May 7, 2020 – Beware the Croatian inspector – a new series courtesy of Glas Poduzetnika (Voice of Entrepreneurs), highlighting a Croatian business reality that helps kill growth, profit, and entrepreneurship. Do You Have The Money or Not?
I have seen them operating all over the country over the last 18 years, the most feared visitors to Croatia’s cafes, restaurants, and other businesses – the Croatian inspector.
As with many corrupt countries, the role of the inspector should be to make sure that the rules are being adhered to in the particular area they specialize in – sanitary, fiscal, etc – but in reality, the prime motivation is to find ways to fill the State coffers and their own. Allegedly.
I heard SO many stories of inspections where perfectly run businesses end up paying thousands in fines, some of it justified, much of it grossly unfair. And there is an old truism here:
If the Croatian inspector comes to visit, he will find something, even if there is nothing there.
It is a subject that I have wanted to cover for years, but I never had quite the right material. Until now.
Huge thanks to those very proactive chaps at Glas Poduzetnika, who are really becoming a force for change to be reckoned with. A really great initiative. In one of their latest moves, they have been collecting some of their members’ experiences with the Croatian inspector, to highlight the issue and the realities of doing business in Beautiful Croatia.
Story #12: Do You Have The Money or Not?
A warm greeting from Krapina, where everything seems picture perfect on a postcard while it’s the worst possible environment for someone who is apolitical and trying only to work and get somewhere.
My experiences with inspectors are everything but pleasant, racket, and fictitious situations where inspector the lies in court and makes deals with the judge, punishing me with a big smile on their faces. It’s been almost a month since my premise was sealed with the blessing of some local party feeder, even though I had a registered fast-food, pizza, and bakery activity.
However, they arbitrarily wrote on MTU (Bureau for Minimal Technical Conditions) that I would serve simple dishes. Hence, it’s OK to write that too. During the greatest crisis, instead of helping you, they seal you up with no remorse, repeating the nonsense that this is not in their interests.
This is a recent situation. When I first opened, the inspector asked me, “Do you have money or not?” My staff just looked at each other. not believing what they just heard. Situation number two from the same inspector. “For this same reason, I punished Foodbar XXX, but I won’t punish you because you are “hometown boys.” And the fake profiles they look forward to barking from are a particular story.
Beware the Croatian Inspector is a new daily series (yes, there really is that much material) which you can follow here.
If you have a Croatian inspector story you would like to share with the Glas Poduzetnika team (in English or Croatian), you can do so via [email protected] Subject TCN inspector.
You can follow the 55,000+ others on the Glas Poduzetnika Facebook page.
