Bad economic state of Croatian wood industry is not a news for a long time. That diagnosis is long term and well known. Business years where profits of wood industry firms outmatched losses are very rare. Systematic data examine shows that wood industry achieved small or bad business results, while debts and long term finance sources loss have continuously and long term growing trend. Those facts apply on wood industry examined statistically through its two branches: sawed boards and wood final products. At the beginning of the eighties quantitative growth of wood industry was stopped. Significant fall of physical volume of primary and finally products started at the end of the eighties and continue till nowadays. Officially statistics show that wood industry production in 1996 is about to achieve 52 % of primary and 45 % of finally products volume achieved in 1988. Since officially statistics do not include small enterprises founded in last several years, real state in wood industry is different, and we think a little better. No matter how open the process of founding and development of small enterprises may be, dominant part in growth and development of Croatian wood industry have big and medium big enterprises. Seventy-four of them, or 10 % gain 68 % of income, and 678 small enterprises achieve only 32 % of wood industry income. That is the reason for aggregated branch data to present the state of big and medium big enterprises primarily. For that reason great influence on wood industry business results has group of big and medium big enterprises producing finally products. This group content 51 enterprises, or 6,8 % of all wood industry enterprises, but gains half of all business income of wood industry, and over two thirds of finally production business income. Of all four examined groups of wood industry enterprises, that one shows decreasing of business income. Overboard sale income decreased for 16 %, and sale within the country decreased for 8 %. Export income of wood industry enterprises decreased for 5 %, and sale within the country income increased for 17 %, so export share in total income decreased from 51 % to 46 %. Those changes took place because state market and prices enabled growth of import. So import of primary wood products (sawed boards and particle boards) makes 33 % of export of those products, and import of finally products makes 65 % of export of those products. But wood industry is not a single organism. It contents a great number of enterprises that differs, no matter they make business in the same branch. Some of them make business successfully, some of them are recovered by the capital new owner brought, some of them are still in debt because of wrong business decisions made earlier. It is group of economic subjects different by size, economic position, regional status, successfulness, owners structure, future plans, market flexibility, economic situation etc. In that heterogenic group there are smaller groups of enterprises that belong in same or very similar economical situation. It is logical for that group to deal with the environment from the position of their own interest, which means that some decisions and activities may conflict with interests of other group of wood industry enterprises. Especially when one particular group under the name of wood industry in whole is looking for a solution or their own problems by demanding state intervention on wood market or changes in economic politics or economic system. Changes in wood industry states depend on economic politics measurements. However, that macroeconomic pressure on microeconomic changes and reforms will most certainly grow because it is the way to development and growth, not only for wood industry, but for whole Croatian economy as well. That is way the enterprises that make changes in owners structure, that make changes in accepting modem marketing, that redefine their production programme to make more competitive and more profitable products, that make changes in choosing, education and motivating employees, etc., that restructure in microeconomic means have more chances to exit this closed circle where principles of survival by making more debts rules, and where value of subscribed and partly paid shares more and more differs from their nominal value. Sanations, bankruptcies and likvidations will probably accelerate that process.
