Foreigners find it a struggle

Foreign banks are trying to sell investment-banking services in Croatia but so far with limited success. Delays in state sell-offs and corporate restructuring aren't helping. By Charles Olivier.

Croatia does not feel like a country recovering from civil war. The people are still elated about their national soccer team’s long run to the semi-finals in this summer’s World Cup and bars in Zagreb are buzzing with Prada-clad teenagers waving red-and-white chequered flags. Sales of Mercedes cars and mobile phones are soaring. And with GDP expected to grow by 7.5% this year, the trade deficit down to $1.5 billion and the budget now in surplus, economists are optimistic.

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