May the 9th, 2021 - Croatian producers have managed to deliver an excellent result in 2021's first quarter, recording record export figures and surprising growth of 9.5 percent.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is continuing to throw proverbial spanners in the works for almost everything imaginable, and the global economy is suffering tremendously and in a truly unprecedented way. The Croatian economy, which relies heavily on tourism as it makes up a huge amount of the country's GDP, has been far from immune from the negative trends caused by the measures introduced to try to prevent the spread of the novel virus.

Croatian producers, particularly exporters, have been as plagued by the virus and intermittent lockdowns as the vast majority of other sectors across Croatia and Europe, but 2021 has managed to bring with it some surprising and encouraging results which might well mean that things are finally on the up again.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, in the first two months of 2021, Croatian exports were down 1.4 percent (when looking at it from the perspective of the Croatian kuna) and 2.8 percent in euros on an annual basis.

2021's first quarter also saw a significantly more favourable ratio between the value of exports and imports, as the coverage of imports by exports improved significantly and amounted to 64.6 percent. In the first quarter of last year, the ratio stood at a lesser 60.3 percent.

The more favourable ratio is a direct result of slower growth in imports, which was 2.1 percent higher in Croatian kuna and 0.6 percent higher in euros. Since this is the first data without details on the structure to have been made available, there is no precise data on what contributed most to this promising export jump, and it can only be established that growth also took place on most important single market (7.3 percent in euros), and to a somewhat stronger scale outside of the single market (9.2 percent in euros).

In absolute numbers, in the first three months of 2021, the Croatian economy exported products worth 30.0 billion kuna, or 3.97 billion kuna. 46.48 billion kuna or 6.15 billion euros worth of goods were imported, which is a record result for that particular period.

For more on Croatian producers, exporters and figures, make sure to follow our dedicated business section.

ZAGREB, 6 May 2021 2021 - The HEP Group, the national energy company specialized in the generation, distribution and supply of electricity, recorded the consolidated net profit of HRK 1.46 billion in 2020, a rise by HRK 61.1 million compared to 2019, according to the group's annual consolidated financial statement.

"The business operations of HEP Group were affected by the epidemiological measures implemented to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), which lead to stopping a portion of economic activities and subsequently to reducing electricity demand by business customers and changing the structure of demand," the HEP group says on its web site.

According to the financial statement, the operating income was HRK 14.37 billion, which was lower by HRK 1.14 billion (7.4%) compared to 2019, primarily as the result of income decrease from the sale of electricity by HRK 1.04 billion (8.3%) due to reduced income generated abroad and domestically.

In 2020, "total electricity demand in Croatia of 15,384 GWh was characterized by 45 GWh less billed electricity for household customers and by 889 GWh less billed electricity for businesses."

HEP suppliers cover 90.4% of Croatia's market

Compared to 2019, the total sale by HEP Group suppliers in Croatia decreased by 1.0 TWh (6.8%) reaching 13,904 GWh (90.4% of the market), reads the financial statement.

The HEP hydro power plants generated 5.3 TWh (29% of required demand), which is by 511 GWh less than in2019 (8.7%).

Thermal power plant production accounted for 4,073 GWh of electricity, an increase by 364 GWh.

Krško nuclear power plant supplied 3,020 GWh, which accounted for 16.2% of available HEP Group electricity, ie 254 GWh more compared to 2019 as no regular 18-month period overhaul was conducted.

HEP's Korlat Windfarm generated 52 GWh.

Solar and biopower plants generated 26 GWh.

In 2020, the group's investment totalled HRK 4.3 billion

HEP Group continued to be one of the biggest investors in Croatia in 2020 with its investments of HRK 4.3 billion.

Those investments include the HRK 920.6 m investment by LNG Hrvatska d.o.o.

(€1 = HRK 7.534594)

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January the 13th, 2021 - Central Croatia was hit by a devastating earthquake at the end of what was a truly horrendous 2020, but several groups, including HPK (Croatian Chamber of Agriculture) and MHP (Cluster of Small Croatian Producers) are launching a joint initiative to help market what is made by Croatian producers from Sisak-Moslavina County.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the two groups are jointly launching a project to market the products made by Croatian producers from the areas most deeply affected by the recent earthquake and are as such inviting Croatian producers to contact HPK in order to find their way to their customers and consumers.

As they point out, they expect that this initiative will help Croatian farmers who are currently facing huge problems, both in production and in product placement. It's worth mentioning that MHP has been recording constant growth for many years and can boast of good results in business related to the development and distribution of products of small Croatian producers.

"In most cases, these are Croatian producers who sold their produce to the local population through markets, and when it comes to that, it's still questionable when they'll be able to start working again, our role will be in the regular purchase and preparation of products for the consumer market. In particular, the idea is to organise a packaging centre in which to pack and prepare goods for further distribution,'' they emphasised.

MHP will place goods made by Croatian producers from the earthquake-afflicted areas of the country on the market under its own name, and the final placement to the end consumer will be in the process of preparation with key partners who are leaders in retail.

"Given that it is estimated that this is not a large volume of products, we believe that with a maximum of 200 square metres, we'll have enough space to meet the placement target for about 50 Croatian manufacturers. We will provide the space under our direction, and we asked HPK to get involved in the segment of furnishing the space and speeding up the registration procedures. We're going to deal with the whole procedure without compensation for those Croatian producers, which is another reason why we're asking for the support of HPK, the umbrella organizstion of all Croatian farmers,'' concluded Marko Spiljar, director of MHP Alimentum trade.

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With imports and exports affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the argument for self-sufficiency has never been stronger. Owing to that, Konzum announced that it would cooperate with Croatian producers who usually sell their produce on now closed markets, and allow them to continue selling those products on the popular store's shelves. SPAR, another popular store in Croatia, has done the same.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of April, 2020, SPAR has so far cooperated with sixty new Croatian producers in the field of agriculture, as well as local farmers who are no longer able to sell their products on the market because of the measures put into place in Croatia to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

''In the first few days we bought salads, packaged tomatoes, leeks, chard, parsley, spinach and more from small producers and OPGs and secured their placement on the shelves of SPAR and INTERSPAR stores.

Through the Osatina distributor, we're also buying young onions from OPG Ivan Mrašić, OPG Špiranec Mladen, OPG Rasinec Ana, OPG Vedriš Ivica and OPG Veličan Damir. In addition, some products will be sold under our brand Gardens of Croatia (Vrtovi Hrvatske), such as Balog OPG beans, OPG Vesna Bašić apples, OPG Raos-Vrgorac garlic, and cauliflower and broccoli from the company Tlzit.

With this move, we're expanding our cooperation with a large number of our existing Croatian producers. We'd like to emphasise that a large number of them are operating under the Gardens of Croatia brand. We're proud that SPAR supermarkets and INTERSPAR hypermarkets are the stores with the most Croatian products in them,'' a statement from SPAR read.

If you understand Croatia, check out the SPAR YouTube channel for more information on buying fruit and vegetables from Croatian producers:

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Support for Croatian production and domestic producers has always been Konzum's priority, and this is best confirmed by the fact that around eighty percent of the fruit and vegetables sold by the company are of Croatian origin.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of April, 2020, at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Konzum itself, which offered small producers and OPGs Konzum's shelves to sell their products instead of the now closed markets, as many as 200 new small producers came forward and in the very first with of cooperation with Konzum, 70,000 pieces of lettuce, 18,000 kg of chard, 5,000 kg of parsley and 1,300 kg of young onions were purchased. New suppliers have also joined the group of over 4000 farmers and OPGs with whom Konzum is already working.

The heavily frequented store expects that the quantities purchased from small producers will continue to grow further in the coming period. As the season of local strawberries approaches, Konzum is already in contact with producers from all parts of Croatia to make their products available to be sold.

These are the first concrete results of the project on which Konzum embarked based on the decision by the Civil Protection Staff of the Republic of Croatia on a measure to suspend the operation of marketplaces, to make sure people are still able to buy those same products they'd usually buy at markets, but in Konzum instead.

Within the Fortenova group, placement through Konzum is being handled through PIK Vinkovci, a distributor that purchases products from small agricultural producers, provided they meet the highest quality standards. Therefore, all small farms in Croatia interested in marketing their production to Konzum should contact PIK Vinkovci via this email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PIK Vinkovci is a specialist in the purchase of fruit and vegetables, since they buy more than 20,000 tons of fruit and vegetables per year and have an extremely good level of cooperation with more than 500 subcontractors. Croatian farmers can also contact Konzum's Marinad and Fragaria partners, who also buy and deliver to Konzum, with the highest quality standards guaranteed.

"In this way, we want to increase that number of 4,000 producers from all parts of Croatia that we partner with, and at the same time help primarily small family farmers and farms that are prevented from selling their products due to the closure of the markets. We'll continue to be a strong partner in domestic agriculture, helping to further strengthen it, and constantly look for new models to continue our mission of preserving the tradition of local production and increasing the number of small producers, and providing them with the quality marketing of their products through a wide sales network,'' said Zoran Mitreski, a member of Konzum's administration.

Fruit and vegetable growers who applied to the company's "Best from Croatia" (Najbolje iz Hrvatske) tender after they have agreed to cooperate with the aforementioned distributors may also be included in this initiative.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of February, 2020, it has been over a month since the European Commission (EC) launched a tender for the promotion and marketing of EU agricultural and food products entitled "Enjoy, decided from Europe" for 2020, worth a massive 200.9 million euros. Croatian producers are, for now, avoidant.

The money is not distributed according to the size of the members, but according to the programmes which will be chosen by the EC in the autumn, which would increase the competitiveness and consumption of EU products worldwide. But hardly any projects from Croatia will come to the EC table this year, until the April 16th, to be exact, as Croatian producers appear skeptical in the agri-food sector, writes Vecernji list.

"We're discussing and clarifying the situation, but there is no concrete agreement yet as to whether or not we'll respond to the tender," says Ante Madir, president of the Croatian Prosciutto Cluster, which houses sixteen producers of Krk, Dalmatian, Drnis and Istrian prosciutto.

They are not satisfied, as he says, about what the project carries the products, but not the producers, who need to invest their own money, between 15 and 35 percent, depending on whether they would appear on the EU market, in third countries or in the so-called multiprogrammes of at least two national organisations from at least two member states or European organisations.

However, because of the EU protection, Croatian prosciutto is already in demand on domestic, EU and non-EU regional markets, leading to some Croatian producers believing that they wouldn't currently benefit from the tender anyway. The cluster holds 90 percent of total prosciutto production in the Republic of Croatia, around 400,000 pieces per year.

Croatian Producers of protected Neretva mandarins are worried about the already low purchase price, unsettled lease agreements, and the failure to replace forty-year-old plantations with new ones. "You can't run for something if you don't know if you're going to be producing it tomorrow," says Neven Mataga, one of many Croatian producers.

In the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK), which called on producer organisations and economic interest associations to get involved and offered their help, they hope that someone, in the seventh year of Croatia's EU membership, will finally use the money the European Commission is readily offering. But so far, there has been no response.

This is also because all the winners of the tender must first invest their own money so that in 1.5 to three years, only after the project is completed, the EU will return 65 to 85 percent of the invested money, as was explained by HPK leader Mladen Jakopovic.

Zvjezdana Blazic, a ''Smarter'' consultant for the agri-food sector, says there have been some attempts so far, but they have all failed.

''Basically, Croatian producers are interested in this project, which was strengthened after the Russian embargo was introduced, but we don't have the capacity to see a strong promotional campaign through until the end,'' stated Blazic.

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This year’s prestigious Eurimages Co-Production Award will be presented to successful Croatian film producer Ankica Jurić Tilić at a ceremony at the European Film Academy in Berlin on December 7th.

This award highlights the importance of co-production partnerships in fostering international dialogue and the contributions of women to the success of film co-productions. The prize is awarded by Eurimages, a Council of Europe cultural assistance fund established in 1988. Since its inception, Eurimages has financially supported 2047 co-productions totaling around € 597 million.

Ankica Jurić Tilić graduated in comparative literature and French language and literature from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and has over 25 years of professional experience.

In 2003, she founded the Kinorama production company, along with two partners. While Kinorama's artistic team is equally composed of new and established talent; special attention is given to first time directors and new voices. Kinorama’s projects are regularly presented at numerous international production markets and developed at film workshops.

As a producer, Ankica has 30 feature film credits, several TV series and many short films. Her most recent Eurimages-backed feature films are: Ne gledaj mi u pijat (Quit Staring at My Plate) - Hana Jušić (Fedeora Award at Venice Days 2016, more than 30 film awards, and Croatian nominee for Oscar) and Zvizdan (The High Sun) - Dalibor Matanić (Jury Award in the Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival 2015, 30 film Awards, LUX Prize nomination, and Croatian nominee for Oscar).

Among Kinorama’s recent co-productions are Eurimages-backed films: Izbrisana (Erased) - Miha Mazzini and Dušan Joksimović, Teret (The Load) - Ognjen Glanović, Zora (The Dawn) - Dalibor Matanić and Illyricum - Simon Bogojević Narath.

Ankica is a graduate and lecturer at the international professional school EAVE - European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, a member of ACE Producers, Producers on the Move and the European Film Academy. She teaches at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and participates as a mentor, panelist and lecturer at many international film events.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of June, 2019, Fina declared New Yorker as the most successful retailer, while Zagreb's Global food (Globalna hrana) company in is the most successful entrepreneur in tourism and hospitality, and in the field of professional, scientific and technical activities, the winner is Booking.com.

The Karlovac-based arms producer HS Produkt was awarded the Fina's Golden Balance Award for the most successful company in terms of financial rating in 2018, and with this award for the overall winner, the Karlovac company was also awarded the Golden Balance for the most successful entrepreneur in the manufacturing industry.

The Golden Balance is the award given by the Financial Agency (Fina) to the most successful entrepreneurs/companies in each business, it is attributed in the scope of the overall ranking of eleven financial indicators in five categories, according to the indicators of profitability, liquidity, indebtedness, activity and cost-effectiveness.

Out of the 131,117 companies who submitted their financial reports based on Fina's methodology, a mere 3,930 were selected, who then entered a shortlist for the award, which was comprised of 208 micro entrepreneurs, 2,527 small entrepreneurs, 978 medium, and 217 large-sized entrepreneurs.

In addition to HS Produkt, Gold Balance Awards were also awarded to Bovis from Viškovac as the most successful entrepreneur in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, followed by Radlovac from Orahovica in mining and quarrying, HEP Proizvodnja (Production) in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, and Spectra-media from Zagreb for water supply; sewage disposal, waste management and environmental remediation activities.

The most successful retailer, as previously stated, is New Yorker, while the Global food (Globalna hrana) company from Zagreb is the most successful entrepreneur in tourism and hospitality, and in the field of professional, scientific and technical activities, the winner is Booking.com.

Among the construction industry, the Split Road Company was awarded, Zadar Airport was proclaimed the most successful in the field of transport and storage, and Hewlett Packard was awarded by FINA in the field of information and communication activities.

Minister of Economy, Darko Horvat, pointed out that all winners won awards in conditions where there is no improvisation, only the facts and figures referring to the last year in which the Croatian economy grew by 2.6 percent.

Horvat estimated that the first quarter of this year opened a "new perspective" and that the second quarter would be "similar." In the first quarter of 2019, Croatia's GDP grew by 3.9 percent in comparison to the same period last year. He hopes for the economy to grow by 5 percent next.

He pointed out that the competent ministry and Fina worked together on several projects, mentioning the creation of a legislative framework that will allow for e-bills to be exchanged from the beginning of next year through already existing infrastructure.

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This Slavonian store is a unique selling point where the shelves feature a rich assortment of local produce from local Slavonian OPGs, handmade souvenirs, and traditional ethno clothing items.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of April, 2019, in the first year, sales surpassed expectations, and products from the new Slavonian store's shelves are finding their way around the world, from Uruguay all the way to Australia, Sanja Rapaić writes for Agroklub.

In Nova Gradiška, a town historically referred to as the youngest Croatian town, the totally unique ''Slavonian store'' was created last year. Located in a building with almost fairy-tale interiors dating from the 1920s, this small Slavonian shop boasts a varied and rich offer. The shop is unique, with a special atmosphere that combines the past and Slavonian traditions with contemporary methods of manufacturing for its numerous local producers.

Located close to the premises of the Tourist Board of the city in which it is situated, the Slavonian shop primarily attracts tourists, travellers and numerous Slavonians working abroad and who are coming on holiday to their native Slavonia. Thanks to them, products from local OPGs, cheeses, and cured meat products, as well as honey, fruit spreads and pastes, souvenirs, clothes and items decorated with ethno motifs and even expensive gold jewellery, have already travelled to almost all countries of the world, from Uruguay all the way to the other side of the world, to Australia.

"It all started two years ago, when the city of Nova Gradiška and six surrounding municipalities - Cernik, Rešetari, Staro Petrovo Selo, Nova Kapela, Davor and Okučani - founded the Nova Gradiška area community of producers. That was the basis of everything, with huge support from Nova Gradiška, in March of last year, we realised another idea of ​​a sales point through which all interested manufacturers could place their products.

As soon as we opened the Slavonian store, the shelves of which were immediately filled with products from all four Slavonian counties and from part of Sisak-Moslavina County. We started out with about twenty manufacturers and in just a year, their number doubled and today the Slavonian store has launched a range of products coming from as many as 55 subcontractors, of which about 30 percent are made up of OPGs, and the rest are from obrts (small companies) and from domestic labour,'' said Milan Rosić of the Slavonian store.

He pointed out that the opening of the Slavonian store has unexpectedly triggered another positive chain reaction. Namely, just so that they could put their products on store shelves, many Slavonian locals decided to open up their own OPGs.

"We're especially proud of the fact that many people who have good ideas and good products have been motivated to open OPGs, obrts or engage in home-based work, and make a serious effort towards doing this work. In the first year of operation, the Slavonian store was responsible for the opening of a dozen brand new OPGs, and partly because of this, our offer is richer and more luxurious every month. The sales are going more than well. Our customers are mainly foreign tourists, Brits, Italians, French and Japanese, of which there are, as much as it might seem unrealistic to some, more and more,'' he says.

While foreigners are mostly looking for souvenirs from this area, as well as traditional clothing, ethno-style jewellery creations, our people who work abroad and domestic tourists are primarily buying Slavonian delicacies - cured meats, various cheeses, alcoholic drinks, liqueurs, fruit juices, honey and honey products, and a variety of homemade pastes and homemade cakes which have been made according to old traditional recipes,'' says the shop manager, who is more than pleased with how the Slavonian store's sales are going.

The whole system works very easily, it's enough to contact the producer's community or come directly to the Slavonian store, where you can sign an agreement with the manager and arrange all details regarding the sale of your products.

"We're working on sales commissions, we negotiate quantities, we display products at our store, and at the end of each month we send a detailed sales data report to all of our producers, send them invoices and then make payments to their accounts for all the products we've sold here that month, so far, everything's been working flawlessly and everyone's satisfied, the manufacturers, the buyers, and us,'' stated Milan Rosić.

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Can one succeed in doing business on Croatian territory? Yes, one certainly can.

Asteria, a Croatian family company started by Dubravka and Veronika Vuković in the village of Banova Jaruga near Sisak in the continental part of the country, marked its first anniversary of being in business at the end of February 2019.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of April, 2019, this mother and daughter team successfully run their business which involves producing sleepwear, and the combination of Dubravka's long-standing experience in the textile industry and Veronika's knowledge gained about entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek proved to be a winning combination.

"The two of us have always managed to create something together, and last year we had the chance to share that with the world. Our desire is to offer women quality sleepwear, ours is a different look than what is currently on our market, and that's why we decided to go with sleepwear. We want women to feel comfortable but at the same time feel elegant and confident in our clothes,'' explained Veronika Vuković.

Some of the Asteria branded underwear products include classic pyjamas, nightgowns, nightgowns, combos, dresses, kimonos and bathrobes, and fashion accessories such as sleeping masks and cosmetics bags.

"After the initial calculations, we started with the creative part and started working on the first models, there were a lot of attempts, a bunch of models from different fabrics, we played around with it all and tried out what would be the best, and we also asked our acquaintances to see what they liked the best, and soon after, we decided to take advantage of the self-employment incentives and open up an obrt (a type of company). At first, we needed some time because we knew only some of the very basics and not much more, and the biggest challenge were the Croatian state institutions and the vague information we received. We now understand the way they work and it's easier for us to talk to them,'' stated Vuković, reminiscing on Asteria's very beginnings.

The fabrics are mostly purchased from Italy and Germany and from some Croatian companies, and they're both [both domestic and foreign companies] responsible for the designs.

''Our products have been on the market for nine months now, and the web shop has been open for seven months. Special attention is paid to the design of the clothes and the selection of the fabric used in production, and each piece is manually sewn. I can say that we're getting better and better at it. When we started, no one knew about us and yet everything went easily.

Today, customers are already familiar with us and know where to look for our products, and on our web shop every month we have more orders than we had during the previous month. Customers often come back with some positive feedback, and we're particularly happy when they send us a picture of how they wear their clothes and how the clothes look on them,'' said Veronika Vuković, who prepares and delivers the items within four working days. In addition to Asteria's web shop and social networks, their products can also be viewed and purchased at their workshop in Banova Jaruga. Vuković noted that they aren't planning to open a classical type of store, at least for now.

"The type of clothes we make are made by almost nobody in the whole of Croatia. Although there are several Croatian companies that do sell sleepwear, it isn't similar to ours and is primarily different when it comes to the type of fabric being used.

Although these companies and foreign companies selling sleepwear are our competition, we're constantly working on being different to them and to make ourselves known for the variety and the quality of our products. As our greatest achievement, I would point out that customers have begun to recognise our products and recommend us to their acquaintances,'' said Vuković, noting that their current greatest efforts are investing in their proper positioning on the market as high quality garment manufacturers, as well as the expansion of their assortments and the entering into new markets.

"We're still not going to give too much away, but what I will say is that we're preparing stylish dresses, blouses and skirts in daytime, business and evening combinations, everything that a woman needs, and we want to focus more on sales in the EU and in the rest of the world in the future. They're much larger markets than our Croatian market here, and we believe our products have great potential,'' Vuković concluded.

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Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik