As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2019, Chinese interest continues to grow as the Republic of Croatia and China opened a new, ambitious chapter of economic and trade relations on Wednesday, deepening their relationship even more after talks between the two prime ministers who both considered the talks to be a "fruitful turnaround".

Relations between Zagreb and Beijing initially reached a higher level after the Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation was chosen as the much anticipated Pelješac bridge builder.

The two countries readily signed six agreements, which cover the segments of rail, agriculture, digital technology and tourism. Four more will be signed on Thursday and Friday down in Dubrovnik at the 16 + 1 summit.

"We have signed a memorandum on a much more serious, transparent and easier cooperation between companies, on the transfer of capital from China to Croatia, as well as a two-way transfer, and the possibility of capital from Croatia being invested in China. This opens up the possibility of trust and a much stronger and more serious transfer, investing and manufacturing, and we've been able to talk about other large-scale structuring projects, especially given the fact that a Chinese company is building Pelješac bridge,'' said Croatian Economy Minister Darko Horvat for RTL.

He also noted that at this point in time, Croatia has a bilateral economic exchange with China which is somewhere close to the level of a billion euros, in a much larger deficit on the Croatian side.

Horvat also confirmed that Chinese companies are offering to be the ones to construct the Rijeka-Zagreb line.

"This project has to happen, the Chinese side has shown its interest. Whether that is going to come in the shape of a long-term concession agreement or in another model... Minister [Oleg] Butković is engaged in very intensive negotiations [on that matter] at the moment,'' stated Horvat.

In conversation with RTL, Horvat also revealed that they now have a clear signal that there is interest from the Chinese side to invest in Croatia's burdened shipyards, Uljanik and 3 Maj, in Pula and Rijeka.

"The real conversations are just starting, and I'm sure we will have some concrete figures tomorrow,'' he added briefly.

When asked whether or not Chinese could end up becoming the strategic partner needed to finally save Uljanik, the economy minister simply said that nobody was trying to hide the fact that the Chinese had been called upon.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and politics pages for more information on the blossoming China-Croatia relations, why some remain suspicious, why the European Commission has raised its eyebrows at the fact that a Chinese company is building a bridge funded primarily with EU money, and much more.

Digital Croatia might seem a bit like a pipe dream for many, but could it be a closer possibility than we might think? Croatia has some plans to help out its entrepreneurs.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of January, 2019, at the initial time of this report, these were still the unofficial estimates of the Croatian Ministry of the Economy, which Minister Darko Horvat was set to turn into concrete measures and present at a government session.

Abolishing, or at best reducing some of the administrative procedures which continue to needlessly hinder domestic entrepreneurs should result in 626 million kuna's worth of relief for the Croatian economy.

This so-called government "rescue package" was first rather unexpectedly unveiled as part of a New Year congratulations post on Facebook, of all places. The measures proposed are designed primarily to "attack" a total of 314 different (and mentally draining) administrative processes which entrepreneurs, both would-be and established, need to go through, these often include an incredible amount of red tape, needing to pay for things nobody quite understands several times, waiting in lines for hours, or having to deliver a variety of paper reports to various institutions.

In essence, the desire behind the rescue package ties in with the deeply desired digital Croatia as well as with the wish to keep Croatia's brimming talent within the country's borders by reducing the truly unfathomable amount of bureaucracy that faces everyone in Croatia who simply desires to create something of their own, from start ups to companies and businesses.

Among Minister Darko Horvat's list of remedies regarding the process of the registration of a company in the court registry are savings of about 173 million kuna in this field alone. Entrepreneurs should also see the scope of their need to report to the tax administration reduced, too. When speaking about his action plan, the Minister of Economy says that it was all based on good inter-ordination coordination and a high degree of consensus between the lines.

"Certain processes have been defined within the nine ministries successively, and as amendments to the laws or regulations, they'll come into effect in 2019. I expect that the vast majority of these 314 implementation measures will be implemented during the first half of 2019,'' he said. The major relief for Croatia's entrepreneurs will largely be owing to the digital Croatia aim, more specifically the digitisation of various administrative processes.

The first concrete moves of a digital Croatia should enable business start-up through the simple filling in of a single electronic form, which is a far cry from the current situation. Minister Horvat explained that this "action" will also include the banking sector, in order to ensure that entrepreneurs can manage to open a bank account in just a day or two to make their payment transactions easier. Such a system implies the use of digital Croatia once again, involving e-signatures, e-trademarks and other electronic services.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated business page for more on digital Croatia, Croatian entrepreners, Croatian companies, products and services, as well as the general business and investment climate. Follow our politics pages to keep up with any measures being proposed or introducted in order to relieve the country's typically burdened entrepreners and businesspeople by the Croatian Government.

Click here for the original article by Marija Brnic for Poslovni Dnevnik

Will Uljanik be saved? Minister Horvat is in negotiations with four potential investors to replace Danko Končar as a partner.

ZAGREB, August 27, 2018 - After meeting with the striking council from the Pula- and Rijeka-based shipyards on Monday, Economy Minister Darko Horvat said that intensive effort was being made to secure two wages for workers at the Uljanik Group and that he hoped that by the end of the week a solution would be found for at least one pay.

ZAGREB, July 18, 2018 - Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Wednesday said that investments started rising and that a careful selection of investors could help create 10,000-15,000 jobs over the next several years.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2018 - Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Monday that he expected an agreement on a settlement with Agrokor's creditors to be reached by July 10 as only that way would creditors' losses be reduced, adding that there could not be an ideal, win-win situation in Agrokor.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2018 - After parliament upheld their nominations on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Tomislav Tolušić and Economy Minister Darko Horvat said that the government had done a good job with the law on emergency administration in systemic companies, dubbed Lex Agrokor, and that they fully supported the emergency administrator in the ailing food and retail conglomerate Fabris Peruško, and were confident that a settlement with the company's creditors would be reached by July 10.

ZAGREB, May 25, 2018 - The Croatian parliament on Friday confirmed the nomination of Tomislav Tolušić and Darko Horvat as Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister respectively, but before the vote several opposition parliamentary groups had requested a recess because Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) leader Krešo Beljak asked for a security check for the future economy minister.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2018 - The parliamentary committees on economy and on the constitution, standing orders and political system at their joint session on Wednesday accepted with a majority vote Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's proposal to appoint Tomislav Tolušić as Deputy Prime Minister and Darko Horvat as Economy Minister, following last week's resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Martina Dalić.

ZAGREB, May 23, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday introduced to two parliamentary committees Darko Horvat, the candidate for the position of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Minister, saying that he was confident Horvat would contribute to the government's economic policy, further fiscal consolidation, implementation of structural reforms and to attracting investment.