“We have a number of tools at our disposal, including measures by the biggest distributor, and that is HEP, measures by regulators and finally measures by the government. By the time this issue becomes current, we will have a whole package that will relieve or prevent any major blow to citizens’ living standard,” Plenković said in Novska while attending a ceremony marking the town’s day.
He did not wish to go into detail about what the government’s measures might be and whether that meant regulating energy prices, decreasing VAT, issuing vouchers or something else, as has been speculated in the media.
The prime minister noted that unlike in other EU countries, the prices of electricity and natural gas had not increased in Croatia in recent months.
“That is because we have been working quietly, talking and taking care that citizens’ standards are not affected,” he said.
Plenković said that the government would introduce measures similar to job retention measures to ease the impact of increases in energy and gas prices, which are expected on 1 April.
In that regard, the government “will do everything so that before the heating season ends it adopts a policy framework that will reduce any blow to citizens’ standard of living that might result from the increase in energy prices, which is a global trend.”
