Croatia

Croatia is open to foreign investment, and the Croatian government continues to prioritize attracting foreign investors. All investors, both foreign and domestic, are guaranteed equal treatment by law. However, bureaucratic and political barriers remain. The greatest of these continues to be the country's inefficient and sometimes unpredictable legal system. The backlog of unresolved judicial cases peaked at 1.6 million in 2004 and has slowly been reduced to 607, 702 pending cases. Because of the large number of pending cases, even the simplest matters can take years to resolve. Investors agree that an unpredictable regulatory framework, lack of transparency in administrative procedures, and lack of structural reforms weigh heavily upon the investment climate. New corporate income tax legislation and a Strategic Investment Act, which came into force recently, are intended to help investors streamline large projects. There are various interest groups that have been successful in stopping investments from being realized in the past, regardless of the origin of the investment. The government does make concerted efforts to counter such movements, with limited success.