CROATIAN COMPANIES HAVE TO CHECK THEIR PARTNERS' CREDIT RATING

ZAGREB, Oct 23 (Hina) - Croatian companies have yet to learn to check the financial reliability of their potential business partners and investors, Ema Kristof, director of the BonLine company, told Croatian business people in Zagreb on Friday. BonLine represents the international agency for business information and credit rating Dun&Bradstreet (D&B). The D&B data base, which contains information on 45 million companies all over the world, also includes information on business operations of about 2,500 Croatian companies. According to the D&B assessment, Croatia has a risk credit rating indicator DB 5B, like Romania. Slovenia has the best credit rating in the eastern European region, followed by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. On the scale of 21 countries in transition, Croatia holds the ninth place. Checking a company's credit rating means using all available information sources. In Croatia, these sources are the Register of Companies, Payment Transactions Bureau, statistical and financial reports, publications and media. The main problem in assessing the financial reliability of Croatian companies is availability and transparency of information, said Ted Lewyn, director of the European branch of the D&B agency. The D&B credit rating assessment consists of two indicators: financial power and risk indicator. The assessment also includes indicators such as the amount of loans a company is able to repay, the latest data on capital, balance sheet and profit-and-loss account for the last three years. The D&B agency has two million permanent clients throughout the world and its European base contains data on 19 million companies. The agency has offices in 150 countries with 16,000 employees. (hina) rml