Azubi-EuropaInternship calendary

Croatia Hungary

22.04. – 03.05.2013

Franziska Brühl

Katrin Spotke

trainees as business administration assistants at Südzucker AG Zeitz

Dobar dan! Jó napot!

Coordinated by:Financed by the European Commission and the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt:

Structure  

1. Croatia

1.1 Rijeka

Day 1 – Arrival in Croatia

Day 2 – Workshop “The most important things about Croatia and the people living there”

Chamber of Economy

Day 3 – Vocational school of Rijeka

Energo d.o.o

Water supplier station Rijeka

Day 4 – Jadrosped d.o.o

Regional Energy Agency Kvarner Ltd.

1.2 Zagreb

Day 5 – Goethe Institut Zagreb

Engel&Völkers Croatia

Day 6/7 – Workshop “Learning business English”

Workshop “The most important things about Hungary and the people living there”

2. Hungary

2.1 Budapest

Day 8 – Siex Kft.

Day 9 – Audi Centrum Budapest

Hungarian parliament

Day 10 – “Scavenger hunt” through Budapest

Day 11 – AHK – German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce

Alukönigstahl Kft.

Day 12 – Way back home to Germany

3. Presentation “Südzucker AG”

3.1 Comparison of sugar products from Germany and Croatia/Hungary

4. Conclusion

1. The most important things about Croatia and the people living there.

Croatia is a country in the south-east of Europe. The capital is Zagreb with 1,1 million inhabitants. On the whole 4,3 million inhabitants live in Croatia. The country counts 1246 islands, too.

The national language is Croatian. The currency is called “Kuna” and the rate of exchange is 7,56 HRK per 1,00 EUR currently. Since 1991 it is a parliamentary and independent republic.

The country is regionally divided into north-west Croatia, middle-east Croatia as well as Istria and Dalmatia. It borders on Slowenia and Hungary (North), Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegowina (East), Montenegro (South) and the Adriatic (West).

Croatia has a long history – it starts with the Croatian kingdom (924 – 1102), the union with Hungary (1102 – 1525), the Osmanian Empire (1451 – 1699) and the Habsburger monarchy (1527 – 1918) and goes on with the origin of the kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slowenia (1918 – 1941), being part of the republic of Jugoslavia (1945 – 1991) and the independence since June 1991.

The main religion is Roman-Catholic with 88%.

Since 1st July 2013 Croatia is a member of the European Union.

Day 1 – Arrival in Croatia

The day started very early in the morning. We met all the other students and the coach at the airport Halle/Leipzig. After a short stop in Stuttgart we arrived in Zagreb, Croatia, at 11 o’clock.

The destination was Rijeka and so we drove by bus for 2 hours. Our hotel was next to the harbour. In the afternoon we explored the city. At last we exchanged some money for the next days. For a good start of our journey the whole group went into a restaurant to have dinner. So everyone got the chance to get to know each other. That was all for the first day. Everyone was very tired, so we were happy when we could go to bed.Dinner in a beautiful restaurant near the harbour. While we waited we talked about our

expectations of this project.

Day 2 – Chamber of Economy and workshop in the hotel

Today was the first day when we started to work.

It started with working in the conference room of our hotel. We learned something about the most important things about Croatia and the people living there.

After this we went to the “Croatian Chamber of Economy”, which took until midday.

At the “Chamber of Economy” there are 7 representative offices. It’s an international relation department and there are a lot of activities like

• Representation• Co-ordination• Promotion• Development of business relations• Delegation of public authority • Organization of individual meetings (B2B)

Additionally the “Chamber of Economy” is the coordinator of the “Enterprise Europe Network” (EEN). That’s the support to entrepreneurship and innovation. It helps small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in making the most of the EU market.

The activities of the EEN are far-reaching:• Informing, education and internationalization of SMEs• Innovation, technology an knowledge transfer• Support of SMEs’ participation in the 7th framework program and research and development

In their database there are over 13.000 profiles from 53 countries.

In the afternoon we were back at our hotel, where we prepared a presentation of our vocational school system for the next day.

Day 3 - Vocational School “Mije Mirkovica”

We visited the vocational school of economy “Mije Mirkovica”, where we met very friendly and helpful Croatian students. They told us something about the school system of Croatia in German and English and we were very surprised how well they speak German. After this it was our turn. We presented the school system of Germany in English. The students were very interested in our project and asked a lot. When we had finished we were divided into groups. So we could attend classes. The lessons are not as strict as in Germany, the students can speak all the time.

At least we had a tour through the school.

In former times the school was a police department and the gym was the stable.

In former times the attic storey was a prison- today these rooms are used for lessons. The prison doors and grilles in front of the windows are in good condition until today. But when we walked through this floor, it felt different than in our school.

Talking with the other students while we walked through the school.

Finished we took a photo of our whole group and a class of this

school.

Energo d.o.oThis company was founded in 1852. It’s the biggest company in Rijeka and one of the 3 top companies of the energy sector in Croatia.

It has over 30.000 customers and it does a lot for these people. In future it will inform about ecological aspects.

Energo is sponsor for nursery schools. They organize projects and try to make it easier to use for customers. There are city pipelines for gas supply and the use of wind energy in coastal areas. Out of town the gas supply for house owners is transported with trucks. Geothermal energy is not developed in Croatia. It is not planned to cut off the nuclear power, which they’re using together with Slowenia. The nuclear power stations are state-owned and Energo d.o.o gets the energy from them. The company invests very much in sustainable energies. They invest in the future by winning electrical energy from vapour. So, Energo d.o.o will supply the customers with electricity.

They told us something about their company and answered our questions.

Water supply stationThe start of the water supply was in 1998. In this company there are around 350 employees and the pipelines for the water supply are over 900 km long. 40 pump stations, 7 springs and 67 water tanks has the company at its disposal. The main water tank has a capacity of 20.000 m³ in the centre of Rijeka. There is also a supply on islands, for example Krk. The quality of water is very good and there are checkpoints for water and GPS. So the employees can react very fast if something is not right. They analyse water in their own modern laboratory. The company has 40.000 domestic connections. The capacity of the water supply is over 50 million m³ per year. They have to check the drinking water for salt water. The water quality is so good, that they can send the water to bottling companies. One bottle of water costs 12 HRK in Croatia, so it corresponds to 1,60 EUR.

We handed a little present to the manager to say thank you for inviting us.Here we could take a look at the labour of the company.

Day 4 – Jadrosped d.o.oJadrosped d.o.o is a forwarding agency , which works all over the world. It was founded in 1954 and it’s one of the biggest haulage firms in Rijeka.

Since 2006 it is an independent company. There are 39 employees and they work together with other countries, for example Germany, Austria, Italy and Africa. The company does not have own trucks – there is only loading of containers.

Jadrosped d.o.o has the quickest transport. In co-operation with other firms they are investing in new cranes and equipment and costumers care is very important.

The employees work until 10 o’clock p.m. and after this time they are on call. The import and export are well-balanced, but there is more import from Europe than export.

The transport to China is the most expensive at the moment. Wood is transported to Germany, Austria, Croatia and Italy. The harbour can’t be extended because houses were built around it.

Per year there are 10.000 transports.

We learned all about the work of a haulier.

We saw the new cranes next to the old cranes in

the harbour.

REA Kvarner d.o.o

The full name of REA Kvarner d.o.o is “Regional Energy Agency Kvarner d.o.o”. It’s a young organization which was founded in 2009. The company has many partners, for example Energo d.o.o, City of Rijeka and Dioki. They lead some regional projects with the motto “Green energy in my house” and “Sun on your roof!” In the last 3 years REA Kvarner d.o.o installed 249 solar panels on the roofs of Rijeka.

In the presentation they gave us a lot of information about their projects:• IPA – programming framework

o Invest 6.000.000 EURo Have to start in 2020o Work together with architects, engineers, ecologistso Test renewable energyo Partner countries are Italy and Croatia

• MED – Emilieo Many European partners who work on efficient technology

• MED – Smile-Projecto Starts in June 2013 with partners everywhere in Europe (Italy, Spain)

When they build and install the solar panels they get help from German companies, especially from Heidelberg, Freiburg, Frankfurt and Berlin. You need more than 40 documents before you can start working. The projects are financed by the countries. There are no parks - solar panels you can only find on roofs of private households. The people produce the energy not for themselves, they feed energy into the grid and get money for this. After 14 years it pays off for the private owners.

Eventually you can say REA Kvarner d.o.o exists of sun and wind.

Day 5 - Goethe-InstitutIn the morning we travelled to Zagreb and at first we visited an institute:

“We build bridges over cultural and political borders.”

The “Goethe-Institut” is an institute which works on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. The head office is in Munich and there are 3000 employees all over the world, including 320 German employees who switch between different countries.

In Munich work 200 employees. There are 150 institutes in 97 countries all over the world and 1000 advice centres in 100 countries. In Germany exist 13 institutes. The oldest “Goethe-Institut” is over 60 years old and you can find it in Athena.

In all institutes the staff consists of 65% female employees.

They have a lot of activities:• Cultural programs• Informing• Promotion of the German language in foreign countries

They don’t work together with the state or politics – it’s an independent institute which is not subordinated to the government. However, the staff has to follow fixed terms.

Engel & Völkers

Engel & Völker is a real estate company which was founded in 1998. The head office is in Hamburg and we visited the employees in their office in Zagreb. If you want to be a real estate agent, you don’t have to make a training in a vocational school. You only make a practical training for 10 days in Hamburg. In Zagreb there are over 100 real estate agents. So the colleagues have to work really hard to be successful. The day starts at 9 o’clock with working in the office. After this they go outside to meet customers and to look for real estates. You can choose between a flat or a house for buying or renting – no matter if you are a private or a business person. Furthermore they look for new real estates, take photos, write scripts and put it on the world wide web. In the afternoon the real estate agents go back to the office and talk for example with the persons who want to rent something about the finance and the lease. If you want to rent a flat you have to pay 500 and 2000 EUR for an apartment . Near the sea the prices are higher. The most expensive object which was sold was a house for 2,5 million EUR.

The office of the company in Zagreb.

An example of a house they sold for other people. Another example of a house.

Day 6/7 - WeekendThe weekend was not as stressful as the week because we didn’t visit firms. But on these two days we were working in the conference room of the hotel from 10 o’clock until 14 o’clock.

We had two different topics: • Saturday intercultural communication• Sunday business English

At first Ms. Kaufhold gave presentations for example about Hungary, behaviour in front of business partners and telephoning tips. After this we were subdivided into little groups to practice. So we had the chance to use what we have learned before and to strengthen team feeling. On the two days we had two practical topics:

• Saturday Telephoning

Everyone had to phone another student in front of the whole group.• Sunday Meeting business partners

The two groups got 30 minutes to work out a part and presented it. During

the presentation of our results Ms. Kaufhold made a video about this.

When we had finished our results were analysed and compared with each other.

We worked in groups to do a role play for practising business

English.

Day 8 - Hungary

The capital of Hungary is Budapest with 1,7 million inhabitants. Altogether in Hungary there live 10,1 million people.

It’s a republic and the currency is “Forint” (HUF). Since 1918 this country is independent and in 1999 it was divided into 7 regions. Hungary has borders with different countries:• Slovakia (North)• Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia (South)• Rumania, Ukraine (East)• Austria (West)

The national language is Hungarian and since 2004 Hungary is a member of the European Union. Half of the population is Roman-Catholic (54,5%).

Budapest is an economic and academic centre.

The main branches of industry are: chemicals, textiles, vehicles, electronics, software, food industry, metalwork, construction materials.

The biggest company in Hungary is “MOL”, a mineral group. But there are big regional differences. The most important trade partners for Hungary are Germany (30%), Austria (8%), Italy (6%) and Great Britain (6%).

Hungary has a long history, too:• Hungarian Kingdom from 10th until 15th century• Osmanian conquest and Habsburger monarchy from 16th until 19th century• Double monarchy Austria-Hungary since 1867• Independence from 31.10.1918 until 1945• Socialism from 1949 until 1989• Republic of Hungary since 1989

Siex Kft.

Siex Kft is a company which was founded in March 1991 from three Hungarian people in Szombathely. The building complex is over 3000m² large.

It is a general distributor of Multicar in cooperation with “Trilety” (an Australian company) and “Amco Veba” (an Italian company).

They offer spare parts promptly and professional and reliable service activities.

In their range they have Multicar, tractors, vehicles to grit the road, vehicles for street cleaning…

The office of the company in Szombathely.

We could take a look at the garage of this company.

Day 9 - Audicentrum Budapest

The Audicentrum was built in 1971 by Volkswagen as a state company. This company has 110 employees. Since 1990 it’s a private company. We had a tour through the whole company where we could see the sales department, the offices and the garage. There are 14 dealer and 19 branches. This company has a purchasing power of 42,3 %. In Hungary a person has to work for 55 months to be able to buy a car. On average cars are 11,9 years old. Per year there are 1000 sales.

They sell more business cars than private cars, but they have 15 000 repairs per year, too.

In 2012 Porsche was bought by Volkswagen. It’s the best importer for Volkswagen.

Until today more new cars have been sold than used cars. Private cars will often be paid cash, but business cars are leased. More cars are driven by petrol than diesel.

The share of the market of Audi are 3,5 % and of Volkswagen 10,5 %. Audicentrum Budapest has shares of German companies for Volkswagen. The most sold cars are Audi A6, A7 and VW Passat and Golf. If you want to buy a new car, you have to wait for 6 or 8 months.

More older people than young people buy cars, because there is a high unemployment in Hungary.

The most expensive car, which was sold, was an Audi R8 for 200.000 EUR (60 million HUF). In Budapest the company has a turnover of 20 million EUR.

A tour through the garage.

The Parliament

We had a tour through the Parliament with a German speaking tour guide. During this tour we could see the changing of guard. The National Assembly is the Parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. The election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members to the Assembly (but area winners enter regardless). The Assembly includes 25 standing committees to debate and report on introduced bills and to supervise the activities of the ministers. The Constitutional Court of Hungary has the right to challenge legislation on the grounds of constitutionality. The Assembly has met in the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest since 1902.

We were especially impressed by the architecture and the layout of this only a hundred years old building.

Day 10 - “Scavenger hunt”

On 1st May was also a public holiday – “Labour Day.” This day we used to do a scavenger hunt in Budapest. We started at 11 o’clock and we should take pictures and some notes. But before we went to the a castle and the Mathias church. After this the whole group was subdivided in four groups and every group had to go to five or six sights. There were three questions for every sight which we had to answer, too. Here are some sights which we visited: the Place of Heroes, the Market hall, the Margaret-Island, the “Statue of Liberty” of Budapest, the “Little Princess”, the Synagogue.

For example the Margaret-Island is a 2.5 km long and 500 meters wide island in the middle of the Danube. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks and is a popular recreational area. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its importance in the Middle Ages as a religious centre. The island spans the area between the Margaret Bridge (south) and the Arpad Bridge (North).

When all groups had finished we met in the conference room of the hotel and presented our pictures and notes in front of the other groups.

We presented our results of the

“Scavenger hunt”

Our whole group at the castle.

Day 11 – AHK – Chamber of Commerce

When we arrived at the Chamber of Commerce we were received by Mr. Brennauer. He is the manager of the company.

Altogether the AHK counts over 900 members. In Budapest work 35 employees in this company. It’s one of the 15 most successful AHK’s.

The activities are subdivided in fields:• Organization of members Networking , B2B-forum, representation of interests• Professional services Information, advice, service• Promotion of economy Official representative of German economy, representation of German institutes

The aim is to help to make good and fair deals. The import and export to Germany are well-balanced (25%).

What does the AHK do for you?• Information, advice, service, information and chances on market• Search suppliers• Search personnel• Business- and cooperation partners

If you want to be a member of the AHK you will be checked, but if you are only searching for business partners you don’t have to be checked. The payment for members is 600 EUR per year.

The future branches in Hungary are:• Renewable energy• Energy efficiency• Medical technology

Alukönigstahl Kft.

Alukönigstahl Kft. is a wholesale trade company which was founded in 1864 by Jakob König. At that time it was a metal workshop. Since 1990 Alukönigstahl Kft. expanded internationally. In this year the company was founded in Budapest, too. They work together with Jansen and Schüco.

The company is a family company in 14 countries, with 18 companies, 1000 employees, 70 000 products and a turnover of 400 million EUR. They produce system technology for scaffolding of buildings with aluminium and steel. Some references are Audicentrum in Györ, Euro-Tower in Zagreb and the Avaz Twist-Tower in Bosnia-Herzegowina.

The application fields are building constructions, mechanical engineering and vehicle construction. Some working processes are commission, takeover of goods and loading of these.

They work together with forwarding agencies, which work only for Alukönigstahl Kft. and so the forwarding agencies get more money for the jobs. Every day they have their standard routes to supply the customers. The biggest of the three hauliers is Waberer, a German company.

They told us some facts about their firm.

We walked through the storage of the

company.

Way back home

After a severe thunderstorm and fluttering nerves of some students the night was over at 2 o’clock. We thanked Ms. Kaufhold for the good journey and gave her a little gift from the whole group. After that we drove to the airport by bus. While we flew some students looked at the beautiful sunrise over the clouds and the other students slept. Over Postdam and Berlin we had a good view and could take pictures, for example of “Schloss Sanssouci”. When we arrived in Berlin everybody was shocked about the cold and we wished to be back in Hungary or Croatia.

By train we drove back to Halle/Saale, where the journey was finished and everybody was received by family and friends. So we say goodbye to two weeks of best impressions and experience.

Ready to go back home. Waiting for the take-off.

Südzucker AG – our company of training

Now we want to tell you something about our company where we are trainees for business administration assistants: Südzucker AG Mannheim/Ochsenfurt is a German sugar producer which works in the whole world. It consists of the areas of sugar, CropEnergies, fruit and speciality. The company has 17.500 employees and a turnover of 7 billion EUR per year. Südzucker AG produces 5,4 million to. sugar per year. So we are the market leader of sugar in Europe. There are a lot of factories, for example in Germany in Zeitz, Ochsenfurt, Brottewitz und Wabern. But there are also factories in other countries, for example in Hungary, Austria, France and Poland.

Our company “Südzucker AG” in Zeitz.

Comparison of sugar prices

Germany Croatia Hungary

sugar 1kg 0,89 EUR 6,99 kn = 0,92 EUR 299 HUF = 1,01 EUR

confectioner‘s sugar 0,71 EUR 5,99 kn = 0,80 EUR 199 HUF = 0,67 EUR

lump sogar 0,89 EUR 8,99 kn = 1,19 EUR 209 HUF = 0,71 EUR

cane sugar 1,42 EUR 12,99 kn = 1,73 EUR 879 HUF = 2,97 EUR

1 EUR = 7,56 kn *1 EUR = 296 HUF*

*rate of exchange on 1st June 2013

Conclusion

The project “Azubi-Europa” was very instructive and we would always do it again. We did not only meet new people of our group, we met new people from Hungary and Croatia, for example in the vocational school of Rijeka, too. And so we got to know some new cultures and manners. With the help of this project we could improve our business English and learn a few words of Hungarian and Croatian. But mostly we could extend our communicative skills, our capacity for team work, our sense of responsibility, independence and orientation.

At last we want to thank Ms. Kaufhold, our company Südzucker AG and the team of the project “Azubi-Europa” that we got the chance to take part in the project.

Thank you for your attention!

Katrin SpotkeFranziska Brühl