Significant Investor Names at Rexpo 2015

At this year’s international investment project fair Rexpo 2015, held on October 28 and 29 at the Hypo Expo XXI Business Center in Zagreb, key investment projects and the biggest names in the investment business will be presented once again.

Among the foreign investors attending Rexpo is Avenue Group, which recently submitted the only binding offer for the realization of the Kupari tourist complex. Avenue Group is owned by Sergej Gljadelkin, who is already present in the Croatian market as the owner of the IGH Institute and Hidroelektra, and whose business empire encompasses more than 20 companies in France, Austria, and Switzerland. In addition to focusing on the construction industry, it has recently entered the waste management sector.

The Kupari project will be presented as part of Rexpo HTL Day, and more about it will be discussed by Ivan Paladina, CEO of IGH and director of Avenue Investments, along with project collaborators Mara Dabrović from 3LHD and representatives from the consulting firm Horwath HTL. They will present their plans for investment in the currently most attractive project in the Mediterranean, for which they submitted an offer in collaboration with the global hotel chain Marriott International, owners of the Ritz Carlton brand.

One of the participants in the panel “New Openings and Acquisitions – Growing Interest of Investors in the Hotel Industry of the Adriatic Region” as part of Rexpo HTL Day will be Michael Saran, managing partner of Odien Group. This is an international investment corporation that primarily invests in Central and Eastern Europe and recently announced the acquisition of Grand Marine Lav d.o.o. and Grand Hotel Lav d.o.o., owners of the luxury resort Le Méridien Lav Split, the largest integrated complex of hotels and marinas with 5 stars in Croatia.

Rexpo continues to attract the interest of a large number of investors and representatives of the business community from Croatia, the region, and the world, who will present their investment projects on various platforms for exhibition and discussion. The Rexpo Forum will again be the central event of the fair, and this year it will include a record number of panel discussions where prominent experts, consultants, and entrepreneurs will discuss key trends, projects, and current issues in the investment world. The complete schedule of panels is available at www.rexpo.hr, and among the key topics on the first day of the fair are discussions about EU funds and their significance in new investments, the green economy, the development of public-private partnerships in Croatia, a new regional center for industry and logistics, the development of foreign investments, and the role and development of commercial banks.

A panel on infrastructure investments will attract significant attention from participants and visitors, featuring the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, along with leaders of the largest public companies in the transport sector. The director of Split Airport Lukša Novak will present the project for the expansion of Split Airport, while the assistant director for infrastructure of the Port Authority of Zadar Igor Pukec will present the project for the construction of a new passenger terminal in Gaženica, whose exclusive visualization will be shown to the public for the first time. The director of ACI, Doris Peručić, will present investment plans for the next nautical season, while the CEO of HŽ Infrastruktura Renata Suša will discuss current projects and the beginning of construction of two new railway sections financed by EU funds exceeding 200 million euros. The CEO of the Port of Ploče Ivan Pavlović will present current investments in the Port of Ploče.

On the panel about the role of development and commercial banks in financing development investment projects, Martina Jus, a member of the management board of HBOR, Anton Kovačev, a representative of the EIB in Croatia, and Victor Stefanescu, the development director of Bouygues, one of the largest construction companies in the world, will speak.

The first day of the fair will conclude with the Rexpo Gala Party for all participants, which will again be a place for networking and making new acquaintances in an informal atmosphere.

The second day of the fair will open with the panel “What Makes a Destination Attractive to Investors?”, followed by panels on the interrelationship between project development and cities, and a discussion on broadband infrastructure where the assistant minister of the sea, transport, and infrastructure Dan Simonić, along with leaders from Odašiljači i veze, Vipnet, Hrvatski Telekom, and Metronet, will discuss development modalities in Croatia.

At 13:40, Rexpo HTL Day will begin, which will again this year present the most significant trends in the hotel industry and tourism across three panels. At Rexpo HTL Day, discussions will cover hotel development in the region, mega events as multipliers for the tourism industry, and new openings and acquisitions, and at the end of the day, the REXPO Adriatic 2015 Best New Hotel Award will be presented for the best hotel in the region.

The previous three editions of the fair were attended by more than 3,500 business people from about 50 countries, with over 250 companies and investment destinations exhibiting, and more than 200 expert speakers participating in over 50 conference panels at the Rexpo Forum. More than 500 investment projects were presented at the fair, and numerous contacts initiated at the fair resulted in successful business collaborations.

Tickets for the Rexpo fair are available on the fair’s website www.rexpo.hr and through the Entrio system at www.entrio.hr. More detailed information about Rexpo 2015 is available at www.rexpo.hr.