November the 6th, 2021 - As the pandemic starts to bite again in Europe as the colder weather sets in and the threat of new measures looms, could the likes of Egypt and Uzbekistan represent new Croatian export opportunities? Some in the know believe so.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, despite the impact of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic on business throughout 2020 and this year as well, in the first three quarters of 2021, more than 111 million kuna of new business was successfully concluded, confirmed the Institute IGH's business report on the first nine months of this year.

The company, with a healthy core business and strategic guidelines for the coming period, in addition to challenges in the Croatian market where it participates in some of the largest infrastructure projects, is focusing its activities on expanding business outside the borders of the Republic of Croatia, with the goal of sustainable growth and further development.

At this stage of internationalisation, their focus is on announcing strides in new markets across Africa and Central Asia, mostly through the opening of representative offices in Egypt and Uzbekistan, where, they say, new, significant infrastructure projects are expected.

From January to September, the IGH Group generated revenues of close to 140 million kuna, but as they announced, they also recorded close to 170 million kuna in expenses, which resulted in a negative result.

IGH d.d. itself, according to the report, is actively pursuing a policy of increasing liquidity and shortening the period of settling liabilities to suppliers and subcontractors, and collecting its overdue receivables. Their trade receivables increased by more than 5 million kuna when compared to the end of 2020, to 26.5 million kuna at the end of this reporting period.

After the depreciation expense of 14.5 million kuna, the negative effect of interest expenses and exchange rate differences of 4.6 million kuna, IGH's net loss stands at 28.2 million kuna, arising primarily from pre-bankruptcy liabilities and settlements. The impact of this on the group's result in the third quarter of 2021 is visible through a net loss of 51.8 million kuna.

If Central Asian and African nations could see Croatian exports succeed, then it would be a more than excellent opportunity for Croatia and Croatian companies to be recognised on an even more global scale than is currently the case.

For more, check out our business section.

September 30, 2020 - A few days ago, a viral video showed how easily one visitor unscrewed part of the Biokovo skywalk, which stands 1228 meters above sea level. Now, after an inspection, IGH claims Biokovo Skywalk is safe.

“All the screws on the Skywalk were inspected, and it was determined that all were tightened in a prescribed manner except the screw shown. In this particular case, it is a single screw on the handrail on which the handrail's adherence does not depend, and in particular, the load-bearing structure does not depend. Also, there is a safety fence under the handle itself, so safety has not been disputed at any time. The screw shown is not part of the load-bearing structure," said Igor Stefanac, head of marketing, public relations, state and public bodies of the IGH Institute, who supervised the entire construction of Biokovo Skywalk by the detailed design.

According to Stefanac, the confirmation that the project and budgets did everything was given by the competent Office for Construction during the structure's technical inspection. Slobodna Dalmacija called Stefanac but the Skywalk has already become headline news. Namely, last week on the Facebook page Dnevna doza makarskog nereda, a video was released that spread to the public at the speed of light. It showed that part of the promenade's construction, which took a year to build and opened on July 1, without any problem, can be easily unscrewed, which caused quite a shock among viewers.

How is it possible that no special protective screws were placed on the Skywalk construction? And how is it possible that the 8 million kuna lookout in the Biokovo area of Ravna Vlaška received a use permit? Stefanac said that it is important to note that all aspects have been checked before opening and the Skywalk is completely safe for visitors.

"For example, the capacity of a single element of laminated glass, measuring approximately 4 square meters per 2,000 kilograms, was tested in the plant. A test load test was also performed, which was performed at the end of the works and amounted to 300 kilograms per square meter of the entire structure," said Stefanac.

How could the Skywalk get a use permit if the screw could be unscrewed so easily? The director of the Biokovo Nature Park, Slava Jaksa, says that the lookout has passed all the necessary safety and durability tests before it is open for visitors.

A project worth millions

"After the video went public, the contractor was notified, as well as expert supervision, and all screws on the handle were found to be in good condition. The lookout remains open for visitors until the end of the visitor season. We emphasize that more than 100,000 visitors have visited the Skywalk since the opening," says Jaksa. He added that the Skywalk is part of the project "New Adrion - promoting sustainable use of the natural heritage of Biokovo Nature Park" funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the operational program.

This project's total value is 34 million kuna, of which about 27 million kuna is a grant from EU funds. Simultaneously, the rest is financed by the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency and its own users and partners' funds - MARA and HGSS.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

The last in a series of contracts was concluded between the Croatian IGH Institute and Hrvatske ceste (Croatian roads), and it concerns the supervision of the construction of 4.5 kilometres of the eastern bypass of the town of Novi Marof.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of August, 2020, in the past month or so, the Croatian IGH Institute has contracted slightly more than 52 million kuna in new contracts for the supervision and design of infrastructure in Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latest in a series of contracts was concluded with Croatian roads/Hrvatske ceste, and it concerns the supervision of the construction of 4.5 kilometres of the eastern bypass of the town of Novi Marof. The value of that contract stands at 4,328,574.00 kuna (excluding VAT), and the Croatian IGH Institute, together with the company Eptisa Adria d.o.o, Zagreb, will supervise the construction of this very important road over the next 26 months.

Its construction will completely relieve the centre of Novi Marof from transit freight traffic that has been passing through the city centre, and will improve the quality of life of residents, while the opening of new economic zones also being part of the wider plan.

Prior to the conclusion of this contract, the Croatian IGH Institute contracted three additional projects with Croatian roads/Hrvatske ceste to supervise the construction and reconstruction of three roads worth 12.3 million kuna, and a contract with Autocesta (Motorway) Rijeka-Zagreb to supervise the rehabilitation of the Krk bridge worth just over 1 million kuna, about which we previously wrote.

Additionally, as a leading member of the community of bidders, JP Autoceste Federacije BiH d.o.o. selected the company for the development of the preliminary and main project of the highway Mostar-Široki Brijeg-border of the Republic of Croatia, and the Polog-border of the Republic of Croatia section (40.5 kikometres) with an approximate value of 29.9 million kuna.

Finally, the seventh major project for which the Croatian IGH Institute has recently been selected concerns the supervision of works on the reconstruction of the Zagreb West Station - Savski Marof railway worth 5.3 million kuna signed with HŽ Infrastruktura, and which is largely financed by a World Bank loan for reconstruction and development (IBRD). This is a project related to the 17.8-kilometre-long section of the two-track railway line located on the RH1 corridor, which is extremely important for international freight and urban-suburban transport, with an average of about 160 trains using it a day.

The IGH Insitute currently has around a thousand active contracts for the full range of services it offers, primarily in construction, making it a leading engineering company in the construction sector. On top of all of the above, during 2019 and this year, IGH has hired more than 100 new colleagues, which has exceeded the number of 500 employees, and in the coming period it plans to hire even more manpower.

For more, follow our business section.

The planned Mostar North - Siroki Brijeg - Croatian border expressway will relieve the road network of the City of Mostar in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it will also be the northern bypass of the city. The Croatian IGH Institute has contracted the job.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of July, 2020, o Monday, the IGH Institute, as a leading member of the community of bidders, along with IGH Mostar, Integra Mostar and Geocon Citluk, signed a contract with JP Autoceste Federacije BiH for the development and conceptual design of the Mostar-Široki Brijeg-Croatian border highway, which comes with a price tag of approximately 29.9 million kuna.

According to a statement issued by IGH on Tuesday, the Polog - Croatian border section is 40.5 kilometres long in total.

The IGH Institute and its partners have a period of eighteen months to prepare the preliminary and main design of the Polog - Siroki Brijeg - Croatian border section, to conduct all of the research for the necessary preliminary design, to prepare a feasibility study, an environmental impact study and other studies defined by the contract.

The statement reiterates that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the framework strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina back in 2016, as well as the transport strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which defines the Mostar North - Siroki Brijeg - Croatian border highway as one of its high priority sections.

As stated, the planned Mostar North - Siroki Brijeg - Croatian border highway will relieve the road network of the City of Mostar and it will also be the northern bypass of the city.

The direct connection with the motorway on Corridor Vc will enable directing from the Mostar North loop to Corridor Vc towards the town of Siroki Brijeg and the municipality of Grude and finally to the border with Croatia, where the highway will connect to the Croatian road network.

The expressway from Polog continues directly to the southern bypass of the city of Mostar and will provide good road connections of the West Herzegovina County with the existing road network, and above all with the corridor Vc, the statement said.

The IGH Institute has recalled that one of the most important contracts in Bosnia and Herzegovina last year was the contract on the supervision of the Banovici Thermal Power Plant, with a contract carring a value of around 15.7 million kuna and a contract on the supervision of the Most na Savi project near Gradiska, worth around 8.2 million kuna.

This is already the sixth significant contract signed by the IGH Institute in recent times. Namely, contracts were recently signed with Hrvatske ceste (Croatian roads) on the supervision of the construction and reconstruction of three roads worth 12.3 million kuna, a contract with Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb on the supervision of the reconstruction of the Krk bridge worth slightly more than 1 million kuna, and more.

For more, follow our business section.

As Novac writes on the 7th of July, 2020, the IGH Institute and HZ Infrastruktura signed a contract on the supervision of the works on the reconstruction of the Zagreb West Station - Savski Marof rail line worth a massive 5.3 million kuna.

This is a project that is largely financed by a loan from the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and relates to the 17.8-kilometre section of the two-track railway line located on the RH1 corridor, which is extremely important for international freight and for suburban transport, it averages in at about 160 trains per day.

The works that will be supervised by the IGH Institute will last for thirty months, and the Railway Reconstruction Project on the Savski Marof - Zagreb West Station section includes both complete reconstructions of certain sections, as well rehabilitations and repairs.

In addition, the plan is to arrange the buildings at the Savski Marof station and at the Brdovec stop, replace existing platforms and landscaped areas with new ones in Kustosija and at the Zapresic-Savska stops and in Podsused station, install canopies at the Kustosija, Podsused, Zapresic-Savska and Brdovec stops, and introduce new security and telecommunications devices.

Upon the completion of the works being supervised by the IGH Institute on this railway section, the trains will run at a speed of 120 km/h. The safety and interoperability of railway traffic and the capacity of the railway will be higher, the costs of railway maintenance will be reduced, and the possibility of transporting more passengers in daily traffic will be improved, which is especially important for the City of Zagreb and for the wider Zagreb County.

For the IGH Institute itself, this is already the fifth significant contract signed recently on the supervision of the construction and reconstruction of extremely important pieces of infrastructure for the Republic of Croatia. Namely, contracts were recently signed with Croatian roads (Hrvatske ceste) on the supervision of the construction and reconstruction of three roads worth 12.3 million kuna and a contract with Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb on the supervision of the rehabilitation of the Krk bridge worth just over one million kuna in total.

At the moment, the IGH Institute has about a thousand active contracts for the full range of services it provides, primarily in construction, which makes it the leading engineering company in the Republic of Croatia and the immediate region.

For more, follow our business section.