ZAGREB, 14 July, 2021 - Women work one month for free due to lower wages and their total income, and consequently their pension, is lower because they care for children and the elderly, Croatian MEP Sunčana Glavak (EPP) said on Wednesday.

She was speaking at an event at Plitvice Lakes which discussed how to strengthen the position of women in Croatia and Europe, held as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Glavak said a division into men's and women's departments was not felt in the EP because the persons there were competent, but added that a balance had not been achieved anywhere in Europe.

She called on citizens to engage in a debate on that and other European topics via the Commission's platform “futureu.europa.eu.”

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said four women ministers in Croatia's 18 government departments was not enough, but added that they "run important departments and make a big contribution to this government."

He boasted that Croatian women hold high positions in European institutions - Dubravka Šuica is a Commission vice president, Marija Pejčinović Burić the Council of Europe secretary-general, Ivana Maletić a judge at the European Court of Auditors, and Maja Markovčić Kostelac the head of the European Maritime Safety Agency.

"As a government, we will continue to make an effort towards empowering and protecting women, towards equality and women's participation at a higher level and a high representation percentage," he said.

Present at the Plitvice conference were Tourism and Sport Minister Nikolina Brnjac, Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak and Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković, while Šuica and EPP Women President Doris Pack participated virtually.

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ZAGREB, 14 July, 2021 - Croatia increased the catch and production of sea fish and other marine organisms by 9% in 2020 compared with the previous year, while the value of fisheries rose by 10.4%, according to provisional data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

The increase in the value of fisheries was due to the 11.6% rise in the value of sea fisheries, which in turn was driven by the 10.3% increase in sales.

A total of 66,535 tonnes of pelagic fish were sold last year, which is 7,054 tonnes more than in 2019, while the value of pelagic fish sold rose by 13.7% to HRK 518.2 million.

Also sold were 18,321 tonnes of other fish, their value reaching HRK 774.8 million, up by 13.5% compared with 2019.

The number of fishermen engaged in maritime fishing in 2020 fell by 0.4% to 6,582, and the number of fishing vessels decreased by 0.8% to 7,555.

The provisional data also show that the total production of freshwater fish in 2020 declined by 14.7% to 2,644 tonnes.

(€1 = HRK 7.48)

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ZAGREB, 14 July, 2021 - Economist Jehan Arulpragasam has been appointed the new World Bank Country Manager for Croatia and Slovenia, the World Bank Office in Croatia announced in a statement on Wednesday.

In this position, he will lead the World Bank Office in Zagreb and oversee the World Bank’s strategic, analytical, operational and knowledge program in both countries.

Mr. Arulpragasam is an economist with 35 years of experience working in international development in over 40 countries world-wide. His work has focused on inclusive growth and human development, covering a range of issues from macro-economic and fiscal policy to structural sector reform and social policy.

The World Bank's current program in Croatia focuses on mitigating the economic and social impact of COVID-19, post-earthquake reconstruction, transport, justice, innovation, business environment, land administration, science and technology, and economic development of the Pannonian region.

The World Bank has been a partner to Croatia for over 27 years. During this period, the Bank has supported more than 50 projects, worth almost US$5 billion, produced numerous studies, and provided technical assistance to help strengthen institutions and support the design of policies and strategies, the statement said.

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ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices - the Crobex and the Crobex10 - fell on Tuesday by 0.38% to 1,951.02 points and by 0.26% to 1,207.53 points respectively.

Today's regular turnover totalled HRK 7.2 million kuna, 2.5 million more than on Monday.

The shares of the Podravka food processor were the only to cross the one million kuna mark in turnover, generating a turnover of HRK 2.3 million, with their price decreasing by 0.68% to HRK 582.

Of the 36 shares that traded today, only nine saw a rise.

(€1 = HRK7.488108)

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ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - In 2020, the physical volume of gross agricultural production in Croatia went up by 2.4% on the year, owing to a growth in plant production, while cattle production dropped, according to the national statistical office.

ZAGREB, 13 July (Hina) - In 2020, the physical volume of gross agricultural production in Croatia went up by 2.4% on the year, owing to a growth in plant production, while cattle production dropped, according to the national statistical office.

Plant production went up by 7%, while cattle production fell by 4.1%.

Maize production went up by 5.8%, wheat by 7.4%, by soybean by 8.9% and grapes by 14.1%.

In cattle production, only beef production increased, by 1.2%, while egg production went up by 11%.

Plant production accounted for 61.5% and cattle production for 38.5% of gross production.

In 2020, the physical volume of net agricultural production increased by 2.8%.

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ZAGREB, 7 July, 2021 - The Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) Crobex and Crobex10 indices rebounded by 0.45% to 1,969 points and by 0.36% to 1,214 points respectively on Wednesday, thus snapping their seven-day losing streak.

Today's turnover was a modest three million kuna.

None of the stocks passed the one million kuna mark.

In terms of the volume of trading, the best performer was the HT telecom, 777,000, with its price rise of 1.06% to HRK 190.5 per share.

A total of 33 stocks traded today, with 17 of them registering price increases, six recording price decreases and 10 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.481569)

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ZAGREB, 7 July, 2021 - Croatia's stockpiles of finished industrial goods in May 2021 were 0.5% higher than in the previous month and 2.5% higher than in May 2020, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

Broken down by main industrial groupings, compared with April 2021, stockpiles of durable consumer goods increased the most, by 7.1%. Stockpiles of energy rose by 2.9% and those of intermediate goods and non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.2%. At the same time, stockpiles of capital goods fell by 2.3%.

Compared with May 2020, stockpiles of energy increased by 41% and those of non-durable consumer goods by 11%, while stockpiles of durable consumer goods fell by 18.6%, those of intermediate goods by 11.1% and stockpiles of capital goods by 7.8%.

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ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The main Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) indices finished in negative territory on Tuesday for the seventh consecutive trading day, with a considerably higher turnover than in the previous days. 

The Crobex shed 0.35% to end the day at 1,960 points, while the Crobex10 shrank by 0.39% to 1,210 points.

Turnover at the close of the trading session was HRK 9.8 million, which is 6.3 million higher than on Monday.

The highest turnover, of HRK 4.78 million, was generated by the Končar Electrical Industry stock. Its price remained stable at HRK 750.

The only other stock to pass the turnover mark of one million kuna was that of plastic car parts manufacturer AD Plastik, turning over HRK 1.3 million. The price of its share fell by 0.26% to HRK 193.

A total of 33 stocks traded today, with 9 of them registering price increases, 18 recording price decreases and 6 remaining stable in price.

(€1 = HRK 7.484635)

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ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) said on Tuesday that the number of pension insurance contributions had been on the rise for five months in a row, and the number of insurees was higher by 3.54% at the end of this June compared to June 2020.

At the end of this June, the contributions were paid by 1,596,112 insurees, or by 54,499 people more than the year before.

Broken down by sector, the highest number of pension insurees was registered in the processing industry (more than 246,000 people covered by insurance contributions).

The rise in the number of insurees has been registered in several sectors, for instance, in construction, IT, the hospitality industry and so on.

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ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - Investment in private equity in Croatia stands at 0.3% of GDP, whereby it lags behind the most successful countries in that segment, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) CEO said on Tuesday, adding that the HBOR would participate in launching a €40 billion technology transfer fund.

Tamara Perko was speaking at the Bestinvest.hr conference organised by the Croatian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, at which awards for the best private equity and venture capital investment were presented.

Perko said the HBOR contributed significantly to the development of private equity and venture capital in the past two years.

She said that together with the European Investment Fund (EIF) and private investors, the HBOR invested in  €46 million worth FIL Rouge Capital, the first venture capital fund investing only in Croatia.

Last year the HBOR, together with the EIF, established three more equity funds in Croatia, the Prosperus Growth Fund, the Adriatic Structured Equity Fund, and the Croatian Mezzanine Debt Fund, investing over €80 million.

Perko said that together with the EIF and the Slovenian development bank, the HBOR planned to invest in a fifth fund, the Transfer Technology Fund. In terms of patents, Croatia is within the EU average, but is near the bottom when it comes to their applicability in the economy, she added.

The purpose of the Transfer Technology Fund is to commercialise science and finance societies that will be established in science and research institutions and work together with the economic sector by providing the necessary products, services and processes, Perko said.

She said that Estonia invested 1.3% in private equity and was among the countries investing the most in that segment, adding that Croatia, with only 0.3%, "must run four times faster to catch up with the best."

Minister underlines importance of industries based on new technologies

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Ćorić underlined the importance of technology transfer and new technologies for the Croatian economy whose development, he said, must be based on those industries.

He said the venture and private equity scene in Croatia developed in a good direction over the past ten, 15 years. The fact that classic financing sources often are not enough additionally underlines the importance of the fund industry, he added.

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