October the 7th, 2022 - The proverbial race for a massive 2.2 billion kuna post-pandemic Croatian tourism aid package is now on, with the focus being placed on the continental part of the country as well as on the coast.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, on Wednesday this week, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport announced public calls/invitations for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Croatian: NPOO) which comes with a total value of 2.2 billion kuna.

"I'm extremely proud that we've managed to reach this step, because the road to it was extremely demanding. I consider the fact that 2.2 billion kuna has been provided for a Croatian tourism aid package within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan a huge success and a great pledge for the achievement of the goals we've outlined in our Strategy for the Development of Sustainable Tourism, which will be adopted this year.

We started this process from a position where there was no provision for funding tourism down on the coast, nor tourism that takes place during the summer, and we've reached this moment when we have 930 million kuna in grants for public tourist infrastructure and as much as 1.25 billion kuna in grants for investment in private tourism infrastructure, both in the continental part of the country and on the coast," said Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac.

To speak more specifically, this regards two public calls. The public call for grants called "The regional diversification and specialisation of Croatian tourism through investments in the development of tourism products with high added value" carries with it a total value of 930 million kuna.

Its goal is the construction and adaptation of public tourist infrastructure that can stimulate the recovery and resilience of the Croatian tourism sector, contribute to the reduction of excessive tourism in the most developed tourist areas and the stronger tourist profiling of less developed destinations. As a Croatian tourism aid package, it is seeking to ''level up'' the country's tourist offer in a more well-rounded way.

These projects will also contribute to raising the quality of the destinations they regard and enable the extension of the tourist season through the encouragement of sustainable forms of tourism and the development and further adaptation of public tourist infrastructure in accordance with EU environmental protection standards, which also contributes to the green transition.

The second public call is for private companies and is worth a massive 1.25 billion kuna, and its purpose is the construction of tourism infrastructure, the development of tourism products acceptable to the environment and the efficiency of resources, especially those in less developed touristic areas by connecting enterprises in the tourism value chain, increasing the resilience and productivity of companies, as well as allowing for their better positioning on the demanding market through the introduction of innovation and digital technologies.

"Last year, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport started holding a series of workshops with all interested parties throughout the Republic of Croatia, and both invitations were also announced at a public consultation so that everyone would have an equal opportunity to submit their comments. In order to achieve maximum transparency, grants from these two calls will be awarded through an open procedure.

The applicants will be able to enter their project proposals into the eNPOO system from November the 7th, 2022, from 12:00 to February the 3rd, 2023, until 12:00. which means that everyone in the Croatian tourism sector has another thirty days to familiarise themselves with the documentation in great detail before submitting their project applications, and they're also free to ask questions about possible ambiguities. These invitations will be open for a total of slightly longer than 120 days,'' the Ministry revealed.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics and business sections.

May the 25th, 2022 - A massive 1.3 billion kuna has been secured for Croatian tourism recovery following to unprecedented pandemic-dominated years in which very little, if anything, was realised at all.

As Dora Koretic/Jutarnji/Novac writes, according to the Ministry of Tourism, for the first time, a significant amount has been secured for Croatian tourism recovery in the next Multiannual Financial Framework, from which the sector will have access to 1.3 billion kuna.

These are funds from within the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme and the Integrated Territorial Programme for the period from 2021 to 2027, of which most of the money should be available to small and medium enterprises which operate in the field of tourism.

As has since been learned from the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, companies will have 689.4 million kuna available under the allocation for Croatian tourism recovery, which will be made available through financial instruments.

"The money is intended for investment in smart technologies, innovation and development, job creation, for the growth of competitiveness and new products, such as the construction of small hotels, renovation, digitalisation or the green transition," the competent ministry revealed.

Wellness tourism

In addition, 40 million euros/302 million kuna were provided for tourism - twice.

The first part of this cash refers to "improving the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation", where money is being provided for investments in public tourism infrastructure, primarily healthcare, wellness and wellbeing tourism, then follows active tourism, that is, sports infrastructure and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage.

According to the ministry, this is a grant, while a new 302 million kuna has been provided through the "Integrated Territorial Programme", which is responsible for the development and implementation of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.

"These investments are focused on public tourism and sports infrastructure in urban areas, hilly and mountainous areas, as well as the islands. All of the investments, as well as those financed by the National Fund for Recovery and Resilience (Croatian: NPOO), focus primarily on the digital and green transition,'' they said from the Ministry, which noted that the ultimate goals should be to reduce the impact of tourism on the environment, reduce energy consumption, increase the production of clean energy and reduce costs in general.

This week, the Croatian tourism sector finally welcomed the announcement of the full and detailed criteria for the possibility of using the money earmarked for tourism under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which, the plan for Croatian tourism recovery will have access to money amounting to a massive 2.1 billion kuna.

You can find out more about how Bjelovar is planning to utilise these huge sums by clicking here.

Tourist infrastructure

Details for applying for the first tender, intended to finance tourist infrastructure, after much anticipation, were finally announced at a public consultation this week. These are the details of the call worth 930 million kuna, intended for local and regional self-government units, but also with the possibility of applying to private investors, mainly through public-private partnerships.

Half of the money is actually intended for publicly owned spas, ie for the purpose of wellness and health tourism, while the rest relates to visitor infrastructure and active tourism infrastructure.

However, most of the sector, ie its private part, is most looking forward to the publication of all of the details and criteria for applying for the second call within the NPOO, worth 1.2 billion kuna in total.

The Tourism Ministry revealed that most of the money will be used for hotels, worth 720 million kuna, mainly for investment in accommodation facilities, including ancillary facilities such as bars, restaurants, congress halls or amusement parks.

For more on post-pandemic Croatian tourism recovery, make sure to keep up with our dedicated politics section.

May the 23rd, 2022 - Huge sums of money from Croatia's Recovery and Resilience Plan (Croatian: NPOO) are set to flow into the country's medical and wellness tourism offer, which is a sector that has enormous potential for growth. The Bjelovar wellness tourism sector in particular is rubbing its hands impatiently.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, financing projects in the Croatian tourism sector through the National Program for Recovery and Resilience in the Public Sector, for which Croatia will have a massive 930 million kuna at its disposal, will definitely support larger projects in a high stage of readiness, and most of the money will go to continental tourism, ie spa, wellness and other such health-oriented tourism projects.

The above could be learned from the proposal of the public invitation sent by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport on Thursday for public discussion via the e-consultation portal.

The public consultation will be open until June the 2nd, 2022, and according to the first comments made by interested parties, there shouldn't be many objections to what's on offer. A call for the private sector to receive most of the 1.2 billion kuna ''cake'' is yet to come.

Amounts and limits

After passing the phase of public debate, the tender will be re-agreed with the European Commission (EC), followed by a real match for a total of 2.2 billion kuna in grants. "We're being given an excellent opportunity for the long-term sustainable and efficient development of tourism and we expect that these projects will have an impact on strengthening destinations and the quality and competitiveness of their entire offer," said Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Brnjac.

In the public call, the projects were divided into three groups. The first and most generous infrastructure lies in the function of the development of health and wellness tourism, and this includes the construction, reconstruction, renovation and/or equipping of infrastructure, whether it be in regard to accommodation facilities or other facilities. An allocation of 465 million kuna is planned for this group.

For all projects, the amount of co-financing is 100 percent of the eligible costs for projects that don't contain state aid, while for investments in projects that do already contain state aid, the amount is regulated in accordance with the rules for granting state aid.

A minimum of 9 million kuna and a maximum of 120 million kuna can be allocated for an individual project in this group. Bjelovar wellness tourism, which is brimming with potential, is expecting the highest amount from this for its thermal riviera complex with Olympic, outdoor and indoor pools and a water park, relying on sustainable energy and geothermal sources.

The large sport and tourism project of the City of Bjelovar is worth a massive 250 million kuna, and Bjelovar Mayor Dario Hrebak announced back in March that the Bjelovar had obtained a building permit for the construction of the spa.

The Bjelovar wellness tourism project will be given a huge spring in its step. Hrebrak says: ''We've been looking forward to this''

The issuance of a building permit is also the final step before announcing a public tender for the execution of the works, which the city administration expects to come June this year.

"We've been looking forward to this call and I must commend the competent ministry on its work. The criteria for the grant are really complex in order to be able to fully support all goals, to support ready-made, large projects with building permits, projects that have serious partners, and projects that will bring added value, and that's exactly what we're planning in Bjelovar. There's no reason that we won't manage to receive the maximum amount of support,'' believes Hrebak when discussing Bjelovar wellness tourism hopes.

The second group for funding includes projects for visitor infrastructure that promotes cultural and natural heritage, gastronomic, oenological and other such destinations. These include visitor centres and interpretation centres, and an allocation of 185 million kuna has been planned for this group, with the view that an individual project can receive a minimum of 8 million kuna and a maximum of 40 million kuna.

For the third group, active tourism infrastructure, 280 million kuna has been earmarked for assistance from the NPOO, with a minimum of 7 million kuna and a maximum of 40 million kuna per project. These include sport and recreational infrastructure in the function of tourism, mountaineering facilities, swimming pools, as well as hotels, camps, hostels, camping resorts, hiking trails and lookouts that are part of a comprehensive project.

For more, check out our politics section.

May the 4th, 2022 - Who exactly can access Resilience and Recovery cash from the Croatian tourism sector? This huge amount of money, intended to be paid out to help EU member states get back on their feet with respective plans following the coronavirus pandemic, can be obtained by a select few within Croatia's main economic branch.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, within a maximum of two weeks, the Ministry of Tourism will send its proposals for e-counseling related to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Croatian: NPOO), with specific criteria that will need to be met by all those who want to get their hands on a chunk of this large amount of money.

This was revealed by Sandra Herman, State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism at the Days of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), which has been being held in Opatija. The Croatian tourism sector has been waiting to hear what these criteria are for a long time now.

"We'll send our proposals for calls related to the NPOO, namely 900 million kuna for public tourism infrastructure and 1.2 billion related to the private sector. These are two separate calls, especially public infrastructure, and especially the private sector. Travel agencies will be able to find space for their candidacy through the allocation for the private sector, which refers to clusters and innovations, and which is worth 180 million kuna. This money will be directed mainly towards capital projects,'' explained Herman.

Hoteliers will also find space for their own candidacy in the amount of 1.2 billion kuna, but this involved many different allocations and it will depend on whether the company is small or medium. However, what will surely interest potential users of this cash sum is that there will be a difference in criteria for developed and underdeveloped tourist areas.

"The money is focused mainly on the renovation, ie raising the quality of existing accommodation capacities in tourist developed areas, while on the continent or in undeveloped areas it will be possible to use funds to build new accommodation capacities," explained Herman.

The e-consultation will include a concrete call for proposals, as has been agreed at the moment with the European Commission (EC). After the e-consultation, possible changes will be made and the EC approval will be sought again, and a call will be published in the second half of this year.

For more on the Croatian tourism sector and funding from the NPOO, make sure to check out our politics section.

January the 4th, 2022 - Precisely what makes a strategic Croatian company? Are there any firm criteria to speak of? With the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Croatian: NPOO) requiring explanations, it seems that there are.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, for years, the state has had a list of companies it owns and which are of special interest to it, but for the first time at last year's session, the government updated the list, citing precise reasons as to why each company is strategically important.

The reason for these explanations are the measures adopted by the NPOO on improving the management of state-owned enterprises, and the competent ministries will have to revise the list which contains information on each strategic Croatian company each and every year and determine the reasons why some companies in their jurisdiction are classed as strategic.

There were once 50, now there are 36...

This is a list that once numbered about 50 strategic Croatian companies, and that number appears to be constantly decreasing. As expected, this has happened again, because three companies have been "removed" from the existing list, and that list now boasts just 36. In two cases, the Institute of Immunology and the Rijeka-Zagreb Highway, the removal is due to technical reasons, while the third company, Maritime Electronics Centre Split, was "transferred" to CERP's extensive portfolio.

As for the remaining ones, as a rule, short lines are given about the company's activities, the size of the state's share in the share capital and the like. Alan Agency takes care of defense production and the procurement of weapons and equipment, AKD prepares ID cards and other official documents for the state, Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) is the largest service network in the country and holds 83 percent of the postal services market, and Transmitters and Communications is the only network operator for all existing digital terrestrial television networks with 100 percent of the market share in DVB-Ta.

INA remains an exception

When it comes to ACI, their strategic importance lies in them taking care of the country's expansive maritime domain, and for Croatia Airlines (CA), it's crucial that its market share, which otherwise stands at 36 percent, grows to 60 percent during the winter, because most carriers don't fly, or not as much, so the Government believes that CA provides connectivity to, from and across Croatia.

HPB (Hrvatska postanska banka) is the largest domestically owned bank, and for the last decade or so it has been one of the five largest in the Croatian banking system and has deposits with a very high balance from the central government. Its title as a strategic Croatian company is as such indisputable at this time.

For all companies on the strategic Croatian company list, the state is the majority owner, with the exception of INA, which is still on the list because "of the processing and exploration of oil and gas which is important for the security of the energy supply in the Republic of Croatia."

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

October the 7th, 2021 - The Croatian Recovery Plan, more precisely the Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO) has been talked about at length recently. In the challenging post-coronavirus age, at a time when global economies are still reeling from the unprecedented and utterly devastating impact of the global pandemic, few things are more important to Croatia than this massive EU payout.

The Croatian Recovery Plan envisages as much as 9.5 billion kuna going directly to the country's much needed digital transformation, which should force Croatia well and truly into modern times and away from excessive paperwork, standing in lines and wasting time.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, in this day and age, smart industries represent the wheel of development of the Croatian economy and society, and the precondition for this doesn't lie solely in digital transformation, but also in the cooperation of the Croatian Government, the domestic economy and the academic community.

Recognising the importance of education about the Smart Industry model in Croatia, Poslovni dnevnik organised a conference entitled Smart Industry 2021, during which, State Secretary of the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, Bernard Grsic, spoke about smart industries in the focus of national plans, more precisely the Croatian Recovery Plan.

''Digital transformation is a change from one thing to another, and first we need the awareness that we can and do actually want to do it. Man is at the centre of these events and we mustn't simply allow technology to do everything itself. Priorities for implementing this policy in the field of the digital transition of the economy relate to encouraging digital transformation and the application of advanced technologies in the economy and in society, strengthening strategic digital capacities and increasing the level of digital maturity of enterprises, establishing standardised platforms for connection and business, and the proper development of state information infrastructure.

The Smart Industry seeks to strengthen the competitiveness of a particular industry, which means not only an industrial transition but also social transformation, openness and cooperation from the government, as well as from the economy and from universities. In the Croatian Recovery Plan, the contribution to digital transformation stands at 20.4 percent, this is equal to more than 9.5 billion kuna, which is to be distributed across all segments of society.

The goal is to seize this opportunity and accelerate the digital transformation in the Republic of Croatia, create high-paying jobs in the domestic economy for the implementation of the Croatian Recovery Plan and ensure fast and efficient public administration, as well as position Croatia above the EU average on the DESI index,'' concluded Grsic.

For more on the Croatian Recovery Plan (NPOO), make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

October the 1st, 2021 - Brussels has paid the Republic of Croatia an advance payment from the so-called recovery mechanism, totalling 818.4 million euros, the largest single payment from the EU since the country's membership of the bloc.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the Croatian state budget finally received a generous financial injection of 818.4 million euros, or 6.14 billion kuna, from the Belgian capital, more precisely from the recovery mechanism. This is, as stated, the largest single payout from the EU since Croatia's accession to the bloc back in July 2013, but it is also the only amount guaranteed to Croatia, as all other payments will depend on the fulfillment of promised reforms.

If Croatia does the job as outlined in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a non-refundable amount totalling a massive 47.5 billion kuna should reach the budget by 2026.

The government headed by PM Andrej Plenkovic announced on Tuesday that the money from the advance payment from the recovery mechanism "will be directed to reforms and projects that are the most ready and that can be realised first".

These include support for the Rimac Automobili's research and development project, investment in broadband access infrastructure and 5G network access, support for energy efficiency and renewable energy in industry, building decarbonisation projects, and water management projects which already have their project study documentation ready, as well as their tender documentation and building permits.

“Receiving advance funds for Croatia marks the beginning of the implementation of candidate investments within the recovery plan. After the phase of preserving jobs and economic stability under the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 crisis, we're committed to the reform process and the use of secured European Union funds for rapid economic recovery and development, with a clear direction and two transitions - digital and green," said Plenkovic.

The deadline for the implementation of all reforms and investments in the recovery plan is the 31st of August 2026. The Croatian national plan envisages 77 reforms and 152 investments and it is designed through five components and one initiative. 26.2 billion kuna relates to the economy, 4.36 billion kuna to public administration, the judiciary and state property, and 7.5 billion kuna to education and research.

2.09 billion kuna is planned for the labour market and social protection, while 2.56 billion kuna will be spent on the healthcare system. The "initiative" for the renovation of buildings will see 12 percent of the approved money, or 5.95 billion kuna, spent on it.

According to government projections, Croatian GDP in 2025 will be 4.2 percent cumulatively higher than it would be without the plan. In the last year of its implementation, meaning 2026, Croatian gross domestic product should be around 17 billion kuna higher than it would have been without the EU cash injection from the recovery mechanism.

For more, make sure to check out our politics section.