The president of the Foundation's Board, Professor Dario Vretenar, said that the reality of science in Croatia is by no means commendable, referring to funding for science.
Vretenar presented data in the 2015 UNESCO report on funding for science, research and development from Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which indicates that Croatia is among those few countries that are decreasing their funding for science. Croatia's funding from the budget decreased from 0.84% of GDP to 0.81% of GDP. He believes that the negative trend will continue as funding for science has not increased despite the fact that GDP in Croatia is slowly growing. He noted that Croatia's objective is to allocate 1.4% of GDP by 2020, which is low compared to other European countries.
Apart from Croatia, only Bulgaria and Romania among EU member states are decreasing funding for science. Vretenar added that less money for science meant less scientific publications per capita.
He mentioned that in 2003 Croatia earmarked 0.95% of GDP for research and development, whereas in Slovenia that was 1.25% of GDP. Ten years later Croatia recorded a reduction in that area, whereas Slovenia increased its investments to 2.7% of GDP.
Vretenar also presented recommendations by Science Europe, which consists of 43 members - foundations and agencies that finance science in Europe, including HRZZ.
Of 148 countries surveyed, Croatia ranked 137th in keeping talented people in the country and 141st in attracting foreign talents.
The HRZZ was established by the Croatian Parliament in December 2001 under the name The National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia. Its mission is to promote science, higher education and technological development in Croatia in order to ensure the development of economy and to support employment.