Ivica TodorićThe wealth of Ivica Todoric, the owner of the largest private business in Croatia, the Agrokor concern, is estimated this year at 620 million euros, again putting him at the top of the list of wealthiest Croatians, compiled by Nacional for the seventh year running following the model set by the US Forbes magazine. With property valued at 480 million euros, the second place is held by Ante Vlahovic, the president of the board and largest single shareholder of the Rovinj based Adris Group. Enver Moralic, the largest property owner in Croatia and a petrochemical magnate hailing from Kotor Varosi in Bosnia & Herzegovina, is the third wealthiest Croatian with an estate estimated to be worth 400 million euros.

The largest jump up from last year was made by Luka Rajic, who sold his dairy empire for 280 million euros, while the biggest loser is General Vladimir Zagorec, whose riches are melting away in the wake of a justice department investigation. Also appearing as sellers along with Luka Rajic are the trio of owners of the Diners Club. Tomaz Lovse is a Slovenian and as such not covered by this list, Zarko Kraljevic has already been on the list of the wealthiest, while lawyer Marijan Hanzekovic this year joins the ranks of the millionaires, having pocketed 55 million for his share in the company.

The value of the property of the 50 wealthiest Croatians has grown over the past year by about 30 percent, passing the 4.5 billion euro mark. Again, the trend in the growth of the value of the property owned by tycoons does not correspond with the development of the Croatian economy, which last year barely passed a 4 percent growth rate. But the property of leading capitalists is not necessarily linked to their companies, although a good part of them, like Todoric and Emil Tedeschi, have the lion's share of their wealth tied up in their companies. The growth in wealth of Croatia's millionaires is based predominantly on good stock exchange trends, especially in Croatia and neighbouring countries with developing markets. Stocks of the Adris Group, for example, grew by 65 percent, while those who invested in INA stocks doubled their money in only four months. The analysis also shows that investments into real estate are still very lucrative in Croatia.

Viewed by sectors, most of the people on the list are retailers, as many as 14. They are followed by those in the construction industry, while industrialists, although the wealthiest, or only in third in numbers, which is a good indicator of the structure of the Croatian economy.

Ivica Todoric, 620 million euros
A business move made last year by Todoric can serve as a basis of a more precise estimate of the value of the property of the owner of the Agrokor concern. In June of 2006, Croatia's most powerful businessman sold 8.33 percent of his share in Agrokor to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) at a price of 110 million euros in order to restructure the company balance after a series of domestic and foreign acquisitions, which was the first time he let anyone into the ownership structure of his business empire. That could mean that the value of Agrokor exceeds a billion euros. However, although the money went into Agrokor, the agreement was signed under special circumstances, which most likely means that the EBRD has a guaranteed exit and therefore a reduced investment risk, so that the price at which it purchased a share in Agrokor cannot be the basis of an estimation of the value of Todoric's empire. Judging by financial reports to the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Todoric's four companies – Konzum, Ledo, Jamnica and Zvijezda – recorded earnings last year in excess of 12 billion kunas. When Belje and PIK Vrbovec are added, the earnings rise above 14 billion kunas, which is an annual growth of 10 percent. Todoric and the wealthiest Serbian, Miroslav Miskovic, plan to have the seat of their future joint regional retail giant in one of the countries of Eastern European. One of their first joint ventures should be a large coffee factory in Serbia. But these plans do not, for the moment, affect the estimate of Todoric's wealth as negotiations are still ongoing, and their outcome uncertain.

Ante Vlahovic, 480 million euros
The president of the board and the largest single stakeholder in the Rovinj based Adris Group was one his feet after the loss of the licence to produce Marlboro. Vlahovic increased his wealth by almost 150 million euros from last year, mostly thanks to a strong growth in the value of Adris shares, whose value is up 65 percent from last year. The hike in value is thanks mostly to rumours over the past few months that Adris had hammered out a deal to sell off its tobacco operation to a foreign company. Vlahovic owns 12.5 percent of the preferred stock and 18 percent of the common stock of the Adris Group. His real estate and priceless art collection should also not be disregarded. Last year the Adris Group recorded profits of 602 million kunas. Dividends of 5.5 kuna per share are to be paid out from last year's retained profits of 90 million kunas.

Enver Moralic, 400 million euros
Even if he were to do nothing, the wealth of this petrochemical magnate and Croatia's largest landowner would grow with the rise in real estate values. Moralic is the owner of the Stakorovec palace near Sv. Ivan Zeline, the Villa Racic in Cavtat, the Georg summer residence in Mokosici near Dubrovnik, a huge plot of land in Kastel Sucurac where he is to build a tourist resort with hotels and a marina, and a property in Kopar where the Kemiplas petrochemical company used to be. It was recently reported that Moralic's Kemokomplex petrochemical company in Germany had gone belly up. Moralic, however, says that he sold that company four years ago. The closer Croatia gets to the European Union, the greater the value of Moralic's agricultural fief, encompassing PPK Kutjevo and Bozjakovina. There is a stable annual profit to add to the land rent. Kutjevo last year banked net profits of 23.4 million kunas from the production and sale of agricultural and food products, a growth of 132 percent. He is still linked to Kazakhstan by his oil business, where he made his fortune in the 1970s, while his petrochemical industry is based in Ukraine and Hungary.

Luka Rajic, 280 million euros
Luka RajićThe wealth of Luka Rajic, the most successful Croatian tycoon after Todoric, is at this moment not difficult to ascertain. After his divorce the greater part of his property remained in the Dukat company, and when he recently sold the dairy producer to the French based Lactalis, he banked 280 million euros, as much as 100 million more than Dukat, then the Lura Company, was valued at a year ago. Since then Rajic had cleaned up the company's balance, sold the operations not related to the dairy industry, repaid loans and started a new life. His wealth will increase if he invests the Dukat earnings wisely. He has already announced investments in Croatia and has engaged his people from Dukat, Ivan Klicek and Gordan Radin, to select and develop projects. Even though Rajic has for years now been a citizen of Geneva, he earned his wealth in Croatia, and we have put him on our list of Croatian millionaires. Since capital profits are still not taxed in Croatia, Rajic will not have to pay a cent to the state for the transaction. And while he sold a debt-free Dukat, Rajic has some private debts outstanding, but they do not exceed the value of his property. He owns a small building in downtown Geneva and several flats in various European cities. It is not known how he divided up the valuable real estate he owns in Zagreb and Istria with his wife.

Dubravko Grgic, 195 million euros
Grgic and his wife Mladenka control a third of the Agram insurance and banking concern, whose value exceeds a half billion euros. Against last year, Agram's value is up by at least 20 percent, thanks to a large extent to the acquisitions of the Kredit and Nava banks. Although small, their value has soared over the past year on the wings of a quickly expanding market and the lack of access to new players. The value of Grgic's real estate in Herzegovina, Brela and Zagreb, where they own a house in the Tuskanac quarter and a flat at the Importanne Gallery building, is estimated at 12 million euros. With an almost 23 percent share of the insurance market in Croatia, the value of Agram is growing from year to year. Last year it upped its revenues by 12 percent to 3 billion kunas, with profits estimated at 200 million. The opening of modern health clinics in all larger cities has created the basis on which Agram, through its Sunce insurer, will hold on to the position of the clear leader in the voluntary health insurance market.

Plinio Cuccurin, 141 million euros
The second largest shareholder in the Adris Group and the richest man in the municipality of Bale saw his fortune grow by 47 million euros in the past year, thanks to a 65 percent hike in the value of the company's stock, where Cuccurin is a many year board member and the man in charge of tobacco operations. The increase in wealth is the result of a rise in real estate values and Cuccurin's wise investment of money earned from dividends. If the speculation on the sale of the Rovinj tobacco factory is founded, the municipality of Bale stands to profit, where Cuccurin is spearheading a large-scale tourism project.

Pavo Zubak, 110 million euros
Pavo Zubak, the owner of the Auto Zubak and PZ Auto companies, has confirmed himself as the leading retailer in the automobile branch. He made his fortune on the import and sale of vehicles of the Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen brands. With time he withdrew from the company's management and currently oversees the operations as the president of the supervisory board. The company has sales centres in all larger Croatian cities and recently opened the doors of the first, 50 million kuna, safe driving centre in Croatia. Similar centres are to be built in Split and Osijek and estimates say that some 14 thousand people will receive training in them each year.

Ivan Cermak, 100 million euros
Judging by unofficial offers from the Slovenian based Petrol and Russia's Lukoil, Cermak's chain of gas stations is worth in excess of 140 million euros. He is also the owner of Klokovec Castle in Krapinske Toplice, valued at 10 million euros, and a house in Zagreb's Pantovcak quarter. The core of Cermak's business empire is a chain of 32 gas stations. Added to this are twenty already purchased properties on excellent locations for new filling stations, and large storage facilities for oil derivates. The Tifon Company holds an 8 percent stake in retail sales of oil derivates.

Ivan Ergovic, 95 million euros
Ivan ErgovićErgovic, Slavonia's largest industrialist, is the owner of the Nasice-based Nexe Group, a concern pooling 23 companies in Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, most of which sell construction materials. He has no large property outside of his business as he has turned his affinities, like wine making, into businesses. He has increased the value of his business empire through aggressive expansion into the countries of the former Yugoslavia and continuous investments into modernisation and expanding capacities. Just last year the Nexe Group invested 315 million kunas, more than half into the production of cement.

Vjekoslav Gucic, 91 million euros
Vjekoslav Gucic is the owner of the Getro retail chain, with 15 large sales centres in 14 cities, holding the second spot on the retail market, just after Konzum. Gucic denies reports that he was selling Getro to the Slovenian based Mercator and has instead announced a new round of investment with the construction of 10 new supermarkets. His faithful partner is the EBRD, an 8 percent Getro shareholder since 2002.

Branko Zec, 90 million euros
The chief of finances at the Adris Group has most of his fortune tied up in the company's stock. Zec's fortune is based on the wise investment of dividends from the company stock into other securities and real estate.

Dragutin Drk, 77 million euros
Moderate growth in the Vindija dairy and poultry business has seen majority owner Drk's net worth grow by 10 percent. Drk has announced the construction of a factory in Bosnia & Herzegovina and is currently investing 50 million euros into a dairy and cattle feed factory in Serbia.

Emil Tedeschi, 75 million euros
The owner of the Atlantic Group has confirmed his position as regional king of vitamin and instant beverages. After the German based Haleko factory and its affiliated British distributor, he purchased a Croatian food supplements producer Dietpharm for 83 million kunas, giving him the position of leader in the vitamin supplements market and in the pharmacy distribution system.

Andjelko Leko, 72 million euros
The constant growth of tourist traffic in Zagreb has played into the hands of the co-owner and director of the HUP Zagreb hotel company. As real estate values grow in Zagreb, so does the value of Leko's property, the most significant part of which are the Westin, Sheraton, Panorama, Jadran and International hotels.

Toni Kukoc, 70 million euros
After 13 years in the NBA, Croatia's wealthiest athlete stopped playing professional basketball last year and settled with his family in Chicago. He has surrounded himself with advisors and wisely invested his earned millions into securities, most of which are providing stable earnings.

Vlado Covic, 68 million euros
The co-owner of the Zagrebmontaza concern has invested 40 million euros into his native Sibenik, including the Sibenik Light Metals Factory (TLM) in a consortium also including the Dalekovod and Konstruktor companies. He also earned his wealth as a subcontractor in the manufacture of the German Tiger tank.

Robert Jezic, 65 million euros

The owner of the Dioki petrochemical company is out to create the most modern petrochemical industry in South Eastern Europe in Zagreb and on the island of Krk. Jezic stands to increase his fortune this year by 15 million euros: if a state committee decides that the best location for the construction of an LNG terminal is on Krk, an international consortium, including INA, HEP and Plinacro, will buy the land from Dioki.

Goranko and Biserka Fizulic, 61 million euros
The Fizulic retail business has seen a 30 percent growth rate over the past year. Their Magma Company recorded earnings of 638 million kunas last year, up 27.6 percent from 2005.

Radimir Cacic, 60 million euros

Along with the earnings he gains from the Coning construction company, the Croatian People's Party (HNS) candidate for the post of Prime Minister and the incumbent Varazdin County Prefect has shown himself a skilled investor into capital markets. Judging by the revenues, through investment funds and stocks, Cacic last year increased the value of his private portfolio by at least 25 percent.

Zvonko Kotarac, 58 million euros
Billing himself as the greatest builder in Split since Diocletian, Kotarac's construction company, Dal-Koning, has a series of solid projects in its portfolio, hundreds of thousands of square metres of construction-zoned land and 9,000 apartments of which 3,000 are in Split. Besides in Croatia, Kotarac is also involved in construction in Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Marijan Filipovic, 54 million euros
Marijan Filipovic holds 90 percent of the stock in the increasingly more valuable Finvest Corp, a company involved in the lumber industry, one of the few branches in the Croatian economy recording an overall export surplus. The Finvest Corp is the national leader in lumber production and the manufacture of upholstered furniture, and also the largest single concessionaire on forests in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Zeljko Kerum, 52 million euros
The king of retail in Dalmatia has become 5 million euros richer over the last year. Besides into the expansion of his Kerum retail company, Kerum is also investing his profits into tourism and the construction of apartment buildings through his other company, Neva.

Marijan Hanzekovic, 51 million euros
The biggest newcomer on the list and a well-known lawyer last year invested a 7 million euro loan into an ownership stake in the Diners Club. It was the deal of a lifetime as he sold his stake to the Erste Bank a month ago for 55 million euros.

Darko Ostoja, 50 million euros
A skilled financial broker, who gained his fortune during the coupon privatisation with the help of Georg Eltz, is for the moment richer only for the revenues from the securities into which most of his money is invested. But if he wins his suit against the state he could soon be wealthier for 70 million euros with interest or shares of the Opatija based Liburnia Riviera Hotel Company.

Zarko Kraljevic, 50 million euros
The former president of the board of the Diners Club Adriatic is richer for 38 million euros in cash, his share of the 150 million the company was sold to the Erste Bank for. Kraljevic is staying on board the Diners Company as an honorary president.

Juroslav Buljubasic, 49 million euros
One of Dalmatia's most powerful men is rarely seen in Split these of late. He has dedicated his energy to investing his capital into foreign investment funds and spends most of his time on Malta, his new base of operations.

Petar Djukan, 48 million euros
66-year-old Petar Djukan, a graduate of construction engineering and a native of Capljina, is the owner of the Institut gradevinarstva Hrvatske (IGH), the most powerful company in the construction sector, which designs and supervises all the more important infrastructure and construction projects in Croatia. IGH stockholders are Minister Marina Matulovic-Dropulic, leading Zagreb official Slavko Kojic and the director of the Croatian Motorways Company Mario Crnjak.

Goran Strok, 47 million euros
One of the biggest private hoteliers in Croatia can also be led as a British investor in Croatia, but Strok is a Croat and although his business is registered in London, the first hotel he bought was the Bonavia in Rijeka. Today Strok has two hotels in Windsor near London and, besides the Rijeka Bonavia, four hotels in Croatia, Dubrovnik's Excelsior, Dubrovnik Palace, Bellevue and Kompas hotels.

Zeljko Zuzic, 47 million euros
The owner of the 14,000 square metre Solidum Centre, the largest furniture outlet in Croatia, will earn some extra cash with the launch of construction on the Zagreb – Sisak highway. Zuzic has a concession on gravel extraction from Lake Cice near Velika Gorica and is the chief supplier of gravel for the construction of the highway.

Josip Stojanovic, 45 million euros
The most powerful Dalmatian retailer after Zeljko Kerum is the owner of the Jolly JBS retail chain with its 11 retail outlets in Sibenik-Knin County. Stojanovic, like Kerum, is investing the fortune earned in the retail business into tourism and real estate.

Zdravko and Visnja Pevec, 45 million euros
Business has bloomed for the Pevec couple of Bjelovar since 1990, when they opened a company to import flowers and agricultural machinery in their garage, to the present when their 13 outlets employ 2,000 people. The concept of a store offering everything for the home has proven so successful that the Pevec's are planning to expand to the other countries of the former Yugoslavia and to Romania and Bulgaria.

Mirko Grbesic, 45 million euros
This native of Siroki Brijeg has created a respectable business empire consisting of the Mepas Company, the Osijek based Saponija Company, the Split retailer Brodomerkur and the Bjelovar based Koestlin Company.

Borna Rajic, 44 million euros
The only woman on Nacional's millionaire's list, her "success" is a divorce from the former dairy king Luka Rajic, who left her 40 million euros of property gained during their marriage. Borna Rajic has a house on Lake Geneva, a flat in downtown Zagreb and the luxurious Okrugljak villa.

Davor Stern, 43 million euros
The former economy minister and general director of INA is the top consultant in the region when it comes to the oil business in Russia. Trends on the energy market over the past years have brought Stern some extra earnings.

Milan Artukovic, 42 million euros
One of the more agile of the older generation of managers has managed to maintain the Franck Company's market position in the snack products and coffee segment in spite of the presence of multinational brands. His plans may be thwarted by Ivica Todoric and Miroslav Miskovic, who have announced a joint venture into the coffee business.

Josip Kordic, 41 million euros
Josip Kordic, the former partner of Hrvoje Petrac and Marijan Medvidovic, is in top gear building commercial space in Zagreb. Along with the construction of a commercial centre on Vukovarska Avenue, Kordic is also building commercial space at other locations.

Marko Vojkovic, 40 million euros
The owner of the Adriatica.net Company has bought up everything in the region linked in any way to tourism – from the Slovenian Kompas to Croatia's Atlas. He has entered a new segment this year with the purchase of Sixt rent-a-car from Pasko Dodic and Milan Lucic.

Goran Ivanisevic, 39 million euros
The famous Croatian tennis player will remember last year by his first good investment, arranged by his friend Boris Vidic the owner of City Express, which saw him invest 19 million kunas into the capital of Karlovacka bank, putting an end to the melting away of his fortune. Karlovacka bank is one of the small banks in Croatia with a constant growth of its value as a result of the central bank's policy of not allowing the establishing of new banks.

Braco Radovanovic, 38 million euros
The owner of the Euroline Company, one of the few firms that Daimler Chrysler has allowed to independently lead the sale of Mercedes vehicles. After the many obstacles he faced when launching his business in 1993, Radovanovic has managed to survive and become one of the biggest car dealers in Croatia.

Dragutin Biondic, 36 million euros
Dragutin Biondic sold the Lipa Mill paper company, but the value of his Heruc has not changed significantly over the past year. The value of his Centar bank has grow, and he is also the owner of the Villa Dubrovnik hotel, declared by Britain's The Independent as one of the top ten coastal hotels in Europe.

Branko Roglic, 36 million euros
With the takeover of the distribution of Philip Morris products, above all Marlboro cigarettes, Branko Roglic has significantly increased the value of his Orbico Group. Roglic is also the owner of the Laura Company, distributor of the top brands of perfume, and is the distributor of Proctor & Gamble for Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia.

Franjo Tomic, 34 million euros
Franjo Tomic is one of the most respected people in the automobile branch in Croatia. He is the distributor of BMW and Rover cars and the owner of a firm that installs special air conditioning in Munich.

Zvonko Zubak, 33 million euros
Arms dealer Zvonko Zubak will be much wealthier when he gets the money Croatia owes him for the delivery of the S-300 rocket system. The state is to pay him 200 million dollars, but if there is anyone with an iota of good sense in the national leadership they will strike a deal with Zubak for half of the money – payable in rates.

Zeljko Zderic, 32 million euros
Zeljko Zderic is the owner of Konstruktor-inzenjering, one of the most powerful construction companies in Croatia, with profits last year of 22 million kunas. Zderic has strong connections with Jure Radic and with Petar Djukan, the head of the IGH Company, whose son Sasa Djukan is the representative of Konstruktor in Zagreb.

Hrvoje Petrac, 31 million euros
A businessman from the Zagorje region, with temporary residence at Remetinec prison, will be richer when he gets out of jail. Although he has nothing to do in prison other than contemplate on the meaning of life, the value of his real estate has grown and his fortune has increased by at least 4 million euros.

Ivic Pasalic, 30 million euros
Ivic Pasalic has thrown his weight into the construction business and is building the Odranska zavrtnica residential complex near Zagreb, while a project of luxurious local villas is in the works for Istria. Pasalic owns a super luxurious 600 square metre house in Zagreb's Remete with eight washrooms, a wine cellar, indoor pool, fitness studio, two garages and an elevator.

Stipe Gabric Jambo, 28 million euros
Metkovic native Stipe Gabric is involved in tourism, fruit, vegetable and cattle production, transport, meat processing, fish imports and construction. His GP Put Company is building several sections of the highway from Dugopolje to Ploce.

Vladimir Smolec, 28 million euros
Through his group, which pools the Premisa, Da, Lowe Digitel and Digitel Media Services agencies, Smolec controls a large part of the marketing pie in Croatia. His has ownership links with the Slovene Pristop group and the DZS publishing house.

Tomislav Horvatincic, 25 million euros
Croatia's leading construction investor faces his greatest investment – the construction of a luxury complex on Zagreb's Cvjetni Square, a 100 million euro project designed by architect Boris Podrecca. While Horvatincic is launching the job of the century in downtown Zagreb, business is not going as planned on the outskirts, as his Hoto Villas residential complex near Samobor, although completed a year ago, still has flats up for sale.

Vladimir Zagorec, 23 million euros
When an Austrian court recently set bail for the release of Croatia's most decorated officer, the chief point of reference was the value of his property, estimated at 26 million euros, the same figure Nacional cited in its list from last year. Zagorec's problem with the law, connected to money laundering has, however, made him a less appealing business partner and some of his partners have turned their backs on him, forcing him out of some lucrative projects in Dalmatia.

Nine Dalmatians on the list
There are nine Dalmatians among the wealthiest Croatians – Sibenik's Vlado Covic and Josip Stojanovic, Split's Zvonko Kotarac, Zeljko Zderic, Zeljko Kerum, Goran Ivanisevic, Branko Roglic and Juroslav Buljubasic and Stipe Gabric of Metkovic.

Croatia's new millionaires
There are three new names on Nacional's list of the 50 wealthiest Croatians. These are led by lawyer Marijan Hanzekovic who pocketed 55 million euros for his stake in the Diners Club. He is followed by Petar Djukan, the owner of IGH and Goran Strok. Off the list are goldsmith Pasko Dodic, publisher Ninoslav Pavic and the owner of City Express Boris Vidic.