The town in northern Croatia has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.
Ludbreg in Varaždin County has been experiencing an economic boom in recent years. Data show that this year the unemployment rate in the town is 20 percent lower than in 2015, while employment is constantly growing. Out of 9,000 inhabitants, Ludbreg has just 300 unemployed. Of course, not all employees in the town are locals, because last year there was a need to “import” workers from other areas of Croatia, reports Poslovni.hr on September 6, 2016.
The effects of the great economic boom can be seen in the town budget which amounts this year to 55 million kuna and is the largest in the history of this town. Moreover, according to Mayor Dubravko Bilić, budget revenues this year are higher than planed and about 20 percent higher than last year. “I am happy that we have achieved revenue growth for the town despite the tax reform that a few years ago took 10-11 percent of our revenues”, said Bilić. The Mayor is proud that as much as 71 percent of employees in Ludbreg work in manufacturing industry, mainly small and medium-sized businesses, while agriculture and small farms are also slowly recovering.
The north-western part of Croatia is known for its high employment rate, but unfortunately also for the lowest wages in the country. However, Ludbreg is exception since salaries paid by local entrepreneurs are 171 kuna higher than the average of Varaždin County. “The average net salary in Ludbreg last year was 3,995 kuna, which is higher than the county average of 3,824 kuna, but still much lower than the national average of 4,878 kuna”, said Bilić. He added that the wage growth was achieved in agreement with entrepreneurs who are interested in having satisfied and motivated workers.
“Ludbreg last year registered its trade zone which is filled more than 70 percent, which puts it among more successful zones in Croatia. We expect that by the end of the year we will fill it completely, which will bring the quantitative increase in the number of entrepreneurs in the town”, said Bilić.
The town has prepared projects for EU funds in the value of 13.6 million euros, out of which projects worth 10 million euros have been approved.
