The Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) will increase revenues from commercial activities in the coming years, so that these revenues will equal those from membership fees, it was stated on Monday at the HGK assembly.
Commercial revenues must equal membership fee revenues in the coming years, currently that ratio is 70 to 30 percent, emphasized HGK President Luka Burilović.
Namely, according to the adopted financial plan, the planned total revenues of HGK in 2023 amount to 24.84 million euros, while expenses are planned at almost the same amount. Membership fee revenue is estimated at 17.37 million euros, which is 70 percent of the total planned revenues, while other revenues relate to revenues from new services and voluntary memberships.
Burilović also reminded that due to the new law on HGK, only four percent of companies must pay membership fees to the Chamber, while some membership is also on a voluntary basis.
HGK will, he said, pay special attention in the future to companies that pay membership fees and companies that voluntarily pay membership fees, while all others will have fewer rights and will also pay for services provided to them by HGK. HGK offers its members assistance in consulting, finding partners, doing business abroad, etc.
– Our goal is to promote the Croatian economy and help Croatian companies – said Burilović, reminding that last week HGK opened an office in Vienna.
Šaravanja: GDP growth of 0.9 percent, inflation 5.9 percent
And HGK Vice President Tomislav Radoš emphasized that HGK will increase revenues from commercial activities in the coming years, but also develop products and services that will be competitive in the market. – HGK is the largest business network in Croatia – noted Radoš, adding that their purpose is to cooperate with companies with the aim of creating a good business environment.
Otherwise, that HGK is turning a page and trying to generate as much revenue as possible in the market is evidenced by the fact that they are starting investments. Namely, as we recently wrote, a Public Call has been published on their website in which the chamber is seeking a partner who will financially participate in the realization of two projects in the field of tourism and in the project of building a business-conference center.
Burilović called the imminent entry of Croatia into the euro area and Schengen a great success at the Chamber assembly, which will also facilitate business for Croatian companies. On the other hand, due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, European governments had to resort to state interventionism, and Burilović believes that the Croatian government has handled this well.
However, he emphasized that the state must be cautious when creating new tax burdens and that the new additional profit tax should be limited only to companies that had large extra profits due to the enormous increase in energy prices.
HGK Chief Economist Goran Šaravanja said that, according to his calculations, Croatia will have GDP growth of 0.9 percent next year and inflation of 5.9 percent. He also stated that among the three largest economic sectors in Croatia, construction is currently performing the best.
