Srećko Raič (Enison): Complex Projects Show Your Worth

Author: Donatella Pauković

March 8, 2025

At this year’s World Exhibition, EXPO in the Japanese city of Osaka, where 160 countries will be represented, millions of visitors will be able to experience the warmth of the Croatian coast and the cold of our mountainous regions in the Croatian pavilion, equipped with heating and cooling source technology, accompanied by a visual presentation of all regions of Croatia. In addition to the diversity of climate, the pavilion will showcase an example of Croatian technological innovation, as conveying the experience of climate to the other side of the world is an exceptionally demanding technological task.

Behind this project is the company Enison, headquartered in Zagreb’s Odra, which specializes in the construction of heating and cooling systems, ventilation and air conditioning, execution of gas, plumbing, and sanitary installations, fabrication of steel structures and construction locksmithing, as well as the construction of energy and industrial facilities.

The idea for the pavilion came from the architectural office Arhiv, and Enison’s experts were responsible for its implementation. While under construction, the pavilion occupied almost the entire space of the company’s production facility in Odra, and in the meantime, it has arrived at its destination in Osaka, where it will be exhibited from April to October. Owner and director Srećko Raič recounts that they had only one month for its execution, which is why Enison worked in three shifts. Everything had to be completed, tested, disassembled, packed, and transported to Japan on time for the exhibition.

– Regardless of the experience possessed by the entire organization, from engineers, workers to assemblers, new projects arise for which new solutions need to be sought. Before we started constructing the pavilion, we made a small prototype with basic elements on which we improvised. We tested which of those elements, from connections, pressures, temperatures to water flow, was the most suitable and accurate to achieve what was envisioned. Simply put, we had to experiment – Raič explains how they tackled the new task through trial and error.

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Working with Industry

The construction of the pavilion was an opportunity to explore what this company, founded by Raič in 1999 with a business partner (who has since left the business), offers in our market. Enison’s portfolio includes projects for companies such as Končar, Gavrilović, Pliva, Atlantic Grupe, Cedevita, Vertiva, as well as for many hospitals, buildings, and units of local and regional self-government. The most common customers, says Raič, are private investors and organizations, and they also have many foreign investors, who are particularly sensitive to the quality and references of the company they choose to work with.

– In addition to business facilities, shopping centers, and hospitals, we work a lot across various industries. Although the industry in Croatia is not strong, it is a more serious, concrete, and complex area. For example, energy facilities, power plants are important in the industry, and our area is the construction of thermal energy or cogeneration plants for the simultaneous production of electrical and thermal energy. We do a lot of work in the wood, food, and pharmaceutical industries – says Raič, noting that Enison is price competitive for potential investors because they have been in the market for a long time. They are not intermediaries but a contracting company with their own people and production.

However, there are few companies with which they compete for their share of the pie, only four or five, and they all generally know each other, with minimal differences in their prices. Enison’s advantages are good organization of work and quick adaptation, which is evident in the example of the pavilion, for which other projects had to wait a bit. The good thing is that employees have accepted the temporary work in three shifts for the construction of the pavilion very well.

– Such projects strengthen teams. People did not put in their effort because they had to, but because they wanted to – emphasizes Raič.

Having their own organization of work and operating exclusively in the Croatian market, of course, brings risks. For example, Enison exports very little as a result.

Why this is the case, what business results the company achieves in the domestic market, and what plans Raič has for the future, read in the new issue of the printed and digital Lider.

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