August 25, 2022 - President of the Croatian County Association (HZŽ), the prefect of Brod-Posavina spoke about the rise in energy prices and the possibility of re-introducing online classes - not because of the pandemic, but to save energy.

As SiB writes, the introduction of the euro, the decentralisation of state property, centers of excellence, and the multi-year program of cadastral surveying of construction areas, are all topics that were discussed on Wednesday at the Executive Committee of the Croatian County Association in Varaždin.

President of HZŽ, Brod-Posavina prefect Danijel Marušić said that the prefects discussed, among other things, current issues from the Ministry of Finance.

“First of all, there is a 20 percent limit to certain activities of the counties, that is, 20 percent of the original budget that can be used for salaries. Many counties, especially after the merger of state administration offices and counties, exceed that, so we think that had to change the laws”, said Marušić.

Marušić also spoke about the rise in energy prices and the possibility of re-introducing online classes - not because of the pandemic, but to save energy.

“The fact that we directed all our institutions to energy-renovate buildings, and we renovated 23 schools and all hospital buildings of our hospital system, turned out to be the right way and the savings were up to 75 percent”, Marušić pointed out, adding that the idea of ​​online teaching with the aim of saving energy is interesting and not impossible.

The host, Varaždin prefect Anđelko Stričak, said that all prefects are concerned about the announced increase in energy prices, especially when it comes to institutions.

“As far as the Varaždin County is concerned, at the beginning of the year, we secured enough energy for the whole year. Even then, these prices were rising and were 50 to 70 percent higher than the year before. We are secure until the end of the year," said Stričak.

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ZAGREB, 1 April (2022) - Bridge MP Zvonimir Troskot said on Friday the government had not used all the available instruments to cushion the impact of rising prices on citizens' living standards and on businesses or secure energy supply routes, calling for lower VAT and fuel excise taxes and for subsidies for enterprises.

Troskot recalled that Bridge MPs and 16 other MPs had submitted a motion to offer additional short and long-term solutions as, he claimed, the government had not used all the instruments at its disposal.

Asked about a government reshuffle, Bridge MP Nikola Grmoja said he did not want to comment on new candidates for ministerial posts "because it is clear that due to numerous scandals a whole set of government officials are under investigation by independent institutions and the only solution is a new election."

This is not a government reshuffle but an attempt to decriminalise the government, however, such an attempt can never succeed with the HDZ's partners because the ones to be appointed will probably also be compromised, said Grmoja.

Social Democrats expect additional measures for business sector

The Social Democrats group in the parliament today said they expected the government to introduce additional measures to consolidate the economy and help households, noting that a new election would be the best solution.

MP Ivana Posavec Krivec called on PM Andrej Plenković to consider appointing in the coming government reshuffle a minister of transition, noting that Croatia urgently needed transition to renewable energy sources and lower VAT for households and enterprises.

MP Domagoj Hajduković believes Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković should be replaced over inactivity in light of the rising prices.

We still do not know the state of commodity stockpiles and what kind of goods they contain, he said, adding the government had replenished the stockpiles only after the war in Ukraine broke out and prices started to soar.

Prices continue to rise despite cuts of VAT on certain products, he said, noting that unfavourable weather conditions, the rise in prices of mineral fertilisers and large areas of uncultivated land bode a very bad year, he said, fearing Croatia would not be self-sufficient.

MP Matko Kuzmanić warned about the high price of blue-dyed diesel used in fishing and called for subsidies for fishermen.

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ZAGREB, 11 March 2022 - The EU proved to be part of the solution in the COVID crisis and will have to react also in the new situation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, by capping energy prices among other things, including globally to prevent speculation, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday.

"After the Russian invasion, we have three tragedies, the biggest is the one of the Ukrainian people, the second is the big refugee crisis, and the third is the enormous rise in energy prices," he said in Versailles after a two-day informal EU summit.

The EU proved to be very good in dealing with the pandemic crisis by establishing the special Next Generation EU instrument and through common vaccine procurement and distribution as well as job-retention, Plenković said.

"Now it's necessary to help our fellow citizens and the economy again. It's best to cap energy prices, but this must be a global action. It's not good if someone profits from speculative prices, that's immoral."

Energy and food cannot be treated as other commodities, Plenković said. "We have entered a new phase after Russia's attack on Ukraine in which energy and food will be our strategic resources and we should adapt to that."

He said the countries taking in the largest numbers of Ukrainian refugees would need financial aid as a huge refugee wave could be expected.

In just two weeks, over two million people from Ukraine have arrived in the EU, while about a million people came during the 2015 refugee crisis.

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ZAGREB, 9 Feb (Hina) - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday announced on Twitter that the government would mitigate the impact on the citizens' standard of living with a strong package of measures given the increase in energy prices, adding that talks on support were also under way with businesses.

"We are talking with the leaders of the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts (HOK) about Croatia's economic recovery, the price increase and support for business people in the challenges we are facing. The Croatian government will mitigate the impact on the citizens' standard of living with a strong package of measures due to the increase in energy prices," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

Due to an imminent increase in the prices of gas and electricity as of 1 April, Prime Minister Plenković had earlier announced that in order to alleviate the effect of the increase of energy prices on citizens, the government would act in three segments -- social transfers, gas and electricity pricing and VAT rates.

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Ćorić earlier announced that the government would present its measures to mitigate the increase in energy prices in February.

In the meantime, the government on Monday issued a decree capping the prices of petroleum products, limiting the price of Eurosuper 95 to HRK 11.37 per litre, Eurodiesel to HRK 11.29 and Eurodiesel BS blue to HRK 6.5 per litre, VAT included. The prices will be valid for a maximum of 30 days.

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ZAGREB, 13 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a government session on Thursday that the entire Europe had been affected by an increase in energy prices.

The average rise in electricity prices until November 2021 in the EU was 27% and the price of natural gas for households grew by 40%, he said.

Croatia has been an exception and that fact should be respected. It is primarily owing to measures that have been taken to cap fuel prices as well as the mechanisms at the government's disposal, thanks to which the price hikes have not been felt in Croatia during the current heating season, Plenković said.

He repeated that in the country prices of electricity and natural gas would not go up until 1 April and the end of the heating season, adding that the government was regularly analyzing the situation and that a few weeks ago it started preparing legislative changes to prevent drastic price hikes.

The PM said that in the weeks to come the government would take further steps to alleviate the impact of price increases, using all tools available, such as VAT reduction, vouchers, etc, while taking care that macroeconomic stability was maintained.

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ZAGREB, 16 Oct, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that his cabinet would not allow a decline in the living standards of the Croatians due to the energy prices, now when the funds for the post-coronacrisis recovery were secured.

Visiting the agriculture ministry's fair promoting the Croatian farming sector in Zagreb, PM Plenković reassured the general public that in the event of a further rise of the energy crunch prices, there were additional tools available to his government  to use them to calibrate the prices in the country.

He underscored that the internal discussions in the government and also their talks with international partners over the last two months had been focused on the energy prices, including the trends in prices of electricity and natural gas.

Regarding the prices of gas supplies and electricity, Plenković said that "the situation is stable in Croatia" and that the country "is in a much better position than many others."

Concerning petroleum products, since 2014, fuel prices in the country have been fully defined by the market, he recalled.

Until the latest developments considering the fuel prices globally, the government had never applied Article 9 of the Law on Petroleum Products that envisages the adoption of a decree on capping the prices, Plenković said.

That article stipulates that only in exceptional circumstances, the government can determine the maximum retail prices of fuels for a period no longer than 90 days in order to protect consumers or for some other justified reasons.

On 14 October, the government passed a decree limiting the retail price of petrol to HRK 11.10 (€1.48) per litre and the price of diesel to HRK 11.00 (€1.46) per litre for the next 30 days.

Plenković today explained that the government had opted for that interventionist move when it found that the conditions were met.

"We managed to overcome the biggest health, economic and financial crisis and consequently avoided the potential biggest social crisis in the last 600 days, without large-scale lay-offs and without a series of bankruptcies and social fractures, while all the state services continued to  function as usually, and we managed to retain the country's investment rating and good reputation  on the domestic and international financial markets, with a clear roadmap for Croatia's accession to the euro area. Therefore, we will not let  a decline in the living standards of our citizens due to the energy  prices, now when we managed to ensure funds for the economic recovery," Plenković said.

Describing the government's response to the energy crunch prices as agile and prompt, he added that in the event of the escalation, his cabinet had additional tools at its disposal to address the situation.

He said that he expected energy producers and distributors to assume a part of the burden. "I believe that they are sensible. They are not the companies that cannot endure such burden on their margins and or that it would adversely affect their business," he said.

He added that the government would follow the developments in the period to come and that the next moves would be considered in three week's time before the expiry of the current 30-day price limiting.

Asked by the press about aid to agricultural producers faced with high fuel prices, Minister Marija Vučković recalled that farmers and fishermen could use the so-called blue-dyed fuels that have the government-subsided prices.

The minister said that the authorities were taking other measures to help the whole sector to be more competitive.

Use of blue-dyed diesel in 2020 approved for 97,200 farmers

In January 2020, the Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development granted 97,200 farmers the right to use blue-dyed diesel in 2020 in the total amount of 173.1 million liters, .

The farmers could use cards with allocated amounts of blue-dyed diesel as of early January last year.

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