As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of February, 2020, the measures for Croatian self-employment support are experiencing a real boom with more and more people making use of them, according to Martina Gelencir for srednja.hr.
In the last three years, as many as 18,791 beneficiaries have been included in this active employment policy measure. The new year also brought with it some news related to Croatian self-employment support – a larger amount of funds that beneficiaries can receive in less developed areas of Croatia.
Croatian self-employment grants are state aid granted to unemployed persons who decide to start their own business and are registered with the CES. As of 2020, some good news awaits users.
Greater subsidies for those living in underdeveloped areas
”In 2020, greater financial support is being provided for persons wanting to become self employed in less developed areas, thereby affecting the economic development and demographic picture of those areas. Specifically, the amount of Croatian self-employment support is determined by the area in which the person resides and opens a business entity,”
The condition is that for at least 12 months before applying for Croatian self-employment funding, the person must have resided in the area, except in the cases of Index VII and VIII where the above condition doesn’t apply. According to the Decision on the classification of local and regional self-government units, and according to the level of development, Croatian self-employment grants are divided into three groups, namely: the first group for municipalities and cities from I to IV; second group V to VI; third group VII to VIII, as was explained from the Croatian Employment Service.
Thus, beneficiaries living in the least developed areas (Grades I to IV) will receive a subsidy of up to 100,000 kuna, or 110,000 kuna if on-the-job training is combined. Beneficiaries in other groups with grades V through VI can receive a subsidy of 85,000 kuna, or up to 95,000 if combined with on-the-job training. The latter, which are the third group of people who live in the most developed areas (Grades VII and VIII), can receive a subsidy of up to 75,000 kuna or up to 85,000 kuna if combined with on-the-job training.
The number of newly enrolled users of Croatian self-employment support is skyrocketing
The main target group for the use of the measure of Croatian self-employment support are unemployed persons registered with the CES, who have carried out all the activities available in the competent regional office (individual counselling, self-employment workshops) in cooperation with the self-employment counsellor in accordance with the dynamics of developing their entrepreneurial idea.
The second target group is Croatian returnees from EU countries with regulated residence, and the condition that a person must have been resident in the area for at least 12 months does not apply in this case.
It is a measure that, according to the CES, is being used by more and more people. Back in 2017, there were 3,583 newcomers to the measure, with 8,723 new users last year. In 2017, a total of 5,824 people benefited from the Croatian self-employment support measures, which is up from 15,069 last year.
According to what the CES has said to srednja.hr, in the past few years, Croatian self-employment grants were most often awarded to businesses in the field of specialised construction, personal services, professional, scientific and technical activities, and in computer programming, consulting and other related activities.
Most continue with their work even after the measure expires
In addition to the increase in the number of beneficiaries of the measure, the good news is that the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries who have received support continue to operate after the first year of operation, ie after the measure expires for them.
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