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In the new issue, read how logistics is, whether we like it or not, our destiny

The growth in the number of warehouse spaces over the last decade undoubtedly shows that this segment has potential in Croatia. However, we should not be satisfied with this, as it indicates much greater opportunities, as all our interlocutors will say, for Croatia to become an important logistics and distribution center at least for Central and Southeast Europe and, perhaps, when our grandchildren grow up, to become one of the more significant European players. For decades, we have wanted to strengthen the industry, attract foreign investors, which has not gone particularly well for us, so perhaps it is an opportunity to at least strengthen the logistics sector by taking advantage of the God-given geographical position of our country. That logistics is, whether we like it or not, our destiny, Edis Felić writes in this week’s main topic.

As this year progresses, anyone who thought that the geopolitical landscape would be a bit calmer than in the previous few years has proven to be naive. The most anticipated geopolitical event of 2024 – the American presidential elections – has been further fueled by the assassination of Donald Trump, followed by the withdrawal of the current president Joe Biden from the race. According to expectations, whoever wins in November and enters the White House will not be particularly favorable to Europe. At the same time, the Old Continent continues to feel increasing pressure from Russian aggression against Ukraine. How Europe should position itself in the new geopolitical constellation of power, whether there is hope for sustainable peace in Ukraine, and what China wants from Europe were discussed with the esteemed geopolitical expert Vlatko Cvrtila, rector of VERN’ University and professor at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb.

The fact that Croatian citizens have borrowed nearly nine billion euros from banks by taking out non-purpose cash loans has so far mostly gone unnoticed. The long-term trend of increasing demand for this type of debt has only been known to financial analysts and a few journalistic voices that follow finance. Under the media spotlight, ‘cash loans’ came to light in mid-July, after a meeting of the Council of the Croatian National Bank (HNB). This body published its regular opinion on trends in the banking sector, stating that ‘exceptionally strong consumer lending and the growing burden of repaying new housing loans increase potential risks in the event of a deterioration in economic prospects.’ Therefore, in the new issue of Lider, Tomislav Pili focused on non-purpose loans – yet another ‘child of inflation’ that is not to HNB’s liking.

The new issue also features a report from Strasbourg, an entrepreneurial story by Zdenko Tica, and we spoke with Goran Becker about drawing funds from EU funds. Of course, we also bring an internal feature Summer Trend.