Who lobbies for you?

In Croatia, there are many lobbies and even more lobbyists, but many will say that there is no real lobbying, as there is no legal regulation or organized lobbying market like, for example, in the USA. Therefore, lobbying in Croatia is often perceived negatively and is most commonly viewed through the prism of bribery and corruption.

   This week, there was no respite for the valuable Lider’s anthill. A regular issue of over a hundred pages, two special supplements, and one special edition, so you tell us!! There are many interesting stories, but let’s start from the beginning.

In the elections four years ago, the HDZ announced a reduction in VAT rates, but upon coming to power, it forgot about it. Taxes will apparently again be a ‘top’ promise, but it is not excluded that tax relief could occur even before the elections. This interesting topic was addressed by Lidija Kiseljak in the piece ‘HDZ is again going to elections with a promise of lower taxes’.

Hrvoje Mateljić investigated why Hungarians are concerned about the long-term development of the Croatian oil company in the story titled ‘Mol wants majority ownership in Ina by summer’. Namely, it seems that the Hungarian co-owners are most worried about the Russian Lukoil, which has already entered two neighboring markets by purchasing Serbian Beopetrol and joint venturing with Slovenian Petrol.

The news that ZAPI (Institute for Business Research) has been put up for sale has sparked considerable interest in business circles. Given that negotiations are ongoing, it is difficult to obtain more concrete data, but Lidija Kiseljak managed to find out that Fina and Privredna banka Zagreb want to buy it, and there are several other banks among the interested parties.

In Croatia, there are many lobbies and even more lobbyists, but many will say that there is no real lobbying, as there is no legal regulation or organized lobbying market like, for example, in the USA. Therefore, lobbying in Croatia is often perceived negatively and is most commonly viewed through the prism of bribery and corruption. But is it really so? This was investigated by Bojana Božanić and Dragana Radusinović in the topic of the week. In the story ’12 most influential business lobbyists in Croatia’, read who represents whose interests on the Croatian business scene, how lobbying is conducted within specific industries, and of course, what all is being lobbied for.

This week we dealt with free float shares that are freely traded on the stock exchange and which the owners-shareholders are willing to sell to the company. Although there is no public data on the free float of trading companies, Lidija Kiseljak found out that the twenty most attractive companies have 30 percent of free shares available for trading. Read about which are the most attractive free float shares in the new issue of Lider.

The name of Toma Horvatinčić has recently been mainly associated with the ‘Cvjetni trg’ affair. Marija Čekada and Ivica Grčar tried to find out where the money for investment in the controversial project in the center of Zagreb comes from. The management of the Hoto group claims that the spaces in the block next to Cvjetni trg were purchased with a loan from Hypo bank, approved based on a guarantee with Tomislav Horvatinčić’s own property. But is that really the case, and are there secret investors in the whole story? Read in the topic ‘Hypo bank promised Horvatinčić 100 million euros for Cvjetni trg.’

More and more Croatian companies are organizing production in the cheap Far East. Entrepreneurs are reluctant to talk about it given the ‘cheap low-quality Chinese goods’ and the inevitable question about labor costs in local factories. How many domestic companies have decided to take this step was found out by Antonija Knežević.

In the Business Knowledge section, read about market segmentation into tangible and intangible products. In the story ‘It is easy to sell a pot, much harder to sell housing savings’, find out how a seller extracts the three strongest selling arguments and formulates them in the interest of the consumer. None should be longer than fifteen words, as the deeper it goes into the sphere of the buyer’s interests, the greater the chances that nothing will be sold.

This week, an excellent feature on Mikhail Prokhorov, the debauched Russian nickel king who spent three days in a French prison due to a bizarre scandal. (G. J.)

This week, Lider is gifting its readers two special supplements ‘Business Reputation’ and ‘Voluntary Health Insurance’, as well as a special HORECA!