ZAGREB, November 30, 2020 – The government has not found a solution for all businesses that have been strongly affected by the coronacrisis, the Voice of Entrepreneurs (UGP) association said on Monday after a meeting with government officials, adding that compensatory measures need to include all affected activities.
Government representatives met with employers and representatives of the hospitality sector today to present compensatory measures designed to help offset the consequences of the latest lockdown imposed due to the deteriorated epidemiological situation in the country.
UGP underlined that it had much higher expectations from the meeting.
“We welcome some measures that were presented by ministers like the new COVID loans by HAMAG-BICRO. One of the recommendations is to compensate fixed costs but only for those activities that have been shut. We believe that all activities with a large fall in turnover need to be compensated regardless of whether they are formally shut,” UPG said in a press release.
Citing the event industry, temporary providers of transport services, travel agencies and other activities that depend on activities that have been shut down, UPG wondered if they would be left to cave in.
One of UPG’s proposals is a temporary reduction of VAT for the affected activities. The association believes that VAT should urgently be reduced to 13% in order to boost consumption and that a move like that would facilitate business for all affected activities, including hospitality and other service industries. Almost all EU countries have done just that, the association notes.
UPG president Hrvoje Bujas thinks that short-term measures are insufficient and that there is no plan for long-term reforms.
“We are unhappy. We presented clear and substantiated proposals that are in Croatia’s interest, please listen to us,” Bujas added.
