As Adriano Milovan/Novac writes on the 24th of April, 2020, although many Croatian companies didn’t see their operations interrupted even during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the heads of Croatian companies are eagerly awaiting the decision of the authorities on any normalisation of work and doing business. As some of their top executives say, many Croatian companies have experienced a large increase in costs during the quarantine period, in the harsh conditions in which business is minimised.
”We’d like a relaxation of the measures so that the economy can ”breathe” again. The current situation isn’t sustainable: there are many trucks, while the amount of goods being transported is small, which greatly increases the costs,” complained Petar Simic, owner and director of Primaco, one of the most important Croatian freight forwarding companies.
”We’ve been in business until now, but in significantly more difficult circumstances, which has led to the loss of certain jobs and the accumulation of stock. However, during that period, we worked on the development of 15 new products, and we’re planning to expand to new markets as well,” said Zdravko Jelcic from the Pozega-based Spin Valis, one of the leading Croatian companies in the wood processing industry.
Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all Croatian companies had to invest significant amounts of money to properly protect their employees: they bought protective masks, gloves and disinfectants and other products. In the case of transporters, they also provided for self-isolation for drivers in their cabins. For the workers at the counters located in the customs offices, plexiglass compartments were provided. These measures have cost Primaco about 250,000 kuna in the past month and a half alone,” stated Simic.
Despite this, company executives say that employee protection measures will continue to apply after lockdown is over. This, they point out, is in everyone’s interest because no one wants a coronavirus epidemic within their company.
”We’ll continue to keep up with the hygiene measures of everyone in the company. It would also mean a lot to us if the customs clearance of goods could be returned to the customs offices in the interior of the country, since customs clearance is now done at the border, which creates huge crowds,” said Simic.
”Worker protection measures will remain as they are after lockdown. We’ll continue to use protective masks, gloves and disinfectants and keep the required distance between workers. So far, we’ve not had any cases of coronavirus in the company,” says Jelcic.
Croatian companies are therefore adjusting to the new coronavirus reality, which means continuing to apply safeguards even after quarantine measures are lifted. However, they warn that Croatia and Europe are sinking into recession due to the coronavirus pandemic and that the period ahead will not be easy for anyone at all. Therefore, the state is expected to at least facilitate business conditions for them, while companies, for their part, will do what they can to fight the spread of coronavirus.
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