October 19, 2022 - After the publication of the call for proposals by the Norwegian fund management, all interested parties will have two months to submit their applications, and the percentage of support will be determined depending on the size and location of the company, the type of investment, etc.

As reported by Poslovni, six million euros from the Norwegian financial mechanism will be available to Croatian entrepreneurs for investments in green technologies.

The company Innovation Norway, manager of the fund for the Business Development and Innovation Croatia programme, announced that in November, it will publish the third call for project proposals within the framework of the program financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The goal of the programme, which focuses on green industry innovations and "blue growth," is to increase competitiveness and encourage sustainable business operations in Croatian, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises.

A total of around six million euros will be available to Croatian entrepreneurs. Through the innovations of the green industry, they will be able to receive grants for the co-financing of innovative projects that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy consumption, or saving other resources. Through the "blue growth" projects related to innovations in the coastal and maritime areas, the following will be co-financed - coastal and maritime tourism, maritime transport, fishing and aquaculture, marine waste and pollution, desalination, and other similar projects.

After the publication of the call, all interested parties will have two months to submit their applications, and the percentage of support will be determined depending on the size and location of the company, the type of investment, etc. Thus, for example, small companies that invest in equipment, depending on the area where they are located on the map of regional grants, will be able to receive up to 70 percent of grants from the total value of the project.

Large companies with a maximum of 25 percent public ownership can also apply but will receive a lower co-financing rate.

So far, 17 projects have been approved from this programme in the first call, and it is expected that another 21 projects will be approved in the second call.

Innovation Norway states that this programme for entrepreneurs represents a unique opportunity for cooperation, through access to new knowledge and modern technology with Norwegian partners, through partnership on projects, and other forms of collaboration.

More information on the possibilities of co-financing from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism can be found at www.innovasjonnorge.no/Croatiainnovation and by inquiry at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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ZAGREB, 30 June 2022 - The Croatian government on Thursday declared the "Marina Cavtat & Resort" project, estimated at HRK 625 million excluding Value Added Tax, and the "Frapa Resort Medine" project, estimated at HRK 1.04 billion including VAT, to be investments of strategic importance.

"Marina Cavtat & Resort" is a project to be developed on 6.4 hectares in the coastal town of Cavtat, southernmost Croatia. The project consists of a future five-star hotel with 260 accommodation units, that is with 900 beds.

Upon its completion, the resort will hire 250 permanent workers and 150 seasonal workers.

The "Frapa Resprt Medine" project in the coastal town of Rogoznica envisages the construction of a five-star hotel with over 300 beds, and spa facilities.

Furthermore, the whole resorts will offer up to 700 beds on aggregate, and will include villas, and other accommodation facilities within the resort.

Upon the implementation of the project, 110 permanent workers will be hired in the resort, plus 50 seasonal workers.

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April 6, 2022 – Most of the projects that are being implemented in the city of Osijek are financed with extra-budgetary European and national money.

As Lokalni.hr writes, Osijek has become a large construction site. There is no part of the city without cranes and machines everywhere. At the moment, projects worth a billion kuna are being implemented. Most of them are financed by extra-budgetary money, both European and national.

An underpass is being built on Čepinska, which will solve traffic problems that are more than half a decade old. Reconstruction is underway at the Copacabana beach, which will provide Osijek with its first real Olympic swimming pool. The tram line is also being reconstructed, which is a prerequisite for the introduction of low-floor trams. The baroque core of the Fortress is being restored. The most modern wastewater treatment plant is being built in Nemetin. The City of Osijek has donated land to the Osijek-Baranja County in the Nemetin Economic Zone which will serve for the construction of the regional distribution centre for fruit and vegetables. The construction of the Economic Centre is also underway, with the most modern fair space for Osijek.

“The city of Osijek has taken big steps forward. There are many projects. We have listed only the largest. But we don't mean to stop there. We are ready to apply for projects worth HRK 440 million with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The documentation has been prepared. We paid special attention to the construction of new kindergartens, as well as the extension of the existing ones and the expansion of schools”, says the mayor of Osijek, Ivan Radić.

One of the projects planned for application with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is the already mentioned reconstruction of the Copacabana beach, for which the city budgeted 34,743,875 kuna in 2022. The list of the projects further contains arrangements of the Cultural Centre with a budget of HRK 7,884,209, as well as the reconstruction of Trpimirova Street from Vukovarska to the Drava River with roundabouts and pedestrian/bicycle underpasses – the preparation of the project documentation.

Another important project is the construction of road, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure in the function of developing public transport and promoting zero-emission transport to improve flow, eliminate bottlenecks and increase traffic safety in the City of Osijek, worth 35 million kuna. It integrates three transport infrastructure construction projects. One of them is the construction of an intra-zone street in Jug 2 in Osijek with traffic areas, mixed sewerage, and public lighting from Opatijska to Medulinska street. Another is the reconstruction of a pedestrian (and bicycle) bridge over the Drava river in Osijek, while the third is the reconstruction of Bizovačka and Osječka streets in Josipovac.

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ZAGREB, 30 July 2021 - In just two days the new mayors of Pula and Vodnjan rejected two major projects by the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) worth about HRK 90 million, Jutarnji List daily said on Friday.

Both projects are from the EU's Integrated Territorial Investment (ITU) mechanism, and a portion of the funding was grants from the European Regional Development Fund. But both independent mayors decided to forgo the grants arguing that the stakes of their respective cities in the investment projects were too high.

The aim of the projects was to convert a former industrial complex in Pula and an old oil mill in Vodnjan into tourism and cultural centres. A HRK 34.9 million grant agreement for the Mehanika polyvalent centre in Pula was signed in February, while Vodnjan's MMC Torcio project was awarded a HRK 7.15 million grant.

Both mayors said that the main reasons for rejecting the projects were too short implementation deadlines, an excessive credit burden on their budgets and too high bids for the performance of construction works.

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Despite the odd investment here and there, continental Croatia rarely gets a look in when compared to the coast, particularly when compared to Dalmatia. In Eastern Croatia, more specifically Slavonia, the situation is even more depressing, but it seems that not everything is as bleak as we sometimes like to imagine and even portray.

As Suzana Varosanec/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of April, 2019, the economic expectations from the Luka Brod (Brod Port) project worth more than 100 million kuna are high. Through the construction of new port infrastructure, the project has become the driving force for the development of Brod-Posavina County, as was highlighted by the Croatian Government.

As stated, the much anticipated construction of new port infrastructure is the driving force for the development of this Slavonian county, this was highlighted at the eighth session of the Council for Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem, and according to the prime minister, it's essential for the Croatian Government and local self-government units to do everything to create the proper conditions for economic development that will end the mass exodus of citizens from Croatia.

Until now, contracted projects with EU funding amount to 9.7 billion kuna, stated the Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Gabrijela Žalac. Another 1.85 billion kuna are contracted investments from the state budget.

For the strengthening of the Croatian economy, the development and enhancement of competitiveness, projects such as Brod Port are of great importance, stated the Croatian Chamber of Commerce's Mirjana Cagalj. This is also an incentive for the development of a local environment that is particularly burdened with the exodus of the resident population who are leaving in their droves owing to the unfavourable economic situation, contributing to Croatia's worrying demographic crisis.

Its exceptional traffic position provides great potential for the development of the new port in Slavonski Brod in an intermodal logistics centre, which, according to Cagalj, would work to influence its future strategic role in international container traffic because Brod Port is located on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the crossing of the railway corridor X and the road corridor Vc, which is an international entry port for the EU.

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Click here for the original article by Suzana Varosanec for Poslovni Dnevnik

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of March, 2019, Business Matchmaker, organised by the eSTUDENT student association and the Office for consulting and career development at Zagreb's Faculty of Economics, will be held on the 26th of March this year at Zagreb's Faculty of Economics (Trg JF Kennedy 6), beginning at 9:00. The completion of the official part is expected to be at 15:00.

This innovative project allows students to personally present themselves in a short four minute selection interview to a group of desired companies. Interviews will be held in the halls of the faculty, and the continuation of the meeting and greeting, to which all participants are invited, will be in "Kefi" after 15:00 that same day.

Business Matchmaker is an event which resembles the speed dating principle and is intended for EFZG students to represent themselves to their potential employers. After the interview, employers and students will evaluate each other and the best students can then expect another round of interviews, where they will be able to learn more and find out more about employment opportunities in their desired companies.

In this interesting and useful way, students on the lookout for an employment position are able to properly develop their self-presentation skills and get to know how the labour market works firsthand. This year's Business Matchmaker will see the participation of as many as 21 companies divided into five different groups.

Lucija Matašin shared her personal experience of last year's Business Matchmaker and what it did for her career-wise:

"By participating in Business Matchmaker, I got a student job, which is honestly everything but ''student'' style. Along with that [I got] a great reference for my CV and a lot of motivation and courage to make it easier to deal with stress in similar situations in the future. I met the people from the company, which I might once meet again, because the world is really small and who knows where I'll be tomorrow, and maybe I'll bump into some of these people again on my way. This eSTUDENT initiative and the Office for consulting and career development really provide EFZG students with something they don't get through their classes.''

The companies participating in the project are 24sata, Addiko Bank, Atlantic Grupa (Group), ATOS, British American Tobacco, Croatia Osiguranje (Insurance), Deloitte, DIV Group, EC, INA, Kaufland, King ICT, KPMG, L'Oreal Adria, mStart, Philip Morris Zagreb, Samsung, SofaScore, Syskit, Talentarium and Zagrebačka banka.

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