Croatian Economy Minister Incompetent? Initiative Seeks Horvat Dismissal

Lauren Simmonds

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As Index writes on the 25th of March, 2020, after the announcement of measures to assist the economy and subsequent public appearances by Croatian Economy Minister Darko Horvat and many relevant experts, Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs) officially requested the dismissal of Minister Horvat and the establishment of an Economic Crisis Headquarters this morning by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

”Dear Prime Minister,

The Voice of Entrepreneurs initiative has brought together more than 60,000 entrepreneurs and our employees, business owners and freelancers in just a few days.

We’ve been communicating for a week now that we believe the measures taken to help the economy are insufficient and will result in a wave of dismissals. You can see from yesterday’s and today’s media reactions that we were right.

By adopting these measures, Minister Horvat has rejected the proposal of our initiative, all relevant business associations and experts on the necessity of tax and contribution write-offs, [this has been coupled] with inappropriate public statements, showing that he isn’t competent to manage his department in a crisis and that he doesn’t represent the interests of the Croatian economy and society in full. We need a Minister who will stand up for businessmen in the same way that Minister Beros stands up for health.

We hereby request that you immediately dismiss Minister Horvat, appoint a competent Croatian Economy Minister and urgently establish an Economic Crisis Headquarters, which must include representatives of entrepreneurs and the economic profession,” the letter to Prime Minister Plenkovic states.

Within three months, more than 700,000 people across Croatia could lose their jobs.

As a reminder, the Croatian Government presented measures to assist the economy recently, which were met with an array of negative reactions from entrepreneurs at a press conference, who have claimed that the burden of the ongoing coronavirus crisis is falling on the backs of companies, many of which are already looking bankruptcy in the eye thanks to the current work ban.

According to estimates from the Voice of the Entrepreneurs initiative analytics team, 185,000 jobs are already in jeopardy across Croatia at the moment, and that figure could exceed 700,000 within just three months.

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A survey of the Voice of the Entrepreneur (Glas Poduzetnika) group – you can follow them here on Facebook – had the follow results to four options asking about Minister Horvat’s performance: 

1. Excellent, his new measures are great – 0%

2. He is trying, we need to help him – 1%

3. Just a regular uhljeb – 11%

4. He is incompetent and should be replaced – 88%

Follow our business page for more. For rolling information and updates in English on the coronavirus pandemic in Croatia, stay up to date with our dedicated section.

 

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