November 6, 2023 – If you were to ask someone about what Vukovar and Sveta Nedelja have in common, perhaps one of the least expected answers would be that they are among the most successful business cities in Croatia. Surprise, but not a mistake – statistically speaking, those two places are a paradise for entrepreneurs, at least according to the ratio of the number of inhabitants and the total income that entrepreneurs achieved in 2022.
According to the data recently published by Fina, writes Poslovni/Večernji with the results of business operations of entrepreneurs in the 10 largest Croatian cities, Zagreb took the first place, which is hardly a surprise. It is Croatia’s capital and a city with by far the highest number of inhabitants, so it is no wonder that it is also where the largest concentration of jobs is located. Entrepreneurs in the metropolis achieved revenues of HRK 535.7 billion last year.
However, what many would not have thought of is that last year the “silver medal” in the category of total income of entrepreneurs was taken by none other than Vukovar, where entrepreneurial earnings amounted to HRK 37.8 billion. This is all the more surprising as the city is only in 24th place when it comes to the number of inhabitants. Fina’s list then continues in a somewhat more predictable tone, so in terms of income it reads as follows: Split (31.8), Rijeka (28.4) and Osijek (20.8) in third, fourth and fifth place respectively, when the number of inhabitants is also taken into consideration.
Varaždin follows with HRK 19 billion in earnings, which we could say has achieved better results than expected because it is in 6th place in terms of money inflow to the private sector, while it is in 10th position in terms of population. Then follows Velika Gorica, which is seventh in terms of income (18.5) and sixth in terms of population, followed by the aforementioned Sveta Nedelja. The city with an officially registered population of only 18,000, which places it in the 30th position in Croatia, earned HRK 17 billion from entrepreneurs last year, placing it in 8th place in that category. Among the last, Zadar comes with 12.3 billion kuna profit and Čakovec with 10.4 billion kuna.
When the data is presented like this, it is clear why Vukovar and Sveta Nedelja share the first place – because Vukovar is 2nd in terms of income and only 24th in terms of population (24-2=22), and Sveta Nedelja is 8th in terms of earnings and 30th in terms of number of inhabitants (30-8=22).
Many will think that Sveta Nedelja owes its position to Mate Rimac, who built a campus there worth 200 million euros. The employees should move in during the first days of next year, but although it is undoubted that Rimac helped the city a lot, he is not the most important player – according to the figures, the strongest company of Sveta Nedelja is Medical Intertrade. In Vukovar, the first spot is held by Pave Vujnovac’s Prvo Plinarsko Društvo (gas company). If it were not for the PPD, the city on the Danube would hardly have made it to the list of the most successful business cities in Croatia.
