September the 22nd, 2022 - A new Croatian Koncar tram made its way from the well-known Berlin-based InnoTrans Fair directly to Latvia after being sold to the Latvian company Liepajas Tramvajs.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, the Republic of Croatia is one of only five countries in Europe to have independently developed a low-floor tram system, and it was precisely this model of public transport, the TMK 2300 LT, that was presented as the flagship of the Koncar Group recently at this year's edition of the world's largest transport technology and industry fair - InnoTrans in the German capital of Berlin.

The tram won't return from Germany to the City of Zagreb, but will instead be delivered to a customer in Latvia, Liepajas Tramvajs. To be more precise, 13 out of a total of 14 low-floor Croatian Koncar trams will be delivered by Koncar to the City of Liepaja according to the signed contracts.

As explained by Gordan Kolak, the president of the Koncar Management Board, being part of the world's largest transport industry and technology fair is an additional confirmation of their efforts to create globally recognised high quality products and thus strengthen Croatian industry in this segment.

"We're proud to be able to present our low-floor electric tram, intended for an important European customer, on the InnoTrans stage. We've already confirmed in our long-term high-quality and successful cooperation with Zagreb's ZET that we have the necessary vision, expertise and tools to implement the green and sustainable mobility initiative. Therefore, we expect the further development of the electrification of public transport and opportunities for new cooperation on the European market. We believe that these opportunities and our quality products will be recognised by new potential customers and partners at this year's InnoTrans,'' said Kolak, whose company is struggling on the European market with the competition of tram manufacturers consisting of giants such as Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier and Skoda.

In addition to Croatian Koncar trams, this well-known company has had a lot to say in the segment of city and suburban trains, as well as the modernisation of old diesel-electric locomotives. Koncar's trains are already running along the Croatian Railways system, and they also have plans for technological advances in the future.

''I'm talking about the battery train project, for which HZ Putnicki promet recently announced a tender. As Josip Ninic of Konar explained in Berlin, the battery train project started last year, and the work will continue regardless of the results of HZ's tender.

"Of course, we're being competitive in the tender for the battery train prototype, but even if we don't get the job, we'll finish the project because we have the knowledge and technology for it. I expect that we'll be able to present this new product of ours to the public at InnoTrans in 2024," Ninic said.

He explained that it is a train that will be used for non-electrified railways, and the battery is charged while the train is travelling along the electrified part of the railway or at certain points along the way with fixed chargers. It is also expected that the battery could have a capacity for about 100 kilometres, which would be enough for suburban traffic in cities that don't have electric-energy infrastructure on their railway lines.

In the same way, at least in theory, Zagreb and Split could also be connected in this way, where the railway along that route is mostly not electrified, so that the timetable would provide for shorter stops, 10-15 minutes, at transit stations where the battery would be recharged.

This year's InnoTrans has otherwise been held on 200,000 square metres, it hosted 145,000 visitors and 2,830 exhibitors from more than 60 countries. One of the most interesting premiere products was certainly the first commercial hydrogen train produced by Stadler.

Hydrogen and e-mobility are also the focus of almost all other exhibitors in Berlin. In addition to Croatian Koncar trams, several other Croatian players came to Berlin to present their technology, such as Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Djuro Djakovic, Altpro, and Gredelj, which now operates as part of the Slovakian Tatravagonka Poprad Group.

For more, make sure to check out Made in Croatia.

28 March 2022 - In 2021, Luxembourg and Ireland recorded the highest levels of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards, while Croatia overtook Slovakia and ranked alongside Latvia, according to Eurostat's flash estimate. 

Luxembourg's GDP per capita was 177% above the EU average, while Ireland's was 121% above.

The high GDP per capita in Luxembourg is partly due to the country's large share of cross-border workers in total employment. While contributing to GDP, these workers are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population which is used to calculate GDP per capita, Eurostat said.

The high level of GDP per capita in Ireland can be partly explained by the presence of large multinational companies holding intellectual property. The associated contract manufacturing with these assets contributes to GDP, while a large part of the income earned from this production is returned to the companies’ ultimate owners abroad, Eurostat noted.

Luxembourg and Ireland were followed by Denmark (33% above), the Netherlands (32% above), Sweden (23% above) and Belgium (22% above).

In contrast, Croatia (30% below the EU average), Slovakia (32% below), Greece (35% below) and Bulgaria (45% below) registered the lowest GDP per capita, Eurostat said.

Croatia had made an improvement since 2020, when its GDP per capita was 36% below the EU average, and caught up with Latvia, which was 29% below the EU average in 2021.

France (4% above) and Malta (2% below) were closest to the EU average.

November the 10th, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has put an enormous amount of business of all kinds on pause, or cancelled it all completely. It's difficult to read a positive business story of late, with the spread of the new virus and government measures making imports, exports and travel of all kinds more and more difficult. Koncar, however, has managed to succeed in the city of Liepaja.

Koncar is known throughout Croatia and the country's immediate region for its continued successful business operations in often difficult and unfavourable conditions, and not even the ongoing global pandemic has managed to throw a proverbial spanner in the works of the company's business moves.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on Monday, the company Koncar - Elektricna vozila presented the first low-floor electric tram of the twelve that were contracted, which will operate on the streets of the Latvian city of Liepaja, with the value of two contracts for these trams amounting to around 18 million euros in total.

The tram is intended for public transport around the city of Liepaja which is located the Baltic coast, and this is the delivery of the first of a total of twelve contracted trams for a Latvian customer, with their production defined within the scope of two contracts.

The collaboration between Koncar and its Latvian client initially began back in November 2018 when a contract was signed for the delivery of six low-floor trams for the city of Lijepaja, while the second contract, which regarded six more trams, was concluded back in August this year. The purchase of these Koncar-built vehicles is co-financed from European Union (EU) funds in the generous amount of 85 percent.

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