ZAGREB, 8 Oct 2021 - The Voice of Entrepreneurs association and an association of owners of night clubs and bars have called for lifting restrictions on the work of such establishments, which is now limited to midnight, noting that many operate illegally despite the restrictions on working hours.

The two associations warn that the national COVID-19 response team "has been insisting, without real and science-based arguments, on the decision to restrict the work of night clubs and bars until midnight" while some coffee shops and restaurants are turning into night clubs despite epidemiological restrictions and operate illegally.

"We have been witnessing media reports about illegal parties in Zagreb while many indoor clubs and bars remain closed. The ban on the work of night clubs and bars is the reason why thousands of young people travel to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia as there are no such restrictions there, prices and VAT are lower, and there is no tax on consumption. There are no restrictions on the work of night clubs and their visitors do not have to show COVID-19 certificates or get tested," the two associations say.

They call on the national COVID-19 response team to lift the current restrictions on night clubs as they encourage illegal work while young people are still not getting vaccinated at a desired rate.

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ZAGREB, 19 Sept, 2021 - The Voice of Entrepreneurs and the Night Clubs and Bars Association say it is pointless that night clubs and bars are not allowed to stay open after midnight and that this decision by the national COVID-19 crisis management team is unjust, notably now that almost all of the EU has lifted restrictions on them.

Night clubs and bars have paid the highest price of the pandemic, the two associations said in a press release on Sunday.

The national team is not considering allowing night clubs to stay open without restrictions, provided that COVID rules are complied with, as though they are the only ones to blame for the insufficient vaccination rate in Croatia and rise in infections, the statement said.

The associations said that if night clubs were allowed to operate indoors without restrictions, with the use of COVID certificates, that might encourage young people to get vaccinated.

By ignoring the constitutional right to work, the activity of night clubs and the hundreds of night club owners and their families are being marginalised, the press release said.

Despite the government's job-retention aid and compensation for fixed costs, night club and bar owners cannot avoid closures and bankruptcies, it added.

Every individual must take responsibility for their health, the associations said, adding that by not allowing night clubs and bars to work in order to protect people who refused to get vaccinated, the national COVID team was bringing into question the purpose of vaccination.

They said they had not worked for 18 months and asked Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to try and live nine months without pay.

They told the national team to immediately open night clubs and bars, provided that COVID rules were complied with, or take responsibility for the ruin of the entertainment industry.

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