ZAGREB, Sept 7 (Hina) - In 2002 Croatia attracted US$981-million-worth of foreign direct investments (FDIs), which is a 37-percent drop compared to 2001, reads this year's U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on
foreign investments in the world, presented in Zagreb last week.
ZAGREB, Sept 7 (Hina) - In 2002 Croatia attracted US$981-million-
worth of foreign direct investments (FDIs), which is a 37-percent
drop compared to 2001, reads this year's U.N. Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) report on foreign investments in the
world, presented in Zagreb last week. #L#
According to the value of FDIs in 2002, Croatia is seventh among 19
Central and East European countries, which are headed by the Czech
Republic ($9.3 billion), followed by Slovakia ($4 billion), and
Russia ($2.4 billion), special UNCTAD advisor Branimir Vukmir
said.
The region is one of the few in the world which last year saw an
increase in FDIs in relation to 2001, and particularly in relation
to the record year 2000, Vukmir said.
The increase in FDIs in the region is directly connected with the EU
candidate status of a large number of countries in the region, said
Assistant Economy Minister Olgica Spevec.
According to data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB), an
official UNCTAD data provider, FDIs in Croatia in 2002 totalled
$1.08 billion or 31 percent less than the year before.
The difference between the two statistics is the result of the
ongoing collection of new data, which have changed since the moment
they were relayed to the UNCTAD, said Igor Jemric, HNB statistics
department head.
According to preliminary results, in the first half of this year,
FDIs in Croatia totalled $901.8 million, which Jemric believes
points to a possible increase in FDIs in 2003 against 2002.
Of last year's FDIs in Croatia, new ownership investments accounted
for one half, lending investments accounted for 28 percent, while
retained profits accounted for 14 percent of FDIs. In the first half
of this year, retained profits accounted for as much as 76 percent
and lending and other investments for 24 percent of FDIs, while
there were no new ownership investments.
According to the investment type, privatisation and take-overs
accounted for 62.3 percent of last year's investments, greenfield
investments made up 23 percent and other investments 14.6 percent
of investments. The leading investor, with 47 percent of all FDIs,
was Austria, followed by Italy (17 percent) and Luxembourg (9
percent), Jemric said, adding that the investments were mostly
directed in financial transactions, commerce and post and
telecommunications.
The UNCTAD report also includes a list of 25 biggest companies from
Central and East Europe which have started businesses in other
countries with their own funds. Four companies from Croatia are on
the list - the Pliva pharmaceutical company (fourth), the Croatian
Power Company (HEP) (fifth), the Podravka food company (13th), and
Croatia Airlines (21st).
(hina) rml