Tag: zagreb

  • Immofinanz to invest over EUR 250 million in Croatia

    Immofinanz to invest over EUR 250 million in Croatia

    Immofinanz is following its market entry in Italy with the expansion of Stop Shop retail park brand in Croatia.

    In Croatia, plans call for an increase in the number of Stop Shops from the current level of 4 to more than 20 locations over the medium-term.

    The completion of a newly developed unit and the expansion of an existing location are scheduled for the first half of 2022.

    Immofinanz secured 22 sites in medium-sized Croatian cities for the development of Stop Shop retail parks.

    The purchase price for these sites totals approximately EUR 80 million. Investment volume for the new locations will total over EUR 250 million.

    The retail parks that will be built on these sites have more than 190,000 sqm of rentable space.

    Stop Shop units are opened in Slovakia (16), Slovenia (14), Hungary (14), Serbia (14), Austria (13), Czechia (12), Poland (10), Croatia (4), Italy (1), Romania (1).

    MUST READ: Immofinanz adds Italy to its Stop Shop retail park portfolio

  • Matrix Office Park Zagreb have received LEED Platinum certification

    Matrix Office Park Zagreb have received LEED Platinum certification

    Two of GTC’s A-class buildings in Zagreb, Matrix A and Matrix B, have both been granted LEED Platinum certifications.

    Thus, 80% of all GTC’s office properties now bear an eco-friendly label. 

    Matrix Office Park is a modern business center located in Zagreb, which will provide a total of approximately 75.500 sq m of leasable space.

    The first building – Matrix A – was completed in the first quarter of 2019 and offers 10.800 sq m of office space, while the second building to be completed in Q4 2020 will offer an additional 10.700 sq m of modern office space.

    So far, the tenant portfolio of the property includes, among others, Spaces (Regus), L’Oreal and VeniTure.

  • OTP is suing Croatia for the forced conversion of Swiss francs loans

    OTP is suing Croatia for the forced conversion of Swiss francs loans

    OTP Bank announced on Monday that it has sued the Croatian government to recover losses of about 224 million kuna ($ 34.60 million).

    The bank recorded this losses after the introduction of a law that denominated Swiss francs loans in euro loans in 2015, Reuters reports.

    OTP is one of the largest banks in Croatia and the largest independent banking group in Central Europe.

    According to the Hungarian banking group, Croatia has violated the Investment Protection Treaty between Hungary and Croatia and has decided to initiate arbitration proceedings at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank.

    About 55.000 Croats have loans denominated in Swiss francs worth about 25 billion kuna ($ 3.73 billion). Most of these loans were contracted in the 2000s, when many people in Central and Eastern Europe were attracted to low interest rates on franc loans.

    In the meantime, however, the significant appreciation of the franc has led to rising costs of repaying loans in francs, and governments in the region have begun to look for solutions to the problem.

    In September 2015, the Croatian Parliament approved a law which allows the conversion of loans denominated in Swiss francs into euros, ignoring threats from banks, which warned that they would challenge the law at ICSID.

    The law allowed the conversion into euros of loans worth $ 3.4 billion to help citizens cope with repayment. The costs of the conversion were to be borne by the banks.

  • CA Immo exits Croatia with sale of Zagrebtower office building

    CA Immo exits Croatia with sale of Zagrebtower office building

    CA Immo signed and closed the sale of the Zagrebtower office building to Austrian property company S IMMO AG at a 5% premium to H1 2020 book value.

    Zagreb Tower is a class A building in an up-and-coming business district in the heart of the Croatian capital. The 79-metre structure is one of the most impressive landmark buildings in Zagreb.

    The office tower with a total of 25,900 sq m of rentable area on 22 floors and a 9-floor side wing offers a comprehensive range of services and facilities

    The building has a reception in the ground floor entrance area, an underground car park and around 500 outdoor parking spaces.

    Zagrebtower meets high sustainability standards and has a BREEAM Excellent certification. The property generated € 3.6 m of annual gross rental income and was fully let (99%) as at 30 June 2020.

  • Arena Centar Zagreb is the best shopping mall in Croatia

    Arena Centar Zagreb is the best shopping mall in Croatia

    Arena Centar Zagreb is the best shopping mall in Croatia and was awarded with the Tripadvisor certificate of Excellence, writes NEPI Rockastle on its LinkedIn page.

    Arena Centar Zagreb has a total GLA of over 75.200 sq m and 222 store, with Zara, Stradivarius, XYZ, H&M, New Yorker, Mass, C&A, Elipso or Intersport as the main retailers.

    The tenant mix includes an Interspar hypermarket, international food brands including Burger King, KFC and McDonald’s and other international brands like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Old Wild West, Lego, Pandora, Samsonite, Sony, Swarovski.

    Arena Centar Zagreb features a Cinestar Multiplex Cinema with the first IMAX cinema in the region and the 4DX Exclusive Samsung cinema.

    The mall was opened in 2010.

  • SPAR Croatia opens a new supermarket in Buje

    SPAR Croatia opens a new supermarket in Buje

    SPAR Croatia has opened its sixth SPAR Supermarket in the peninsula of Istria. The new store is in Buje, a town located 10km from the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

    More than €4 million was invested in the development of the store. With a sales area of 630 sq m, this SPAR store is the largest supermarket in Buje.

    Opening hours have been extended from 7 am to 10 pm from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays from 8 am to 9 pm, making it easier for customers to avoid peak hours instore.

    There are 53 parking spaces in front of the store, with canopies to protect the vehicles from the sun.

  • Domino’s Pizza opens first store in Zagreb, Croatia

    Domino’s Pizza opens first store in Zagreb, Croatia

    Domino’s Pizza opens the brand’s first store in Croatia by a master franchisee. Residents of Zagreb can now order Domino’s pizza in-store or delivered to their doorstep by master franchisee All About Pizza D.O.O.

    “I am so proud of the team that helped bring the global Domino’s brand to Croatia,” said Nils Gornall, chief executive officer of All About Pizza. “We look forward to sharing our delicious products, excellent customer service and prompt delivery with the citizens of Zagreb.”

    Domino’s in Zagreb features the pizza theater design. A second location will open in Zagreb, with additional locations planned for next year. 

    “We are honored to have our master franchisees building beautiful pizza theater stores in countries all over the world and attracting new customers to our dynamic brand,” said Joe Jordan, Domino’s executive vice president of international. “We are pleased that now we can bring this experience to the people of Zagreb.”

    Domino’s operates in more than 90 markets worldwide, with more than half of its global retail sales coming from international stores.

  • Spotify launches in Russia and 12 additional European Markets

    Spotify launches in Russia and 12 additional European Markets

    Spotify launched its service in 13 new markets across Europe including Russia, one of the world’s top 20 largest streaming markets. Spotify now reaches a current total of 92 markets worldwide.

    This 13 new markets include: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine.

    According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Russia is the 17th-biggest streaming market in the world and on pace to be the 10th-biggest streaming market by 2030.

    More than 87 percent of fans in Russia now access music through streaming, compared to 61 percent adoption globally, and 68 percent adoption in the U.S., according to IFPI.

    Spotify is offering both its Free and Premium services in each of its 13 new markets.

  • Which are the best CEE universities in QS World University Ranking

    Which are the best CEE universities in QS World University Ranking

    Politecnico di Milano, ranking 137, with 37.226 students registered is the first university in CEE, followed by University of Vienna, 45.623 students, ranked 150, latest QS World University Ranking shows.

    The latest QS World University Ranking includes around 1,000 universities.

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the first ranked university in the world and University of Oxford is the first European university (ranked 5 in the world).

    Other 36 universities from Italy in top 1000

    Top 500 include the following universities from Italy, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna (160), Sapienza University of Rome (171), Università di Padova (216), University of Milan (301), Politecnico di Torino (308), University of Pisa (383), University of Naples – Federico II (392), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele Milano (392), University of Trento (403), University of Florence (432), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (511-520), University of Turin, University of Milano-Bicocca (521-530).

    Other Italian institutions in top 1000 are Free University Bozen, Bolzano, Università degli Studi di Pavia (601-650), University of Genoa, University of Siena (651-700), University of Trieste (701-750), Politecnico di Bari, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, University of Brescia (751-800), Catania University, Universita’ degli Studi di Ferrara, University of Salerno, Università degli Studi di Udine, Università degli studi Roma Tre, University of Calabria, Universita’ Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, University of Palermo, University of Bari, University of Parma, Verona University (801-1000).

    7 other Austrian universities in the top

    Austria has other universities in top: Vienna University of Technology (191), Universität Innsbruck (265), Graz University of Technology (275), Johannes Kepler University Linz (362), University of Klagenfurt (511-520), Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz (581-590), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (751-800).

    Czechia has 8 universities in Top 1000

    Charles University Prague, 48,623 students, ranked 260, is the first Czech university in QS World University Ranking, followed by University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (342), Masaryk University Brno (531-540), Brno University of Technology, Mendel University in Brno (701-750), Technical University of Liberec (751-800), Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, University of Pardubice (801-1000).

    First university in the Baltic States is ranked no 285

    University of Tartu (Estonia), ranked 285, is the best university in the
    Baltic States, followed by Vilnius University (Lithuania), ranked 423 and Riga
    Technical University (Latvia), ranked 701-750.

    Other two Estonian universities are in Top 1000, Tallinn University of
    Technology (TalTech) is ranked 651-700 and Tallinn University is no 801-1000.

    Lithuania has three more universities in Top 1000, Vilnius Gediminas
    Technical University (651-700), Kaunas University of Technology and Vytautas
    Magnus University, Kaunas (801-1000).

    Other two universities in Latvia are present in QS World University Ranking,
    Riga Stradins University and University of Latvia, Riga (801-1000).

    Poland has 15 universities in the first 1000

    According to the latest QS World University Ranking, University of Warsaw (321) is the first Polish institution ranked.

    Other Polish universities included in the ranking are Jagiellonian University (326), Warsaw University of Technology (511-520), Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Cracow University of Technology (Politechnika Krakowska), Gdansk University of Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poznań University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, University of Gdansk, University of Lodz, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WRUST) (801-1000).

    First Greek university is ranked no 477

    National Technical University of Athens, ranked 477, is the first Greece university in QS World University Ranking, followed by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (571-580), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (651-700), Athens University of Economics and Business, University of Crete (801-1000).

    University of Szeged, the first in Hungary

    First Hungarian institution in the QS World University Ranking is University of Szeged (ranked 501-510), followed by University of Debrecen (521-530), Eötvös Loránd University (601-650), University of Pecs (651-700), Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Corvinus University of Budapest, Szent Istvan University, University of Miskolc, (801-1000).

    Bulgarian and Slovenian universities, at the same level

    Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, home for 19.086 students, is the only Bulgarian University in the top, ranking 601-650.

    First ranked Slovenian University is University of Ljubljana (601-650), followed by University of Maribor (801-1000).

    Slovakia has 4 universities in QS World University Ranking

    Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice is the first university from Slovakia in the QS World University Ranking and is ranked 651-700, followed by Comenius University in Bratislava (701-750), Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Technical University of Kosice, (801-1000).

    Romania and Croatia are at the bottom

    Romania and Croatia are the worst ranked countries from CEE region with Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca and University of Bucharest (Romania) and University of Rijeka or University of Zagreb ranking 801-1000.

  • World Bank sees the deepest recession since the Second World War

    World Bank sees the deepest recession since the Second World War

    According to World Bank forecasts, the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year. 

    That would represent the deepest recession since the Second World War, with the largest fraction of economies experiencing declines in per capita output since 1870, the World Bank says in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects.

    Economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink 7% in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade, and finance have been severely disrupted.

    Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5% this year, their first contraction as a group in at least sixty years.

    Per capita incomes are expected to decline by 3.6%, which will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year.

    In CEE, Serbia has the slowest GDP decline this year and Croatia the biggest growth in 2021

    For the Bulgarian economy, the forecast is a decline of 6.2% for 2020 and a recovery next year to a growth of 4.3%. 

    Croatia will suffer a GDP decline of -9.3% in 2020 and a recovery of 5.4% in 2021.

    Hungarian economy will have a decline of -5.0% this year and a rise of 4.5% next year.

    Poland is in a better situation with an economic decline of -4.2% in 2020, but a slower recovery, of just 2.8% in 2021.

    For Romania, GDP will decrease by -5.7% this year and a rise of 5.4% in 2021.

    Serbian GDP will decline by -2.5% in 2020 and a recovery of 4.0% in 2021.

  • Croatian game developer Cateia Games is joining Playrix

    Croatian game developer Cateia Games is joining Playrix

    The Croatian game developer Cateia Games is joining Playrix Croatia in its new office in Zagreb. This is the second European studio to join Playrix.

    Cateia’s team of nearly 40 professionals has already started developing a new and as yet unannounced free-to-play mobile game.

    “Becoming part of the Playrix family is a great honor for us. We are one of the oldest studios in Croatia, so this is the start of a new and exciting era for our team as well as a great opportunity for the local gaming scene to grow and prosper. With Playrix fueling our engines, we’re confidently pursuing our next big win, said Dejan Radic, co-founder of Cateia Games.

    Based in Zagreb, Croatia, Cateia Games is the game studio behind Mary Le Chef: Cooking Passion, The Man with the Ivory Cane, and other popular mobile, Mac, and PC titles.

    Playrix is one of the top 5 mobile game publishers in the world. The total Monthly Active Users of their existing titles exceeds 150 million.

  • 63% of NEPI Rockcastle shopping centers GLA is currently open

    63% of NEPI Rockcastle shopping centers GLA is currently open

    Over the last few weeks, in the context of easing of restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, a large proportion of retailers have resumed their operations and 63% of NEPI Rockcastle shopping centers Gross Leasable Area (‘GLA’) is currently open, shows a company report.

    ”As we begin to collect post-reopening operational data, we are confident that our high-quality portfolio, robust balance sheet and strong liquidity together with our unparalleled know-how of the CEE region remain key strengths for weathering this storm well”, said Alex Morar, CEO NEPI Rockcastle.

    Lithuania (reopening of shops: 25 April 2020)

    Restrictions substantially ended, with most shops, including those in malls, opened since 25 April. 83% of the GLA currently trading, with normalised occupancy expected in June 2020, when entertainment and indoor restaurants open.

    The Lithuanian government partially covers tenant payments from the commencement of trading restrictions until end of July 2020, the landlord is expected to provide a discount of 30% to the rental and other obligations for this period, while 20% is covered by the tenant and 50% by the government.

    Footfall in May has already recovered to 50% compared to the same period of previous year and is increasing.

    Poland (reopening of shops: 4 May 2020)

    Restrictions on non-essential stores ended on 4 May. Certain services, including restaurants, cinemas, gym and entertainment facilities, are still restricted, but expected to start trading in June.

    72% GLA is trading and normalised occupancy is expected by 30 June.

    Government announced relief for rent and service charges, subject to a mandatory six-month lease extension plus the period when units were closed.

    Footfall has already recovered to 50% compared to the same period of the previous year and is increasing.

    Serbia (reopening of shops: 8 May 2020)

    Restrictions for smaller shops, including those located in retail parks, ended on 27 April, while other non-essential stores reopened on 8 May.

    Restaurants and entertainment facilities will open later, as government monitors situation.

    35% of GLA open, normalised occupancy estimated by 30 June. There is no specific legislation regulating lease agreements.

    Croatia (reopening of shops: 11 May 2020)

    Restrictions for smaller shops, including those located in retail parks, ended on 27 April, while other non-essential stores reopened on 11 May.

    Restaurants, coffee shops and food courts are open, with social distancing measures which limit their capacity.

    90% of GLA open; entertainment facilities, currently closed, are expected to open by 30 June.

    No specific legislation regulating lease agreements.

    Czech Republic (reopening of shops: 11 May 2020)

    Restrictions on non-essential stores ended on 11 May.

    76% of GLA open; restaurants and entertainment facilities will open by end of May.

    No specific legislation regulating lease agreements adopted, other than forbidding their unilateral termination by the landlord before the end of 2020.

    Romania (reopening of part of the shops: 15 May 2020)

    The Romanian government has announced gradual easing of lockdown measures, with shops having street access and those located in retail parks up to 15,000 sqm of total built area allowed to trade from 15 May.

    Reopening of non-essential shops and entertainment facilities located in larger malls will be implemented at a later stage, not yet communicated (expected reopening by mid June).

    Offices remained fully functional, with work-from-home measures adopted by many companies.

    Legislation proposing deferral of rental obligations to year-end under certain conditions is being considered.

    Bulgaria (reopening of shops: 18 May 2020)

    Restrictions on trading of non-essential shops ended on 18 May.

    72% of GLA open; cinemas and foodcourts are not open, although restaurants can sell take-away food. It is expected that cinemas will open by end of May.

    Offices remained fully functional, with work-from-home measures adopted by many companies.

    No specific legislation regulating lease agreements adopted.

    Hungary (reopening of shops: 18 May 2020)

    Non-essential shops opened on 18 May, with restaurants expected to open by end of June, while entertainment facilities are estimated to open in July.

    72% of GLA currently open. No specific legislation regulating lease agreements adopted.

    Slovakia (reopening of shops: 20 May 2020)

    The Slovakian government ended the trading restrictions for all non-essential shops on 20 May.

    Restaurants and entertainment areas expected to open by end of June. 91% of GLA open.

    Offices remained fully functional, with work-from-home measures adopted by many companies.

    No specific legislation regulating lease agreements adopted, other than forbidding their unilateral termination by the landlord before the end of 2020 if the tenant is in delay with its payment obligations for the period April – June 2020.