Triko Company from Ilok Receives a Loan of 10 Million Kuna

The economic growth in the second quarter of 2.8 percent is not coincidental but rather the result of systematic and arduous work by government institutions that are finally able to provide domestic entrepreneurs with financing under very competitive conditions, stated the technical minister of entrepreneurship and crafts, Darko Horvat, on Wednesday in Ilok, where he handed over the loan decision of 10 million kuna to the leaders of Triko company.

This company, which is engaged in the production of knitwear, was handed the loan decision from Hrvatska poštanska banka (HPB) worth 10 million kuna, based on the conditions agreed upon by the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation and Investment (HAMAG-BICRO) with 15 financial institutions aimed at facilitating access to financing for micro, small, and medium-sized entrepreneurs. The decision is the first step in realizing an 80 percent guarantee through the HAMAG-BICRO ESIF individual guarantees program. Triko is the first company to benefit from the “ESIF individual guarantees program.”

According to Horvat, this is one of four new financial instruments through which the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, in cooperation with HAMAG-BICRO, will provide entrepreneurs with nearly 250 million euros.

He emphasized that this marks the beginning of “providing financial services to Croatian entrepreneurs under the conditions we desired at the very start of our mandate.”

“I claimed back then that the credit arrangement and the cost of capital for Croatian entrepreneurs could be lower than 3 percent. We have achieved something much better than what we wished for. We can provide Croatian entrepreneurs, not only those who are healthy but also those who are indebted and perhaps over-indebted, with financial instruments through Croatian institutions under very competitive conditions. We are talking about loans that will be available at a price of 0.5 percent starting from October 1,” Horvat stated.

He also pointed out that there is no reason for the banking system to profit from Croatian entrepreneurs while the entrepreneurs themselves do not benefit.

“If we take into account that within HBOR, in the segment of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, we have credit arrangements in the amount of over 10 billion kuna in the first nine months of this year and if we have over 7.5 billion kuna in non-repayable funds drawn from the EU, I can only say that the economic growth of 2.8 percent is not coincidental but rather the result of systematic and arduous work by government institutions,” said Horvat.

The CEO of Triko d.o.o., Stanko Ivanek, announced that the loan will be used to purchase new machines and improve and expand production, which will result in the opening of about 40 new jobs. Triko employs 220 workers.

“This is a huge thing for us. It will enable us to expand our existing production so that we can soon contract new jobs that will allow us to raise salaries to the level of salaries in Zagreb, that is, 700-800 euros,” said Ivanek, adding that his workers currently receive salaries ranging from 3,000 to 3,500 kuna.

He also emphasized that without the realization of the loan, Triko would certainly have ended up in bankruptcy.

In an interview, Ivanek stated that he received the loan with an interest rate of 1.7 percent per annum, a repayment period of 15 years, with a grace period of three years.

The CEO of HAMAG-BICRO, Vjeran Vrbanec, highlighted that Triko is the first user of the new HAMAG-BICRO programs in cooperation with commercial banks, while HPB board member Domagoj Karadjole emphasized that the bank has recently achieved good results in lending and supporting the economy.