September the 8th, 2026 – An Osijek company is set to develop unmanned systems in Vukovar and more as part of a five million euro project.
A new production facility is being built in the Vukovar Business Zone by the Osijek-based company GAUSS d.o.o., which focuses on the development of digital and high-tech solutions. Poslovni reports that last week, representatives of the investors, together with Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Ivan Penava, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries David Vlajčić, and State Secretary Dario Tišov, toured the investment worth slightly less than five million euros.
The new facility is expected to start operating during the second quarter of next year. It will develop and produce unmanned systems using artificial intelligence, smart software and other advanced tech. Hrvoje Sagrak, Director of Business Development and Sales at the Osijek company, emphasised that coming to Vukovar is an opportunity to transfer the experience gained through cooperation with international partners, especially in the United Arab Emirates.
“It is truly a great honour for us to be here in Vukovar because we have a unique opportunity to transfer the business experience and know-how that we have acquired through cooperation with partners abroad, primarily in the United Arab Emirates, to Croatia. Right here we want to build a point that will be a centre of excellence and a centre of knowledge about high technologies,” said Sagrak.
ai, unmanned systems and more
The future facility will not deal only with the production of aircraft. It will develop systems that include smart software, artificial intelligence and other devices, and the applications could range from surveillance and protection to fire prevention, protection of critical infrastructure and border monitoring. Special emphasis will be placed on the rapid development of new products and turning ideas into prototypes. Industry 4.0 technologies and 3D printers will be used so that new solutions can be designed, tested and verified more quickly and cheaply.
In the initial phase, around ten experts with multidisciplinary knowledge in electrical engineering and other modern fields are expected to work at the facility. “It isn’t about the number of employees itself, but about what will be developed through such a venture and spread throughout the entire ecosystem,” Sagrak said, adding that the facility has the possibility of further expansion.
the future has (finally) arrived in vukovar, a town scarred by the past
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister David Vlajčić recalled that the story of this investment has been ongoing since the time when he was assistant director of the Vukovar Business Zone. “The investor then took a plot and began developing something that combines hardware and software, i.e. solutions that we do not have in Croatia today. Such investments require a trained workforce, but at the same time they open up the potential for smart technologies from all over the world to come right here, to Croatia and Vukovar, and for us to have something special on the territory of the European Union,” said Vlajčić.
The importance of the investment was also highlighted by Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Ivan Penava, who believes that the project places Vukovar alongside modern technological environments. “The future has arrived in Vukovar,” Penava said, emphasising that artificial intelligence, 3D printers and unmanned aerial vehicles represent high-tech industry, and by connecting them integrated production is created.
“When we talk about artificial intelligence, 3D printers or unmanned aerial vehicles, each of these technologies on its own already represents high-tech industry. However, here we’re talking about integrated production and connecting all of that through one product. All of this has today, on a symbolic level, arrived in Vukovar,” said Penava. He added that talks with the investors lasted about two years and emphasised that their arrival is important because, despite economic logic, they are choosing Croatia and Vukovar also because of their connection with this area.
The investment worth slightly less than five million euros represents a new step in the development of the Vukovar Business Zone, as well as in the effort to position Vukovar as a place for the development and production of advanced technological solutions for the domestic and global market.
