According to chairman of the Zagreb Stock Exchange Ivana Gažić, more than 140 meetings of representatives of companies, investors, financial funds and banks were held today in Zagreb, which is 25% more than last year.

Gažić and Ljubljanska borza CEO Andrej Šketa assessed that the interest of investors expressed at the roadshow shows that both markets are attractive and interesting. The two stock market operators will continue with joint investment conferences.

The two also talked about capital markets at a press conference, with Gažić saying that the biggest problem of the Croatian capital market was that a relative high market capitalisation is coupled with a very low free flow of shares.

According to her, best examples are energy company INA and Hrvatski Telekom (HT). "INA share is by far the biggest at the Zagreb Stock Exchange, but its turnover is negligible, while HT shares have a significantly higher turnover, although it barely reaches a third of INA's market capitalisation."

Šketa assessed that the Slovenian capital market, which is shrinking due to a number of takeovers in recent years, was facing similar challenges. The state has announced privatisation in a bid to generate interest from portfolio investors, he added.

"The EU is aware that it is not competitive in the race with the US, because financing with loans is not sufficient. There will be more opportunities in the coming few years for companies to come to capital on the market," Šketa believes.

One of the problems in Slovenia and Croatia, according to him, is that companies are too focused on transfers from the EU, instead of spending energy to get money on capital markets.

The model of financing in the EU will probably be changed after 2020, as it will get more regionally-oriented, because it is more logical for Slovenian companies to invest in Croatia than, for instance, in Finnish companies, Šketa concluded.