The Ministry has announced a competition for distribution of printed media worth 140 million euros

At the beginning of April, the government declared a distribution of prints with a service of general economic interest, providing state funding and activity that became a market unprofitable due to a continuous fall in print sales.

The market analysis, according to tender documentation, shows that in the 2023 year the sales of daily newspapers fell 15 percent and a weekly by eight percent compared to the previous year. The only distributor, Plus printing, canceled all the contracts on January 31 and transferred the activity to the newly founded society of the distribution of print media, which significantly increased the fees.

The state will pay the selected distributor a fee that covers the difference between distribution costs and income from the publisher, with a reasonable profit. The estimated annual cost of the service is 20 million euros and the competition was announced for a period of five years, with the possibility of continuing the service for another two years, which is a total of 140 million euros for the entire seven -year period.

The future distributor will be obliged to deliver the prints daily to 2828 retail places and directly for about 49,000 subscribers across Croatia. The contract will be terminated if a distributor appears on the market, which offers the same services under more favorable conditions without the need for a state fee.

The prices that the distributor will charge for publishers will be determined by the Ministry, and the estimated cost is 0.20 euros per copy of the press, while the state will cover the remaining part of the cost.

« The printed media is a reflection and a symbol of the culture of literacy, informing and social and democratic dialogue of Croatian citizens, » states in tender documentation with a special emphasis on the importance of prints for elderly citizens who are not informed primarily through the Internet.