April the 30th, 2021 - Croatian Genox products have gained a lot of attention both on the domestic and the international scene over the last year or so despite their 20 years of business, with a particular emphasis being placed on their importance as the coronavirus pandemic emerged.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, after two years of effort and testing, Croatian Genox, a company which deals with the development of environmentally friendly disinfectants and cleaners, has gained recognition in the form of a halal certificate.

On Wednesday, a certificate ceremony was held at the company's headquarters in Velika Gorica near Zagreb, and as their business during the pandemic increased dramatically, did demand, Genox will soon start working on a new plant in Pleternica, the hometown of the company's founder - Marijana Cisko.

Genox is otherwise the largest Croatian manufacturer of ecological disinfectants and cleaners, they have been producing them for almost 20 years, and their users are households, shops, factories, farms, hospitals, the police, and those workig in civil protection. As previously mentioned, the disinfectant business has exploded ever since the coronavirus pandemic struck, and now the Croatian Genox company is hoping for more exports to countries where halal certification is required.

“Genox meets all the rigorous criteria for being declared a halal product, starting with the fact that it doesn't contain a single molecule of alcohol. We simply don't use it and that's our biggest advantage. There are many benefits, our products are safe, they aren't explosive, nor are they flammable, they don't evaporate so they don't need special protection measures in handling,'' pointed out molecular biology engineer Marijana Cisko who runs this family business in Velika Gorica.

Genox disinfectant is produced with a special, protected Aquagen technology and undertakes thirteen steps of physico-chemical procedures based on activated water ions, and the founder and director are responsible for this entirely Croatian piece of innovation.

Croatian Genox disinfectant successfully destroys microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, fungi, molds, algae, spores and biofilm, and due to its harmlessness and efficiency it was used by divers during the tragic floods in Slavonia back in 2014, with many taking showers in Genox after emerging from flood water which likely contained harmful pathogens.

Earlier on, all these benefits were noticed by buyers from Muslim countries, and their interest rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I believe that this certificate will open many doors for us that will remain inaccessible to the vast majority whose disinfectants are mostly alcoholic. We expect increased exports to the markets of the region, primarily Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also to some more remote one,'' stated the director of the company.

The certificate was handed over to the company by Aldin Dugonjic, who heads the Centre for Halal Quality Certification at the Islamic Community in Croatia, and the chief supervisor of halal quality, Muhamed Mandzic.

"According to the latest research, companies in Croatia increase the export of their products by up to 50 percent after obtaining a halal certificate. Taking into account the rapid growth and development of the halal market, our expectations for Croatian Genox products are high, but they clearly depend on sales and marketing activities in the market,'' said Aldin Dugonjic.

He stated that in the decade of the Centres existence, they have issued more than 150 certificates, and in the database of companies with a halal certificate, the food industry is the most represented, followed by caterers and then the chemical industry.

It's also worth mentioning that the TLK Group, which also includes Genox as a company, has started building a new factory in the Pleternica Business Zone, in which they plan to invest around 40 million kuna. The factory will be built in two to three years and will employ about 30 people. In the first phase, the factory itself will be built, which is an investment worth 25 million kuna, then a research laboratory and finally an administrative building will follow.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

June the 23rd, 2020 - In as much as the world is fed up with coronavirus, in a case like this one here, we cannot but feel grateful: we met this man quite a few years back and it took a global pandemic for us to find out his real name!

Zagreb is a well reputed stage of arts, all sorts, music included. To the connoisseurs, it is an attractive destination also for its clubs with jazz, blues, jam sessions - in case you're the type who is into that kind of thing.

Back then, the legendary BP Club in the heart of Zagreb was an inevitable destination to go to ''after hours''. Led by the world acclaimed jazz xylophonist Bosko Petrovic, it saw many, many big names jamming out on its small stage in an old Zagreb cellar. Underground, but world famous, to say the least.

Among the uncountable musicians that took the stage, the BP had its permanent band. Among its members was that guy we knew as Tony Lee King, a Croat of a most interesting biography and a blues guitarist and singer
par excellence. And then, quite recently and owing to coronavirus, we met by chance again. We found out that Tony Lee King and Antonio Culina are one and the same person.

When the coronavirus began ruling over the world this March, with lockdowns and isolation and social distancing, it was not easy to find a disinfectant in the few places which had remained operational but were running short of supplies. A good friend offered help and provided a big bottle of a disinfectant called Genox.

Unlearned and ignorant, and equally curious, we carefully read its composition, origin and all the things declared on the bottle, as one would. When thanking our friend for the supply, it turned out that behind what probably is the best sanitiser around, there are unusual links to music, jamming, jazz and blues, the BP club and the good times gone by! Actually, to Tony Lee King a.k.a. Antonio Culina (or viceversa).

In brief, after quite a picturesque childhood and adolescence mainly spent in France, after uncountable street and club gigs all over Europe and in the USA, Antonio (Tony) settled back in Zagreb, continued his music career, made his own band and a brand, and he met Marijana (Cisko), an engineer of molecular biology. They started dating and moved in together.

The small pharmaceutical manufacturer Marijana worked for went bankrupt, and she wanted a business of her own.

Through many hardships, mainly related to money, and not without some luck there, however, they joined hands and started a small production of sanitisers.

Tony needed his gigs to survive and to support the family and in reality turned into a blues guitarist with a band in the evening and a businessman in the daytime.

''I don't know what I needed more in those days, sleep or money’, says Tony candidly.

Marjana, however, proved to be an expert in her field and decided on making a sanitiser not based on alcohol, contrary to the general public belief that only alcohol can kill all of those invisible little enemies. She named it Genox, as it is based on oxygen, actually on a thirteen-step process based on activated ionised water, a process she developed herself over several years. It took many presentations, telephone calls and all other sorts of communication in order to gain some satisfactory market interest for it.

The prejudice about its lack of alcohol was a major obstacle and cast a shadow of doubt over its exceptional composition and effects. If you want to know, Genox is a clean ecological product, not inflammable, not poisonous, not harmful to kids and pets. It kills all kinds of micro-organisms, germs, viruses and bacteria, to fungus, algae, spores and mildew. It even works to make sure your skin doesn't feel dry or dehydrated following its use.

When, at the outbreak of the pandemic, the supply of industrial alcohol fell short, Genox got its ''five minutes of glory''. The demand sky-rocketed over night, more hands and a larger production equipment were needed. Genox got orders from the National Civil Protection Headquarters, from many hospitals and medical facilities, from fire brigades to institutions.

Marijana and Tony, based in Velika Gorica near Zagreb, are planning to boost both their facilities and the output by founding a factory of considerable proportions in Pleternica in Slavonia, an Eastern region of Croatia that desperately needs new initiatives, employment and new jobs.

Tony will of course continue his night life as Tony Lee King offering a good time and relaxation with his exceptional music and talent, while Genox is breaking the Croatian borders as yet another pride of Croatian know-how and
entrepreneurship.

For more on Croatian innovation during the coronavirus era, follow Made in Croatia.