Ivica Todorić

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Ivica Todorić (pronounced [îʋit͜sa tôdorit͜ɕ]; born 2 January 1951) is a Croatian businessman. Until June 2017 he was owner and Chairman of the Board of Agrokor, the largest privately owned company in Croatia. The operations of Agrokor are focused on two core businesses: manufacturing of food and drinks, and retail.

Biography[]

Ivica Todorić was born in 1951. His mother Ivana was a teacher from Kloštar Ivanić. His father, Ante Todorić, was a prominent figure in the agricultural area of Socialist Republic of Croatia: he was the chief engineer and director of Božjakovina farm in Dugo Selo, where Todorić grew up. He went to school in Zagreb, where he also graduated from the Faculty of Economics.^[2] He went to school with former prime minister Nikica Valentić.^[3]

In 1976, Ivica Todorić launched a private production and trading of flowers. In a few years he expanded the business throughout former Yugoslavia. Business then began to expand into new opportunities - import and export of cereals, oil-crops, fruits and vegetables, and in 1989 Agrokor was registered as a joint stock company, with Todorić becoming its 100% stockholder. By acquiring agricultural processing and food production companies, as well as retail stores, Agrokor grew to become a leading regional conglomerate.^[2] He seized the opportunity of the war to acquire new assets.^[4]

Agrokor's operations accelerated during the Franjo Tuđman presidency.^[4] In 1993, Ivica Todorić obtained a very advantageous loan from the Zagrebačka banka to acquire the First Croatian Oil Factory and DIP Turopolje.^[3] In 1994, Agrokor acquired wholesale retailer Unikonzum (later renamed Konzum) and frozen goods company Ledo.^[4] Today the group includes leading producers of food and drinks and the largest Croatian retail chain. In 2013, Agrokor bought Mercator, Slovenia’s biggest retailer and largest employer, for 240 million euros.^[5] In 2014, Agrokor hired Rothschild & Co to prepare an IPO.^[6]

Ivica Todorić was one of the founders and the first president of the Croatian Employers' Association, founded in 1993.

Collapse of Agrokor[]

Ivica Todorić, founder of Agrokor, served as companies' CEO until April 2017. When Agrokor's financial difficulties became untenable, in March 2017 the government of Croatia hastily drafted and passed the Law on Extraordinary Administration Procedure in Enterprises of Systematic Importance for the Republic of Croatia, and by Todorić's activation of the Law in early April 2017 the Government forestalled the bankruptcy procedure and effectively took control over the company. Special administrator Ante Ramljak was appointed by the Commercial Court on 10 April 2017.

In 2019, Croatian authorities indicted Todorić on the count of sending 1.25 million euro of the company's money to a Swiss company for fictitious services. Todoric has been under investigation since November 2017 on the suspicion of making an illegal gain of more than a billion kuna (120 million euro). That investigation also covers his sons Ivan and Ante Todorić and 12 Agrokor managers and auditors. ^[7]

Personal life[]

Ivica Todorić is married to Vesna Bašić-Todorić; the couple has three children – a daughter, Iva, and two sons – Ante and Ivan.^[2] All three children hold senior positions within Agrokor.^[4] The family's residence is the Kulmer Castle in Zagreb.^[3]

References[]