January the 14th, 2023 - The price increases we've witnessed up and down the country ever since the euro was introduced on the first day of this year have been rather astonishing. While most people expected prices to go up a little bit, what has been happening is ''pure profiteering'' as Plenkovic himself described it. The government has stepped in with some measures, and it seems Croatian stores are being put well and truly under the radar of the authorities.

Economy Minister Davor Filipovic has been very vocal about the measures set to prevent Croatian stories from taking advantage of not only inflation but of the introduction of the new currency, and it appears that the idea of Croatian stores having to send their price lists to the government every two weeks for the foreseeable future is now on the table.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the deadline given by the government to all those who raised their prices unjustifiably to return them to what they were back before Croatia entered the Eurozone (December 2022), or sanctions would be imposed expired just a couple of days ago. Economy Minister Davor Filipovic repeated in an interview with Media Servis that either freezing the prices of a wider number of products or cancelling subsidies entirely is currently being considered in an attempt to combat this situation.

When asked why he was going off an the initial idea of having blacklists on which Croatian stores and service providers who had unjustifiably raised their prices would be placed, he replied that his ministry had sent a letter to the ten largest retail chains with the request that they provide the government with their respective price lists for about 80 products for the whole of last year.

"We've asked that they continue to deliver their price lists to us every two weeks, which we will put on the Internet and enable everyone to watch the price movements in the largest retail chains in one place. I'm not going to say that it is a black list, but if people can see it all and make a comparison in one place, it can be observed in that context,'' said Filipovic of the move.

"The State Inspectorate established that there was an increase in prices of food products from 6 to 20 percent, and that includes bakery products as well,'' he added.

You can read more about the scrutiny Croatian stores and other service providers have been placed under from the powers that be, which includes all authorities from the Tax Office to Customs and the State Inspectorate in our most recently published Week in Croatian Politics article, which discusses the topic at length.

January the 13th, 2023 - This week in Croatian politics has been dominated by many stores and service providers upping their prices and allegedly taking advantage of what's known as ''rounding'' following Croatian Eurozone accession. Plenkovic has also been busy dismissing ministers once again, and the reaction to that has been varied. 

Price rises are hitting pockets and bank accounts

Croatia officially (and finally) entered the Eurozone on the 1st of January, 2023, with the kuna still permitted to be used as legal tender until the 15th of this month, after which only euros will be allowed to be used to make payments for goods and services across Croatia. As most people expected, there were price increases which came along with the euro, and while this is something that has occurred to some extent or another in all countries which have adopted the bloc's single currency, introducing it during a period dominated by economic woes and inflationary pressures likely didn't help much either. 

Shops have increased their prices for many basic goods and in some cases, there appears to not have even been an attempt made to hide it. With individuals feeling the blow to their back pockets and bank accounts more than ever, the government was asked to step in and control the situation, with many claiming that companies are taking advantage of the introduction of the euro. 

Some politicians, such as Kreso Beljak, believe that PM Andrej Plenkovic already spends too much time meddling with things that politics shouldn't be spending much time on, and although he himself has admitted that he has been hopping over the border into Slovenia to do his shopping because it's cheaper, he has said he doesn't blame Plenkovic for the euro price hikes. He believes that the market and the level of demand determines the price of goods, and that Plenkovic's government should spend more time making sure wages match the cost of living rather than spending time trying to lower prices.

It's easy enough for someone such as Beljak who lives in Samobor, which is very close to the Slovenian border, to shop and spend less in Slovenia, especially now Croatia has joined Schengen and the border between the two nations is no more, but most of the population expects government intervention. A recently held government session saw the matter discussed at length. The differences between Slovenia and Croatia and why the same products are cheaper over the border have also been explained.

The government did decide on some measures to try to combat the issue with price hikes following euro introduction, however, and Plenkovic has made no effort to hide his sheer disappointment with those trying to take advantage of the situation.

Plenkovic promises action against ''unjustified price increases''

"This is nothing other than pure profiteering and we oppose it," Plenkovic said about unjustified price increases in his opening speech at the aforementioned recently held government session. He announced that inspections will be carried out in stores and called on them to lower their prices to the level they were at before the introduction of the euro. The government also tasked the Ministry of Economy to use all possible measures to collect complete and accurate information on price movements and monitoring.

"We found that some individuals have obviously seen fit to take advantage of the euro conversion to raise their prices for no reason. I'd like to thank the business entities that adapted in accordance with the proper regulations and those who didn't impose any unjustified price increases," said the Prime Minister.

He said that they and most other people were expecting minimal price increases, but that we're unfortunately now witnessing something else entirely, which is profiteering. He stated clearly that his desire is to protect individuals during this transition period and recalled the measures that the hovernment adopted during the COVID-19 crisis.

Then he talked about inflation, a burning topic for Croatian politics of late. "What's happening to us is happening to everyone else as well, but everyone else [in Europe] has a higher rate of inflation than we have here in Croatia and we're fighting against a phenomenon that reduces peoples' purchasing power, and that's why we'll sanction all phenomena that leads to an increase in inflation. The purpose of introducing the euro is to empower the domestic economy, not that the state gives billions and that someone gets rich at the expense of the people, so it's important that everyone understands that those who are doing this will not get away with it and that the state will act, and it will act on behalf of everyone," he said.

"There's just no justification for what has increased, for people to raise their prices like they have, it's pure greed. The government will do everything in its power to prevent this from continuing to happen. All authorities will contribute to uncovering unfair practices and everyone will be tasked to act on this. I call on everyone to distance themselves from those who have unjustifiably raised their prices, I'm also calling on all business entities to revise their prices and adjust them back to those from the end of December," said Plenkovic.

"The state will not simply sit back and watch this happen without doing anything about it. Everyone who thinks that they can cast a dark shadow on the strategic success of the state will not succeed. The Tax Office, Customs, and the State Inspectorate all know this. They will go out into the field to correct what individuals are doing for absolutely no reason," the Prime Minister warned.

The measures, as explained by Economy Minister Davor Filipovic

"All business entities, including credit institutions and other financial service providers, and all those who have raised their prices against the law, are obliged to revise the retail prices of their goods and services and make sure that they're determined by the price levels of December the 31st, 2022," Minister Filipovic said.

"The inspectorate, tax, customs, ministries, Croatian National Bank (CNB) will implement increased levels of supervision over entities within their jurisdiction without delay," he said.

In addition, the Ministry of Economy will be put in charge of preparing and launching a digital platform for monitoring prices.

State Inspectorate boss Andrija Mikulic chimes in on increased monitoring, inspections and supervision

The head of the State Inspectorate, Andrija Mikulic, spoke about price increases and unjustified price increases and the number of inspections being carried out at this moment in time. "We've started with the inspections," Mikulic assured, adding that more than 8,000 inspections have been carried out since September. "We found 1,744 violations of the law," he added.

"Since January the 1st, 2023, we've received an increased number of reports about price increases, whether in trade, catering and hospitality or service activities. Bearing in mind that business entities freely set their own prices, inspections have begun based on the received reports. From January the 2nd to the 4th, over 200 inspections in the field of retail trade were carried out, including at bakeries and service activities, mainly hairdressing, body care and different kinds of maintenance services.

"We will determine whether price increases we uncover are unjustified or not. If it is established that they can't be justified, misdemeanor measures will definitely be taken".

In the service industries (hairdressing salons and the cosmetics/beauty field), increases ranging from 10 to a whopping 80 percent were observed. In the tourism industry, within which 151 inspections have been carried out, about 50 irregularities were observed, as well as price increases of up to 10 percent. In 306 inspections, 96 violations were determined.

Mikulic assured once again that the proper measures will be taken against those who are taking advantage of the introduction of the euro and of inflation in order to try to pull the wool over peoples' eyes and line their own pockets at the expense of individuals.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated section, and keep an eye out for our Week in Politics articles which are published every Friday.

December the 12th, 2022 - It's been quite some time since we've seen receipts and bills and the figures printed on them be the topic of endless social media debate, but with inflation continuing to bite, some believe certain establishments are using this unpleasant economic situation to their advantage. One Zagreb receipt has taken Facebook by storm today.

There are still those who, despite struggling to make ends meet month to month, still have money set aside to enjoy dining and drinking out. With the prices of raw materials rising and the energy crisis still causing tremendous issues when it comes to paying the bills for many establishments, it's only natural that a few kuna extra will appear on bills and receipts issued for food and drink. 

The post-pandemic period, accompanied by the dire situation in Ukraine and the inflationary pressures our bank accounts and pockets are all under, has seen those in the catering and hospitality sector try to earn money they lost back during pandemic-induced lockdowns of 2020 and early 2021. How many are actually taking advantage here, though? Some believe that many are using the situation in an underhanded way.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, under the heading ''I think every comment on this is redundant'' a photo of a Zagreb receipt has been doing the rounds on social media. According to that receipt, a mere cup of tea in that particular central city cafe costs more than 30 kuna, and a juice comes to more than 25 kuna.

For three cups of tea and two such juices, the clients paid 143.16 kuna, or, if we bother to convert into the currency we're set to introduce officially as of January the 1st, 2023 - 19 euros. It somehow sounds even higher when expressed in the bloc's single currency.

Could the justification for such high prices be the fact that the cafe is located in the very centre of Zagreb? According to the vast majority of comments - no, it cannot. As a central Zagreb resident myself, I can also say that there is very little justification for such high prices for very basic items and there are numerous cafes and pubs located in the very heart of the city where not even alcoholic beverages will come to such prices.

Are some establishment owners purely seeing an opportunity in this current climate of economic downturn and tighter belts? It's very likely, and this Zagreb receipt is likely going to be just one of many published on social media over the coming months.

For more, check out our news section.

June 11, 2022 - A look at the cost of living in Croatia according to the world's largest cost of living database - Numbeo.

According to Numbeo, Zadar is the most expensive city to live in Croatia. Namely, the average family of four needs 18,973.92 kuna to live without rent, and a single person needs 5,486.52 kuna for monthly expenses. It is 10.45 percent more expensive than Zagreb, and the rent in Zadar is, on average, 22.08 percent higher than in the capital, reports Dalmatinski Portal. 

Second on the list is Dubrovnik. The average family of four needs 18,453.15 kuna to live in the Adriatic pearl without rent, while the average monthly cost for a single person is 5,390 kuna without rent. It is 9.34 percent more expensive than Zagreb, but the rental price in Dubrovnik is on average 12.65 percent lower than in Zagreb.

In Zagreb, a family of four needs 16,769.81 kuna to live (or 4,874.39 kuna for a single person).

In Rijeka, a family of four needs 15,370.73 kuna to live (or 4,392.67 kuna for a single person). It is 6.81 percent cheaper than the Croatian capital, while the rental price is 22.30 percent lower than in Zagreb.

In Split, on the other hand, a family of four needs 15,073.86 for living expenses (or 4,312.83 for a single person), making Split 6.93 percent cheaper than Zagreb, while the rent is 10.77 percent lower than in Zagreb.

Of the larger cities, life seems to be the cheapest in Osijek. For example, a family of four needs 13,295.23 kuna to live (single 3,894.22 kuna without rent), while in Osijek, the cost of living is 15.24 percent lower than in Zagreb, and the rental price is lower by 42.65 percent.

According to Numbeo, Croatia is one of the most expensive countries in this part of Europe. Croatia is in 59th place in terms of price, while Serbia is in 94th place. Kosovo ranks 134th and Bosnia and Herzegovina 96th. The most expensive countries in the world are Bermuda, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Barbados. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.