Zagreb County on Thursday gave the IKEA Hrvatska company a permit for building a store in Rugvica municipality on the eastern outskirts of Zagreb, with construction set to begin this spring and opening planned for spring 2014, Hina reported.

IKEA applied for a construction permit for its first store in Croatia late December. Its Croatian investment will be about EUR 100 million.

IKEA's director for real estate and development in Southeast Europe, Vladislav Lalic, told reporters the company would create jobs throughout the year and that 350 people would eventually be employed in the store.

He said that obtaining the construction permit was an important event for the company and commended the county for issuing it in just three weeks.

Tenders for contractors are being prepared. Between 500 and 1,000 workers are expected to be hired for the whole project.

Lalic said IKEA was interested in building stores in Split and Rijeka as well.

Asked which were the biggest obstacles to entering the Croatian market, he said that since purchasing the land in Rugvica in 2008, the company had dealt with certain administrative, bureaucratic and legislative issues, but that they were not exclusive to the Croatian market.

Zagreb County Prefect Stjepan Kozic said he was pleased IKEA had chosen this county to build its first store in Croatia. Despite the crisis, many domestic and foreign investors recognise Zagreb County as desirable for investing, he added.

Source: bne