The continental Croatian city of Bjelovar is fast becoming a shining example of just what can be done with a little willpower and genuine desire for forward momentum, and other Croatian cities are following in its footsteps.
As Novac/Gradonacelnik.hr writes on the 19th of February, 2020, last year, 15,445 new companies were opened in the Republic of Croatia, 1178 more than were opened back in 2018. However, 10,814 enterprises were closed or deleted from court registers, 623 more than one year earlier.
This is evidenced by data from the Ministry of Justice confirming the growth of entrepreneurship in Croatia, which shows that over 43,000 new companies were opened in the last two years and just over 33,000 have been closed.
Although people are still facing a number of draconian administrative hurdles, Croatian entrepreneurs freely admit to feeling somewhat relieved when it comes to doing business. This reaction from a large number of entrepreneurs, who are optimistic for various reasons, from rising revenues to new employment and new investments, is encouraging more and more people to dip their own toes into the waters entrepreneurship.
In addition, with the increasing number of incentives through EU funds, there is also an increase in self-employment incentives from the state. According to the Croatian Employment Service, 8723 unemployed people started their own jobs last year and were paid 446.3 million kuna, almost four times more than back in 2017.
Those who start a more serious business can also find tax help and relief from the city authorities as well as from the state, through exemptions from various benefits that have been abolished in some cities, or through direct and indirect incentives. As always, Novac analysed data on the number of opened companies with a focus on Croatian cities, that is, the offices of the commercial courts where the companies were founded.
Figures say that five out of nine commercial courts have seen an increase in the number of companies opened, while the absolute biggest boom in entrepreneurship is taking place in Bjelovar. In absolute terms, in addition to Zagreb, with 7334 new companies registered, most new companies were founded in Split – numbering 1504.
BJELOVAR
”Every move we make has a thought process behind it and has an aim”
Last year, 654 new companies were registered with the Commercial Court in Bjelovar, which is 273 or 71.65 percent more than a year earlier, and as much as 93.49 percent more than back in 2017, when Dario Hrebak took over the management of the city and started a series of activities and measures to encourage entrepreneurship in this city. These positive trends are even more apparent when comparing the number of open and closed companies in the Bjelovar area – in 2017, 181 more companies were closed/deleted in the Commercial Court there. In 2018, 88 more companies were closed than were opened, only for 2019 to end with as many as 188 more companies opened than closed, which equals positive growth of as much as 313.64 percent and at the same time the highest growth recorded in all of Croatia last year. In those three years, from 2017 to the end of 2019, a total of 369 more companies were opened than closed at Bjelovar’s Commercial Court.
One of Hrebak’s first measures was the introduction of a tax free model with maximum flexibility and a more proactive approach to investors, especially those in the IT industry. In the past year alone, they have halved the surtax (from 12 percent down to 6 percent), thus freeing citizens and entrepreneurs of about five million kuna a year.
“Everything we’ve been doing throughout these two and a half years since I became mayor has a meaning, every move is thoughtful and has an ultimate goal – to make Bjelovar a modern, transparent city where the city is a service to the citizens, creating an entrepreneurial atmosphere in which we send a message that our entrepreneurs are our friends, in which your kuna is worth more than anywhere else in Croatia. We want to show that one can succeed if one thinks of the common good rather than the individual good. The real indicators of this kind of work that I expect will be seen in a few years. The point is that we’ve shown that this outdated model of public resource management can be changed and that its redesign is quite possible,” Hrebak pointed out.
ZADAR
”Today, we’re a city of dynamic and agile entrepreneurship”
After Bjelovar, the largest increase in the number of companies opened was recorded by the commercial courts in Osijek and Zadar, which also mark the biggest positive trend when looking at the ratio of opened and closed companies in the last three years. In 2017, 13 more companies opened in the Zadar area than closed, in 2018, this number rose up to 178, and last year to 331, marking an increase of as much as 24.46 percent when compared to 2017!
Zadar Mayor Branko Dukic pointed out that this is the fourth consecutive year in which all economic indicators in the City of Zadar have been continuously and significantly growing, meaning that today, Zadar is a city of dynamic and agile enterprise. The additional spring in their step the City of Zadar gives provides to its entrepreneurs takes the form of a number of measures, and last year they redecorated and equipped an entrepreneurial incubator, renovated a coworking space, some IT classrooms and conference rooms, a 3D laboratory, photovoltaic power plants, various pieces of IK equipment and software, as well as a lounge bar for users, meeting rooms… A further 22 million kuna in EU funding has been provided for a new specialised incubator for high value-added sectors, which would provide services and support to startups and SMEs engaged in developing innovative products and accessing knowledge and innovation-based entrepreneurship.
Woth the use of EU funds, the City of Zadar, in partnership with the Chamber of Trades and Crafts, created COIN Zadar with 5.1 million kuna. This first instigator of the coworking scene in Zadar has made it much easier to start your own business, especially in the independent activities of various ICT related professions. In cooperation with the University of Zadar, they invested around 320,000 kuna with funds from the Cross-border Cooperation project in the design and fitting-out of the Code Hub space, intended for students, IT entrepreneurs and other target groups.
PAZIN
”SMEs are pulling ahead”
Positive trends are also occurring in the areas of Zagreb and Istria. The Commercial Court in Pazin saw 1193 new businesses opened last year, 38 more than a year earlier, and when compared to 2017, 268 more companies were opened in the Istrian region than were closed. Pazin Mayor Renato Krulcic pointed out that Pazin’s local economy has been recording a trend in which the number of entrepreneurs and employees has increased for several years, primarily due to the diligent and dynamic small and medium-sized entrepreneurship and craftsmanship in the area.
”The City of Pazin is seeking to contribute systematically to the positive entrepreneurial climate through the Entrepreneurship Incentive Programme, which aims to support existing entrepreneurs and increase the promotion of entrepreneurship in society.
In addition, last year we opened a new business incubator called PazinUP, which, among all of its facilities, seeks to ensure the improvement of business services and infrastructure for the establishment and expansion of businesses and enable easier access to information and knowledge about high-quality business services,” emphasised Krulcic.
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