PV International 0195

S U P P O R T E D B Y T H E C R O A T I A N C H A M B E R O F E C O N O M Y

pvpvinternationalinternationalCroatian Business & Finance WeeklyEstablished in 1953Monday / 16th April / 2012Year V / No 0195www.privredni.hr

Simple and legal way to music

The Croatian music industry can upload content to foreign music services, but Croatian customers cannot purchase it MUSIC INDUSTRY

PAGES 2-3

Dragica Bagarić, director Eko-Ozra

€32.5 million spent on beverage packaging management six times more than that spent on other packaging waste managementWASTE MANAGEMENT

PAGES 4-5

2008 20092010 2011

FOREIGN TRADE

Igor Vukić

T he total value of Croatian exports for the first two months of 2012 was

€1.32 billion, 6% down year-on-year. According to data pro-vided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, the value of im-ports was €2.34 billion, a rise of 4.5% over the same period last year. It is the continuation of a trend identified during the last quarter in 2011 when, accord-ing to data from the Croatian National Bank, Croatian exports and imports saw a decrease. Ir-respective of the value of vessels consigned in December, exports fell by 4.1% compared with the previous quarter. Unsatisfactory export results were seen in most sectors. Consequently, Croatian exports saw a 3.7% decrease, when vessels and oil exports are excluded. A 6.6% plunge in quarterly imports was the high-est decrease in imports since mid-2009. Capital goods im-

ports have been continuing the downward trend, as have road vehicles. Nevertheless, exports slightly in-creased in January 2012, mainly due to food exports. Seasonal fish exports (tuna fish exports to the Japanese market) and other food products (mainly sugar ex-ports) rose. Total food and bev-erage exports soared 17%, reach-ing €0.16 billion, whilst fuel and lubricants exports plummeted 28.6%, to €128 million.

Majority of exports to EUOn the other hand, the most sig-nificant decrease in the value of exports was seen in shipbuilding, chemicals and electricity exports. Overall, the increase in exports of goods from Croatia is significant-ly lagging behind those in com-parable countries in Central and South-East Europe. In addition, Croatia recorded exports lower than in 2008. The increase in im-ports is mainly due to an increase in energy products imports.

Croatia primarily exports to the European Union. Neverthe-less, Croatian exports to the EU were 0.4% down during the first two months with a total value of €0.8 billion. A large increase in exports to Austria (43.6%; €112 million) and Germany (8.6%; €0.2 billion) could not compen-sate for a significant decrease in exports to Italy (26.1%). The value of exports to Italy was €0.2 billion, €71.5 million down com-pared with the first two months in 2011. Exports to Russia in-creased 62% (€34.4 million) whilst exports to Turkey halved to €15.17 million.Analysts had anticipated prob-lems with exports to Italy last year, due to the severe impact of the crisis in Italy. Italian GDP contracted during the last quar-ter of 2011 due to weakened for-eign demand and unfavourable domestic market movements. Fiscal consolidation further ag-gravated the economic situation in Italy.

Short-term growth slow downEncouraging news came from Germany. According to the Croatian National Bank analysts, a 0.2% decrease in GDP during the last quarter in 2011 does not imply entering another recession. Economic growth throughout 2011 was 3%. Data for 2012 in-dicate it is a short-term slowing of growth. This year will see an increase in domestic demand and favourable German labour market conditions. Nevertheless, market movements throughout the Euro-zone will also have a significant impact. Austria and Slovenia have also seen growth slow.According to the Croatian Nation-al Bank, price and cost competi-tiveness of exports improved in 2011 compared with the previous year. The Croatian Kuna weak-ened slightly over the year and competitiveness was due to more favourable movements in domes-tic unit labour costs than amongst most foreign trade partners.

6% DECREASE IN EXPORTS6% DECREASE IN EXPORTSDURING THE FIRST TWO MONTHSDURING THE FIRST TWO MONTHS

Increase in Croatian exports lags behind the increase in exports in comparable countries of Central and South-East Europe

Croatian National Bank

Credit growth of 6.9% year-on-year mainly due to corpo-rate lending of €5.2 billionLENDING

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2 Privredni vjesnikYear V No 0195

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Privredni vjesnikKačićeva 910000 Zagreb+385 1 [email protected]

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FOR PUBLISHERNikola Baučić+385 1 [email protected]

EDITOR IN CHIEFDarko Buković+385 1 [email protected]

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Jasmina Prokop Tomić, Board member T7 Vis

MBT imperative in the forthcoming futureCroatia is considerably lagging behind developed European countries regarding ecological waste management

M ost effectively regulated countries have adopted a waste management

strategy within a waste manage-ment regime and have been focus-ing on reducing the quantity of waste. In addition, there is often a requirement to select waste in or-der to obtain usable materials and subsequently process them into secondary raw materials for fur-ther recycling. Waste incineration or waste disposal is resorted to in the absence of other ecologically acceptable solutions. Neverthe-less, unfortunately the situation in Croatia is completely different. A contemporary and ecological-ly-oriented stance towards waste in such regulated countries has brought about a rapid devel-opment of waste management without landfill sites has been adopted by the European Union. Consequently, several countries have already closed their land-fill sites: Switzerland in 2002, Austria in 2005 and Germany in 2006. Croatia is only now about to initiate the process of landfill site rehabilitation and closure. Mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) is one of the most wide-spread and most acceptable of waste management practices. It requires the use of technology, which simulates natural biologi-cal processes of decomposition, where waste is dried, resulting in the decrease in volume within a short time period and without the use of chemical substances or adversely affecting the environ-mental. Subsequently stabilised and sterilised waste is mechani-cally processed where its valua-

ble components are separated for further recycling and extraction of raw materials.MBT units are widespread throughout the EU and comply with EU Waste Management Directives, which Croatia has signed. Consequently, Croatia has to rehabilitate its landfill sites in accordance with Euro-pean standards and close them by 2018 at the latest. If she does not succeed in doing this within the agreed deadline, she will be severely penalised. Croatia is seriously lagging be-hind developed European coun-tries regarding its stance on eco-logical waste management, whilst awareness about the necessity of sustainable waste management has not been satisfactory thus far. Legislation is currently still be-ing adapted to EU Environmental Directives but national and local policies do not comply with their principles and unfortunately the most convenient and consequent-ly environmentally the most unac-ceptable solutions are most com-monly resorted to– waste disposal on landfill sites, many of which are illegal.

Goran Šikić

I n 2003, when the iTunes mu-sic store was launched, it was the first place where it was

possible to pay and legally down-load music from the internet in digital format. The year before that, Napster was smothered, where it was possible to illegally download music in digital for-mat. Napster was surely a good argument to the Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, when he was visiting record labels, encouraging them to accept the new concept of sell-ing music where customers were able to purchase individual songs rather than an entire album, and all for a unique price of 99 cents. The main part of the story was, of course, Apple’s amazingly designed device for listening to music – iPod – related to music downloading.At this time global record labels were still selling their star al-bums in several million copies, but today iTunes has become the biggest retail music store. In 2010, iTunes sold over 10 billion songs. However, the retail value of the music industry has halved compared with 10 years earlier, and musicians no longer live by selling albums, but live perform-ances virtually exclusively. How did the Croatian music scene cope with this new digital phase? Not even today, almost a decade after the appearance of the iTunes concept, music fans in Croatia are not able to legally search, pay and download music in digital format.

Four servicesFour digital services have been established so far as a response to changed circumstances, but each contains only a fraction of the on music offer. The four are

Fonoteka of T-Com, Cedeterija of Aquarius Music Shop, Dal-las Music Shop and the online shop of Croatia Records, which is specific since it refers its users to iTunes. However, they are not able to buy music over iTunes if they are located in Croatia. It is absurd that the Croatian music industry is able to upload their content on foreign music services, but Croatian customers are not able to buy it legally from the same foreign service. There-fore, customers should have simpler access to music under legal terms. Croatia Records and Dallas Records as well as other big local producers are present on Spotify, Deezer and iTunes, but Croatian customers are not

(for one digital format song (iTunes)

99 cents

SIMPLE AND LEGAL WAY TO MUSIC

Will Croatian The Croatian music industry can upload their content

www.privredni.hrBusiness & Finance Weekly 3

able to legally access this con-tent, commented Kristina Delfin Kanceljak, a solicitor specialis-ing in the protection of intellec-tual property, music in particular.Let us not fool ourselves; the biggest buyers of our products are local people, not foreign. We upload content to services, but they are inaccessible in the re-gion, except in Slovenia. So, for whom do we upload it? We have to create a balance between of-fer and demand as well as avail-ability of access to content that would be completely accept-able to legal carriers that wish to maximise their profit, and the buyers of these services are intended for, highlighted Kris-tina Delfin Kanceljak during

the panel discussion held at this year’s Intelektiv - conference on intellectual property – organised by the American Chamber of Commerce.

Digital shopping growthDespite existing semi-solutions, it is an encouraging fact that last year the growth of digital shop-ping in Croatia rose 150% in relation to 2010. The collection of data on digital sales in Croatia started in 2009, when profit to-talled a symbolic €90,000. As Director of the Association of Protection, Collection and Dis-tribution of Phonogram Produc-ers’ Rights, Ivana Gustin pointed out digital sales figures remain very low and represent only one

fiftieth in relation to physical shopping.Faced with a high level of pi-racy and significantly decreased sales income from sound media due to the economic crisis, the Croatian music industry did not just sit with their hands folded. According to Nenad Marčec, Chief Director of the Croatian Composers’ Society, they tried several times to motivate iTunes and other digital services to enter the Croatian market. However, their costs of service localisa-tion and customer services are too high for such a small market as is the present degree of piracy and consumer habits. Therefore, they concluded they cannot jus-tify their entrance on the Croatian

market in economic terms. In the meantime, the music industry has digitalised most of its music content and there is a database of all recordings managed in the as-sociation of record labels, ready to be used. We realised the only solution is to do something on ourselves, because if we wait for foreign services, who knows how long it will take. We have already come a long way and we believe we will succeed in our plans, possibly even this year, reveals Nenad Marčec.The commercial model, on the basis of which music in Croatia will be offered in digital format, is still in the phase of elabora-tion. Notwithstanding, Marčec believes the prepayment model is currently that with the most potential; a model similar to that used by Spotify. According to this model, Croatian music fans will have access to a service that offers a complete global music repertoire, including local music, for a symbolic price of €2.70 a month.

Music in the cloudFor that sum, users will be able to listen to everything they want as well as download a certain number of songs to their compu-ter or mobile phone. However, if they wish to extract and copy them to a CD, for example for lis-tening in the car, they will have to pay a certain amount, similar to purchasing songs on iTunes for 99 cents. The music of this serv-ice will be available in the Cloud, and they will be able to access it from a computer in any loca-tion. In addition to the develop-ment of a local service, foreign services could also appear on the Croatian or regional market this year or next. If this happens, the Croatian music industry hopes to mark a new boom in 2013.

(one month access to the Croatian music service

around €2.70

iTunes start this year?to foreign music services, but Croatian customers cannot purchase it through the same service

Business & Finance We 3


(per tonne of washing powder packaging waste

€100 tipping fee (per tonne of milk packaging waste

€150 tipping fee

Andrea Šalinović

Eko-Ozra is an association consisting of 26 compa-nies within the beverage

industry and consumer goods selling around 70% of packaging on the Croatian market. The com-pany, whose Director is Dragica Bagarić, was founded in 2005 as an intermediary between produc-ers, who are obliged to manage packaging waste, and companies handling packaging collection and processing.

What are the fundamental weaknesses in the current waste management system? The current Packaging and Pack-aging Waste Ordinance has not solved the problem of compre-hensive packaging waste man-agement, having tackled the issue of merely 25%-30% of drink and beverage waste. €32.5 million is spent on this aspect, which is over 6 times more than the amount spent on other packaging waste management. Packaging waste is not treated in accordance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, but there are differences regard-ing packaging content. The Or-dinance has introduced three fee levels regarding disposable packaging, consequently creat-ing differences amongst varying types of packaging. If washing powder packaging is multilay-ered cardboard, the tipping fee is €100 per tonne. On the other hand, if it is milk packaging, the tipping fee is €150 per tonne; for juice packaging the tipping fee is €550 for companies in compliance with national annual standards on reusable packag-

ing, whilst the fee for those who do not comply is €1,475 and the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund incurs costs of €54 per collected tonne of such packaging.

Do you believe incentive com-pensation is unnecessary?Incentive compensation for drink and beverage producers currently stands at between €0.01 and €1.2, depending on volume and the packaging material. This compensation is unneces-sary, since the return of dis-posable pack-aging in Croatia is nearly 100% and all

collected packaging is delivered to manufacturers. According to the Ordinance, producers of juice, bottled water, wine and other alcoholic beverages must provide 25% of products in re-claimable packaging, unless they wish to pay the fee. The standards are high, yet the issue of reclaim-able packaging as more environ-

mentally friendly should be discussed.

Should busi-nessmen be in charge of waste management? How would a system oper-ate? What are your expec-tations from government?

We expect an equal a n d f a i r busi-ness r e -la -

tionship and the state to under-stand that businessmen should be in charge of waste management in a simple and transparent man-ner. The current waste manage-ment model needs to be amended and producers and exporters should be able to manage their packaging waste through a third party, the so called ‘recovery or-ganisations’. The system, which would be advantageous for in-dustry, is based on the principle of the return of sold packaging, which companies transfer to the third party. This organisation is accountable to the Ministry of Environmental Protection which issues a work permit in accord-ance with achieved results and its business plan. This system is transparent, since circulation of material and services is in ac-cordance with market principles and is in everyone’s interest, in-cluding eligible companies, to achieve national objectives in or-der to avoid paying further fees.

In your opinion, what amend-ments to the current system are urgent prior to Ordinance alterations?Mirela Holy, Minister of Envi-ronmental and Nature Protection, could currently introduce a single fee for multilayered cardboard packaging, irrespective of the recession. In addition, incentive compensation for drink and bev-erage producers whose product range does not include reusable packaging should be abolished; this would contribute signifi-cantly to creating fair compe-tition on the market. Thirdly,

dairy products should be ex-cluded from a deposit system.

DRAGICA BAGARIĆ, DIRECTOR EKO-OZRA

Businessmen in charge of packaging waste management€32.5 million spent on beverage packaging management which is six times more than that spent on other packaging waste management

www.privredni.hrBusiness & Finance Weekly 5Concession for Zagreb Airport

Croatian-French public-private partnershipFrench concessionaires anticipate co-operating not only with Croatian construction companies but also with banks and other investors, covering both the construction of a new terminal as well as sales and marketing

Drago Živković

In the summer of 2007, when former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and present Zagreb

City mayor Milan Bandić an-nounced a new passenger termi-nal for Zagreb Airport would be built by 2010, they indicated the state and city budgets as well as airport income as financial re-sources. The present financing model is a concession since the budget is empty. The concession-aire is the ZAIC consortium, con-sisting of the French construction giant Bouygues and Aeroports de Paris, the managing company of Paris airport. Viadukt is their local partner, and one of the ex-ecutors will also include Zagorje Tehnobeton. The price has how-ever increased by 10% to €236 million.According to the concession agreement, signed recently by the government, ZAIC will build a new terminal and manage the en-tire airport for the next 30 years.

However, it remains vague when the consortium will take over the current terminal.

Important platformDeputy Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Zdenko Antešić, who signed the agreement on behalf of the gov-ernment, stated the French would take over the terminal only after the construction of a new one, whereas consortium representa-tives claim to take over the exist-ing terminal as soon as the con-struction work on the new one

begins. Considering the consor-tium will immediately start pay-ing consortium fees, the conces-sionaires’ statement seems more logical. According to Antešić’s calculations, the state will collect €1.94 billion of consortium fees over the 30 years, but revalued as a one-off payment, this should actually be €540 million.Bouygues has thus expanded from Istria (where it is a motor-way concessionaire) to Zagreb, where they will be equally suc-cessful, Board President Yves Gabriel hopes. Croatia’s experi-

ence with Bouygues is positive, agreed Prime Minister, Zoran Milanović, who thinks it is nev-er too late for this type of large and important project. Board President of Aeroports de Paris, Pierre Graf, is convinced Zagreb Airport will become a very im-portant platform, not only for the region, but also for Europe as a whole, since the geographical position and existing potential allow it.Director of ZAIC, Cristophe Pet-it, announced that during the next six to nine months the financial construction would be finalised and technical documentation drawn up. They anticipate co-operating not only with Croatian construction companies, but also with banks and other investors, both in construction as well as sales and marketing. “I do not look at this as simply a public-private partnership, but also as long-term Croatian-French part-nership”, pointed out Petit.

Traffic jams are a daily prob-lem in a city like Zagreb, a problem Viktor Savčukov once experienced every day. Then he decided to design the ‘Zagreb Traffic Information’ applica-tion for smart phones, which has been available now for three months in the AppStore. Recently it has also become available on Android operating systems. When the application locates the vehicle, all major Zagreb routes become visible in different colours. Red routes indicate traffic jammed roads and green shows vehicles are

driving approximately 37 mph. In the case of two-way roads, it is possible to monitor vehicles heading in both directions.For now, there are five categories of speed, and the designer is con-sidering adding more in order to decrease the margin of error.

System update every 30 minutes It is possible the vehicle stops at a traffic light and the appli-cation automatically detects a lower speed and reports a traffic jam. Hence the reason why the system is updated every half an

hour in order to avoid false data. Only major roads are imported, excluding smaller streets that ac-tually cause traffic jams. “I use this application myself at least once a day. When I head out in the morning from my home, I al-ways check which route to use”, says Savčukov. He designed this application as a hobby, which is why he is delighted by the positive feedback from its users, whose number has now reached 10,000.Zagreb Traffic Information is dif-ferent from other applications by how it collects data. While others

are based on traffic surveillance cameras or calls from drivers, this uses the technology of the SkyTrack System, the leading Croatian satellite vehicle track-ing system in the region. The sys-tem is integrated into over 10,000 vehicles in the region. In addition to location, speed and direction, the system can also collect other information which is stored in the central base. Savčukov is also preparing a new version of the application, proposing the possibility of including other cit-ies, with Split as the first in line. (A.Š.)

ZAGREB TRAFFIC INFORMATION

Traffic in real timeAfter the application locates a vehicle on the map all major Zagreb routes become visible in different colours

also with


CROATIAN FOREIGN CURRENCY MARKET

Source: HNB WEEK APRIL 14, 2012

Currency Kuna exchange mid-rate

AUD 5,903129

CAD 5,711395

JPY 7,021196

CHF 6,220544

GBP 9,053133

USD 5,681868

EUR 7,473361

DTR lossDTR recorded a loss of some €0.78 million. Total revenue in 2011 was slightly below €1.2 million, whilst expenditure came in at €1.99 million. The highest expenditure was on gross sala-ries, as pointed out in the DTR audited unconsolidated financial report published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange website. The planned objective for 2012 is full employment, which will be im-plemented by providing new cus-tomers, both on the local and on the international market, as well as by further expansion of prod-uct range.

Increase in INA nett profitIna Group nett profit for 2011 was €0.24 billion, an increase of €114.6 million over the previous year. Greater profitability came primarily from its core activity, as well as to lower losses compared with 2010. Ina Group recorded a smaller financial loss (€23.75 million) over 2010, due to higher interest rates and exchange rate differences with the kuna weak-ening against the dollar through-out the year, according to the Zagreb Stock Exchange website.

Varteks revenue increase Varteks saw the end of 2011 with lower losses (€4.89 million) compared with 2010. The com-pany recorded a loss of around €8.09 million in 2011, whilst in 2010 its losses stood at €13 mil-lion. Total revenue in 2011 was €44.27 million, a 4.8% increase over the same period in 2010. Exports were €17.43 million, a rise of 6.2% up.

::: news

A ccording to the latest data provided by the Croatian National Bank (HNB),

bank lending stood at €39 billion at the end of February. Compared with the end of the previous year, the total increased by €0.4 bil-lion or 1.1%, and €2.5 billion or 6.9% year-on-year, where the an-nual growth rate does not deflect from last year’s rates. Year-on-year, credit growth was mainly as a result of corporate lending, which stood at €7.5 billion at the end February 20122, 9.4% more in relation to the same month last year. Public lending which showed a mild fall in February over January, increased by €0.3 billion or 2% year-on-year, reach-ing €17.2 billion. Housing loans formed the bulk (46.5%), reach-

ing almost €8 billion, increasing by 4.5% on an annualised basis. However, within the currency structure of public lending, half of the loans are in Euros and one quarter in Swiss Francs. Thus, annual growth of lending as ex-pressed in kuna is partly the result of it being 2.2% weaker than the Euro and 8.6% in relation to the Swiss Franc year-on-year.

Lending increase to the State

Lending to the State increased by €0.13 billion in February, reach-ing €5.2 billion, an increase of 10.4% over February 2011. This lending has increased by €0.3 bil-lion during the first two months of this year, playing a domi-nant rôle in total credit growth.

This year, RBA analysts antici-pate the relatively low annual credit growth rate will remain unchanged. They explain that personal lending is negatively af-fected by the relatively high av-

erage level of indebtedness and stagnating real income. Lending demand will still probably ex-ist with big companies, whereas the state demand for credit will depend on financing possibilities both on local and foreign capital markets. (V.A.)

CROATIAN NATIONAL BANK

Credit growth of 6.9% year-on-year mainly due to corporate lending of €5.2 billion

Lending reaches €39 billion

10.4. 11.4. 12.4. 13.4.

7.49

7.48

7.47

7.46

7.45

7.44

EUR 5.73

5.72

5.71

5.70

5.69

5.68

USD 6.24

6.23

6.22

6.21

6.20

6.19

CHF

10.4. 11.4. 12.4. 13.4. 10.4. 11.4. 12.4. 13.4.

Year-on-year, credit growth was mainly as a result of corporate lending

www.privredni.hrBusiness & Finance Weekly 7WE PRESENT

H erba laboratorij was founded in 2004 to pro-duce and sell dietary

supplements and special purpose cosmetics. Zdravka Lovrić, food technologist and biotechnology engineer, is the founder of this innovative family business. The main aim of the laboratory is the production of nutritional health supplements and to provide assist-ance to those interested in health improvement. The company has been co-operating with the Za-greb-based Faculty of Pharmacy

and Biochemistry, as the entire company product range comprises innovative and unique products.The company has been constant-ly developing products, as well as producing and introducing new products. Its first product Fig and Plum Syrup, a mild laxative, was followed by Fig and Senna Plant Syrup, a slightly stronger laxative. Sinekolin herbal drops are effective in relieving symp-toms and signs of urinary tract infection. Rogamil instant pow-der with banana is a delicious dietetic food to stop diarrhoea in infants and children, also avail-

able as Rogamil electrolyte, a re-cent product with twofold effects helping to restore electrolyte and fluid balance. Its additional ad-vantage is the fact that one of its ingredients is carob, which en-hances the recovery of mucous membrane in the intestines.

Production in compliance with HACCPIn addition to dietary supplements, the company also produces Aroma Reuma Gel and Aroma Melissa Gel, for rheumatic relief. There is also Phyto cream, a revitalising cream for face and body. The com-plete product range is produced in compliance with HACCP stand-ards. “The primary ingredients of our products are fruit and prod-ucts from the Mediterranean, as well as from continental Croatia, whilst all products contain plant-based ingredients. Our aim is to produce authentic Croatian prod-ucts. Herba laboratorij is a small family business focusing on the production of unique products to relieve health problems. “We have reintroduced carob in diarrhoea treatment, which was used prior to the discovery of antibiotics”, explained Zdravka Lovrić. Herba laboratorij products are sold in over 500 pharmacies and health shops throughout Croatia, in ad-dition to exports to Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bul-garia. (A.Š.)

HERBA LABORATORIJ, ZAGREB DUBROVNIK PARTNER, DUBROVNIK

Unique products to relieve health problems

Continuous product development and innovation

D ubrovnik has been a popular venue for vari-ous, conventions, con-

ferences and business gather-ings, as well as a favourite venue for incentive rewards, due to its well-developed infrastruc-ture and geographical position. There are many obstacles to organising such events “from a distance” and a reliable partner is an imperative, one with a deep knowledge of the local situation and contacts in important places to organise various events and focus on communication with the local media. The Dubrovnik-based company Dubrovnik Part-ner provides such services, as it primarily focuses on public relations and MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and ex-hibitions). The company has been acting as such between business partners, media, market competition, users, local public and the community for 10 years. It provides comprehensive serv-ices to clients from idea incep-tion to its finalisation, from the planning and strategic planning phases to project details and fi-nal evaluation of the direct posi-tive impact.

Wide experienceTilda Bogdanović, Director, has had a significant impact on agency operations, having organised international sport-

ing events, cultural festivals, concerts, exhibitions and pro-motions, political meetings, as well as commercial campaigns. “We contributed greatly to the organisation of an exhibition of works of art by Peter Carl Fab-erge from his jewellery store, named Treasures of the Rus-sian Empire. We have organised the Julian Rachlin & Friends Chamber Music Festival, which features some of the most fa-mous world-known musicians, for years”, she pointed out.Dubrovnik Partner is involved in PR activities and business co-operation plus managing mar-keting projects throughout the region. In addition to organisa-

tion and project management for other companies, Dubrovnik Partner has a range of projects which it has successfully devel-oped over the years, including the free Dubrovnik Town Map (now printed in over 200,000 copies) available from all tourist sights. Their Skycellar project is also showing success. This relates to a wine cellar within a cave, which may also be used for weddings and similar events. (A.Š.)

Marketing reliability The agency operates as an intermediary between business partners, media, market competitors, users, public and the community

Managing regional marketing projects

Mediterranean fruit dietary supplements


::: news

In the Maslinica Lagoon, former berth located in front of a castle and Martinis

Marchi Hotel, the newly-built marina started work in accord-ance with the plans of the County of Split and Dalmatia and the Municipality of Šolta. It concerns the investment by H. L. Dvorac. Co., that had previously reno-vated the Martinis Marchi Castle, and with an investment worth around €10 million, turned it into an hotel that has been operating successfully since its opening in 2007.

The new marina offers 50 berths, ten of which may be used by mega yachts (seven on the out-side of the mole, and three on the inside). The marina is al-most a ‘must stop’ for sailors heading out of the ACI Marina in Trogir and Marina Kaštela. Due to its excellent position, it operates as a transit ma-rina, with nothing preventing it from working all year round. Around €4 million was invested in the construction of the ma-rina with a waterfront, recep-tion building and accompanying

services. The plan for this sea-son is to reach 25,000 overnight stays, which is the same number of tourists who will visit Maslini-ca, as a result of the new marina. The marina and hotel are both managed by H. L. Dvorac, owned by a German entrepre-neur Hartmut Ladermacher, de-signer of many mobile phone applications. Company director, Peter Pamin, proudly points out they hired local businessmen for planning and work execution, using almost exclusively local materials. (J.V.)

NEW MARINA AND MARTINIS MARCHI HOTEL ON ŠOLTA

The first cruiser arrival in the Osijek-based port Galija has marked the official start of the cruising season in Osijek. Ac-cording to Ante Šimić, Osijek Harbour Board Managing Di-rector, around 15 similar river cruisers are expected to arrive during the current season. Osi-jek tourism operators are satis-fied, irrespective of their small share of river cruisers (from a total of around 500 similar ves-sels) in the Croatian part of the Danube river basin. Around 150 tourists (Ameri-cans, Canadians, Australians and British) have visited Osijek on the Dutch cruiser Avalon Im-agery, cruising from Amsterdam

to Romania. They visited the old town fortress and spent the remainder of the day in Baran-ja. They completed their visit to Croatia by visiting Vukovar from whence they proceeded to Novi Sad and Belgrade. River cruisers are becoming increas-ingly popular on European rivers and canals, particularly amongst the American ‘golden generation’ who are able to af-

ford a multi-day cruise costing between $3,000 and $7,000. Tour operators have been increas-ingly optimistic about the grow-ing number of tourists on cruisers since the opening of the €0.13 million port in 2009. In 2009, they optimistically announced an anticipated figure of 20,000 tour-ists and 150 cruisers in Osijek for 2012, which has unfortunately proved unfounded. (S.S.)

River tourism has unexplored potential

Start of cruising season in Osijek

€14 million investment

Global Finance: Zagrebačka Bank the best in CroatiaThe monthly financial magazine Global Finance has published a list of the Best Emerging Mar-ket Banks 2012 in Central and Eastern Europe, as a result of an exclusive survey. According to the list, which covers banks from 22 countries, Zagrebačka Bank has been named the best bank in Croatia. The winners were se-lected in accordance with several criteria including asset growth, profitability, long-term strategic relationships with clients, cus-tomer service quality, competi-tive pricing and product innova-tion.

Hidroelektra niskogradnja higher revenueAccording to audited financial reports, the Hidroelektra ni-skogradnja nett profit in 2011 stood at €135,000, 57% down compared with 2010, as pub-lished on the Zagreb Stock Ex-change website. Total revenue came in slightly above €88 mil-lion, up 10% over the same pe-riod previous year. Short-term li-

abilities as at 31st December 2011 stood at nearly €42 million, of which €27.6 million were short-term liabilities towards suppliers, and €4.8 million liabilities for advance payments received from investors.

Dioki shares soldDioki has sold 6,000 shares, (0.1484 of total equity), between 5th and 12th April in an extraju-dicial settlement, in accordance with the directive of Raiffeisen-bank Austria, the claimant. The shares, as a secured claim, had been pledged to settle liabilities of the claimant. Following this, Dioki currently has 223,683 shares, 5.5339% of company eq-uity capital, according to the Za-greb Stock Exchange report.

PV International 0195

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