The manufacturer of e-liquid Elda opened a new facility and laboratory worth 24.5 million kuna in the Industrial Park Nova Gradiška on Monday.
The laboratory will conduct analysis of e-liquids and e-cigarettes.
Elda is one of the largest manufacturers of e-liquid in the world. The facility, which started with nine workers, is expected to have 50 employees by the end of the year.
“Our product is recognized worldwide, and the capacity of the first facility has been exceeded after three years,” says Elda’s owner Dario Marenić, announcing new projects related to pharmaceuticals.
Elda recorded revenues of 9.8 million kuna in 2014, and in 2015, revenues grew to 12.5 million kuna with a profit of 2.7 million kuna. Double-digit revenue growth is expected this year, as last year’s revenue has already been reached in the first eight months.
Marenić emphasizes that 99 percent of production from Nova Gradiška is exported.
Elda has designed more than 500 different flavors of e-liquids for the market, which are sold in markets from Europe, the USA to Japan and China.
“Croatia can and must be a friend to entrepreneurs. Changes to the laws are needed, which take unnecessarily long. We import nicotine from Germany because Croatian law does not allow its production from tobacco. For the production we plan, 500 hectares are needed, which can be contracted with local farmers,” said Marenić.
Among the projects that Elda plans in the next three to five years is the production and processing of industrial and medical hemp.
“This is only being talked about, and we import products from Canada. We know how to produce it; the state just needs to set the conditions. The problem is not with entrepreneurs,” said Marenić, reminding that only in the facilities intended for nicotine production, 100 new workers could find jobs, not counting family farms.
