ZAGREB, June 15, 2018 – More than a hundred Croatian and Russian business people met at a business forum in Kaliningrad, held as part of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce’s (HGK) initiative “Sport connects businesses”, HGK officials said on Friday, announcing closer economic cooperation between Croatia and Russia.
Opening the forum, HGK president Luka Burilović said that the two countries would step up their cooperation and that cooperation with individual Russian regions would be strengthened as well. “Given the size of the Russian market and concentration of trade in centres like Moscow and St Petersburg, our companies have to turn to stronger cooperation with individual regions that have a lot to offer,” Burilović said, adding that the “Sport connects businesses” campaign was paving the way to making use of that regional potential.
Kaliningrad Oblast Vice Governor Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov expressed hope that Croatia and Russia would play in the FIFA World Cup finals and wished the Croatian team luck. He said that he saw huge potential for economic cooperation with Croatia and that he was confident Croatia would become an even more attractive tourist destination for Russian tourists.
Kaliningrad Oblast has an excellent geographic position and transport infrastructure, he said, adding that the region was a hub for import and export to the EU.
Croatia’s honorary consul and honorary HGK representative in the Russian Federation Stefano Vlahović expressed satisfaction that the forum was coinciding with the FIFA World Cup, noting that sport, tourism and business went hand in hand.
The head of the Kaliningrad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Feliks Lapin recalled that a month ago the HGK and the Kaliningrad Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed an agreement on cooperation.
Croatia will play its first match at the World Cup against Nigeria on Saturday in Kaliningrad.
