It seems there is no crisis in the Croatia’s public sector.
According to estimates by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, it is expected that this year’s average Easter spending of Croatian citizens will be more modest than in earlier years. It is forecast that people will spend between 650 and 1,600 kunas for Easter holidays, reports Index.hr on March 25, 2016.
And while many will, unfortunately, be forced to be careful about how much they spend, many employees of state-owned companies will get special Easter bonuses. It seems that the best Easter meals will be prepared by employees of Hrvatske Šume (Croatian Forests) public company. The company will spend as much as 9 million kunas on bonuses, so each of the 7,000 employees will receive 1,250 kunas.
“Easter bonuses will be paid in accordance with the current collective agreement. We want to emphasise that Hrvatske Šume is not financed from the budget, but by revenues from its own business activities. In 2015, Hrvatske Šume had a profit of 235 million kunas and it has no debt”, said Hrvatske Šume in a statement, forgetting to mention that a large part of the “revenues from business activities” pertains to obligatory fees which every company in Croatia has to pay to the company, regardless of whether they have anything to do with forests or not.
Despite its enormous debt, Hrvatske Autoceste (Croatian Motorways) will pay to its employees Easter bonuses in the amount of 900 kuna. “In accordance with the collective agreement, we will pay our employees a one-time supplement worth 500 kuna and give them a gift in kind worth 400 kuna in the form of prepaid toll”, announced Hrvatske Autoceste.
Hrvatske Ceste (Croatian Roads) public company will give to its employees 400 kuna. “Easter bonuses will be paid in the form of a gift certificate worth 400 kuna, in accordance with the collective agreement”, announced Hrvatske Ceste. Similar bonuses will be received by those employed at Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (Croatian Electric Company), 400 kuna in cash, and Hrvatska Lutrija (Croatian Lottery), 400 kuna in a voucher to be spent in a retail chain.
Even though Hrvatske Željeznice (Croatian Railways) create losses year after year, workers employed at HŽ Infrastructure (Infrastructure) will receive 200 kuna in Easter bonus while employees of HŽ Putnički Prijevoz (Passenger Transport) are still negotiating with their management.
Employees of Croatia Airlines and Podzemno Skladište Plina (Underground Gas Storage Facility), which are also state-owned, are out of luck and will not get anything, like so many people employed in Croatia’s private sector, where Easter bonuses are not often seen.
