ZAGREB, March 28, 2018 – President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Wednesday sent a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, asking him to receive representatives of the Blokirani association of citizens with blocked bank accounts so as to contribute to resolving the problem of more than 300,000 citizens which she says has grave consequences on many families as well as a negative effect on the demographic situation.
“I believe it is high time to pay the highest possible attention, with the utmost seriousness, to resolving this problem which has very big social, demographic, health and other consequences on many of our citizens and which, in the foreseeable future, can also have significant political consequences,” the president says in the letter to the PM and the government which was published on Blokirani’s website.
The president, who has met several times with a Blokirani delegation, believes that their being received in the government would be a step which would significantly contribute to resolving the big social problem of citizens with blocked bank accounts.
The president says this problem has “very serious consequences on numerous families, which has a very negative effect also on our demographic situation, which is deteriorating by the day, also because many Croatian citizens see a solution… in leaving Croatia. Despite all that, a comprehensive solution is constantly being delayed.”
The president says she has received a memo from Blokirani in which the association claims that the resolution of their problem is being obstructed in a variety of ways, including by the state administration, financial institutions, notaries, lawyers and collection agencies, only to financially exploit the debtors as long as possible.
The president suggests including Blokirani representatives again in a task force working on a distraint bill, and says that she has again sent Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković a set of measures proposed by the association.
The president says the association is extremely unhappy with the government’s proposal of forcible bankruptcy for debtors who owe up to 20,000 kuna.
