Asked by reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting to comment on the statement by Varaždin County Prefect Radimir Čačić that job-keeping payments to entrepreneurs were late, Aladrović said that he could not agree with Čačić because practically everything that needed to be done for November had been done, and that payments were being made according to schedule.
All the other measures for January and February will be paid upon receipt of documentation and applications, Aladrović said, underscoring that funds have been secured. He added that HRK 2.2 billion has been secured for job-keeping measures for this year, and that enterprises and their employees will be paid as much as needed, that is, until such time that they can continue doing business normally.
With regard to covering fixed costs, he reiterated that entrepreneurs are required to settle these dues and then to apply to the Tax Administration to be reimbursed. According to Aladrović’s knowledge from talks with Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, about 1,000 applications for reimbursement were received a few days ago. They are being processed by the Tax Administration and, according to the information at hand, the national employment bureau will reimburse businesses for fixed costs.
“We will be of service to Croatian entrepreneurs,” said Aladrović, adding that this has bailed out jobs and the labour market. The number of insurers is just 8,900 lower than at the end of 2019 and compared with other countries, we can be absolutely satisfied,” claimed Aladrović.
Another positive trend, he underscored, is that regardless of GDP falling, wages are growing in almost all sectors except in hospitality and the hotel sector.
“We could say that at the moment we are fighting the crisis adequately. Naturally, we are monitoring what is happening on the labour market and in the enterprise sector on a daily basis, and in line with epidemiological requirements we will respond properly, adequately and in a timely manner, as we have until now,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of the present epidemiological measures remaining in force until March, Aladrović said that shorter working hours would last for the entire year while the job-keeping measure was envisaged to remain in force for two months. “The epidemiological situation will be monitored and measures will be adopted accordingly. In the coming months, if need be, we will certainly find a model in line with fiscal possibilities that will satisfy both employers and workers,” concluded Aladrović.
