In the Slavonian plain, one can expect the sound of tractors, the grunting of pigs or the mooing of cows at dawn, and the crowing of roosters, but not the call of a peacock. Yet, it was the call of that exotic bird that greeted us on the scorching noon of the hottest day of the year near Marinci, somewhere halfway between Vukovar and Vinkovci.
Host Branimir Kopić tells us how, during the lull of agricultural work, while waiting for the harvest, he opened this excursion site, Kopić-land, on a four-hectare estate, which currently operates from Thursday to Sunday. In addition to a restaurant, there is a large orchard, several buildings for overnight stays, a ‘stable’ of quads, and there will also be a lake. For the youngest, there is a children’s playground and a small zoo, with popcorns, goats, and – peacocks. However, with Kopić in the shade of the restaurant overlooking the orchard, we discuss his second, but actually first job, as he is also the director of Cezareja from Ivankovo, one of the largest companies in Vukovar-Srijem County, which we will write about in more detail in tomorrow’s continuation.
In the county, there are also two large agricultural companies, both owned by the Fortenova group – PIK Vinkovci and Vupik plus. However, the largest company in the agricultural county comes from the energy sector. The first gas company last year more than doubled its revenues on the wings of expensive gas, and is now breathing down the neck of the largest company to date. Ina also grew a nice 57 percent last year, but at half the speed of PPD. When consolidated results become available, it may turn out that the Energia naturalis group achieved higher revenues than the Ina Group. Thus, Pavao Vujnovac has solidified his position as the convincingly largest domestic entrepreneur. He is even more convincing in the county. The revenues of PPD and other Vujnovac’s Vukovar companies (21.7 billion kuna) are even about 50 times larger than the revenues of the Vukovar budget.
Vujnovac and his companies have recently been actors in a series of ownership reshuffles. In Fortenova, he is currently the second-largest co-owner – holding a 29 percent stake that he would like to increase. With Ina, he took over Petrokemija, which he is trying to sell. ENNA Fruit took over the business of Marinada and Agrofructus and became the largest organizer of fruit and vegetable production and purchaser in the region. Vujnovac is the largest shareholder of Pevexa with 38.62 percent of shares, and there is also an increasingly strong logistics division – from the largest ownership stake in Luka Ploče, cargo-company ENNA transport to a partnership with APMT in the so-called Zagreb coast in the Rijeka port.
