March the 28th, 2023 - More than 80 percent of Croatian residents surveyed would ideally want a free market for Croatian bus companies. Domestic carriers have been struggling through troubled waters for some time now, and it seems no perfect solution has yet been found.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Association of Croatian Bus Carriers (UHAP) is still not remotely satisfied with the approach being taken by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure to the amendments to the Law on Road Transport and demands market liberalisation.

They pointed out that the public bus transport market in Croatia has not been liberalised, nor is it in line with European Union (EU) regulations. While almost all other member states have opened up their markets for the benefit of the population, the aforementioned ministry has not yet made a concrete move in the same direction for Croatian bus companies, according to UHAP.

According to them, there is a group of carriers operating in the Republic of Croatia who persistently want to maintain the current situation and "use the opportunity to get money for public service work without a public tender under''. If the liberalisation of the market for Croatian bus companies is not carried out, the Transport Ministry will continue to be under the attack of various sorts of blackmail, the association pointed out.

"Cabotage, which makes up only 1% of the Croatian market, cannot be the only major focus of changes within the law, without working on other segments as well,'' stated the president of the association, Kresimir Cumbrek, who emphasised the fact that the recently carried out IPSOS research confirmed that more 80 percent of citizens want an open and free market for Croatian bus companies with better service and more competitive, cheaper ticket prices.

"It's already more than clear as day to them that free, fair and greater competition will bring them lower prices, better service, a larger offer, and more jobs,'' Cumbrek concluded.

For more, check out our dedicated news section.

June the 21st, 2022 - Croatian ferry and bus line prices are set to significantly increase as inflation continues to bite and the cost of fuel keeps on increasing. Croatian ferry and bus line operators have asked customers for their understanding, and their forgiveness during a time which is proving difficult for all pockets.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a lot of people from Zadar like to joke about swimming across to Ugljan instead of paying for the ferry, but all jokes aside, transportation on a Croatian ferry to the Adriatic islands this summer will cost thirty percent more than it did last year.

"I think it's a really great price (speaking sarcastically) and we'll end up al going bankrupt, but for as long as it's like that, it's going to be like that. You only live once,'' said Pavao from Zagreb.

Many passengers, however, are now thinking twice about whether they can go on day trips to nearby islands at all with prices for a Croatian ferry ticket being so high. Shipowners themselves are also in troubled waters, no pun intended. The catamaran that sailed on the line between Split - Bol - Makarska - Korcula - Mljet - Dubrovnik will not sail at all this season. The reason is cited as excessive costs, writes Dnevnik.hr.

The private shipowner has issued an apology to all would-have-been passengers, offering a refund for any tickets already purchased. Unlike commercial lines, public service lines are co-financed for the year with more than 320 million kuna from the state treasury. Nevertheless, in order to sail, part of the burden is paid by customers.

"Of course, shipowners can't incur losses even though they have contracts, they must be at a certain zero both according to the law and the regulations of the European Commission, including the real profit in doing their job," explained Paula Vidovic.

They added that prices have not changed in the last twenty years, and in the last few months, the increase has been felt by bus transport companies as well.

For the Zadar - Vodice or Vodice - Zadar section, tickets were purchased a few days ago, and the difference in price is 15 kuna. The global coronavirus pandemic has thinned bus lines out totally, and fuel prices dictate ticket prices, which depend on both the carrier and the cost-effectiveness of the line. The unprofitability of local lines has plagued these companies for years, and rising fuel prices, they say, have only added fuel to an already fairly out of control fire.

"Certainly with this announcement of an additional increase in fuel prices on Tuesday, we can expect additional corrections to the price of our services," concluded Vedran Tomicic from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

They see the solution either in subsidising all local lines or by introducing monthly tickets at the state level, following the example of some other European countries, in order to save public line transport, but also to stop the prices going wild.

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

June the 12th, 2022 - Could struggling Croatian bus companies, who have had very little help from the state and have been in troubled waters ever since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic at the start of 2020 introduce the so-called German model? It seems the will is there.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, ever since June the 1st this year, the German Government has been testing out a special model in which it has decided to stimulate public transport use and has offered a ticket of 9 euros per month for the use of both buses and trains. The reaction of the German people was rather unsurprisingly fantastic and the tickets quickly sold out.

Public transport is the only real alternative to travel during these times in which we've seen such drastically rising fuel prices, and the examples of Germany and even neighbouring Slovenia show how this can actually work excellently.

The German Government's idea for bus transport pricing through the aforementioned special model saw tickets sell out rapidly because for 27 euros, people can literally use these services as much as they want. If a bus ticket is bought in Hamburg, for example, it can be used without any problems in Berlin or any other German city, it can also be used on some of Germany's DB intercity trains.

"Public transport is the only alternative to travel for many people with such high fuel prices and this is being widely recognised by European countries. We hope that the example of Germany will show the way this should be handled to the Croatian Government and the relevant ministry in order to help people out, because this is the only real solution,'' said Hrvoje Mestrovic, president of the Coordination of Public Liner Carriers at the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP).

Croatian bus companies have, as has been mentioned, been dealing with an extremely unfavourable economic situation for a very long time now, with little to no attention having been paid by the state, in their opinion. Trying to balance business and preserve thousands of jobs continues to be a huge burden. Mestrovic pointed out that the state also has a clear benefit from introducing such a plan for Croatian bus companies because the money will be returned to the state treasury for a large amount of the tickets sold, which we have witnessed in both Slovenia and Germany.

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

March the 11th, 2022 - Despite the fact that the Croatian Government is set to put its inflation-curbing measures into force on the 1st of next month, for the very hard hit Croatian transport sector, which is still reeling from the pandemic, it won't be enough.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the Croatian transport sector and bus carriers are already on their knees owing to the pandemic, the restrictions on travel and a lack of help from the state, and now with inflation and soaring fuel and oil prices, things have been made ten times harder. Oil prices on reference markets have risen even further this week, and they are appealing to the government for the introduction of some concrete measures to help preserve business across Croatia.

Government measures - freezing margins and reducing excise duties on petrol and diesel, which may temporarily help average people, are not enough for the enfeebled Croatian transport sector.

Sectoral measures are proving necessary, and neighbouring Slovenia already has them: according to a defined methodology and clear proof of the increase in energy costs compared to 2021, business operations are directly co-financed through temporary co-financing of costs caused by rising energy prices.

In addition, bus companies operating in Slovenia have been signing public service contracts for fourteen years now, which have built-in so-called ''diesel clauses'', which make them resistant to shocks caused by the continually rising fuel prices.

All of this was reported by the Coordination of Public Liner Carriers at HUP, headed by President Hrvoje Mestrovic, with an additional explanation. As excise duties are fixed within the structure of fuel prices, and VAT is charged on the total price, state revenue is significantly higher with each increase, while lower excise duties will ultimately mean lower refunds to bus carriers (last year it amounted to just over 160 million kuna).

According to Mestrovic, a solution that could help the Croatian transport sector and more specifically bus companies cope with the pandemic fallout and the now sky high fuel prices, in addition to the measure of co-financing the sector's operations in extraordinary circumstances, is to speed up the signing of public service contracts for counties with diesel clauses.

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

ZAGREB, 27 Feb 2022 - The Croatian Bus Hauliers Association said on Sunday it put its buses and manpower at the government's disposal for the transport of refugees from Ukraine.

"We wish to contribute... because that's our responsibility, and it's also the only way in which refugees can be transported in an organised and effective way from the Ukrainian border to envisaged locations in Croatia," Dražen Divjak, director general of the Arriva bus company, said on the association's behalf.

The association comprises big and small private hauliers with thousands of buses and more than 8,000 workers.

"It's a system which has strategic importance for Croatia and which would hardly have survived during the pandemic had the government not protected it with its measures in the last two years," the association said.

Divjak called on the many counties in Croatia which have said that they have prepared accommodation for refugees to contact them, in coordination with the Civil Protection, so that they can transport a larger number of refugees.

He said the bus hauliers were at the government's disposal "for anything else that is necessary to solve this crisis."

For more on the Ukraine crisis and Croatia, as well as breaking news, follow our news section.

October the 10th, 2021 - Croatian bus companies have been experiencing major issues for a long time now, and things have been made exponentially worse by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It seems that ticket prices are set to go up and some very important services could well be lost in the wake of the continued problems hampering this industry.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the a group of bus line carriers which belong to the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) has asked the Croatian Government to issue an identical conclusion that was recently obtained by the construction sector.

Namely, the Government pointed out in its explanation that the prices of certain raw materials used in the construction sector increased in price enormously, heading well into the double digits, and has made moves to make things easier on this enfeebled sector. The Croatian Employers' Association has naturally welcomed the Government's help in this matter, but has also pointed out that similar problems exist in other sectors - primarily those whose operations depend exclusively on the price of energy, which has exploded in recent weeks. For example, Eurodiesel prices are currently above eleven kuna.

Hrvoje Mestrovic, who is the president of the aforementioned group of individuals from within this Association, pointed out that Croatian bus companies will be forced to increase the prices of their services and their tickets, but the problem of already signed contracts for student transport remains a potentially enormous issue.

''When it comes to passenger transport, the key input is the cost of fuel and that is something which has really exploded, with predictions of even further growth. Croatian bus companies will soon not even be able to provide student transportation services they've previously agreed to undetake,'' said Mestrovic.

Many companies operating within this particular industry feel well and truly ignored by the Croatian Government and this is far from the first time they've felt that way. It seems that as issues continue and recovery is made more difficult, the situation isn't about to improve any time soon.

For more, check out our business section.

July the 20th, 2021 - Croatian bus companies have been among the hardest hit when it comes to the pandemic, as certain agreements for them haven't come to fruition and money is being haemorrhaged left, right and centre.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although this situation has been going on for some time now, last week, Croatia adopted, somewhat suddenly, a measure to liberalise the bus services market in the country by lifting the cabotage ban.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Maritine Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure issued a Notice on the relevant EU Regulation regulating the transport of passengers in international road transport under these new rules.

So far here in Croatia, bus carriers operating within the scope of international transport have been banned from buying and leaving passengers at intermediate destinations in Croatia.

Specifically, if the carrier had a line like Osijek-Vienna, although the bus passed through, for example, Virovitica, Koprivnica and Varazdin, in those cities, only passengers for Vienna were allowed to purchase tickets, but not for, for example, the Virovitica-Varazdin line.

The new regulations abolish this practice, and the only thing that remains is the ban on performing regular county transport on this basis of international transport.

The new regulations for Croatian bus companies will mean even more for frequencies between larger cities because the same practice mentioned above also applied to lines such as Split-Vienna that pass through Zagreb, but passengers from Split and Zagreb didn't have the opportunity to use these lines for travel within Croatia.

The Coordination of Public Line Passenger Transport of the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) states that they're surprised by this measure and that they oppose it and consider it high treason.

Hrvoje Mestrovic, President of the Coordination, says that they're surprised and confused by this change because back in April, they had it confirmed by the relevant ministry that cabotage will continue to be banned. They also warn that it remains unclear exactly who made this decision and based on what act it was done.

''I really don't know the logic of the decision-maker and that's why we asked for an urgent meeting with Minister Oleg Butkovic on Tuesday. This will bring additional chaos to the bus market.

The new benefit is exclusively for foreign carriers, which will now be able to, in addition to their main focus on international transport, generate additional revenue on the Croatian market and thus issue lower ticket prices. The problem is that they'll drive according to their own profitability plans, mainly during the tourist season, and the existing carriers in Croatia drive constantly.

Due to the arrival of such unfair competition, many Croatian bus companies will find themselves in troubled waters, which will lead to layoffs, the cancellations of lines and eventual collapse, so in the end nobody will be operating along that line during the winter, and if they do, the state will have to subsidise them very generously,'' explained Mestrovic.

An additional problem, he continues, is that the ban on cabotage is still valid in potentially interesting markets for Croatian carriers, such as Slovenia and Hungary. He also sees the EU Regulation which regards the ban on cabotage in agglomerations as a potential issue.

From FlixBus, which is one of the carriers that should benefit the most from these new regulations, they say that their development so far in Croatia, where they cooperate with many Croatian bus companies, is in line with high demand in international passenger transport, but when it comes to the transport of passengers on Croatian territory and its potential, so far it has been largely unused due to unfavourable legislation, which directly affects every single Croatian bus company.

"The inconsistency of the Road Transport Act with the settings of the liberalised European market, which has already been discussed on several occasions - stopping the harmonisation of timetables, the impossibility of opening new lines, stopping investments, investing in fleet quality and higher travel standards, has been further expressed at the beginning of the pandemic, revealing precisely the inflexibility and closedness of the Croatian market.

Instead of heading in the direction of growth and development which are crucial to the survival of the bus industry, many Croatian bus companies have found themselves at the target of illiquidity and a questionable profitable return to the market.

At the same time, carriers that have the knowledge and ability to respond to the challenges of the pandemic, due to numerous restrictions, couldn't get involved in free market competition,'' they stated from FlixBus.

They added that FlixBus, as a carrier that operates in differently regulated markets across Europe and the world and has a direct insight into all the advantages of the open or partially open market, strongly supports the decision of the Ministry on the new regulation of passenger transport.

Traffic analyst Zeljko Marusic pointed out that this is a positive thing that will further strengthen the Croatian transport system, bring benefits to passengers, but also have positive effects on tourism.

For more, follow our business section.

June the 9th, 2021 - Croatian bus companies running along county and inter-county lines have been suffering tremendously throughout the pandemic, and despite the state insisting on getting involved to relieve the pressure, nothing has happened.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although after a three-year delay this spring, a decision has finally been made to regulate the public road passenger transport service, Croatian bus companies running along the aforementioned lines warn that nothing is still happening.

As was stated in the open letter sent to the Prime Minister by the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH), an urgent meeting is requested regarding the regulation of such regular public transport.

"Ready-made legal solutions that were a precondition for signing the contract for public line passenger transport on county and inter-county lines up to 100 kilometres, aren't being implemented due to the sheer inertia of state administration bodies.

The fact is that the decision on the distribution of funds from the state budget to the counties hasn't yet been made, although, to the knowledge of the UAS and HUP, the funds have already been secured. On top of that, no public service contracts have been signed between the counties and private Croatian bus carriers that maintain public regular passenger transport,'' they stated from HUP.

They state that private Croatian bus carriers within the scope of HUP are responsible for as much as 80 percent of public transport operating along county and inter-county lines of up to 100 kilometres, and employ more than 7,000 workers who are directly affected by such irresponsible behaviour of the competent ministries.

Namely, they point out, without concluding a public service contract, not only has the process of collective bargaining to improve working conditions in the transport sector been stopped, but existing jobs have also been called into question.

"By further prolonging the adoption of the Decision and signing contracts with private Croatian bus carriers, the maintenance of most public bus lines is now endangered, especially in rural areas. For three years now, workers and private public transport providers have been unable to plan their businesses and the prospects of their companies.

The signing of a contract on public regular transport is a precondition without which it's impossible to improve the working conditions of employees, especially drivers, who are also in short supply,'' said the Croatian bus operators.

HUP explains that the maintenance of most bus public lines is endangered due to the misconception that carriers were brought into because they based all of their business and investment plans on the Law which provided that public transport be organised by public service contracts until November the 30th, 2019, which hasn't been implemented, although it is the only model applied in the entire EU in such situations.

"This activity is capital intensive and Croatian bus carriers are under heavy and long-term obligations, which are now being called into question. We've been prevented from using EU funds because public service contracts are a precondition for them. Now 1611 km2 of territory and 1.5 million inhabitants of Croatia are covered by public service contracts, while almost 55,000 km2 and as many as 2.8 million of the country's inhabitants aren't,'' they explained.

While Croatian bus carriers have enormous and more than justified concerns about their continued existence, the multinational and wildly popular platform FlixBus, which has expanded here in Croatia over recent years, is planning yet more investments and further expansion. The FlixMobility Group has concluded a new round of funding totalling 650 million US dollars.

As they point out from FlixBus, the new estimated value of the company is now more than three billion dollars. The investment will enable the expansion of the bus line network throughout the USA, here in Europe in Great Britain, France and Portugal, as well as further expansion in the markets of Eastern Europe and even Turkey.

For more, follow our business section.

May the 3rd, 2021 - Croatian bus companies are continuing to struggle as the pandemic goes on, with much needed help and the necessary contracts still having not been dealt with properly.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although the Road Transport Act, which is known to the public for its current regulation of the taxi market, also regulated the market of Croatian bus companies operating along public intercity transport lines, but only a recent Government Decree has revived this regulation in real practice.

With its regulations, Croatia has taken on the European Union (EU) practice of determining communal regular transport, which Croatia has defined at the county level and referred to as a public service (PSO).

Croatian counties were thus given the right and obligation to prescribe their county network of Croatian bus companies, more specifically their lines, and the carriers operating along those lines would need to be paid.

Contracts for this sort of public service are typically signed for a very long period, from 7 to 10 years to more precise, and the estimated value of these contracts at the level of all counties stands at around one billion euros. However, the current text of the law has introduced nothing but confusion among county leaders, on two levels: how can those carriers be chosen and how can such a service be paid for at all?

This law, least in part, mentions that when concluding a public service contract they are obliged to respect the acquired rights of those Croatian bus companies and carriers who performed transport on the basis of permits or concessions on the day the law came into force. Despite that, the counties didn't know how to choose such carriers, nor did they realise that there are a number of carriers that have "acquired" rights in their territories - meaning that they may run the same or similar lines at certain intervals. They were also unsure of what way they might sign such valuable contracts without the need for a public tender process and potentially expose themselves to risks, lawsuits and even criminal charges.

There is also the issue of financing, ie co-financing by the state. These are the key reasons as to why this form of public service hasn't yet been contracted in any Croatian county.

The recent regulation on the procedure for concluding public service contracts, on the other hand, has allowed counties to enter into contracts either through direct negotiation or public tenders. There is a conflict between traditional Croatian bus companies and carriers that have maintained concrete lines for decades and new players who, perhaps with a lower price, would like to enter the market and take over.

Those traditional carriers complain that existing Croatian bus companies and their lines in county transport are unprofitable, that they have been knowingly accumulating losses for years, operating at the margin of profitability and actually "maintaining their infrastructure" in the public interest. Although the details of these concessions for PSO are yet to be seen, the price mentioned so far is 11.20 kuna/km without VAT and higher.

On the other hand, newer and smaller Croatian bus companies and their carriers who either have limited access to public service contracts or have never had the opportunity to run along those services in that domain are protesting and demanding for open and transparent access to public tenders for that service.

Carriers estimate that the total cost of this type of transport is around 690 million kuna, and as this regards mostly unprofitable lines that are more important for the regional development of the country than for actual earnings, subsidies of an estimated 427 million kuna per year are necessary.

The Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) emphasises that concluding the first contracts by direct settlement for all bus carriers according to this model is a transitional solution and necessary from the context of maintaining business continuity and providing the basic public service of public regular bus transport to citizens.

''The preparation of public tenders for these needs is a long process and by that time, the financing of unprofitable lines should be ensured in order to prevent the collapse of lines and carriers that have been maintaining these lines for years.

Croatian bus companies who run regular public transport lines have been investing in their tangible assets for years with the intention of making a reasonable profit in the future based on their rights to intangible assets, and these are our markets and our lines,'' HUP stated, adding that carriers on local lines have incurred large losses in previous years and care should be taken to have large assets engaged for public needs and to ensure their transition in the future.

They also emphasised that after the expiration of these "first" contracts, public tenders will be announced, with the exceptions defined by EU Regulation 1370/2007 where public bidding isn't mandatory for internal operators, or in the Croatian case for those owned by local government units.

"It should be understood that these contracts, according to the EU Regulation, aren't contracted on the principle of a fixed price, but instead they include the separate management of all costs and proof of each cost by the operator, increased by a reasonable profit. The public administration covers the difference between these amounts and the realised revenues from ticket sales. Consequently, these tenders are much more complex and must include a lot of elements that must be built into them. The implementation of these contracts allows existing carriers to adapt to the new way of doing business and the transparent control over the spending of public funds. 

All European Union countries and their respective private carriers, which won the first contracts without a public tender, did it this way. All these carriers can apply for the tender in Croatia, and it's necessary for Croatian carriers to have the same starting positions, ie that they have experience in performing public service contracts in order to be able to compete in the EU tomorrow,'' they concluded from HUP.

One of the transport companies that is potentially interested in the PSO service is the wildly popular FlixBus platform. Ante Grbesa, the director of FlixBus CEE South region, pointed out that the process of concluding public service contracts, which enables counties to conclude contracts through tenders, is certainly one of the positive steps in market transparency.

“Here, first of all, the basic task of all counties is to communicate their needs for a network of lines for which carriers can then offer their service. Transparency and clarity of the use of public money of Croatia's taxpayers that will be achieved in this way, this is important not only in terms of consumption, but also in terms of choosing the highest quality and the safest organised local transport,'' stated Grbesa.

For more, follow our business section.

April the 20th, 2021 - Croatian transport companies have been dealt an extremely heavy and deeply unforgiving blow by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and with monatoriums expiring and cash continuing to dry up, many have been left biting their nails as the government scrambles to find a solution.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, all those whose moratoriums expired on April the 12 have their interest due. The Croatian Government has promised to find a solution to this pressing issue which primarily concerns Croatian transport companies, but it seems that another in a series of promises has been circumvented, and at the same time leasing companies have already been swift in starting to confiscate vehicles.

“The Transport Committee of the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association (UGP) held a meeting with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure back on March the 24th. Subsequently, on March the 25th and 26th, we held additional consultations with ministry representatives on the financial assistance model. Again, after meetings and consultations at which concrete assistance was agreed, the Croatian Government and the competent ministries failed to make a decision to solve the problem for companies whose moratoriums have now expired.

We must point out in this way that the leasing companies initially supported the requirements of Croatian transport companies who deal with passenger transport and that they expressed a desire to approve further reprogramming. What unpleasantly surprised us after such an initial attitude from the leasing companies was the fact that leasing companies still started confiscating vehicles. We have information that a minimum of 30 vehicles have been seized in the past two weeks alone. In addition to that, while we've been receiving information from leasing companies that they're fully approving the reprogram, the situation on the ground is completely different. To our knowledge, leasing companies approve reprograms for vehicles that they're sure they can't sell, while for other vehicles that have a chance to be sold for half price, they aren't approving the reprograms. It also happened to our members in which they had to sign a reprogram for a period of 12 months, only to receive a new offer just a few days later, in which 12 months is replaced by only 3 months,'' the aforementioned Association explained in a statement.

The Croatian National Bank is also a big problem in this regard, as it has not issued any instructions for new moratoriums, ie reprograms. Leasing companies weren't invited to a meeting at the Ministry of Finance to agree on potential reprograms and government guarantees at all.

"Additionally, we must point out that the Transport Committee has received information that a model is being designed according to which a monthly fee would be paid per vehicle from now on, following the example of other European countries. We must point out that other countries have been doing this since the very beginning of the coronavirus crisis and that you can't just 'erase' the past year just like that.

In other countries, after a year of such assistance, carriers aren't having any problems with paying interest due on leases because they've paid them from the said assistance in the meantime. Such a model cannot rescue any carrier because they have nothing to settle their debts that have accumulated in the last year with. We don’t understand why we’re trying to find a model that has nothing to do with what we’ve been arranging. The model that is now planned to be proposed will not be effective, it isn't going to help anyone,'' they added.

The Association is appealing for the acceptance of the proposals devised and proposed by Croatian transport companies together with the representatives of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure. It is an amount of 200 million kuna that will save the entire industry, jobs and ensure the survival of the new deeply weakened Croatian transport companies. Otherwise, this activity could become the first permanently destroyed branch of the Croatian economy without any chance of recovery.

"Less than four weeks ago, I stated that a light could be seen at the end of the tunnel for Croatian transport companies dealing with passenger transport. Unfortunately, that candle burned out. April the 1st is now long gone, all leasing companies have sent clients their full installments and interest for the past period. We've broken the due date for payment and that is unfortunately the end of it. It's tragic that absolutely nothing has been done to help this sector.

I'd like to congratulate Prime Minister Plenkovic, Minister Maric (Minister of Finance) and Minister Butkovic (Minister of Transport) for classifying Croatia alongside Albania, as the only countries in Europe that haven't helped the passenger transport business,'' said Marko Sliskovic, the coordinator of the Transport Committee of the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association (UGP).

For more, make sure to check out our business section.