ZAGREB, December 6, 2019 - The government will today approve projects worth 3.68 billion kuna for the development of Krapina-Zagorje County, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Krapina on Friday.

The government convened in the northern town on the occasion of Town Day, observed on Saint Nicholas' Day, December 6.

Addressing the Town Council, Plenković said that the amended law on financing local and regional government had ensured higher revenues for Krapina-Zagorje County and most towns and municipalities in the county.

"I think this was an important step forward because in that way you all have become stronger stakeholders in the implementation of your political priorities and concrete programmes and projects important for your towns, your municipalities and your county," Plenković said at the special session of the Krapina Town Council.

He said that his cabinet had made a series of steps to improve the quality of life throughout Croatia, "as can be seen, for instance, in a marked reduction of unemployment in Krapina and Zagorje."

Recalling what had been done in the past year, Mayor Zoran Gregurović cited the government decision to transfer the founding rights over the local Hrvatsko Zagorje Polytechnic to the state, which he said made it possible for local students to attend a state-run college in their home county and free of charge.

The mayor presented plans to improve the tourist trade in Krapina, including the revitalisation of the Semničke Toplice spa and the inclusion of Josipovac Hill and other sites in tourist programmes.

More news about the Hrvatsko Zagorje region can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Veliko Trgovišće is a little place in the continental Croatian county of Krapina-Zagorje. If it wasn't for independent Croatia's very first president Franjo Tuđman having been born there, it would certainly be even less known than it is now, as this unassuming little Zagorje municipality has a mere 5,000 inhabitants and is very rarely talked about in the media.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of May, 2019, RTL Direct went directly to this small municipality to try and see just what it has to offer. They found out that Veliko Trgovišće is no stranger to the production of tablecloths, napkins and linens which travel from Veliko Trgovišće to London restaurants and even to Las Vegas casinos.

Finka has been working there for 37 years and she's one of eighty people working in this village's textile factory, and she states that people in Zagorje will ''never remain hungry'' when discussing what it's like to live in this very rural and little known part of Zagorje.

That same factory moved ten years ago from the Croatian capital of Zagreb, taking part of its workers with it.

"The Trgovišće Factory is the largest garment manufacturer, it exports to 25 countries all over the world, from England and Switzerland, to exotic destinations like Dubai,'' stated Dražen Kolarek, finance manager at the factory.

Mate Rimac and his company, otherwise one of the most successful companies in the whole of Croatia, Rimac Automobili, is also on his way to this little Croatian county, and you can read his entire interview here.

This Croatian municipality has a few successful businesses, unemployment there is at less than an enviable three percent, the first Croatian president was born there, and they also want the status of a city there. That ''city'' status will likely be obtained because, as Veliko Trgovišće's Robert Greblički has already stated, this little Croatian municipality meets all of the necessary prerequisites.

"The first president was born here, we're raising the number of people living here, we're developing entrepreneurship, so I think that we can copy Sveta Nedjela in time," Greblički added.

As soon as this completely unassuming little Croatian municipality gains its city status, it can truly become, as its name suggests: Big (Veliko).

Make sure to stay up to date by following our dedicated business page for much more on Croatian business, Croatian companies and Croatian manufacturing.

The continental Croatian county of Krapina-Zagorje and Krapina itself are both doing very well in terms of the amount of EU funds contracted for various projects over the last couple of years.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of March, 2019, Krapina is the seventeenth town in which the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, in cooperation with institutions in the EU funds management and control system, have succesfully organised the informative and educational event ''Regional EU Fund Days'' with the aim of better informing the general public about the possibilities of funding from EU funds, as well as the strengthening of regional development and the overall social and economic growth of the Republic of Croatia.

Krapina-Zagorje County, of fourteen continental Croatian counties, is somewhere in the middle when it comes to using EU funds, while Krapina alone is currently implementing projects worth 125 million kuna.

"Although Krapina has been talking about EU funds for years, it took time to actually start something, with problems with the shortage of labour and at the same time a great deal of work [that needed to be done]. But today we can boast about a series of projects funded with EU funds," said Zoran Gregurović, Krapina's mayor.

"In just a little over two years, the intensity of the announcement of tenders has increased, and by the end of 2016, Croatia was at nine percent of contracted EU funds, a year later it was at 35 percent, and according to the results at the end of last month, we're currently at 64 percent of the contracted funds. In Krapina-Zagorje County, projects worth one billion and three hundred million kuna have now been contracted,'' said Velimir Žunac, State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.

Croatia is, while taking into account the cost of European Union membership, in a plus, and by more than ten billion euros, by the year 2023, that figure will be even higher, the State Secretary encouragingly said. There was also an interesting panel discussion on the development of Krapina, where numerous projects were presented, indicating that Krapina-Zagorje County has some great potential across several sectors.

There are, therefore, projects currently being carried out, of which Crna kraljica (Black queen) is highlighted, a significant project worth 3 million kuna relating to the doing up and the renewal of the Old Town of Krapina, the Forma Prima sculpture park in Josipovac Forest, and the construction of a 300-metre-long pedestrian bridge connecting these locations. Other projects which involve street construction, kindergarten works and waste management are also in the works.

In addition to the above mentioned projects, Gregurović mentioned the problems that are also being faced.

"A large number of projects got the go ahead from our own resources too, which was a burden for us with regard to our financial capacity and the share of financing," Gregurović said, and as an example, he used the Sports and Recreation Centre in Podgora. It was approved, as was 40 percent of the cofinancing, and the city had to allocate 1.7 million kuna of its own finances to it. Although there is interest in the measures set out by the Rural Development Program, Gregurović says it is hampered by the high development index. "We lost points due to the development index when we registered for the Youth Centre, and we don't have enough resources to prepare the project documentation, so we hope the ministry will increase the funds that it allocates within the framework of the cofinancing of EU projects,'' said Gregurović.

Development would certainly not be possible without EU funds, said Vlatka Mlakar, head of the Public Procurement Department and EU funds of Krapina-Zagorje County.

"We've noted a positive contracting trend over the last two years, with the contracting rate in the area of ​​our county being 42 percent higher in 2018 than it was the year before. Looking at 2017 and 2018, the value of contracted projects stands at 1.3 billion kuna,'' said Mlakar. She added that more tenders mean more market demand.

She also announced a strategic project currently being implemented and worth 33 million kuna - the construction of a Business-technology incubator. Numerous projects have also been being carried out in the area of ​​education and health, including the project of energy renewal in nine schools, three of which are now complete.

"We're focused on the new financial period, we've got a lot of plans, and we have several strategic projects - the doing up of the hospital in Krapinske Toplice in the amount of 150 million kuna, then the Zagorje Scientific-education centre worth 120 million kuna, and a competence center worth 85 million kuna. Public procurement procedures are important because the success of every EU project lies there - the rules must be respected, as should be the procedures, the regulations, and the state commission's control procedures should be followed,'' Mlakar said.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and politics pages for more information on EU funds across Croatia and much more.

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

One might naturally expect continental Croatian counties, which aside from the capital of Zagreb tend to be less developed owing to the fact that Croatia's main economic branch of tourism still tends to largely bypass these areas, to boast the highest number of residents who have gone abroad. While this tends to be the case, and Slavonia unsurprisingly tops the list, the causes for such movement aren't necessarily what you might expect them to be, and there are some rather surprising exceptions...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of March, 2019, the mass exodus from Croatia abroad is in direct correlation with the economic strength of a particular part of the country, but the actual economic strength (or weakness) of a particular region doesn't necessarily result in the mass emigration of the local population from individual less developed parts of Croatia.

These trends have been highlighted by data taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics, which in turn correlates GDP per capita in a given county with the number of people who have gone abroad. Of course, GDP per capita per county isn't fully accurate, perhaps the more accurate summonses for this topic are the average wage and the percentage of those registered as employed, but the data still clearly shows how developed each Croatian county is at the given time, Novi list writes.

When it comes to GDP per capita per county, Novi list has taken the recently published data from the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2016 and looked at the number of persons who went abroad, ie, the population of a county, and the number of inhabitants in the county for 2016 and 2017. Moving abroad appears to have intensified back in 2017, when 47,352 people left the country, up from 36,436 people in 2016.

In 2016, which is the first year in which Novi list's journalists looked into, no more than two or more percent of the population moved abroad from any county. Most of these people were from Požega-Slavonia (1.72 percent) and Vukovar-Srijem (1.67 percent), while in the following year of 2017, three counties saw that number rise above two percent (Sisak-Moslavina, Brod-Posavina, Požega-Slavonia) and one, Vukovar-Srijem, was over three percent.

At the top of the emigration list unsurprisingly lie less developed, poorer Croatian counties. Back in 2017, the largest number of those going abroad was recorded in Vukovar-Srijem County, followed by Brod-Posavina, and Požega-Slavonia, in fourth place came Sisak-Moslavina County. All of the above mentioned Croatian counties are located in continental Croatia, which is still very much bypassed by the country's main economic sector - tourism.

Vukovar-Srijem County recorded a dramatic rise in those leaving to go abroad in only one year, from 1.67 percent to 3.2 percent of the population.

However, in spite of these negative demographic trends, it appears that GDP per capita doesn't actually have to be the cause of the large-scale ''outflow'' of persons abroad, as is shown by Krapina-Zagorje. In both years, 2016 and 2017, this Croatian county recorded the least amount of persons going abroad. The situation is similar with Bjelovar-Bilogora County, yet another continental county in which one might naturally expect the Croatian demographic crisis to bite hardest.

Krapina-Zagorje County is specific to something else, too, along with the southern Dalmatian Dubrovnik-Neretva County, it is the only Croatian county in which the number of those who left to go abroad was lower in 2017 than it was back in 2016.

The research concludes however that the largest number of persons who have left Croatian soil to go abroad come from Slavonia, the least are from Istria, Zagreb, and Rijeka.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

ZAGREB, February 2, 2019 - The Gubec linden in Gornja Stubica, Krapina-Zagorje County, the ancient living witness of the peasant revolt of 1573, is representing Croatia in this year's contest for the European Tree of the Year, which underlines the importance of old trees in countries' natural and cultural heritage.

The Krapina-Zagorje County Public Institution for the Management of Protected Natural Areas, says on its website that 15 countries are competing this year and that Croatia first took part in 2018.

"This ancient linden is a living witness of the Great Peasant Revolt that took place in 1573. According to the legend Matija Gubec gathered his followers beneath its canopy and led them into a fight for their class rights. Due to its age and historical significance the linden was declared a protected natural monument. The fact that the Croatian Forest Research Institute Jastrebarsko has grown the seedlings of Gubec linden using vegetative propagation method proves how valuable it is to our people," the public institution says on its website.

"The European Tree of the Year doesn't focus on beauty, size or age but rather on the tree's story and its connection to people. We are looking for trees that have become a part of the wider community," the European Tree of the Year project says on its website.

Gubec's linden was nominated by the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Public Institution for the Management of Protected Natural Areas.

Voting for the European Tree of the Year lasts from 1 to 28 February at https://www.treeoftheyear.org.

More news about nature in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, January 21, 2019 - A World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) office was opened in Zabok, northwestern Croatia as of Monday and it will gather business angels from all over the European Union.

The office makes Krapina-Zagorje County part of the world's financial and business network aimed at facilitating access to capital for startups and scaleups, it was said at the opening.

The WBAF is an international organisation helping new companies finance their business endeavours and the people that are part of it are called business angels.

WBAF president Baybars Altuntas said at the inauguration that last year 340,000 business angels in Europe invested 9.8 billion euro in startups.

Today innovation is important. The challenge for entrepreneurs in the 21st century is to find investors, but they need the know-how, mentoring and networking. Money can be found in a number of sources, but only business angels can provide the rest, he said.

Altuntas said he chose to open an office in a small country while watching the 2018 FIFA World Cup in which, he said, small Croatia played. It doesn't matter how big a country is but how big the dream is, he added.

Among those attending the opening was the Macedonian minister without a portfolio in charge of investments, Zoran Šapurić, who hopes a regional office will be opened in Skopje too. We expect that to be an incentive to economic cooperation in the region, including between Macedonia and Croatia, bearing in mind that our relations are excellent in every sense, he said.

Šapurić, Kosovo Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minister Besim Beqaj, Ghanaian Business Development Minister Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, and Croatian Deputy Parliament Speaker Siniša Hajdaš Dončić took part in a panel on global cooperation in facilitating access to international financing for startups and scaleups.

Hajdaš Dončić said support institutions today were expected to help the 5-7% of the population which had the entrepreneurship gene. They are formal and informal social networks which operate in contemporary economy through innovation, investment and integration, and Krapina-Zagorje County has now provided one of those networks, he added.

The opening of the WBAF office in Zabok has also been supported by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. She will receive a WBAF delegation in Zagreb on Tuesday.

More news on doing business in Croatia can be found in our special section.

WBAF Croatia will focus on facilitating access to finance for start-ups, start-ups, MSPs and fast-growing companies, and will start with international training programs for investors. Baybar Altuntaşa, a successful Turkish entrepreneur and investor is set to kickstart his very first Croatian project.

As Bernard Ivezic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of January, 2019, on Monday, January the 21st, in Zabok's Bračak castle, the first office of the World Investment Forum of Business Angels (WBAF) opens in the European Union. As we reported recently, the office will provide education for startups and business angels as it has been available in London. This includes elite tourism and the support of Krapina-Zagorje County. Such unusual news is otherwise an everyday thing for Baybar Altuntaşa. This prosperous Turkish entrepreneur, angel investor and entrepreneur promoter has a number of international success stories behind him.

Over in Turkey, he is also celebrated as a TV star in their version of the entrepreneurial reality show Shark Tank. He is the president of the Turkish Business Angels Network (TBAA), vice president of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and founder and president of WBAF. He has been coming to Croatia fairly regularly since visiting for the very first time back in 2015, and Poslovni Dnevnik talked with Altuntaş about his debut Croatian project.

You developed the QBAC program based on the WBAF program on the London Stock Exchange. You have been an advisor for this LSE program. What exactly did this program offer to LSE investors?

First of all, the WBAF wants to help increase financial engagement across the globe. We also want to help investors make good and early returns on their investment, as this generates resources for more investment in new startups. And thirdly, the WBAF wants to speed up the conversion of public money into smart money, to encourage innovation. We've designed a course to provide business angels with knowledge and tools to help them achieve their own goals as investors, which in return will contribute to achieving the WBAF's goals for the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

How will the Croatian version of QBAC, called QBAC Bootcamp Croatia, differ from those over in London?

In Croatia, we've strengthened the bootcamp with panel discussions, round tables and debates. It will be comprehensive and will involve a cultural interaction with the Croatian investment ecosystem. This will also include visits to technoparks, student meetings, and fundraising for startups.

How did you come to the assessment that for QBAC Bootcamp Croatia there is a market of 500,000 business angels, ie, potential customers?

I believe that Croatia will be a training center for European investors, through the WBAF training programs that will be implemented there. The European Business Angels Network statistics for 2017 reveal that 320,000 business angels invested 9.6 billion euros in Europe in that year. Furthermore, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) statistics show that 340,000 business angels filed 26 billion dollars in the United States last year.

As the QBAC Bootcamp Croatia is new and the only such thing in the world, it's clear that none of these thousands of business angels received a Qualified Business Angels Certificate, and most of them were not licensed by their governments as a business angel. Holding a certificate or a license, of course, isn't mandatory for somebody who wants to invest. However, it's understood that a training program which reduces risks and increases the return on investment for business angels is of great importance. Learning through work is very different from what you do after having learned something.

What are the expectations of the WBAF from the office in Croatia?

By opening this office, the WBAF provides Croatia with the opportunity to network in the investment world. It will have a co-ordination role for EU members entrusted to it, in which the WBAF has high representatives in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland.

The countries you mention, which will be "covered" by the Croatian office, usually have bigger and more active communities of business angels than Croatia. What is Croatia's advantage to you, and why are you opening the first office in the EU here?

Croatia is the birthplace of Nikola Tesla, one of the most important inventors of the 19th century and the symbol of inventiveness. Today, in the 21st century, through WBAF Croatia, inventors in Croatia will be better connected with global capital markets and smart financing through business angels. The result of this convergence will be innovations that will create a major competitive advantage for the Croatian economy. The WBAF Office in Croatia means more startups, new ideas, smart financing, and innovation.

How did the office opening project in Croatia evolve? The initiative allegedly came from Krapina-Zagorje County prefect Željko Kolar?

Yes, months ago, Željko Kolar invited me to visit Zabok. We saw the castle of Bračak and learned a lot about its history. I was impressed by how the county had turned such a historic building into a modern, smart building.

Prefect Kolar told me that he wanted to turn Zagorje into a centre for entrepreneurship, startup and innovation in the EU. At the Croatian level, that county wants to strengthen the startup community throughout the country. But they're looking further and further afield. They're planning to network entrepreneurs and investor angels from around the world, and because of that they're stimulating the growth of small and medium businesses and creating new jobs. A simpler approach to financing, this beyond the framework of the usual banking system, is conducive to accelerating financial inclusion as an integral part of the strategy that should affect society at the local and at the national level. I wondered if it was possible for such a small country to become Europe's leader in innovation. Then I left Croatia with this thought in mind.

After that, what personally motivated you to open up the WBAF office in Croatia?

Croatia's success at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 encouraged me to support this project. Croatia isn't a big country and it only has four million people, but the way the Croatian national football team managed to get to the final and defeated the teams of Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Brazil, China and Turkey, that's a miracle. Then I decided to look at the Kolar's project much more seriously and I presented the idea of ​​opening the WBAF offices of Croatia to the members of the administration. All the members of the board were in the meeting and we agreed at once - It doesn't matter how big the country is! It's important how ''big'' the people are, how persistent, and passionate they are to realise their dreams.

What can startups and business angels in Croatia expect from the WBAF office?

WBAF Croatia will focus on facilitating access to finance for entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and fast-growing businesses, and will start with international training programs for investors. The plan is, moreover, to promote programs for entrepreneurs who will prepare them for receiving investments, organise investment forums for startups, arrange international investors' arrivals to Croatia, and promote Croatian entrepreneurs and businesses globally.

The WBAF office is opening under a licensed model. What are the conditions [for that]?

The office in Croatia will be managed by the Entrepreneurship Centre of Krapina-Zagorje County, which has a WBAF license. The president of the WBAF steering board in the Republic of Croatia will be Prefect Željko Kolar. By taking over this responsibility, the county will become part of the world's financial and business network, which aims to facilitate access to capital for entrepreneurs of start-ups and entrepreneurs in the intensive growth phase.

Will there be cooperation between offices in Croatia with those in Tanzania, Macedonia or future offices in Brazil and other countries?

The WBAF believes that launching an office at the national level provides a great opportunity for governments to discover the real power of startups and businesses to boost their economies through innovation, investments, business angels. and entrepreneurship. It's good to see that governments around the world realise the importance of investing, business angels, and entrepreneurship to foster the development of their economies.

Many governments, especially those in Europe, offer generous tax incentives for angel investments. To support such a system, the UK and Turkey have already adopted laws on business angels investing. Islamic economies have also begun to see the importance of the capital market at an early stage. In fact, the Islamic Development Bank has included angel investments on its list of recommended topics that should be considered at its annual conference in Jakarta.

The WBAF is inviting all governments and policy makers to use their knowledge, mentoring and networking of qualified business angels, and to turn public funding into smart financing by establishing close co-operation between public institutions and private resources. Working together across borders, with a common vision, we're in a good position to make positive changes in the global economy. I'm sure that co-operation with other WBAF offices across the world will enable a faster impact on both the Croatian and world economies.

Stay up to date with much more by following our dedicated business page.

Click here for the original article/interview by Bernard Ivezic for Poslovni Dnevnik

Krapina-Zagorje County is among the leading inland counties when it comes to the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, continuing the trend of growth in these indicators, it was said at a press conference in Krapinske Toplice, reports Lokalni.hr on January 16, 2019.

The number of tourist arrivals in Krapina-Zagorje County increased by 12.3% last year, while the number of overnight stays by 7.4 percent higher. There were 159,191 arrivals and 348,694 overnights.

“We managed to continue the trend of our hotels being almost fully occupied 365 days a year. This is a confirmation that Krapina-Zagorje County is a serious tourist destination and I believe we will continue the five-year growth trend,” said County Prefect Željko Kolar.

He believes that the achieved results are the result of the branding of the Hrvatsko Zagorje region and the top-quality tourist offer. He added that the county had crossed the "magical" threshold of 3,000 commercial accommodation beds – the county now has 3,023 beds available, which is 364 more than the year before. Local and international guests equally fill the accommodation capacities: visitors from Croatia have a share of 51.5%, while 48.5% of guests came from abroad.

Director of the Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board Sanja Škrinjar said that the most significant number of overnight stays was realized by guests from Slovenia, Germany and Poland. They are followed by visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark.

"If we look at the number of arrivals and overnight stays, excluding Zagreb, we are the second-best county in Croatia, behind Karlovac County, as far as the inland counties are concerned,” said Škrinjar.

Presenting the plans for this year, she spoke about the further development of equestrian and cycling tourism and the redesign of tourist cards that serve as tickets for certain attractions and for receiving discounts on products and services. She said that this year, despite the reduced funding from the Croatian National Tourist Board for the joint advertising efforts, the county budget for tourism amounts to almost three million kuna.

More news about the Zagorje region can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Translated from Lokalni.hr.

The leading Zagorje-based bus company has opened an attractive museum in Krapina, and much to the delight of car lovers, it's showcasing numerous old timers.

As PD and VL nativ tim writes on the 12th of November, 2018, in addition to the world famous Krapina Neanderthal Museum, Krapina has another museum attraction to boast since last year - the Presečki Old Timer Museum.

The museum is located within the business centre of the Zagorje-based Presečki Group and boasts eighty exhibits, including cars, buses, motorcycles and bicycles. In the category of some of the most interesting cars from the period between the two world wars, the 1924 Mercedes stands out in particular, as does the beauty of the red Morgan built on the basis of the 1935 model. There is also a whole range of cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s on show at the Krapina museum.

Motorcycle lovers won't regret paying a visit either, with more than sixty bikes being exhibited.

With the opening of the museum, the childhood dream of Croatian entrepreneur Antun Presečki has finally been realised.

Antun Presečki, the owner of the well-known Presečki Group, the leading Zagorje-based bus company, has been collecting and restoring old timer type vehicles for over 25 years. Years worth of effort and passion has now been compressed down and presented to the public on 1100 square metres of attractive exhibition space, where visitors can immerse themselves in the history of both motoring and motorcycle culture.

In the museum there are also many old photographs, magazines, books, posters and gadgets along with the vehicles themselves. Thematic exhibitions of photographs, workshops, the screenings of films and other presentations which work to promote the motor and motorcycle culture can also been seen there. Within the museum there is also a children's workshop, where kids can learn about the history of the world of cars and other vehicles.

Almost six million kuna was invested in the museum building, which sits next to the administrative building of the Presečki Group. In addition, another 300,000 euro was invested into the exhibited vehicles themselves, and by Presečki's own estimation, his collection is now worth between anywhere between 600,000 and 800,000 euro on the market.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more information like this.

Click here for the original article by PD and VL native tim on Poslovni Dnevnik

Something new for Krapina-Zagorje County is on the horizon.