Digital Croatia might seem a bit like a pipe dream for many, but could it be a closer possibility than we might think? Croatia has some plans to help out its entrepreneurs.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of January, 2019, at the initial time of this report, these were still the unofficial estimates of the Croatian Ministry of the Economy, which Minister Darko Horvat was set to turn into concrete measures and present at a government session.

Abolishing, or at best reducing some of the administrative procedures which continue to needlessly hinder domestic entrepreneurs should result in 626 million kuna's worth of relief for the Croatian economy.

This so-called government "rescue package" was first rather unexpectedly unveiled as part of a New Year congratulations post on Facebook, of all places. The measures proposed are designed primarily to "attack" a total of 314 different (and mentally draining) administrative processes which entrepreneurs, both would-be and established, need to go through, these often include an incredible amount of red tape, needing to pay for things nobody quite understands several times, waiting in lines for hours, or having to deliver a variety of paper reports to various institutions.

In essence, the desire behind the rescue package ties in with the deeply desired digital Croatia as well as with the wish to keep Croatia's brimming talent within the country's borders by reducing the truly unfathomable amount of bureaucracy that faces everyone in Croatia who simply desires to create something of their own, from start ups to companies and businesses.

Among Minister Darko Horvat's list of remedies regarding the process of the registration of a company in the court registry are savings of about 173 million kuna in this field alone. Entrepreneurs should also see the scope of their need to report to the tax administration reduced, too. When speaking about his action plan, the Minister of Economy says that it was all based on good inter-ordination coordination and a high degree of consensus between the lines.

"Certain processes have been defined within the nine ministries successively, and as amendments to the laws or regulations, they'll come into effect in 2019. I expect that the vast majority of these 314 implementation measures will be implemented during the first half of 2019,'' he said. The major relief for Croatia's entrepreneurs will largely be owing to the digital Croatia aim, more specifically the digitisation of various administrative processes.

The first concrete moves of a digital Croatia should enable business start-up through the simple filling in of a single electronic form, which is a far cry from the current situation. Minister Horvat explained that this "action" will also include the banking sector, in order to ensure that entrepreneurs can manage to open a bank account in just a day or two to make their payment transactions easier. Such a system implies the use of digital Croatia once again, involving e-signatures, e-trademarks and other electronic services.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated business page for more on digital Croatia, Croatian entrepreners, Croatian companies, products and services, as well as the general business and investment climate. Follow our politics pages to keep up with any measures being proposed or introducted in order to relieve the country's typically burdened entrepreners and businesspeople by the Croatian Government.

Click here for the original article by Marija Brnic for Poslovni Dnevnik

Ivica Poljičak, state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Culture, has made sure to start off on the right note by doing his bit in cleaning up the beach, in an action he'd already organised and done back in August 2018.

The environment should be important to us all, however many of us consciously choose to ignore the fact that we all have a duty to keep our surroundings clean, especially when it comes to extremely harmful plastic waste which continues to threaten the world's seas and oceans, as well as the array of marine life living below the surface.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of January, 2019, Ivica Poljičak visited the small bay of Paklina, where strong bura had unfortunately dragged in yet more new waste, and he spent half an hour cleaning up that small part of the coast, and in just that short period of time he managed to fill up four entire bin bags, according to a report from SibenikIN.

''See you at the beginning of spring at the same place! I wish everyone a happy and successful 2019,'' Ivica Poljičak said.

Ivica Poljičak recalled the fact that the most diverse plastic waste from Paklina bay was picked up back in August last year when the bags were filled with lollipop sticks, lighters, plugs, bottles, packaging from various hygiene products and similar plastic waste that the sea had dragged up to the shoreline.

Otherwise, plastic waste makes up more than 70 percent of the waste in the whole of the Mediterranean sea, and is particularly dangerous because it can never completely disintegrate.

All plastics ever produced across the world still exist to this day since they can't naturally degrade over time like natural materials do. Therefore, plastics thrown into the sea never go away, and by the influence of light and natural phenomena, break into microparticles that, through the food chain and eating habits of numerous marine animals, find their way back to humans, creating toxic chemical compounds.

In the stomachs of marine mammals, scientists were able to find dozens of pounds of plastic bags and other plastic waste which had been shamefully dumped into the sea by humans.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more. If you consider yourself a bit of an eco warrior yourself, follow Total Eco Croatia.

Click here for the original article by SibenikIN

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 31st of December, 2018, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić presented the Croatian Government's new ''demographic measure'' on Sunday for Dnevnik HTV, by which the non-taxable amount of so-called ''newborn allowance'' has been raised to a very handsome 10,000 kuna.

"An employee who has a baby'' said Marić, "her employer has the ability and the right to give her money for the newborn baby. The non-taxable amount is 3,362 kuna, but this amount has been raised three times higher and amounts to 10,000 kuna,'' announced the finance minister during an interview with HTV.

The order by the Croatian Government which regards this measure will be published on Wednesday, January the 2nd, 2019, and will come into force as of Thursday, January the 3rd, but it is already technically applicable today, added the minister.

Looking back, this has been the year in which Marić, who has been serving in the Croatian Government for a while now, stated that he was satisfied with continuing the trend of Croatia's declining public debt, which fell by 10 percentage points in just three years. It is expected that this year,  interest rates will fall below 9 billion kuna.

"Since 2015, we've cut interest rates by more than a quarter, we're paying lower interest rates, and I'm particularly pleased with what we've done for the highways and for the roads," said Minister Marić, emphasising that they continue to remain in "Croatian hands".

Recalling the alarming debts which still very much haunt Croatia's healthcare system, he said that redistributing money to the Ministry of Health can't be a viable solution to that problem.

"I'm happy that we've been able to reduce payment deadlines, especially the state ones, for a year. I'd like to see if these reduced payment periods reflected on the reduced cost of purchasing medication," Marić said.

He emphasised the need for the Croatian Government to apply a combination of measures on the revenue and expenditure side of the health budget.

"We have contributed through the third round of tax breaks, we've raised the budget for healthcare by 1 percentage point, around 1.350 billion kuna, but that won't be enough," he said, concluding that the Croatian healthcare system must be financially sustainable.

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

Many places in Croatia have been making good use of EU funds, but others need time to catch up. The opportunities provided by accessing the funding has been showcased in one excellent Croatian example, Zaprešić.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of December, 2018, last Friday, Zaprešić was the final host of the Regional EU Funds seminar for this year. The seminars aim to inform the public about the funding opportunities provided by EU funds by the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds.

Zaprešić is just one example of good EU funds practice, and this is also backed up somewhat symbolically by the fact that the education seminar about the use of EU funds was held in the Vršilnica building, which was rebuilt with the very welcome help of 4,855,637.50 euro, co-financed by European structural and investment funds.

EU funds are one of the key sources of funding for urban investments and large capital projects across the Republic of Croatia, without which the City of Zaprešić simply could not have realised many projects. As explained by Mayor Zeljko Turk, in the period from 2017 until now, nearly 33 million kuna of contracted funds outside of the city budget have been spent, which have helped to deal with large capital projects, raise the overall quality of life, and accelerate the development cycle of Zaprešić in general. The fact that EU funds are a huge part of Croatia's present and future, was emphasised by the state secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds, Velimir Žunac.

"We're the youngest member of the European Union, so we're learning, growing and maturing at the same time, and this government has made significant gains. Back in January 2017 we contracted a mere 9 percent of EU funds, and this year, we'll be at 60 percent, that speak volumes about how successful we are,'' stated Žunac.

The 2017 economy analysis shows that the most prominent economic branches in Zaprešić are trade (23 percent), followed by service activities (16 percent) and professional scientific and technical, construction and manufacturing industries, holding a total of 33 percent.

"The city is doing a lot to improve the infrastructure and conditions for its entrepreneurs, and for this purpose, funds amounting to 6 million kuna have been secured, and this is 100 percent co-financed with European Union money in the entrepreneurial zone in Pojatno, where a completely new road will be built which will attract new businesses and create new jobs,'' said the head of the Zaprešić finance and economic development department, Miljenko Šoštarić.

Satisfied entrepreneurs are the souls of the city, and just how it is to actually be an entrepreneur in Zaprešić, with his own experience of using the EU contribution, is the owner of the Mihaliček company, which employs 50 people with a turnover growth of 10 to 15 percent per year.

"We applied for the tender because the appetities within our company grew, we developed new jobs and got more people. We applied for a crane and a laser machine for installing and processing concrete, and we received 300,000 kuna in non-refundable funds, which was 55 percent of our investment,'' said Stjepan Mihaliček, stating that such a form of contribution to them was relevant because renting or buying used machinery could be at the expense of safety in the workplace. 

''In order to encourage as many entrepreneurs as possible to use EU funds, entrepreneurs may submit their email addresses to receive a newsletter containing all the available information on various financing options, including funding opportunities from EU funds with the aim of developing new business ideas and boosting competitiveness on both domestic and foreign markets,'' explained Šoštarić.

Make sure to stay up to date with our business and politics pages for more information on EU funds, how Croatian companies can make use of them, and for everything going on in the political and business world in Croatia.

Click here for the original article by PD i VL native tim

While some remain passive to the notion, Croatia and the Eurozone is a particularly sensitive topic among many. After having seen what happened to Greece several years ago, many are naturally suspicious of the introduction of the common currency which once presented as a good idea that had gone very wrong.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of December, 2018, most Croats appear to be against the country's eventual accession to the Eurozone, most are concerned with immigration and terrorism at the European level, as well as with national unemployment and the general economic situation. The number of Croats who have a positive image of the European Union also appears to be increasing, with the number of those with a negative image gradually decreasing, according to the results of this autumn's Eurobarometer.

The autumn Eurobarometer survey was conducted from the 8th to the 22nd of November in all of the European Union's 28 member states, five candidate countries, as well as in the Turkish community in Cyprus.

Croatia and the Eurozone remains to be a topic that causes controversy, and the survey shows that 56 percent of respondents from the Republic of Croatia are against the introduction of the formerly problematic single European currency, 40 percent of the respondents are for the euro's introduction as the country's main currency, while just 4 percent said they didn't know how they felt.

It seems Croatia and the Eurozone is still being met with a cold front. Compared to 2018's spring Eurobarometer, the percentage of euro support in Croatia has dropped by 6 percentage points. The largest euro support is in neighbouring Slovenia, at 86 percent, then in Luxembourg and Estonia with 85 percent, followed by the Republic of Ireland and Belgium with 84 percent. The lowest support was found in the Czech Republic with 21 percent, the United Kingdom with 28 percent, followed then by Sweden with 29 percent, and Denmark with s slightly higher 30 percent.

As far as what people deem to be the most important issue facing the country, most Croats stated unemployment (43 percent), then the economic situation (28 percent), and rising prices and living costs (27 percent). At the European level, concerns about unemployment was the most important issue for 23 per cent of respondents, followed by rising prices and immigration.

Croats are among the most pessimistic when it comes to the state of the national economy, 83 percent think it is completely bad, and only 16 percent think it is quite good.

These are still somewhat better results than what those of the spring Eurobarometer brought earlier this year. The spring Eurobarometer was carried out back in April this year, and only 11 percent rated the national economy to be in a very good state, and 89 percent felt it was in the absolute worst situation it could be in.

More pessimistic than the Croats are the Greeks, just 6 percent of them believe that the state of the Greek national economy is quite good, and 94 percent feel it is totally negative. Somewhat less pessimistic than the Greeks and the Croats are the Spaniards, Bulgarians, Italians, Romanians, and finally the French.

In the second part of the chart, Malta is ranked first, where 95 percent of respondents state that they feel the national economy is in good shape, followed by 91 percent in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, followed by Denmark, Germany, and Sweden with 88 percent.

Asked which of the most important issues the European Union is currently facing, most Croats, 48 ​​percent of them, stated that it remains to be immigration, followed by terrorism (32 percent), followed by public finances in EU member states (19 percent).

On average, over all of the European Union's 28 member states, the respondents claim some of their biggest concerns are immigration (40 percent) and terrorism (20 percent).

On the other hand, most Croats (65 percent) believe that the economic situation in the EU as a whole is quite good, 26 percent of them think it is terrible, and nine percent didn't provide a clear answer.

The most positive answers to this question were recorded in Lithuania (73 percent), Poland and Austria with a joint 70 percent, Ireland with 67 percent. The least positive responses were recorded in France (26 percent), Spain (36 percent), and then Italy and the United Kingdom (37 percent).

Croats are among those who mostly believe that the economic crisis has already reached its peak in terms of labour market impact and a recovery (58 percent), while 38 percent believe that it has not yet peaked and that the worst is yet to come.

The most optimistic about this matter are the Irish (76 percent), the Danes and the Dutch (70 percent), and then the Hungarians with 69 percent.

On the other hand, most French citizens (67 percent) maintain the belief that the crisis has not yet passed and that the worst is still on its way. The pessimism of the French is followed by that of the Estonians, the Lithuanians, the British and the Swedes.

Just 39 percent of Croats have a completely positive image of the European Union, which, despite having plenty of room for improvement, is still five percentage points more than it was back during the spring of this year, a neutral image is held by a higher 42 percent, which is five percentage points less than in spring, and 18 percent of Croats hold a totally negative belief about the EU.

For the first time, most Europeans think that their voice counts in the European Union (49 percent), four percentage points more than back in spring.

On the other hand, a significant 47 percent disagree with this statement, which is still far less than was recorded back during 2013's spring Eurobarometer.

The EU's enlargement policy is apparently still being met with suspicion and is still widely unpopular across the entire territory of the European Union.

When it comes to the precarious subject of EU enlargement, 43 percent of the respondents believed it was a positive thing, 45 percent were very much against it, while 12 percent said they weren't sure how they felt about it.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for much more on Croatia and the Eurozone, the Croatian domestic political scene, and information on European-level politics which affect Croatia.

A couple of new names for both strategic and foreign and European policy for Croatian politics as the President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, has appointed Mirjana Hrga and Sebastian Rogač as her advisors.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of December, 2018, the Croatian President dismissed Dario Mihelin as her advisor for external and European politics, a decision which will come into effect as of January the 15th, 2019.

Similarly, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović dismissed Mato Radeljić from his post of advisor for internal affairs on the 21st of December 2018.

The President of the Republic of Croatia has since appointed Mirjana Hrga as her advisor for strategic policies, relations with the Croatian Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, as well as Sebastian Rogač as her advisor for foreign and European policy. Both decisions will come into effect as of January the 16th, 2019.

Make sure to stay up to date with our dedicated politics page for everything you need to know about the Croatian political scene.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of December, 2018, Irena Weber, deputy of Fabris Peruško, the extraordinary commissioner for Agrokor, talked about what the company's plans for next year are, and whether or not Agrokor could become competitive on the market once again.

Has Agrokor survived the crisis, what are the plans for next year, and can the company become competitive on the market once again?

Irena Weber, deputy chief of the extraordinary commissioner in Agrokor, told HRT:

"We came to a rather complex situation, there was no time for adaptation and we immediately went to work and started communicating with the most important stakeholders in order to start the negotiation process as soon as possible, and for it to be completed by the legal deadline - July the 10th," Weber stated.

She pointed out that the results posted on a monthly basis show that all segments within Agrokor have good results. "This applies to the food sector, the agriculture sector, and to the retail sector. Each sector shows a strong recovery trend and we're expecting even better results in 2019," she said.

"Our focus until the end of the year is to set up the implementation plan in its entirety, and we have to carry out what our creditors have agreed and signed for, which means that it's necessary to transfer entire assets from the old group to a mirror society, to form a new group and to ensure that all operational processes are happening, to have a new group with new financial reports and a new ownership structure. The plan is to prepare a process that is in full swing by the end of the year and we expect the whole process to be completed in March 2019,'' the deputy extraordinary administrator said.

She added that all the suppliers were satisfied with how things are going as they had all now been paid.

"At present, the Agrokor Group has no outstanding and unpaid invoices, all have been paid in time in accordance with maturity dates, giving them [the suppliers] the freedom and ability to manage their financial statements," Weber said.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics and business pages for much more on Agrokor's progress, doing business in Croatia, the domestic political climate, as well as the general business and investment climate.

Unlike the United Kingdom, which used an opt-out, one of Croatia's obligations upon joining the European Union was the eventual introduction of the euro as the country's main currency. While many are against the plan, it will go forward regardless. Erste's main man has warned that Croatia's time to adapt properly to the imminent change is slowly slipping away, and the cooling of the global economy is expected. How will the relationship between Croatia and the Eurozone progress?

As Tomislav Pili/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of December, 2018, even though the banks are expected to experience falling revenue due to the loss of currency trading, Croatia's eventual entry into the Eurozone is likely to bring a lot of benefits to Croatian society, said Erste Bank's CEO Christoph Schöfböck on Tuesday. The statement comes among continued mixed feelings from the public on Croatia and the Eurozone.

"The path towards the euro can't be a purpose for itself [a self-serving purpose], it must have a reason, and that's the prosperity of society," Schöfböck stated. Reflecting on developments in the global economy, Erste Bank's main man stressed that the world economy would "cool down" in two years, so Croatia must use that time for economic adjustment to finally enter into the Eurozone. As for movement on the domestic economic plan, this year Croatia can expect GDP growth between 2.5 and 2.8 percent, according to the director of economic research, Alen Kovač.

"We're growing at a faster rate than the European Union, but also slower than comparable countries," he stressed. Concerning the next year, it is estimated that the positive features of the Croatian economy will remain as they are, such as the further growth in the inflow of money from European funds, investment growth and personal consumption. However, in 2019, the risks that come from abroad - the trade war, Brexit and the issue of the Italian deficit - will be more pronounced. Therefore, next year the growth of the Croatian economy will slow down and will reach between 2.5 and 2.6 percent.

In addition to presenting macroeconomic forecasts, Erste Bank also used this opportunity to launch its new payment application, KEKS Pay. The application is the result of the internal startup of the bank and is described as "the first real digital wallet in Croatia". It serves to transfer money to friends or family's accounts, regardless of which banks they respectively use, and also allows for the collection of money from within a chat group. It functions as a "financial Whatsapp", so it's not necessary to open an account to transfer money, only the recipient's mobile number is required. Use of the application is completely free, as is initially downloading it.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business and politics pages for more information on Croatia and the Eurozone, the domestic political scene, doing business in Croatia, and much more.

Click here for the original article by Tomislav Pili for Poslovni Dnevnik

Neither Prime Minister Plenković nor Zdravko Marić himself have come out and actually denied the rumours about the Croatian finance minister's potential departure from the government.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of December, 2018, although no one has officially confirmed this, some claim that a quick analysis of the statements made by both Prime Minister Plenković and Zdravko Marić himself suggest that it is apparently ''almost certain'' that the longtime Croatian finance minister is set to leave his government position.

This information has begun circulating at a very inconvenient time and amid quite a bit of controversy, given the fact that Zdravko Marić's older sister has been promoted in HANFA, which is ironically the organisation investigating the finance minister for his activities during the height of Agrokor saga, which still isn't over. Good timing you say? You're right.

To quickly recall, this isn't the first time the Croatian finance minister has fallen out of favour in such a public manner. Marić used to work at Agrokor before taking on his government position, and as more and more came to light in regard to Agrokor's messy story, many began to suspect that he knew much more than he was letting on about the crimes which allegedly took place under the gigantic company's former owner, Ivica Todorić.

Despite having held strong to his statement of innocence and managing to survive this political test, ultimately retaining his position, the cloud of suspicion surrounding him never truly went away, it only engulfed Martina Dalić instead, the fomer deputy PM, who became a welcome distraction for the minister tormented by his past.

Regardless of the passage of time and the stepping down of Martina Dalić, the curse of the former Agrokor crisis has come knocking at Croatian finance minister's door once again, and this time it looks like he won't be getting off quite as lightly.

Upon being asked, Prime Minister Plenković's response has been scrutinised deeply, and for some it could be concluded that the Croatian finance minister's time is up, purely and simply because the he did not deny it when asked, writes Večernji list.

Similarly, Marić didn't deny it himself, either. The question now is not only who would potentially replace Marić in the government, but whether or not this could potentially be a chance for the reconstruction of the current government.

While unconfirmed, speculation suggests that Marić's departure from the government will take place next month, which would in itself be logical because he has already compiled a budget for next year.

The exact name of the person who either may or definitely replace Marić is still unknown, primarily because this information remains officially unconfirmed. But those speculating have suggested that it could be Tomislav Ćorić, the curent minister of energy and environmental protection, but sources close to the government claim that if he is doing his job well and that such a move would make no real sense. It would also be his third new ministry if it were to occur. So, it seems difficult to imagine Corić taking over Marić's job.

The speculation of potential names continues, despite the fact that the rumours of the current Croatian finance minister leaving his position early next year remain unconfirmed. 

Make sure to stay up to date on this situation and much more on the domestic and European political stage by following our dedicated politics page.

As 24sata writes on the 5th of December, 2018, Ivica Todorić, who was recently released from Remetinec prison following his eyebrow-raising payment of a million euros in bail, which he said was paid by friends, has decided to become politically active. On Wednesday, the 5th of December, 2018, he announced his political engagement once again and used the opportunity to criticise Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Croatian Government, according to a report from N1.

We've translated his statement in full below:

''Dear all,

Today, following two years of Andrej Plenković's government, the Republic of Croatia is socially and economically completely destroyed, devastated, we have chaos and a dictatorship, we're seeing the destruction of institutions every day, we're the worst member of the EU, we're last on the list by all indicators, we're at the very bottom!

Today, the Republic of Croatia isn't a country of knowledge, it isn't a country [which respects] the rule of law, it isn't a country which cares about its demographic status, the economic position of its citizens, or the state itself.

At the same time, two years have passed since the launch of the plundering of Agrokor, a monstrous criminal project unseen in history in this part of the EU.

That is precisely the best example of corrupt antinational power, which has plagued the future of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and has thrown the state on its knees.

I fought alone, and I'm still fighting [armed] with the truth and the facts about the crimes which were carried out over my company, my associates, and over me.

Throughout my life I've been giving to my homeland to Croatia, through the Agrokor project, building a modern, competitive industry that eventually became the largest in this part of the EU.

But now I look upon this dictatorship of Prime Minister Plenković, who pitilessly continues to inflict tremendous damage upon the Republic of Croatia, and who is destroying our homeland and its future.

Exactly because of the desire to change this catastrophic position of the Republic of Croatia, I decided to become politically active!

We in the Republic of Croatia need to gather all the potential of every individual to make the best use of our national wealth - forests, water, land, and our sea, in order to realise our national interests in the most functional way.

The Republic of Croatia must get started and become a country of knowledge that respects the rule of law. Severe, serious reforms and investment cycles need to be initiated literally overnight as [otherwise] it will be too late. Croatia needs to be transformed into the construction site for the future of our children and all citizens.

I'm sure that we will eradicate this corrupt, incompetent, dictatorial authority - to ensure a better future for our homeland of Croatia and for our children.

With respect,

Ivica Todorić''

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page to stay up to date with the Croatian political scene and all of the former Agrokor boss' political moves.