The consulting and auditing firm Deloitte has published this year’s ranking of the 500 largest companies in Central Europe, in which our concern Agrokor narrowly missed being included among the top ten companies.
Deloitte’s 500 largest: Agrokor and Zagrebačka banka a step away from the top 10 largest in Central Europe
– Agrokor Group is the leader among Croatian and regional companies, ranking 11th overall in this year’s list of the 500 largest companies in Central Europe, with a revenue of 6.4 billion euros. It is estimated that the consolidated group will generate over seven billion euros in revenue annually in the coming years, which would place Agrokor in the Top 10 of Central Europe – wrote Deloitte, which was commented on for Lider by Dragan Munjiza, former CEO of Konzum and vice president of the supervisory board of Bjelovarska industrija mesa, also part of Agrokor, and today the owner of the consulting firm Jakov Viktor, which boasts a whole range of renowned clients.
– Agrokor certainly has technology that is world-class, as can be seen in the newly opened sales locations, whether in Zagreb or Ljubljana. When we talk about Konzum, these are sales locations that can compete anywhere in the world. They are very competitive, and products marked with the GDA label, Agrolaguna, or Jamnica. It is therefore clear that we have technology; however, Agrokor also needs restructuring of its debts, preferably under the same conditions that Podravka received. This is just one of the factors that will influence the company’s future positioning, while others are more complex. No such large company is immune to the structure and movements in its home markets and environment. Therefore, we must be optimistic about the further development of Croatia, hoping that the new government will initiate things, that the refugee crisis will not occur, which Agrokor cannot influence – Munjiza told us in a phone conversation.
“Free money”
– For the concern, it is most important to get the opportunity for cheap restructuring; the problem is that the Lidl & Schwarz group in Germany receives loans at zero percent interest in its home market. You see that Germany has a surplus, and Agrokor is actually performing better than Lidl, even though this is not visible. If we are treated equally, which is not only Agrokor’s task but also that of other institutions in the European Union, then it will operate better without much effort. However, there are a whole series of questions, such as how the implementation of Draghi’s plan will go, and then the uncertainty around the fate of the European project. Will we see federalization, will there be a confederation, will there be redemption in certain member states, what will happen with sanctions against Russia? There are many dangers and uncertainties.
If Agrokor is given the opportunity for even cheaper restructuring like Atlantic or Podravka received, that is, favorable money prices, then the concern will essentially gain extra margin by doing the same. In the case of a good and favorable business climate, Agrokor can absolutely enter the top ten companies in Central Europe – assessed the analyst and added that it would be good if the concern strengthened the existing management for the purpose of restructuring.
German colonization of Poland
We asked Munjiza how he interprets the success of Polish companies that dominate this year’s Deloitte ranking.
– The Poles have a large state that has handled its nineties completely differently compared to Croatia. They immediately listened to the European Commission and abolished their shipyards, only to now realize that it was a mistake and are effectively re-establishing shipyards, but no longer under their management; instead, this is being done by Finns, Germans, Norwegians…
Within the European Union, there are indeed many injustices, so the Poles now see that their shipyards were not excess capacity, but a kind of takeover. We will also receive some consultants or suggestions from the European Commission to sell 3. Maj (Uljanik), and then in a few years, someone will come and say: ‘can we lease that’, as is currently happening with Dina Petrokemija, Dioki… only lunatics could allow that. The Poles today largely act as a colony of Germany, which Croatia, if wise, will not allow. When you look at the results of Polish firms, it is always good to see who their capital owner is. For example, milk comes to us from Poland, but it is actually managed by Lidl & Schwarz from Germany. Such milk competes with Vindija, which then cannot be successful (because it does not have access to ‘free’ money).
You see, I know for sure that Angela Merkel personally participated in the sale of a shipyard in her hometown to the Russians; it was resold to Malaysians after the imposition of sanctions and became insolvent, which is why it had to quickly end up in pre-bankruptcy according to strict German laws. However, they somehow managed to complete all ordered ships and continue to operate. So, it is a matter of formal compliance with the law, but someone still helped them. We do not know, but we can assume who. Unfortunately, this does not happen here. I am a big liberal and globalist on one hand, but when I see in practice that this is a great exploitation, then I am also an economic nationalist. Honestly, I am surprised how many people, unfortunately, are willing to sell themselves for cheap money, thus effectively becoming vassals. This happens in practice; it is nice to be a liberal, a globalist, and believe that we are all the same, but then you see that the Germans are a little more honest.
