Zagreb-registered Zhongya Nekretnine, however, has not given up the investment plan and is ready to discuss it again with the Croatian government, if necessary, news daily Poslovni Dnevnik quoted the company as saying in a statement.
The payment has not been yet made due to technical reasons and Zhongya Nekretnine is continuing to look for ways to bring in the money to Croatia as soon as possible, Poslovni said.
In August, Zhongya Nekretnine signed a contract with the Croatian government for the purchase of the hotel, which has a total area of 27,000 square metres. Later, however, the company requested an extension of the payment deadline, saying the political tensions between China and Hong Kong impede the money transfer from Hong Kong. In response to the company's request, the government in Zagreb extended the payment deadline until the end of 2019.
Hotel Zagorje is located in Kumrovec, some 60 km north from the capital Zagreb. Zhongya was the sole bidder in the tender for the hotel, which Croatia opened in March.
In August, Zhongya founder Jiang Yu said the company plans to develop a 200 million kuna congress and health tourism facility at the location of Hotel Zagorje, adding the launch of construction works is planned for 2020.
Croatian media reported last month that Zhongya Nekretnine has bought some 30,000 square metres of land in Kumrovec, adjacent to Hotel Zagorje.
Jiang Yu is already involved in several other investment projects in Croatia, planning to build a traditional Chinese medicine centre at the site of an existing hotel in the mountain resort of Krapinske Toplice in the north, nearby Kumrovec, as part of a 20 million euro ($22 million) investment programme. The plan includes the construction of a new hotel in Krapinske Toplice, as well as a nursing home for elderly people.
In October, local media reported that Jiang Yu had submitted a letter of intent for investing in the Osijek airport, in north-eastern Croatia, with plans to develop its cargo and passenger terminals, and build a logistics centre in the adjacent area.
