CONTENTS 1. FOREWORD .........................................................................................................................................................5 Published by 2. REPUBLIC OF CROATIA ........................................................................................................................................7 Osijek - Baranja County 2.1. Basic information..............................................................................................................................................7 For publisher 2.2. Administrative and political structure ........................................................................................................7 Krešimir Bubalo, County prefect 2.3. Geographical position ....................................................................................................................................8 2.4. Economy .............................................................................................................................................................8 Developed by Center for Entrepreneurship Osijek 3. OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY ..................................................................................................................................9 3.1. Basic information ............................................................................................................................................10 Project coordination 3.2. Geographical position ...................................................................................................................................10 Osijek-Baranja County Development 3.3. Climate ................................................................................................................................................................11 Agency 3.4. Natural resources ..........................................................................................................................................11 3.5. Public holidays ................................................................................................................................................14 Associate 3.6. SME support institutions ..............................................................................................................................15 Business Incubator BIOS ltd., Osijek 3.7. Media (news agencies, TV and radio stations, newspapers) ....................................................................18 Editor: 3.8. Consultant services (lawyers, accountants, interpreters, translators) ............................................19 Marija Birtić 3.9. Health services ..............................................................................................................................................22 Center for Entrepreneurship Osijek 3.10. Where to spend free time in Osijek-Baranja County? .............................................................................23 Authors 4. OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY ORGANIZATION, POPULATION, Anamarija Delić, MSc INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMY .................................................................................................................38 Boris Lauc, MSc 4.1. Administrative organization .........................................................................................................................38 Igor Medić, MSc 4.2. Population and labour force structure ...................................................................................................54 Marija Birtić 4.3. Osijek-Baranja County infrastructure....................................................................................................... 57 Nina Marković 4.4. Osijek-Baranja County economy ..................................................................................................................62 Nevenka Pulfer Aron Stanić Jean Pierre Maričić 5. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR INVESTING IN OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY ........................................................81 Zlatko Šnur 5.1. Basic information ...........................................................................................................................................81 5.2. Tax system......................................................................................................................................................... 85 Translation 5.3. Customs system .............................................................................................................................................106 Aron Stanić 5.4. Financial and foreign exchange system ...................................................................................................108 Photography 6. FOREIGN COMPANIES IN OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY–SUCCESS STORIES.............................................. 120 Marin Topić Mario Romulić: pg. 28, 29, 32, 33, 37 Design and prepress mit design studio Printing and finishing IBL, Osijek Note: Data collected till September 2008. 3 1. FOREWORD - OSIJEK-BARANJA COUNTY PREFECT, Mr. Krešimir Bubalo Ensuring sufficient levels of new direct investments is the basis of economic growth and new jobs creation. One of the latest initiatives undertaken to facilitate promotion of invest- ment opportunities in the county area is the development of Osijek-Baranja County Investment Guide. This guide is intended first and foremost for potential domestic and for- eign investors, entrepreneurs and SME support institutions, as well as for anyone establishing business and/or personal contact with potential investors. This Investment guide gives you all the basic information on Osijek-Baranja County (geography, natural resources, major institutions, population structure, employment statistics, infrastructure, economic in- dicators, legal framework for investing, customs, financial and tax systems etc.), as well as other useful information with the purpose of facilitating potential investors’ decisions on joining our community and helping them to decide by alleviating invest- ment and other administrative procedures as much as possible. I strongly believe this Investment guide will live up to the expectations of being the best place to start when finding out any information on investment possibilities and incentives for performing business activities in the county (especially in the areas of special state concern) as well as being a personal guide for discovering natural, cul- tural and many other special features of our region. You’ll find Slavonian people are very enthusiastic, ready to listen and open to new ideas. We strive to be quality partners to every new investor in our region. Welcome to Osijek-Baranja County! Prefect Krešimir Bubalo 5 republic of croatia 2. BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA 2.1. Basic Information Republic of Croatia is situated in southeastern Europe, on the crossroads of Central Europe and the Mediterranean, stretching over 56.538 sq. km in the shape of a boomerang (or a horseshoe) with the coastal sea area of 31.067 sq. km. Croatia has five neighbour countries on a 2028 km long land border: 932 km with Bosnia and Herzegovina, 501 km with Slovenia, 329 km with Hungary, 241 km with Serbia and 25 km with Montenegro. Croatia also shares sea borders with Italy, Slovenia and Montenegro. Croatian Adriatic coastline is one of the most rugged coastlines in Europe, next to Norwegian fjords. 1185 islands and islets spread over 4058 km long coastline and only 47 of them (6%) are inhabited. Croatia is often referred to as “a land of thousand islands”. It also has second highest sun hours average in Europe (following Spain). The capital of Croatia is Zagreb with the population of 779.145 (census of 2001). It is also the administrative, cultural and educational center of Croatia. The largest sea ports are Rijeka, Split, Ploče, Šibenik and Zadar. There are seven international airports in Croatia - Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar and the largest one - Zagreb airport. According to the 2001 data there are 4.437.460 people living in Croatia with the average population density of 78,4 per sq. km. The legal currency in Croatia is kuna (local abbreviation HRK, international abbreviation HRK), con- sisting of 100 smaller units, called lipa (lp). The official language is Croatian spoken by 96,12% of the population. Sources: Statistical Yearbook 2007, Central Bureau Of Statistics, Statistical Information 2008 2.2. Administrative and political structure OSIJEK With the adoption of constitutional amendments in 2000 Croatia became a multiparty parliamentary republic The President of the Republic is elected every five years on general elections (for no more than two terms). He is head of state and the commander in chief of the armed forces. The Croatian Government is a body exercising its executive powers in domestic and external policy activities and coordinating and managing the activities of the state administration. The Government is also responsible for law enforcement and other legislation acts implementation as well as for decision-making process in conformity with the Constitution and law. The Government is headed by the Prime minister who has one or more deputy prime ministers and a number of ministers in charge of particular sectors of activity. The Government reports to the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) - a unicameral legislative body. All repre- sentatives are elected to the Parliament by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Croatia has a judicial system consisting of municipal courts, county courts, the Administrative