D&B -- LESSER RISK OF INVESTING INTO CROATIA AFTER ELECTIONS?

ZAGREB, June 9 (Hina) - The upcoming parliamentary elections in Croatia, that is, further development of democracy, could significantly contribute to decreasing business risk for investing into Croatia, Robert A. Cord of the Dun & Bradstreet international business information and financial reliability agency, said Wednesay. At a seminar held under the heading To Take Risks is Risky, D&B representatives and representatives of the agency's representation office, the Bonline company, presented their work and ways of assessing the financial reliability of companies or countries. According to a D&B report of this month, Croatia has maintained its DB5b credit rating, marking an area of high risk. This assessment places Croatia ninth among 24 countries of central and eastern Europe. In order fro Croatia to receive a higher grade, further privatisation and economic restructuring and reforms are expected after parliamentary elections scheduled to take place at the end of the year. According to Cord, the elections should stabilise the political situation in the country, which is one of the key factors for decreasing business risk. The Kosovo crisis pulled back Croatia's economy at least a year, Cord said. D&B's risk of investments index encompasses indices of political, commercial, macro-economic and external risks. Every category is further divided into four classes, marked by the letters a, b, c and d, representing lesser or greater investment risks. According to a table of investment risks for 131 countries on all six continents, Croatia shares the 91st place with Romania, Venezuela and Mauritania. Neighbouring Slovenia is at the 40th position, ranking with China and Egypt. The United States' D&B agency has approximately two million customers world-wide and is the fifth largest business guide publisher in the world. (hina) lml jn