February 6, 2021 - The Voice of Entrepreneurs Association protest gathered at least 5,000 people on Wednesday in Zagreb, according to estimates. Executive Director of the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association, Dražen Oreščanin, announced the continuation of similar actions if nothing changes, most likely at the end of February. 

Index.hr reports:

"At the end of the month, on Friday, February 26, we will again organize a protest at Ban Jelačić Square if the epidemiological situation improves and discriminatory measures against entrepreneurs continue. We are also asking the government for fair compensation for closing facilities because all they give us now is only 25 to 30 percent of the revenue we have lost. In contrast, Germany and Austria's governments, for example, give their entrepreneurs compensation of 70 to 75 percent of the lost revenue and thus save them. This does not only apply to cafes, which are closed, but also in activities such as the event industry, occasional transport, travel agencies, and tourist guides, which can work but due to the measures, they have practically no one, which puts them in a challenging situation," explains the executive director of the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association, Dražen Oreščanin.

He adds that entrepreneurs are asking the government to finally adopt a "corona traffic light" based on which it would be determined which epidemiological measures are being adopted in which conditions. He notes that something like this should be adopted at the regional level, which would enable entrepreneurs and citizens to prepare for certain measures.

Oreščanin emphasizes that entrepreneurs are not against epidemiological measures, but they are against their selective application, so some entrepreneurs are denied the right to work.

"We do not interfere in epidemiological measures; we respect them. We also called at the protest that all those gathered adhere to epidemiological measures. However, we demand that the government treat us all equally and that we all have equal rights," Oreščanin said.

He also criticizes the government for insufficient communication with entrepreneurs and calls out the Voice of Entrepreneurs for politicking, which he strongly rejects. Entrepreneurs, he says, are on the brink, and their situation is deteriorating. In such conditions, they have no choice but to take to the streets and warn of problems.

"We expect the government to start behaving like governments in democracies finally. Instead of communicating with us, it tries to discourage and discredit us and throws spins to portray us as enemies of the Headquarters and the state. But that's not the case, the government doesn't communicate with us," points out Oreščanin.

But all this comes at a price, and in the crisis, which continues this year, the state treasury will hardly have enough money to feed all appetites. Especially if it turns out that the recovery will go much slower than expected.

In such conditions, economic analyst Damir Novotny warns that the straw of salvation for Plenković's government should be provided by money from EU funds. But, he says, the government will have to work harder for that. First, it should quickly adopt a program to use Union funds and speed up its withdrawal, rather than procrastinate, as before.

"Croatia has a lot of money at its disposal, allocated by Brussels, a total of over 20 billion euros, and that money should be used. The government must not bureaucratize and delay but should adopt a plan for using that money. That money can save us from social collapse because the implementation of the projects financed by it will stimulate economic growth and demand for labor," Novotny explains for Index.

Novotny also sees a chance to hire an increasing number of unemployed in the reconstruction of Zagreb and other areas affected by the earthquakes. Reconstruction projects will require a lot of manpower and various profiles.

He also says that he does not expect major social unrest in Croatia for the time being. Still, he also warns that the continuation of the corona crisis also means the collapse of some companies, which will result in higher unemployment. The domino effect could also be social unrest.

"If the crisis continues, there will be social problems," Novotny said.

However, Croatia should also start working on the challenges that await it even after the corona crisis. Namely, it is already clear, Novotny points out, that it will take years for tourism to return to the levels before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and companies will have to survive in that period as well. He also believes that several activities, including catering, should work on digitally transforming their business. Besides, companies should no longer be put in a position if they have not accumulated enough capital for future crises.

"Changes in the structure of the Croatian economy can be expected. The importance of modern industry and construction will increase, and the role of tourism and catering will decrease. Also, we will have to try to attract more foreign investment," Novotny concluded.

To read more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

February 4, 2021 - Organised by the Voice of Entrepreneurs Assocciation (UGP), a protest against what are allegedly discriminatory epidemiological measures was held yesterday on Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb. Through loud chanting, thousands of people supported the abolition of parafiscal levies and mandatory membership fees. They even demanded the departure of Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić. However, as I talked to the protesters, I realised those were not the only reasons people showed up on Zagreb's main square yesterday. Here's what I learned at yesterday's UGP entrepreneur protest in Zagreb.

As I was at a protest for the first time, I expected it to be more organised, moreover due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But since I can’t compare this protest to any other, I just continued to watch what happened.

Protesters with the banner saying "Let us work" / Donatella Pauković

In the first few minutes, after the first speaker started to talk, it was clear to me that the protest was not only about entrepreneurs being deprived of work during the coronavirus pandemic, but a lot of people used the opportunity to gather and show their dissatisfaction with many other problems that Croatia faces.

"Why can't Croatia be economically strong?" read one of the most significant banners of this protest, which indicated that Croatia has all the conditions to be a prosperous country, but it is not. The epidemiological measures owing to which entrepreneurs (most of them caterers) are at risk were clearly just a trigger for expressing dissatisfaction that goes much further.

Banners saying "We are entrepreneurs, and you?", "It's enough", "Entrepreneurs are partners, not a burden!", "Why Croatia?" / Donatella Pauković

A historic day?

I met a young and energetic guy. Is he a young entrepreneur, a caterer? I wondered. I was interested in what brought him to the protest.

"I came to say that I don't agree with the direction in which this country is going. I don't agree with the Government's economic and social policies. I don't agree with what the Government, the ruling majority, and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, are doing," said 21-year-old David Lisica, a computer science student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb.

He doesn't plan to leave Croatia. However, he wants us all to build Croatia together, and I identify with him. Therefore, one of the motives for his coming to the protest was the hope for a better tomorrow.

"I think it's bad politics and I think I have the right to say it. I'm not here to cause destruction but to say that something is wrong. When something is wrong, it should be said that it is not right, and it should be changed," this young student clearly pointed out.

He was bothered by the discrimination towards entrepreneurs and the private sector, which has only been deepened by this coronavirus crisis. In addition, he couldn't believe that there was so much contempt for the opposition by the ruling party, and he considered it shameful.

That's why he made a banner saying "Andrej, it's enough." As David said, the famous banner, seen on many photos from the protest, will even be included in the historical material of the Croatian History Museum!

Student David Lisica with his banner "Andrej, it's enough" / Donatella Pauković

According to some estimates, the protest gathered five thousand people, if not more. Given what Croatia needs, said David, every protest that has been organised in Croatia so far has attracted too few people.

"We don't need a rebellion, a revolution. No anarchy, no demolition! We need people who will say 'It's not right - change this and that!' Economic policy, uhljebljivanje, mandatory membership and contributions to the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Board – we do not need that. Entrepreneurs and craftsmen should not be whipped with parafiscal levies – these are not taxes, they are levies," David says, pointing out that it would be fine if that money would be invested in something useful, but it isn't.

I watched the gathered crowd. Both older and younger people were all protesting. At one point, social distancing fell into the background and then I got a little scared for my health. I was surrounded by people shouting, and some of them didn’t even wear masks, against which the organisers explicitly warned, but without much success. Luckily, I quickly got out of the way.

Expectedly, there were even some drunk people, using the situation to relax at least a little and thus experience the "old normal." Gathering at the protest was even an opportunity for some to see each other after a long time, which, understandably, they took advantage of. So, for example, maybe some fellow caterers from Slavonia and Dalmatia finally saw each other and chatted.

Apart from chanting and whistling, applause even broke out for a man breaking through the crowd with a tray in his hand, offering protesters coffee to go in cups designed specifically for the occasion. "It's enough," read the inscription on it.

Symbolic coffee to go with the inscription saying "It's enough" / Donatella Pauković

'Instead of law, justice must be introduced'

When those gathered had already begun to disperse, and the most persistent continued to protest, my attention was drawn to a sympathetic and seemingly accommodating man with a large banner. However, what he told me has specially taken me aback.

Tomislav Vukorepa, an entrepreneur from Šibenik, besides coming to Zagreb to support all entrepreneurs who are in a very difficult situation, came to point out one big problem.

"We lost five citizens in a shooting in Šibenik, our citizens of Šibenik," Vukorepa began his story, explaining his banner that read "Pleković, enough of the harrowing, kill me now."

Entrepreneur Tomislav Vukorepa with his banner "Plenković, enough of the harrowing, kill me now" / Donatella Pauković

"I wrote this because the direct cause of the shooting in Šibenik, in which five people were killed, is a catastrophic judiciary. Who knows how many more such cases are 'cooking' in the whole of Croatia! We have to open our eyes because there's no point in being brutally warned in such a way every now and then. Something urgently needs to change here. Instead of law, justice must be introduced. And that’s a big difference, because the one who is stronger always takes the right to himself and oppresses the one who is weaker. Therefore, justice and truth should come to power in Croatia," Vukorepa said.

He believes that it's time for the citizens of the whole of Croatia let it be known that this is not the way to go.

"Those in power should listen a little better to what the citizens tell them, because this country exists because of the citizens, not because of them," concluded Vukorepa, whose business of sound systems for concerts and festivals has died out in the last six months.

UGP entrepreneur protest in Zagreb / Donatella Pauković

As I have already said, and in the few minutes of talking to this man I confirmed, this was not only a protest against epidemiological restrictions, but also against a system in which the voice of the little man is hardly ever heard.

After two hours on the main Zagreb square, I thoughtfully left the protest. What seemed at the beginning to be an inarticulate presentation of views on the current situation in Croatia, actually proved to be well-founded. What seemed like a protest against the impossibility of drinking coffee for hours, which is the Croatian national sport, has, unfortunately, a much deeper foothold.

I realised that if you want to warn someone about something, a protest is one of the few places where someone will hear or notice you, if you have a banner with a good inscription. You might end up in the headlines as well.

All in all, the real effects of the Croatian entrepreneurs' protest in Zagreb will only be seen in the coming months. We're waiting for new steps to be made by those in power, hoping that this time the majority will be satisfied. And that we will soon be able to sit down and have coffee somewhere, which may, at least for those few hours, ease our souls.

To read more news from Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 3, 2021 - Thousands gathered at the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association protest held today at Ban Jelacic Square in Zagreb. 

Lifting discriminatory measures, regularly paying compensation for employees, canceling parafiscal taxes and mandatory membership fees, and the departure of Economy Minister Tomislav Coric were the demands heard at the protest organized by the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association (UGP) in Zagreb's Ban Jelacic Square.

Jutarnji List reports that between five and ten thousand people gathered at the protest today.

Although the UGP called for adherence to epidemiological measures, many did not wear masks, and it was difficult to maintain a distance.

Some of the banners read: "What is the plan?", "Why can't Croatia be economically strong?", "Andrej, it's enough!". 

Entrepreneurs and citizens from all over Croatia came to protest. As the executive director of UGP Dražen Oreščanin said at the press conference, several buses arrived from Dalmatia, Kvarner, Bjelovar, Varaždin, and Vinkovci, to name a few.

UGP President Hrvoje Bujas was not able to attend the protest because he tested positive for COVID-19. 

Oreščanin said that everything UGP does is out of any policy and that it is about advocating for a better life and entrepreneurs' rights, who in Croatia are, in his words, "second-class citizens."

"This morning I spoke to the Minister of Labor Josip Aladrović and suggested that all ministers and others from the public sector receive a salary of 4,000 kuna until the end of this year, to which he replied that it was a quality proposal and that he would consider it," Oreščanin said. 

He added that until the opening of the now-closed facilities, UGP asks the Government and the Civil Protection Headquarters for any compensation, even a one-time compensation, because "people literally have nothing to live on anymore."

His statements were accompanied by chanting and approval of those gathered at the Square, and when he asked them what they had to say to the Minister of Economy Tomislav Ćorić, it was mostly: "Resign!" and "Enough is enough!".

The slogan of the protest is "Enough is enough" and "Why Croatia?". The latter, Oreščanin explained, relates to entrepreneurs who are wondering why Croatia cannot be a competitive, successful and country of satisfied people, and said that the government and politicians should respond.

The representative of the catering segment, Ana Lisak, told Hina that they have recorded a drop in turnover of more than 70 percent and that it means nothing to them what they can deliver when only one percent of the business does so.

"Let everyone know that we are financially on our knees, but it is as if no one cares much about it because it is a pandemic, and we have to be patient. We are patient, we have not worked for almost a year, and many of us who have some funds pay workers and additionally above the state 4,000 kuna, because we do not want to lose them as well as our companies," said Lisak.

The president of the Independent Association of Zagreb Caterers, who attended the protest in front of the National Association of Caterers, Zaklina Troskot, told Hina that they are not satisfied with the measures of the headquarters and the government because they are "discriminatory and totally unfair."

"The Government's expectation that two activities - the catering and fitness industry, will save people from a pandemic, is completely unacceptable for us, and people are therefore desperate. If we do not get tax relief and any compensation, it will be difficult for us to work when we open because we will then face a lack of money to purchase, equip and pay the bills," Troskot said, adding that any help would come in handy.

At around 11 am, the protesters calmed and stopped chanting, but they did not disperse or intend to for the next few hours.

The caterers from the Square brought them "coffee-to-go" on trays. Some commented that no coffee, not even open restaurants, will help them survive this year without support and fair government measures.

To read more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.