this company from Slavonia has been present on the Austrian market, and this entrepreneur has been successful in domestic design, production and placement of souvenirs labelled "Made in Croatia".

It all began when Bašić, who is otherwise a skilled machinist by profession, started to work with the production of wooden jewellery and decorative objects made from wood following many hard years of work in the civil service. He eventually began exhibiting his creations at fairs across Slavonia.

Listening to the needs of the market, this entrepreneur from Slavonia saw an increase in demand in the areas in which he worked, which included room for other personalised products and all kinds of decorations.

Good work can be seen and felt far and wide, and four years ago, this talented Croatian entrepreneur received a request from a Viennese wholesaler for souvenirs who asked him to make some samples of fridge magnets.

After a year, Bašić's products were very successful over on the Austrian market, and now this factory in Slavonia is planning and aiming to place its products on the Croatian market as one of the few companies that offers such decorations with the mark of an original Croatian product.

In addition to excellent quality and innovation, these products are said to be more competitive and more affordable, and even cheaper than the infamous things the Chinese make, which continue to swamp and drown the market.

"The key to the success with the Austrians, where we're dominating, are small series' according to customer's wishes, quick delivery, ie, a fast response to the orders, with the flexibility of modifying the design again according to the customer's wishes.

With us, the customers themselves can participate in creating products that they want to make using our professional help. We produce our products manually according to our own ideas or the ideas of our customers, and the price is always the same, regardless of whether one has ordered a souvenir magnet, or a hundred,'' explained Bašić.

Ninety percent of all of their orders come from women who, as the entrepreneur adds, usually have a whole host of imaginative suggestions to make their own souvenir or, for example, a cake decoration. Considering the significant demand, Bašić's next business step will be to conquer new markets and expand the production plant which is located in Trnjani, Slavonia.

"I can see great potential in the development of decoupage reproduction material on the Croatian market, especially boxes which come in different sizes and shapes, some of which are patterned while most of them are designed according to the wishes and needs of clients who come to us with full confidence,'' concluded the the innovative entrepreneur from Slavonia, Zoran Bašić.

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