A large German car manufacturer wanted to open a factory in Eastern Europe, Croatia did not even try to get the investment.
It is a well-known fact that investors, both small and large, avoid coming to Croatia due to its high taxes and disastrously inefficient administrative system. And today we have received additional confirmation of Croatia’s indolence, reports Index.hr on February 27, 2018.
Mate Rimac, the founder of Rimac Automobili, one of few Croatian companies which are able to compete in the global markets, wrote a post on his Facebook profile in which he said that a large German car company had chosen Serbia as the location for its future electric car parts factory.
There were 15 countries which had competed to get the investment, and Croatia was not even among those 15. Rimac wrote that he was sorry he did not know sooner about the Germans’ plans because he would try to influence their decision and to persuade them to come to Croatia. However, he adds that it would be a waste of time, given the experience he and investors have with doing business in Croatia.
“I was present yesterday at a gathering of a managerial team of a large German car company (its revenues are almost at the level of the Croatian GDP). They were looking for a location for the construction of a manufacturing plant for electrical drive systems in Eastern Europe. There were 15 countries which had competed for the job, and Serbia and Macedonia were the two finalists. Croatia was not even among the 15 candidates. In the end, they have chosen Serbia, where they will produce hundreds of thousands of power drive systems for electric cars – systems that will drive many of the European premium cars. Also, due to the active approach of the Serbian government, they have agreed on another major project. I am sorry I did not know about this before because I would have advocated for Croatia to be considered. But, maybe it is better this way – it would probably be a total waste of time, just like it was when I tried to do the same before,” wrote Rimac.
Translated from Index.hr.
