September 14, 2022 - The Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Marin Piletić, was a guest on Croatian Radio's show "A Sada Vlada”, where he discussed the government measures of help for the upcoming winter, as well as the changes to the Labour Act.

As Poslovni writes, he commented on the Government's package of measures to help businesses and citizens.

“Part of the package encompasses measures from our department, but the largest part is concerned with HEP, where the government has enabled many to pay a price that is not market but artificially created. A good number of entrepreneurs pay the price for electricity that households do. Also, all social care institutions from the category of entrepreneurship will pay for electricity like households, Minister Piletić said.

He pointed out that there is no category that they did not include, from farmers, fishermen, students, beneficiaries of child benefits, pensioners...

“When it comes to pensioners, the Government has intervened for the third time in just a year and a half with a one-time cash supplement for those with lower monthly incomes. Not only did we raise the grade level, but we also increased the pension threshold that can receive a one-time supplement. Also, one of our goals was to raise the lowest pensions by three percent from January 1, 2025. By intervening in the final bill, we made it so that the percentage increase of the lowest pensions does not wait for 2025, but starts on January 1, 2023, he said.

Measures for the unemployed

He added that they included the unemployed for the first time.

“Those who were on the labour exchange before September 1 will receive a quarterly cash supplement of HRK 250 in the next three months. It has been shown that the government intervenes at the right time, that the package is strong and comprehensive, and most of all fair. We must protect all categories of citizens, especially those with lower incomes”, he emphasized.

When asked if he expects an increase in the number of unemployed since the tourist season is coming to an end, Minister Piletić said that the number of unemployed increases slightly after each tourist season, but that they do not expect the number to grow alarmingly.

“We are at record low unemployment rates. The number is around 110,000 registered. This is significantly less than at the beginning of this government's mandate”, he said.

He also referred to the amendments to the Labour Act.

“The percentage of workers who work on a fixed-term contract is decreasing from year to year, which we are satisfied with, we have reached a kind of European average, but we still have a large number of short-term contracts. That is why we are introducing the novelty of limiting fixed-term contracts to a maximum of three years and a maximum of three contracts”.

“He pointed out that one of the key innovations is platform work”, i.e. work from home.

“The employer can come to the employee's home and see what kind of conditions he is working in, with prior notice and the worker's consent”.

“There was a proposal that there be no notice period or severance pay for workers over the age of 65 and 15 years of service unless the worker and the employer agree otherwise. Here we wanted to encourage employers that after reaching the age of 65 if the worker wants to stay working and meets all the conditions for a pension, that the employer is not obligated to pay severance pay. Someone who fulfils the conditions for a pension will not be neglected, but will receive a pension and then the employer is not obliged to pay severance pay. This way, we stimulate both the employer and the employee, so that if they wish, they can stay longer in the world of work, but we have left it up to the employer and the employee to agree”.

Increasing wages in the public sector

Minister Piletić said that the negotiations have not started yet, and that at the next government session, he will appoint negotiating committees on behalf of the government, for both state and public servants and employees.

“We want to react and increase the salary base in both state and public services, following the situation of economic growth and filling the budget. Considering the autumn package, there is a lot of pressure on the budget, but I believe that in negotiations and dialogue we will find the best solution that would show that we want to increase the base”, Piletić pointed out.

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

September 1, 2022 - Citizens of the Republic of Croatia are not used to a high level of political culture, honesty, and truthfulness. While in the normal world politicians resign even for the smallest offenses or breaches of duty, in Croatia even those who are proven guilty should be forced out of their positions. Political responsibility and self-criticism simply do not exist. As the INA case unfolds, this becomes more and more apparent.

As Index writes, some statements are too much even for Croatia. It is one thing to cover one's ears, remain silent, and not admit responsibility for certain failures, and it is quite another to claim that these failures are proof of the abilities, moral qualities, and work of those who are responsible for them.

Plenković says that he should be congratulated after the theft of the century

This is what Andrej Plenković said at the press conference after the coalition meeting of the ruling parties where the INA case was discussed: "The key message is that the institutions of the Croatian state, rather the government, were the ones who discovered this case of abuse, not the police or the judicial authorities, but the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, a department within the Ministry of Finance". He added that the opposition, instead of demanding elections, should - congratulate the government.

But the facts do not support his arrogant statements. Not only did the government not detect the theft of the century, but it also directly facilitated it. This is the real truth, and it is not difficult to prove it, no matter what Plenković arrogantly claims.

Plenković and the HDZ government directly appointed the INA Administration, at which he is now theatrically "furious"

First of all, the Prime Minister, who claims to be furious with the INA Board, should be reminded that he appointed the people who make up the Croatian quota. According to the agreement, Croatia has the right to three members of the INA Management Board, and they are appointed by the government.

In 2020, Plenković, i.e., the government, appointed Croatian members of the Management Board, with whom the same Plenković is now theatrically "furious". On March 31 of that year, a meeting of the Supervisory Board of INA was held, where new members of the company's Management Board were appointed at the proposal of the government, led by Andrej Plenković: Barbara Dorić, Darko Markotić, and Niko Dalić.

They were the replacement of the previous members, who were also appointed by the HDZ government in 2011, and the prime minister and leader of the HDZ at that time was Jadranka Kosor.

If the Administration appointed by Plenković had done its job, there would have been no theft

If the Board had done its job the case wouldn’t exist, and the Board was appointed by Plenković himself. Admittedly, he only replaced the former HDZ members with a new set, except for one man. That is Niko Dalić, who has been on the INA Management Board for more than a decade. Jadranka Kosor appointed him there in 2011.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell,  remember who managed Agrokor during its collapse and who the ringleader was of the Borg group. For her "services", she was awarded the position of president of the Podravka Management Board in February of this year, which was personally advocated by Plenković. She was even at his place for a kind of job interview, which the media and economists interpreted as the prime minister's direct recruitment in a state-owned company.

Niko Dalić from the INA Management Board is, of course, the husband of Martina Dalić, the Minister of Finance in Plenković's government, who was appointed head of Podravka by Plenković and who led, to put it mildly, the dubious "restructuring" of Agrokor. He is much less exposed in the media, but that is why he survived a whole decade on the INA Management Board.

He was the only one who survived Plenković's change of Croatian members. A trustworthy man, one would say. The current government did not only appoint the Management Board of INA, but also appointed HDZ member Damir Mikuljan as president of the Supervisory Board at the end of last year, and Davor Filipović, a man who had previously been spectacularly defeated in the elections for mayor of Zagreb, as a member.

>> Nacional: Plenković personally chose Dalić and her husband, they have a salary of HRK 200,000

HDZ minister was informed that Ina was losing money. He did nothing and could have prevented the theft

In an interview for N1, Damir Vanđelić, the former head of the Supervisory Board of INA, who was replaced by Damir Mikuljan in December 2021, said that he had informed the authorities, including the then HDZ Minister of Economy Tomislav Ćorić, that INA was losing money.

By the way, Damir Mikuljan, who replaced Damir Vanđelić, is the head of something called the Honorable Court of the HDZ. He will probably decide on the party line of the alleged organiser of the theft of the century, Damir Škugor. The arrested Škugor was also the man of honor for HDZ general secretary Krunoslav Katičić.

That Škugor is active in HDZ was revealed through photos of him hugging Plenković himself and the President of the Croatian Parliament, Goran Jandroković, although the government spokesman claimed before the photos were published that the Prime Minister did not know him.

"Last year in May, we reacted to the Supervisory Board and asked for a session because eight people in high positions in INA were dismissed," said Vanđelić. "I put the topic on for the Supervisory Board at that time, that is May 2021, I asked in English what the plan was when eight people were dismissed. I didn't know about Škugor at the time, but something was happening. Eight good people were dismissed then, they were paid severance pay to leave. That's why I asked what the plan was. We did not receive satisfactory answers."

"The answer was that they were improving the organisation," he added. "I didn't get any answer. I got some calls, mocking us from Supervisory Board because we are problematising the topics of staffing and gas business," he said. "Ćorić told me to politicise and do some other business".

HDZ's Čorić responded: "Vanđelic is very creative in presenting alternative facts". After that statement, evidence was published, an e-mail in which Vanđelić stated that he noticed the "leakage of funds from INA" and informed Ćorić about the problem. Vanđelić sent the mail to his colleagues in the Supervisory Board two weeks earlier and then forwarded it to Ćorić, in which he compared the operations of INA and MOL.

>> Published email in which Vanđelić warned Ćorić that Ina was losing a lot of money

Soon after that, he was removed from the head of the Supervisory Board and was replaced by the previously mentioned Damir Mikuljan, head of the Honorable Court of HDZ.

It is not difficult to notice that just last year, while the theft of the century was taking place, HDZ's staffing in INA was going on. It is arrogant and insulting to the intelligence of the citizens that Plenković claims that the government exposed the theft. By all accounts, the government directly set up Škugor and all the others who made a billion kuna disappear right in front of their noses.

>> Tomislav Ćorić could have prevented the theft of the century. Vuković: This is astonishing

Rakar: The theft was discovered by the banks. It is impossible to declare this a discovery of the government

HDZ's responsibility does not end with staffing at INA. The government is, of course, only a branch of HDZ, and HDZ recruits all over the country.

"I don't see how it is possible to declare the fact that the banks discovered a suspicious payment to the account of a natural person (in no less than a nine-digit amount in kuna) a victory or a great discovery when that same money was created by manipulation and de facto theft from an extremely organised company traded on the stock exchange in which the Republic of Croatia possesses almost 50 percent of the ownership, the president and several members of the Supervisory Board and several members of the company's Management Board. In addition, the entire operation took place through another company, which is owned by a utility company owned by the county, and CroPlin (which is 100% owned by the same INA)", Marko Rakar from the Association of Authorized Fraud Investigators told Index.

"This is proof that the mechanisms of management, control, and supervision in a whole series of companies, but also the state and counties, have completely failed", he concluded.

One of the channels through which money was extracted from INA is The Gas Company of Eastern Slavonia, headed by Marija Ratkić, also a member of HDZ. She defended herself before USKOK that she was only carrying out the orders of her party colleague Damir Škugor.

The Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia is owned by the Vukovar-Srijem County, whose prefect is Damir Dekanić. You guessed it, he is also an HDZ member. He has been a member since 1990 and since 2020 the vice president of the party in Vukovar-Srijem County. You don't need to guess a lot to conclude which party is recruiting in Plinara of Eastern Slavonia.

>> Gas plant revenues from the theft of the century jumped sharply last year. No one found this strange

Fina praised the company through which the theft from INA happened. And Fina, of course, is managed by HDZ

The ones who reported the suspicious events that led to the exposure of the theft of the century in Croatia are - private banks. And in addition to the internal controls of INA and Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia at least two state institutions, Fina and the Tax Administration, also failed.

The first one had all the information related to the company OMS-Upravljanje d.o.o., through which money was primarily extracted from INA. "The small and micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit for the period in 2021 were: CENTRICE ZAGREB d.o.o., HT HOLDING d.o.o. and SUPERNOVA BUZIN d.o.o. (small) and CENTAR BUNDEK d.o.o. in bankruptcy, BELVEDERE d.d. in bankruptcy and OMS-UPRALJANJE d.o.o. (micro)", announced Fina in a press release just two months ago.

According to information from Fina, OMS-Upravljanje is in third place among the micro-entrepreneurs with the highest profit. Their profit was HRK 117 million 277 thousand. In 2021, OMS-Upravljanje had a higher profit than all those who were on the list of the top 5 small entrepreneurs.

The fact that a micro-company with one employee founded in 2019 had a higher profit than most medium-sized entrepreneurs, which have from 50 to 250 employees, should have immediately set off an alarm in Fina. But nobody reacted, and by chance or not, the head of Fina is another HDZ member, Dražen Čović.

>> The key company from the INA theft was on Fina's top list. Nobody even blinked

Plenković insults the intelligence of citizens

Nothing was suspicious, and no one knew anything. And many not only could but had to know. They get paid to do it. Internal control and management of INA, external auditors of INA, internal control and external auditors of Gas Plant Eastern Slavonia, FINA, Tax Administration, and many others.

The impression is that many people knew, or at least more than have been arrested (so far). HDZ appears in one way or another connected with the name of everyone involved with this theft of the century, whether it was a person directly involved or someone who should have reacted to obvious signs that something strange was going on.

If Plenković had just said today that HDZ and the government have nothing to do with what is happening around INA, it would be a blatant lie. Claiming that the HDZ government is responsible for uncovering the looting is a step beyond lying, making fools of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia.

The arrogance of that statement alone is enough for resignation, and as it has been proven that HDZ and Plenković directly staffed INA while the theft of the century was taking place, the resignation should be insisted on because of the direct responsibility for the disappearance of billions of kuna.

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

ZAGREB, 28 July 2022 - The government adopted a decision to accept a letter expressing interest in submitting a request for Croatia's membership of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which Croatia should join in Q1 next year.

The ESM is an intergovernmental organisation established by the euro area member states in 2012. Its mission is to enable the countries of the euro area to avoid and overcome financial crises and to maintain long-term financial stability and prosperity.

The ESM provides loans and other types of financial assistance to member states in a difficult financial situations.

ESM shareholders are exclusively countries of the euro area. Croatia will join the euro area on 1 January 2023, and it is expected it will join the ESM in Q1 2023.

Finance Minister Marko Primorac said after a government session that the ESM had a total capital of nearly €705 billion, which consists of more than €80 billion of paid-in capital ensured by ESM members and nearly €624 billion of callable capital.

Every member contributes to ESM capital based on its share in the total EU population and GDP. Since Croatia's GDP per capita is below 75% of the EU average, we will have the possibility of a temporary correction of the capital contribution key for a period of 12 years, until 2035, said the minister.

Croatia will, pay in a contribution of €419 million.

The ESM provides us with additional insurance in case of financial crises, inability to access the capital markets, or financial difficulties, so that is a long-term benefit and has a positive effect on our credit rating, Primorac said.

As for the government's decision made today, which established criteria for the allocation of assistance to local units for functional and real consolidation, he said that the money granted for functional consolidation depends on the number of functions that would be common and the number of local units involved in the agreement. The assistance will be provided for financing employees in charge of those functions.

According to him, the package for real consolidation is "generous", and it provides assistance for settling outstanding credit and financial obligations on 30 June 2022. It also includes additional assistance in the form of current and capital transfers and aid totalling double the amount the smaller local unit received under the fiscal equalisation programme, as well as capital aid of HRK 7.5 million.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 14 July 2022 - The government on Thursday adopted a HRK 1.2 million (€160,000) aid programme for beekeepers to offset the damage caused by mass deaths of bee colonies this spring and a HRK 80 million (€10.6 m) emergency package to help dairy, pig and poultry farmers cope with increased feed and energy prices.

Mass deaths of bees occurred in Međimurje County, Bjelovar-Bilogora County and Virovitica-Podravina County this spring, causing a loss of nearly 2,000 bee colonies and jeopardising the pollination of agricultural crops, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said.

The aim of the programme is to compensate the beekeepers for the losses and ensure continued beekeeping. The beekeepers will be entitled to HRK 860 (€115) per colony.

The programme of emergency measures for dairy, pig and poultry farmers aims to ensure the continuation of primary production in these sectors and contribute to the security of supply of milk, pork, poultry and eggs. The aid will be allocated to micro, small and medium enterprises.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 6 July 2022 - Government spokesman Marko Milić said on Wednesday that Finance Minister Zdravko Marić would speak about the reasons for his resignation in greater detail on Thursday, before or after a government session, and that his departure had not shaken the government or the ruling coalition, which were stable.

In an interview with the N1 broadcaster, Milić said that Marić had informed Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of his plan to leave the government a few weeks ago and that he attended today's meeting of the inner cabinet and would address members of the parliamentary majority and HDZ party leadership later today.

"He had an emotional address before the government and said that his decision was difficult for him," Milić said, noting that with regard to the reasons and circumstances of his departure, Marić would be available for comment on Thursday, before or after the regular government session.

Milić said that the government would "continue to work as it has so far", adding that the choice of Marić's successor - Marko Primorac of the Zagreb Faculty of Economics, "is a message of stability and continuity".

He said that Primorac's appointment would be completed by the start of the parliament's summer recess, July 15.

Meanwhile, Minister Marić will travel to Brussels to attend a session of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), which will complete the process of Croatia's accession to the euro area. ECOFIN's decision is expected on 12 July.

Asked if Marić had told the PM the reason for his decision to leave the government, Milić did not give an explicit answer, calling for calming down and "not generating panic or chaos."

The government spokesman does not believe Marić's decision to leave is reason for an early election, adding that the Opposition "should pray God we do not go to elections" considering the state it is in.

He said that the government was grateful to Marić but that it had to move on because the challenges were big, with a difficult yet not cataclysmic autumn ahead.

Speaking of Croatia's having lost an arbitration case brought by MOL, which alleged that the Croatian government did not honour its obligations from a gas business agreement, Milić said the report about the loss of the case was not carried in its integral form and that a large part of MOL's demands had been rejected, that the potential financial damage of $1.1 billion had been reduced to €184 million, and that with interest it amounted to just above $200 million.

Milić said the government accepted the arbitration decision but would continue to use the legal instruments at its disposal and that the payment of damages to MOL would not pose a major problem for the state budget.

As for a possible new set of measures to help citizens and the business sector with rising prices, Milić said the government would "be with citizens and the business sector as long as necessary" but that it was not the only market actor and that others, too, had to shoulder some of the burden.

In that context, he announced the continuation of talks with small fuel distributors, describing their announcement that they would have to close down as an instrument of pressure.

The government's decree on fuel wholesale prices is not a blow to small distributors but will affect their profit, he said.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 30 June 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that the government was "very systematically making strategic headway" to improve the lives of citizens and the economy, referring to Croatia's admission to the euro area and the Schengen Area, as well as to the upgrade of the country's credit ratings.

At its last summit, the European Council confirmed Croatia's entry into the euro area on 1 January 2023, and the government expects that Croatia will also join the Schengen area then too.

"We are very systematically making these strategic steps forward for the prosperity of our citizens and economy. They (that headway) are here, they will last, they will remain, and they will be a kind of legacy of the two terms of our government," Plenković said at a cabinet meeting.

"These are really great strategic achievements. They do not just come with some routine schedule. They come on the basis of the implementation of reforms, the fulfillment of benchmarks, the adoption of laws, and our political and diplomatic engagement," he added.

The Moody's agency has recently announced that it could raise Croatia's credit rating to the investment category following the EU's recommendation for Zagreb's entry into the euro area.

Croatia's current rating of 'Ba1' signals investors that the agency considers the purchase of Croatian government bonds a speculative investment.

Last Friday Moody's announced that it will raise Croatia's rating by two levels, to 'Baa2', investment category.

Plenković said that Croatia will have the best credit rating so far in the investment level, according to the assessments of all the three largest global credit rating agencies.

"We are sending a message of confidence to financial markets, investors, partners (...) There will be many more such positive messages. Only now will we appear on the radar of some serious stakeholders on the market since we have been given a sort of tick from all three agencies," he underscored.

Council's conclusions on BiH call for limited constitutional and electoral law reforms

Commenting on the conclusions of the last European Council on the possible candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Plenković said that the Croatian initiative included the wording that the European Council is ready to give BiH candidate status if it meets reforms in 14 areas, including limited constitutional and electoral law reforms. They "should address the issue of the inequality of Croats as the least numerous constituent people in the country among other things, said the PM underscoring that Zagreb has been systematically advocating the BiH Croats' rights for years.

Plenković also commented on a decision at the NATO summit in Madrid to give the green light for Swedish and Finnish membership in NATO.

He said he was "glad" that President Zoran Milanović agreed with the government's position, who had previously said that it was necessary to block the Swedish and Finnish request for NATO membership until the election law in BiH was changed.

A proposal on initiating the procedure for concluding a protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO was adopted during Thursday's cabinet meeting.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 30 June 2022 - The Croatian government on Thursday declared the "Marina Cavtat & Resort" project, estimated at HRK 625 million excluding Value Added Tax, and the "Frapa Resort Medine" project, estimated at HRK 1.04 billion including VAT, to be investments of strategic importance.

"Marina Cavtat & Resort" is a project to be developed on 6.4 hectares in the coastal town of Cavtat, southernmost Croatia. The project consists of a future five-star hotel with 260 accommodation units, that is with 900 beds.

Upon its completion, the resort will hire 250 permanent workers and 150 seasonal workers.

The "Frapa Resprt Medine" project in the coastal town of Rogoznica envisages the construction of a five-star hotel with over 300 beds, and spa facilities.

Furthermore, the whole resorts will offer up to 700 beds on aggregate, and will include villas, and other accommodation facilities within the resort.

Upon the implementation of the project, 110 permanent workers will be hired in the resort, plus 50 seasonal workers.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 5 May 2022 - Female lawmakers from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Social Democrats, Green-Left Boc, Centre, GLAS, Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) and Workers' Front announced on Thursday they would once again send a motion to Parliament for abortion to be made available in all hospitals in Croatia.

"The case where a child was diagnosed with a malignant tumour in the 26th week of pregnancy and could die, and if it doesn't, it will live like a vegetable has shaken us all but unfortunately, this is just the consequence of a problem that Croatia has been faced with for years," MP Sabina Glasovac (SDP) said at a joint press conference.

Glasovac said that the law treats Croatian women as "second-rate" recalling that the Constitutional Court had clearly said already in 2017 that the present law, dating from 1978, should be updated and made implementable. The government has done nothing in that regard "because of fear of losing part of its electorate and in that way, it is sacrificing the health and lives of women."

Glasovac said that the opposition did not just watch from the sidelines but reacted in 2020 by  submitting a bill. However, the government did not react to it.

She announced that the opposition would once again submit its bill into the procedure and collect signatures from MPs to 'push' it onto the Sabor's agenda prior to the summer recess.

"We will seek that every health institution regardless of conscientious objection ensures a sufficient number of doctors who will provide this medical service to terminate a pregnancy without seeking the reason for it, for it to be ensured and legally implementable," Glasovac announced.

Katica Glamuzina (Social Democrats) said that they are inviting Health Minister Beroš to come to the Sabor and explain why the law has not been adopted in the past three years, why the conscientious objection is not regulated by any act and why patients are referred to Slovenia to pay €1,000 for something they should have for free in their own country.

Raukar Gamulin (ZLB): System has left the desperate pregnant woman on her own

Urša Raukar Gamulin (Green-Left Bloc) said that the incomprehensible tragedy of a pregnant woman was not enough and that the system has left her to be completely on her own.

"The thing that happened to that pregnant woman is a tragedy of the system and has shown that there is no 'health system' to protect women. The system is obliged to ensure an abortion for every woman regardless of conscientious objection because what is happening now is inhumane and has no regard for that woman. We do not know how many women have been referred to Slovenia to solve their problem, but as she said, she is a citizen of Croatia and wants to solve her problem in Croatia," Raukar Gamulin said.

Katarina Peović (Workers' Front) warned  that the vested right, support from the science community, and support from the legislature for women ensuring their health and right to manage their own bodies "did not last long."

"We will fight with all our means to raise that issue to a higher level, to put it in the public sphere, because only the fight by both men and women can restore this right that was once won," she said.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 16 April 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday issued a message with the best wishes for Easter and calls for showing solidarity with those in need in the Croatian society as well as with all persons whose lives and freedoms are threatened by the war and military aggression in Ukraine.

In the light of the greatest Christian holiday, I wish a happy Easter and health, peace, love and family togetherness, Plenković said underscoring that our thoughts are with those in need in the Croatian society as well as with all persons whose lives and freedoms are threatened by the war and military aggression in Ukraine.

May the power of Christ's resurrection give us faith and hope about overcoming all the difficulties and challenges we are faced with and about building better mutual understanding and respect in the society, says the premier.

He also underscored that the Croatians are called on to care for the future and survival of the Croatian nation, with demographic revitalisation being an essential a prerequisite for that.

ZAGREB, 16 Feb 2022 - The Croatian government on Wednesday launched an HRK 4.8 billion (€640 million) package of measures aimed at shielding consumers from rising energy prices.

The package includes the capping of the growth of electricity prices to 9.6% and the growth in prices of gas to 20%.

Furthermore, the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate on gas supplies and some agricultural products will be lowered.

The package also provides a rebate on domestic energy bills.

Unveiling the set of measures, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said today that the package had been prepared in a systematic manner, and is "timely and all-encompassing".

The package contains the measures targeting households, businesses and agricultural producers, Plenković said adding that the state-run Croatian power provider HEP will also bear a part of the burden to address the rising electricity prices.

The measures encompass tax reduction, subsidies for citizens at risk of energy poverty, and one-off discounts on energy bills for pension recipients, while businesses, farms and fisheries will be entitled to subsidies to cope with the rising energy costs.

Cap for electricity paid to make HRK 460 million disposable to households

The caps on the rise in prices of electricity will make HRK 460 million disposable to households.

The subsidies for households using gas will include HRK 0.10 per kilowatt-hour.

The support will be provided to micro businesses and SMEs with the average annual consumption of gas up to 10 gigawatt-hour, and the discount will be HRK 0.15 per kWh.

The VAT rate on gas and heating energy will be lowered from 25% to 13%, the same VAT already applied on power. The lower VAT is a permanent measure.

VAT will additionally be reduced to 5% on gas as a temporary measure, in place from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

VAT to be reduced on some food in bid to tackle rising cost of living for households

The VAT rates of 13% will be reduced to 5% for fresh meat, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, cooking oils, and baby food and the the standard 25% VAT rate will be slashed to 5% on some items in the agricultural production (fertilisers, plants etc.).

The package aimed at tackling rising costs of living also includes the reduction of the 25% VAT to 13% on feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and sanitary towels.

The coupons for electricity bills for senior citizens at risk of poverty will increase from 200 to 400 kuna a month and will now also be applicable to gas bills.

Pensioners whose monthly income is up to HRK 4,000 will be also entitled to payments between HRK 400 and 1,200 under the the energy support scheme. 

(€1 = HRK 7.523717)

For more, check out our politics and lifestyle section.