Foreign legal entities and persons may:
- Invest capital on a contractual basis
- Invest in a company
- Invest in a bank or insurance company
- Set up as craftspeople or do business as sole traders
- Obtain a concession to exploit natural resources or other assets of interest to Croatia
Companies
A company is a legal entity established and organized in accordance with the Companies Act. All companies are registered in a court register following the Court Register Act and the Rules of Court Register Entry Procedures.
The law also regulates the establishment of branch offices and the position of sole traders.
A company is liable to settle its debts with all its assets. Owners/ shareholders in private and public limited companies and partners in a limited partnership are not personally liable for the obligations of the company, unless the Companies Act provides otherwise.
Partners in general partnerships and general partners in limited partnerships have unlimited liability to cover the debts of their partnership jointly, severally and with all their personal assets.
Founders:
A domestic or foreign legal entity or natural person may establish a company.
Company name:
A company name must consist of a proper name and an indication of the company’s business activity as well as abbreviation which clearly indicates the legal form of a specific company, for example Ltd or Inc.
It must be written in the Croatian language and Latin script, or in official language of member state of the European Union. Arabic numerals may also be used. The company name may contain foreign words if these are:
- Part of the name/company name owned by a partner/owner/shareholder, or
- The trade-/service mark, (protected in the Republic of Croatia) of a partner/ owner/shareholder or their company registered in Croatia,
- In cases when such words are common in the Croatian language or
- Where there is no appropriate corresponding word in the Croatian language, or
- Where words of a dead language are used.
The company name may be entered in a court register also in a translation in one or more foreign languages. If the word Croatia or any word form derived from it is to be used in the company name, special consent from the Government of the Republic of Croatia or by state authority authorized by the Government is a requirement.