Žigman: The number of entrepreneurs reporting on sustainability in Croatia will increase from 70 to 500

The third Lider conference ESG – Sustainable Future has begun, gathering around three hundred participants at the Sheraton in Zagreb. Intended for entities obligated to non-financial reporting, all companies listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, consulting firms, accounting services, insurers, and auditors, as well as representatives of the government, local and regional self-government, non-profit organizations, and representatives of support institutions, the conference will provide answers to numerous current questions about ESG.

Non-financial reporting has been mandatory since 2018 (for 2017) for all large companies that are public interest entities and for all companies with more than 500 employees, and from 2027, it will also become mandatory for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as all financial institutions and companies, and it will be a crucial prerequisite for financing projects, which is why it is extremely important to inform and discuss this topic.

All attendees in the packed hall were welcomed with an opening speech by the director of Lider, Bojana Božanić Ivanović.

– The importance of the topic is evidenced by numerous projects and training on the Croatian market regarding the regulatory framework for ESG reporting. I am even more pleased that we gather such a large number of interested participants every year. This is a sign that companies have taken the importance of the topic very seriously and that Lider manages to attract top speakers from whom you can hear something new year after year – said the director of Lider, adding that Lider as a company has learned a lot in recent years and is also preparing for the obligations that will begin in 2027, and the sentence that best describes it is ‘no one said it would be easy’.

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Konferencija ESG/ Održiva Budućnost.
Bojana Božanić Ivanović

foto Boris Ščitar

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After Bojana Božanić Ivanović, the attendees were also greeted by Ana Zorić, director of the Department for Economy and Financial System at the Ministry of Finance, who gave a brief presentation on why sustainability in business is important.

As she stated, sustainable business will ‘provide our children with equal opportunities for life as we had’, noting that due to the consequences of climate change, human lives are also at stake. Speaking about the climate extremes we have witnessed in recent years, Zorić emphasized that Europe is warming much faster than other continents, so it is now crucial for it to become a climate-neutral continent by 2050.

She also touched on the government’s instruments for financing sustainability, highlighting that of the 10 billion euros from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), as much as 39 percent is directed towards energy efficiency projects, and she pointed out that we will need three times more funds from private sources to finance sustainable projects.

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Konferencija ESG/ Održiva Budućnost.
Ana Zorić

foto Boris Ščitar

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Ante Žigman, president of the Management Board of Hanfa, rhetorically asked at the beginning of his presentation: ESG Europe, quo vadis.

– When it comes to the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals), Croatia has fulfilled five out of 17 goals, while the average in Europe is three out of 17 goals – said Žigman, adding that entrepreneurs are indeed doing what they can to meet these goals, and they have made the most progress in terms of energy renovation. He also mentioned that Croatian regulators are keeping pace, and one of those steps is the adoption of the CSRD Directive on corporate sustainability reporting.

– Due to changes in the CSRD, the number of entrepreneurs reporting on sustainability is increasing. At the EU level, from about 11,700 to about 50,000 entrepreneurs, and in Croatia from about 70 to about 500 entrepreneurs – announced Žigman.

Bosiljko Zlopaša, assistant director of the Customs Administration, spoke at the conference about carbon adjustment, which will be very important due to the European Green Deal. The European Commission has committed to establishing a register of authorized CBAM declarants in the form of a standardized electronic database containing data on CBAM certificates of those declarants. In other words, it must be monitored how much goods emit carbon dioxide in production processes, and this will be declared to customs by importers and representatives. Customs got involved in this process last year based on two acts or regulations that give them the authority to check compliance with standards, and although there are concerns within the system about how this will be done, there is no turning back.

– We have what we have, we must work – said Zlopaša, adding that reporting on the carbon adjustment declaration applies to the sectors of cement, steel and iron, aluminum and fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen production, and those who do not report emissions will face fines ranging from 10 to 50 euros per ton.

– Almost 300 people have registered for the transitional period of CBAM obligors, and 619 reports have already been submitted, but serious work is just beginning – concluded Zlopaša.

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Konferencija ESG- Održiva budućnost. Bosiljko Zlopaša

foto Boris Ščitar

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Vali Marszalek, director of ESG at Mazars, presented what is expected from companies and in what timeframe regarding the directive on sustainability due diligence, explaining how this will be a challenging task that brings both penalties and civil liability, meaning they will be forced to pay damages to those harmed.

– You can prevent this today, familiarize yourself with the OECD guidelines and directives and map sectors and suppliers – emphasized Marszalek, warning companies that are outside the scope that they must prepare for questions from their business partners about their own operations.

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Konferencija ESG- Održiva budućnost. Vali Marszalek

foto Boris Ščitar

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