Croatia

Kaiser Apologizes for the Chaos at the Border

Governor Peter Kaiser apologized today to all people who got stuck at the borders to Austria on Saturday evening. He says that this situation should never happen again and claims that communication problems between the federal and the state government led to the chaos.

August 24, 2020

Mandatory Quarantine for Austrians in UK & Norway

The United Kingdom and Norway introduced a travel warning for Austria which leads to a mandatory quarantine for people coming from Austria. Both countries are thus reacting on the highly increasing numbers of infections in Austria.

August 21, 2020

New Timetable for European Capitals of Culture

The Covid-19 pandemic also affects the timetable for the European Capitals of Culture. Postponements and extensions are made in order to guarantee proper planning for the selected cities. In 2024, Austria should be hosting another Capital of Culture in Bad Ischl.

August 19, 2020

Austria Introduces Travel Warning for Croatia

On 17 August 2020, the Austrian Government introduced a travel warning for Croatia as the COVID-19 cases among the returning Austrian Citizen are constantly rising. From today on, they are required to provide a valid PCR-Test which should not be older than 72h to cross the border to Austria.

August 17, 2020

Croatia Welcomes Announcement of the Opening of the Austrian Border

After heavy criticism from Croatia, and after Austria was accused of sabotaging the tourist season in Croatia, the Croats now welcome the imminent opening of the border.

June 9, 2020

Opening of Borders between Austria and Italy from 16 June

As of next Tuesday, complete freedom of movement will once again apply at the Austrian-Italian border. The decision will be officially announced on Wednesday.

June 9, 2020

Austria: No more Border Controls with Neighbouring Countries except Italy

Restrictions on freedom of travel due to the Corona pandemic will be discontinued. The only country for which restrictions remain in place for the time being is Italy. A further evaluation is planned next week.

June 3, 2020

Croatia to Open Its Borders for Austrians

As of 29 May Croatia will open its borders for Austrian, Slovak, Czech and Hungarian citizens, Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said in a statement. Additionally, the Croatian Ministry of Interior Affairs gave detailed information on requirements for entry in Croatia.

May 22, 2020

Vienna Welcomes New Ambassadors from Japan, Croatia, El Salvador, Somalia, Andorra and Nicaragua

Last week Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen welcomed the six newly accredited Ambassadors of Japan, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of El Salvador, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Principality of Andorra and the Republic of Nicaragua to Austria to the Presidential Chancellery of the Vienna Imperial Palace for the presentation of their letters of accreditation.

January 20, 2020

Meet the New Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Mr. Daniel Glunčić

The new Ambassador of the Republic of Croatiato Austria, H.E. Mr. Daniel Glunčić presented Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen with his letter of accreditation at the Vienna Hofburg.

January 19, 2020

New Croatian Foreign Minister in Vienna

The visit of the new Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić-Radman, to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna focused on the forthcoming EU Presidency, which Croatia will assume for the first time on 1 January 2020, as well as the possible start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

September 13, 2019

Western Balkans: Meeting of Austria with the Heads of State of Croatia and Slovenia

Traditional meeting of the presidents of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Slovenia, Borut Pahor, and Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in the Croatian coastal town of Šibenik. The objective was more common EU foreign policy.

September 5, 2019

Telekom Austria Prepares Expansion in the Western Balkans

Telekom Austria is strategically strengthening its search for takeover targets and has made EUR 1 billion available in the war chest. CEO Alejandro Plater has announced his intention to expand again in the Western Balkans (Serbia, Croatia and other countries of former Yugoslavia).

April 11, 2018

RBI Doubles Net Profit, Pays Dividends Again and Returns to Growth Course

RBI - Raiffeisen Bank International has doubled its profit in 2017 and rewards shareholders. They have not received any dividends since 2013. The bank had to pursue a sharp austerity course, reduce international business volumes, close branches in Eastern Europe and stop dividend payments. Russia remains the most important source of income.

March 15, 2018

Historical Connection Between Klosterneuburg Monastery and Croatia

The Croatian ambassador in Austria, DDr. Vesna Cvjetković, visited the monastery Klosterneuburg, where the close historical ties became visible.

February 15, 2018

Western Balkans Summit was Held in Paris

Following the 2014 Western Balkans Summit in Berlin and the Vienna Western Balkans Summit of August 2015, the third Western Balkans Summit was held in Paris in the context of the ‘Berlin Process’. More than 500,000 of the people with migration background who live in Austria are from the region. Austrian companies have hundreds of branches or subsidiaries in the Western Balkans, which clearly illustrates the very close economic relations.

July 8, 2016

Western Balkans Countries Discussed Investment, Jobs and Integration in Vienna

The World Bank and the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) held a high-level policy dialogue on ‘Investment, Jobs and Integration’ last week. Ministers and senior officials from the Western Balkans region as well as policy experts from international organisations and the business community gathered to discuss the challenges the region is currently facing, in particular the high unemployment rate, low international competitiveness, and lack of modern infrastructure.

July 8, 2016

Closing of Visa Takeover Brings EUR 97 Million Pre-Tax Profit to RBI

The expected pretax profit from the cash payment of the transaction will be EUR 97 million. It should be booked under net income from financial investments in the second quarter of 2016. Visa Inc. had announced the takeover of Visa Europe Ltd. in November of 2015. The cash payment of this one-off effect will be split between Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, the RBI head office, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Zuno.

June 21, 2016

Long-Distance Coach Operator Flixbus to Compete with ÖBB Austrian Railways

Austrian state-run rail company ÖBB Austrian Railways is facing increasing competition of German mobility provider Flixbus which has just launched its third connection for Austria's regional capital cities, between Graz and Salzburg. In January 2016 FlixBus announced its entry to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe with the new branch FlixBus CEE. This includes six countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Croatia) with new lines in the making. () am

April 27, 2016

The Western Balkans Conference Which Led to Row Over Worsening Refugee Crisis

Convened on the initiative of Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and Austrian Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the Western Balkans conference “Managing Migration Together” was held at the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Vienna. 18 foreign and interior ministers from the Western Balkans attended the conference. The participants included the foreign and interior ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

February 26, 2016

Central and Eastern Europe's Financial Elite Gathered at the CEE Forum in Vienna

The 21st Euromoney Central and Eastern European Forum ended in Vienna today, where 1000 delegates from the region joined local and international investors to help plan, debate and analyze the economic agenda for the region for the year ahead. The vast majority of the delegates have a negative outlook for the year 2016. Only one of the participants expects that this year CEE will grow more than 3.5%.

January 20, 2016

Strabag Builds Hydroelectric Power Plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina Worth € 57 Million

A consortium consisting of Austrian construction group Strabag and Croatian industrial company Končar has been awarded the contract to build the Vranduk power plant on the river Bosna on behalf of energy supply company JP Elektroprivreda BiH.

January 11, 2016

Report: Drug Money and Opiate Trafficking on the Balkan Route

A report recently launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that the total value of illicit heroin and opium trafficked from Afghanistan to Western Europe through the Balkans amounts to some $28 billion every year. Sixty-five per cent of this total ($18 billion) is generated in Western and Central Europe.

December 14, 2015

CEE in the Autumn of 2015 is the New Safe Haven

The key conclusion of UniCredit’s CEE Quarterly 4Q 2015 is that the CEE region, despite its heterogeneity, looks better positioned than most other large emerging markets to cope with potential challenges. In particular they found that market volatility spiked in 3Q15, with the uncertainty surrounding the anticipated Fed rate hike augmented by growing worries about a “hard landing” in China.

September 25, 2015

Erste Group Presents Net Profit of EUR 487.2 Million in H1 15

Erste Group closed the first half of 2015 with positive results, reflected in strong improvements in profitability, asset quality, lending and capital. The group reported a net profit of EUR 487.2 million in H1 2015, compared to a negative result of EUR -929.7 million in the similar period last year; all countries except Hungary made a positive contribution to this development. Total assets increased to EUR 197.5 billion, compared to EUR 196.3 billion at the end of 2014. This balance sheet growth reflects a 2.2% advance in net lending to customers compared to the end of 2014, to EUR 123.5 billion, supported by the 1.7% growth in loans to households, 2.0% to SMEs and 5.9% to large corporates.

August 7, 2015

Euromoney Names UniCredit-Bank Best Bank in CEE

Euromoney has presented UniCredit with nine awards for excellence, including Best Bank in Central Eastern Europe, Best Debt House in Central Eastern Europe and Best Transaction Services House in Central Eastern Europe.

July 14, 2015

EBRD Sees Mixed Outlook for CESEE Countries in 2015-16

The outlook for economies in central and south eastern Europe is improving on the back of eurozone monetary easing but prospects further to the east of the transition region have worsened, as the impact of Russia’s recession intensifies.

May 14, 2015

VSE and Zagreb Stock Exchange to Cooperate in Data Vending

The Zagreb Stock Exchange signed a cooperation agreement with the Vienna Stock Exchange for data vending. With this step, the Vienna Stock Exchange has enlarged its Central and Eastern Europe data vending network.

November 24, 2014

Voestalpine to Supply Linepipe Plates for the Second South Stream Pipeline

This year sees the voestalpine Group securing its third major contract in the pipeline business. Following the first, now completed, contract for the Russian-European pipeline project South Stream, and for Rota 3, a pipeline project in Brazil, voestalpine will deliver 120,000 tons of sour-gas-resistant, high-strength linepipe plates for the second South Stream pipeline by spring 2015. The South Stream contract is not affected by sanctions. Further negotiations are also currently underway concerning extremely challenging pipeline projects.

September 5, 2014

Mid Europa Partners' New Fund to Invest EUR 800 Mln in CEE

Mid Europa Partners, the British private equity firm focused on buyouts in Central & Eastern Europe, announced the final closing of Mid Europa Fund IV at €800 million, complemented by an additional pre-allocated co-investment program of €650 million. Fund IV represents the largest dedicated fund to the CEE Region raised in the last 5 years.

September 5, 2014

Transport & Logistics - DB Schenker Opens New Logistics Center in Belgrade

DB Schenker will be moving into a new logistics center near Belgrade/Serbia at the beginning of 2015. The center will offer customers the technology for specialized logistics solutions.

August 29, 2014

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird Visits Austria and The Balkans

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that he will visit Croatia, Serbia and Albania. The visit to the Balkans comes after Baird spoke about Ukraine and other global security issues at a high-level forum in Salzburg, organized by the International Peace Institute and the Salzburg Global Seminar.

August 27, 2014

Cost of Living Rankings: CEE Capitals Cheaper, Vienna is 32nd Most Expensive City

The Mercer's 2014 Cost of Living Rankings have been published and cover 211 cities across five continents. While Western European cities have all risen in the rankings mainly due to the strengthening of the Euro against the US dollar, most cities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), however have fallen in the ranking as a result of local currencies depreciating against the US dollar. Bratislava (#84), Prague (#92), Kiev (#98), Ljubljana (#116), Zagreb (#120), Budapest (#135), Warsaw (#142), Belgrade (#184).

July 25, 2014

Analysis: The South Stream Gas Pipeline

Due to the signing of the South Stream agreement between OMV and Gazprom for the Austrian part of the pipeline during Putin's visit to Vienna, we take a look at the background of the project.

June 25, 2014

CEE-Initiative: Strengthening Investment Fund Business in Central- and Eastern Europe (CEE)

The Hungarian association BAMOSZ and the Austrian association VÖIG initiated a closer collaboration and tighter co-operation between fund associations in CEE, the so-called „CEE Initiative“. The member associations of the „CEE Initiative“ are (in alphabetical order): Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

June 16, 2014

Austria's Foreign Policy on the Western Balkans

Due to centuries of political, cultural and economic interrelations, Austrian foreign policy has always attached particular importance to the Balkans. The prime goal of Austrian foreign policy is to support the transformation of the Western Balkans into a zone of stability.

June 4, 2014

Austria: Western Balkans Representatives are Meeting in Vienna

The Western Balkans Conference and the Central European Initiative (CEI) Ministerial Meeting are currently discussing questions regarding the EU enlargement, the role of the EU as a peace project and the economic situation in the Western Balkans.

June 3, 2014

Croatia: Adris Grupa to Bid for Insurer Croatia Osiguranje

The Croatian financial regulator HANFA has approved Adris Grupa, the largest tobacco company on the Balkans, placing its bid to take over insurance company Croatia Osiguranje.

May 12, 2014

Croatian Brodosplit Landed Important Contract

The Croatian ship manufacturing company Brodosplit has signed a contract with Germany’s Kranunion.

May 12, 2014

World Bank Approves Health Loan to Croatia

The Croatian government will use the World Bank’s funds for a national health program.

May 9, 2014

Telekom Austria: Considerable Losses in Croatia

Telekom Austria’s Croatian affiliate Vipnet saw a sharp decline in profits.

May 9, 2014

German Retailer Metro Faces Massive Losses in CEE

Sales in CEE declined 14.8 percent last year for German retail and wholesale enterprise Metro Group.

May 9, 2014

Croatia to Place New Eurobond by June

The Croatian government plans to issue a Eurobond until the beginning of June.

May 9, 2014

Austria DIY Chain BauMax Avoided Insolvency

Austrian leading DIY chain bauMax announced cost saving programs as part of its restructuring measures in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. BauMax intends to focus on profitable business locations only.

May 9, 2014

Hypo Group: Shady Deals with Balkan Diplomats

The Austrian problem bank Hypo Group has troubles recovering debts.

May 3, 2014

Raiffeisen Bank International AG - SWOT Analysis & Company Report May 2014

This new report contains in depth information and data about Raiffeisen Bank International AG and its operations and markets. It contains an overview, business and strategy description, financial ratios, valuation & forecast data and a SWOT analysis.

April 25, 2014

Croatia Faces Radical Fisal Measures

The fiscal situation of the Balkan country and youngest EU member state is disastrous. The Croat government announced to introduce new taxes.

April 25, 2014

Hypo Group: Privatization of Balkan Business Until 2015

The nationalized problem bank intends to sell its Balkan business within 2014.

April 17, 2014

Erste Group Bank AG: Full Year 2013 Company Report has been Published by FriedlResearch

Published in April 2014, this report contains in depth information and data about Erste Group and its operations and markets. It contains a company overview, business and strategy description, financial ratios, valuation & forecasts, plus a SWOT analysis.

April 15, 2014

Serbia’s Goal to Join EU until 2020 “Realistic”

According to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Serbia’s aim to become a member of the European Union until 2020 is realistic.

April 11, 2014