ZAGREB, July 20, 2020 – The Green-Left Coalition said on Monday they would forward to the government and parliament a model for revitalising dairy production in Osijek-Baranja County, highlighting the purchase of Meggle plants or a package of measures to rescue that industry.
It is necessary to examine if Meggle Croatia is interested in selling the company, including production plants, the coalition said in a press release. If so, it added, it is in the public interest to ensure the funds for the purchase via Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development loans.
If not, the government must come up with a package of measures to rescue the dairy industry in that region by organising contract farmers and workers as well as a company to succeed Meggle Croatia by reallocating EU funds, the coalition said.
One of the reasons why Meggle is relocating its plants outside the EU is that non-EU countries offer a lower cost of labour and do not have the same ecological standards as EU member states, notably regarding waste waters in the food industry, the coalition said.
Germany’s Meggle is closing its plants in Osijek and laying off 160 workers. It is allegedly relocating to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina due to a high cost of labour.
The coalition said that according to Eurostat, Croatia was at the bottom in the EU in terms of the total cost of labour and that taxes on labour stemmed from an unjust system and low taxes on other incomes.
The coalition said Meggle’s decision indicated that Croatia should invest in its own production which should not be interested only in profit but also responsibility to the community as well as the development of the sector and the region of business.
The coalition said the closure of the Osijek plant would affect 340 contract farms whose main source of profit was the dairy industry.
