The Zagreb-based distillery Duh U Boci ("Genie in a Bottle"), which makes Old Pilot's gin, an award-winning spirit, has obtained 1.4 million kuna (€186k) from EU funds to expand its production capacity, state agency Hina said on Tuesday, reporting from the company's news conference.

“We are transitioning from a small, local, micro-distillery to a global company,” one of the company’s co-owners, Tomislav Anadolac, said, noting that the company wants to become one of the world’s ten best producers of premium alcoholic drinks. The company, which currently has only two employees, plans to increase the number of workers next year.

Over the next five years, the company plans to increase their yearly output from 30,000 to 500,000 bottles. Its main markets are the European Union, Asia, Australia, and the United States. Anadolac noted that the company would also expand production to include spirits such as vodka and whiskey.

The company was founded in late 2017 and made its first bottle of gin in July 2018. In July 2019 the distillery won the award for the world’s best gin in the London Dry category at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London.

(€1 = 7.52 kuna)