HUM-CROMA Selected Managers of the Year

The Croatian Association of Managers and Entrepreneurs (HUM-CROMA) presented on Friday 17 winners of the Manager of the Year awards in nine categories, among which the leaders of Končar D&ST Ivan Klapan and Nova TV Dražen Mavrić were selected as Managers of the Year in large companies.

In the category of medium-sized enterprises, the laureates are Marija Janžetić, director of the construction company AB Gradnja from Karlovac, and Goran Zahtila, procurator of the tourism company Maslinica from Rabac. According to HUM-CROMA’s selection, Marijan Lorencin, director and owner of the ship design company AITAC from Kastav, and Mile Pavlić, co-owner and president of the software company RIS from Kastav, are the best managers in small enterprises; Kristina Martinović, president of the distribution company Filir from Vukovar, and Mario Raič, director of the Dubrovnik hospitality company Nautika, are the best young managers, while the CEO of Dubrovnik Airport Roko Tolić is recognized in the public enterprise category.

Among the managers of foreign companies, the best are Siniša Reljić, director and co-owner of the ship design company Navis Consult from Rijeka, and the CEO of Microsoft Croatia and BiH Ivan Vidaković, while the entrepreneurs of the year are the head of the municipal equipment manufacturing company Rasco from Kalinovac Ivan Franičević and Stjepan Talan, the head of the Varaždin solar panel manufacturing company Solvis.

In the project manager category, HUM-CROMA awarded this year’s best to Dino Manestar, CEO of the Crikvenica Adriatic, and Srećko Srdjak, owner and director of the Dental Polyclinic Arena from Zagreb, while Mirko Habijanec, CEO of the construction company Radnik from Križevci, and hotelier Anđelko Leko (HUP-Zagreb) are this year’s recipients of the HUM-CROMA Lifetime Achievement Award.

The names of the award winners were announced at a press conference ahead of the consultation “What Does the Tax Reform Bring and Guidelines for Economic Policy 2017,” where, presenting the tax reform, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić stated that it brings as much fiscal relief to citizens and the economy as is fiscally possible, without jeopardizing public finances.

It is estimated that a tax relief of one percent of GDP can accelerate the country’s economic growth by 0.25 to 1 percentage point. During the preparation of the tax reform proposal, we calculated at the Ministry of Finance that it should contribute to Croatian economic growth by 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points in the first year alone, said Marić, emphasizing that it will be just the first government step of a structural nature, meaning that these effects could be even higher.

The president of HUM-CROMA Vladimir Ferdelji particularly emphasized that the positive aspect of the tax reform is that it is the first in Croatian history whose main goal is not to increase budget revenues but to relieve the economy, stimulate its activity and growth, which will positively affect tax revenues.

Vlado Brkanić from RRIF stated that such a reform required courage, as it for the first time abandons egalitarianism, meaning that more is given to people who are skilled and work in professions that produce somewhat higher added value. Among other things, he highlighted the proposal that for entrepreneurs with annual revenues of less than 3 million kuna, the corporate tax rate is 12 percent, expressing hope that this will encourage entry into entrepreneurship.