February 19, 2019 – As Croatian media reports on the 45,000 (actually much more) euro that tourist institutions paid for a tourism summit which will not happen, a look at some of the other victims, and a sadly familiar story of working in Croatia.
A few years ago I messaged one of my TCN writers asking if it would be a problem if I paid her about 10 days late, as I was waiting for over 200,000 kuna from suppliers and it would be a real struggle to get her paid on time if the money did not come in. She was absolutely fine to wait, she said, as long as I could guarantee payment in 10 days. She understood how things work in Croatia. Eight days later, some promised money arrived and she was paid. I informed her with an apology once more. Her reply has stayed with me since:
“Don’t worry. Even 8 days late, you are by far the quickest person ever to pay me.”
This is a story, and it is a non-story, as there will be nothing new to anyone who deals with the daily grind in The Beautiful Croatia. But perhaps it will be to those outside the culture and daily way of life here, who are seeking a little more understanding about why Croatia’s youth is emigrating. It is inspired by the story which hit the Croatian media of how Croatian tourism institutions paid 45,000 euro to a British couple who were organising ‘Central Europe’s largest trade travel event.’
An event which has totally disappeared, along with the money.
But is it not just event exhibitors who have lost money. So too have various other suppliers, as well as the unpaid employees.
And it is also not just 45,000 euro which has disappeared to a company registered in Spain just a year ago, and with a start-up capital of just 3,000 euro. The figure of 45,000 euro relates only to the Zagreb Tourist Board and Croatian National Tourist Board. It does not include any of the other exhibitors who were planning on taking part in the event. According to various sources working on the project, these included the national tourist boards of Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Macedonia. The Kvarner region was also allegedly committed, seeing it as a good platform to showcase Rijeka as the European Capital of Culture. The Dubrovnik County Tourist Board was also keen. And let’s now forget the private companies who also planned to take part. I know of one agency in Dalmatia, for example, which handed over 5,000 euro alone.
But there were others who are also out of pocket, and who can less afford to absorb the costs – the employees. It is a tale so familiar in Croatia, and yet one which is rarely told. It is, in my opinion, one of the biggest issues in this country, and one of the reasons why a lot of people are leaving – the inability to get paid.
One of the aspects of the story of the failed event in the Croatian media focused on how British organiser Andy Buchanan hired a taxi driver to do sales. As always in the Croatian media, there is usually something more to the story, and I managed to track down the guy yesterday and we had a nice chat on the phone. And so begins the story… I will call him Ivan.
Ivan told me that he was driving for Uber, and they got chatting on the long drive to where he was going. Ivan had spent years in sales and that piqued Buchanan’s interest. They kept talking and met 10 days later, and Ivan agreed to work for Buchanan.
Ivan says that Buchanan explained he was in the process of setting up the Croatian company so that he could pay expenses and salaries, and it would take a couple of weeks to sort out. And so Ivan went off on his first sales trip, 35 meetings in 5 days, covering 2,000km in his own car and at his own expense – Zadar County, Sibenik County, Lika and Karlovac County.
And he got some sales. The company formation was taking a little longer than usual. This is Croatia, after all.
He moved to telesales, contacting potential customers in Albania, Macedonia and Serbia.
And he got some sales.
And then one day, he says, Buchanan’s wife and co-organiser came to the office and took his laptop and project documents and told Ivan he was no longer required, but that he would be paid. That was 8 months ago.
He has not been paid.
The rent of the office has not been paid.
The Croatian company was never formed.
The registered company in Spain which was supposed to organise the event was formed a year ago, has a startup capital of 3,000 euro and nothing else.
Ivan is about 2,000 euro out of pocket. money he will almost certainly never see. The organisers are uncontactable, the website down and the mobiles no longer in use.
His story is both a sad extra to this failed event, but also so depressingly familiar to those working in The Beautiful Croatia.
While things are far from perfect anywhere in the world, I was really shocked when I found out how widespread the practice of delayed payment is in Croatia. People can go months without being paid. And many do, and there is little they can do about it. They continue to come to work in the hope they will get paid, somehow scrambling things together to keep the family going until they do.
One of the most nerve-wracking times for a Croatian worker is the end of the first month of a new job. The job is great, new colleagues are fun… but will I get paid? Sadly, not so many do get paid on time, if at all. And for those who do, a huge relief and a glimmer of hope – perhaps they have found a reliable employer in Croatia after all.
The culture of late or non-payment extends far beyond the world of employment, of course. Agrokor was the master of delayed payment to its suppliers – if you are big enough, pay when you want. A lot of small businesses could not stand the wait. The effect of this affects bona fide businesses who pay their staff on time. Cashflow is king, and if the cash is not coming in…
Like probably the majority of Croatian businesses, I have been late with paying writers on occasion. Not through wilful intention but through non-payment by suppliers despite signed contracts. I remember a couple of years ago chasing a (for me) big payment for months from a large tourism institution in Croatia. No reply to my emails or phone calls for months. I was scratching around to keep things going, and then 4 months after it was due, 75,000 kuna miraculously appeared in the business account.
As if it was not hard enough to do business in this beautiful land…
The other aspect of this non-payment is something that fascinates me about the culture here. When someone owes you a salary or an invoice, they tend to avoid you. After a time, you are the problem for daring to ask for what is yours, and after quite a lot more time, the situation between you and your non-payer returns to how it was. Minus the payment, which is converted to an uncomfortable memory of the past. I have seen it a hundred times.
My Croatian friends are remarkably philosophical about the realities of working in Croatia. Most have a story of non-payment, and it is something that they have come to accept, for they are powerless to do anything about it. A little like this failed CETS Summit in Zagreb, where the initial 45,000 euro will prove to be just a drop in the ocean, with a company with a start-up capital of 3,000 euro, there is little chance of being compensated.
And so the search for another job begins in this difficult job climate, and the hope that perhaps the new employer will pay this time.
Or the other alternative of course – emigration to Ireland and beyond.
