Lika-Senj County

Capital: Gospić

Area: 5,350.50 km²

Population: 52.099

Demographic profile
Average age: 43 years
Gender: men 49.36%; women 50.4%

Labor force structure and educational qualifications (2001): college or university degree 7.4%, secondary school qualifications: 40.4%

Employment: the total number of labour force 42,128 (78.5%); unemployment rate 20.8% (2010)

Administration: 4 towns, 8 municipalities

Economy

GDP per capita: 8.707,00 EUR

Unemployment rate: 18.8 %

Average gross salary(monthly): 897EUR

Export and import data: Revenues from export account for 2-5% of the total County revenues, and the average export growth rate equalled 9.1% in the last eight years (Croatian average: 16%). The largest share of exporting products comes from wood processing industry (do 67%).
In 2009, Lika-Senj County earned 32.4 million of HRK from exports, which is 24.7% less than the previous year. At the same time the County imported 34.9 million HRK worth of goods, a 36% drop in comparison to the previous year. Therefore, the foreign trade balance was negative and amounted to 19.6 million HRK.

Key export products:

Wood industry – wood processing and other wood products other than furniture
Manufacturing of electrical devices for light – lamp products
Textile manufacturing – clothing

Key sectors in the economy:

- in terms of revenues:

trade, repair industry: 33.6%
processing industry: 14.6%
construction: 11.3%
hotels, restaurants: 10.5%

- according to the number of employees:

processing industry: 18.7%
trade, repair industry 17.8%
construction: 13.3%
hotels, restaurants: 12.6%

Current trends in the economy: Out of 654 active businesses in the County, seven are medium sized companies, and there's only one large company (National Park Plitvice Lakes, a public establishment). The rest are small businesses which employ 42.2% of the total number of employed persons in the County.

When comparing 2009 and 2005 data, the situation is as follows:

number of active businesses increased by 9.1%
number of crafts/trades dropped 3.0%
the total number of employed people in legal entities increased by 1.0%
the total revenues of the businesses grew by 4.5%
the total revenues of the crafts/trades fell by 8.4%
the total exports rose by 4.9%
investments by businesses grew by 4.0%.

Investments in economy in recent years:

LIDL, HRVATSKA ltd., Business zone Konjsko Brdo, Perušić – Logistics centre for south Croatia
ADRIA OIL ltd., Zagreb-Split highway – exit Otočac; town of Orovac – gas station „Vrata Like“ with the accompanying services
KUMAL ZAGREB ltd., Kompolje, Otočac – Expanded polystyrene manufacturing plant
ZAT-PROM ltd., Construction of the hotel Park Ekskluziv **** in Otočac, centre of the town
TOMAIĆ-COMMERCE ltd., Business zone Otočac – Cheese manufacturing facility – Sirana Runolist
G.P.V. – GRAĐENJE ltd. Gospić, construction of the hotel Lika, Gospić – centre of the town
AUTO HRVATSKA JSC. and MAN IMPORTER HRVATSKA, Business zone Žuta Lokva, Brinje – Construction of the sale/servicing/maintenance centre for trucks and buses
DRVOPROMET SAMARŽIJA ltd., Business zone Žuta Lokva, Brinje – Wood processing plant
LIKA SVJETLO ltd.,Business zone Smiljansko polje, Gospić – construction of the lighting equipment production plant
KUSTURA ltd., Ličko Lešće, water bottling plant
Jadran riba ltd., Porat bay – Lukovo Šugarje and Burnjača bay – Jablanac – construction of a fish farm (California trout) of the 1000 t/year capacity per site

Manufacturing sector

Total number of companies: 79

Key sectors:

Wood industry
Metal industry
Food products
Manufacturing of non-metal mineral products

Number of employees: 837 (2009)

List of the best-performing companies: Pergament d.o.o. Bjelopolje, Lika svjetlo d.o.o. Gospić, Tomaić commerce d.o.o. Otočac, Lička tvornica vapna d.o.o. Ličko Lešće, Kumal d.o.o. Kompolje, Sladovača d.o.o. Gospić, Ličanka d.o.o. Donje Pazarište, Metalna oprema d.d. Senj, Neda d.o.o. Senj

Services sector

Total number of businesses: 79

Key sectors:

construction (11,3% UP)
trade (33,5% UP)
hotels and restaurants (23% UP)

Number of employees: 3,628 (2009)

List of the best-performing companies: Plitvice Lakes Public Establishment, GP Vrkljan d.o.o. Gospić, Milem d.o.o. Lički Osik, Hadria d.o.o. Novalja, Novalis d.o.o. Novalja, Lika ceste d.o.o. Gospić, Most d.o.o. Otočac, UO Macola, Korenica

New economy

The potential of the information society has not been fully exploited yet although it is recognised that the ICT technology is a vital component for increasing business competitiveness.

Use of ICT for business purposes in Lika-Senj County is relatively low in comparison with other regions in Croatia and very low when compared to the developed EU regions. The number of competitor companies reaping the benefits offered by the enlarging market is constantly rising and it is crucial that all the companies can use the advantages of ICT and that their employees acquire the necessary skills.

Institutions in the County supporting research and development: Institutions involved in scientific research in the County are poorly developed. A branch of Zagreb based, Ivo Pilar, is located in Gospić and its activities mainly focus on research in the area of social sciences and humanities.

Creativity and technology: A positive example of a business which bases its success on creativeness is Lika svjetlo ltd., a Gospić based company manufacturing lamp products. Lika svjetlo ltd. is a young business which started its path in the light products sector in 2007 focusing on three winning features: a dynamic attitude, capacity and design. Lika svjetlo offers top light solutions and the young employees of the company are always in the quest for new materials and new production techniques. The company exports 90% of its production, it is one of the largest exporters in the County and accounts for 20% of the total County export revenues.

Business infrastructure

Business zones:

City of Gospić – Business zone Smiljansko polje,

City of Otočac – Business zone Otočac,

City of Novalja – Business zone Čiponjac,

City of Senj – Business zone Cestarska kuća

Municipality of Brinje – Business zone Žuta Lokva

Municipality of – Business zone Konjsko brdo

Municipality of – Business zone Porat,

Municipality of – Business Development Park Zir

Municipality of – Business zone Birovača

Municipality of – Business zone Buljme, Podudbina

Municipality of – Business zone Zalužnica

Municipality of Plitvice Lakes – Business zone Bjelopolje

Traffic infrastructure

119,3 km of A1 Zagreb – Split highway traverse Lika-Senj County (Bosiljevo – Kapela tunner - Žuta Lokva – Otočac – Gospić – Sveti Rok) representing the basic connection between the Croatian North and South as well as a continuation of international traffic routes from northern and central Europe: from the directions of Vienna (E-59), Bratislava (E-65) and Budapest (E-71).

Lika railway (107 km) is a significant railway connecting Split with the north of Croatia as well as with other international centres (M604 – a branch of the Vb corridor).

Air traffic (Zagreb Airport is 201 km and Zadar Airport is 99 km away from Gospić). There is a sports airport Otočac (4 km from Otočac) used for the following purposes:sports and tourist airplanes, ultra-light type planes and gliders, flight and parachuting trainings, practical training and testing, recreational uses, it is 100 km distant from Rijeka and Karlovac; 180 km from Zagreb and Zadar and 335 km from Split.

Sea traffic – the proximity of the port of Rijeka (180 km distant, by highway and 180 km by railway), port of Zadar (99 km by highway) and ports of Senj and Novalja in the area of the County.

Education

Higher education institutions in the County:

universities: 2 (courses: Gospić – traffic, teaching, economics; Otočac: administrative law)
secondary schools: 5 (Gospić – 2, Otočac – 1, Senj – 1, Korenica – 1), out of which four are grammar schools, others are vocational ( technical)

For further information about the County visit

Lika-Senj County
Development Agency of Lika-Senj County – LIRA
Development Agency of the City of Senj
Invest in Croatia – Lika-Senj County
Lika-Senj County - business zones