Kosor: The Debts of State-Owned Companies Amount to One and a Half Billion Kuna

The government will complete the economic recovery program on Thursday with specific implementation dates, announced Prime Minister Kosor as a guest at the traditional Entrepreneurs’ Day 2010. One of the most important measures in the program, as she herself admits, is to reduce illiquidity and shorten payment deadlines.

She stated that the total debts of state-owned companies amount to one and a half billion kuna, of which more than half consists of debts from HEP, HŽ, and Croatian Forests. – HEP and HŽ have more receivables than debts. Croatian Highways have settled all their obligations, so on this occasion, I call on all economic entities to pay their suppliers. I will also repeat that we have requested HUP to publish all those companies that do not pay on time and generate problems – explained Kosor.     

She also boasted about the figure of ‘only’ 308,675 unemployed as of April 30, which is 3.1 percent less compared to March, while the number of employed has increased by 38.7 percent. In our favor, she says, is the decline in imports alongside a simultaneous increase in exports (which has risen by about 3 percent). She announced the resolution of the problem of large local government, which has increased salary masses by 9 percent even in the crisis. – In such conditions, it cannot be expected that public companies will reduce salaries by 10 percent – she stated. She also proposed an amendment to the Law on Financing Political Parties, according to which allocations would be reduced by 10 percent. Emphasizing that the government has taken responsibility for the economy, especially the ministers who are obliged to meet deadlines for executing specific tasks from the program, she stated that it is important for all parties to reach a consensus, regardless of the elections in 2011.

Host Damir Kuštrak did not miss the opportunity to remind that the aid measures are delayed by a year and a half, which is partly why Entrepreneurs’ Day is being held under the most difficult conditions so far. – Programs started very slowly, I hope they will accelerate. After six months from the appointment of the Prime Minister’s Council, we received a concrete program, but we hope that there will be fewer compromises in the development of measures – he stated, adding that the anti-investment climate and the blockage of new projects are the biggest obstacles to recovery, but the government still has a partner in HUP.

President Ivo Josipović supported the reforms, pointing out that foreign direct investments are falling mainly due to administrative barriers to business. He is particularly concerned about corruption in public procurement and the dysfunction of the rule of law, but he acknowledges that there is some progress in the reform of the judiciary.
Ivica Mudrinić, on the other hand, stated that the generation leading the state and the economy is obliged to lay the foundations for the future. – HUP has supported the recovery program, but it is necessary to quantify the effect of each measure as soon as possible. We can survive with a growth of 1.5 percent, but without a new turnaround, there will be no progress or growth in standards. The key is in raising competitiveness, not in reducing rights – he warns. For that, he says, we need a responsible and efficient, not a compliant government, and a revision of social values acquired during the war and post-war period. He warns that something serious needs to change in a system where only 40 percent of the 83 percent of the working-age population is actively employed.

Although this year’s event was attended by a representative number of entrepreneurs, it is hard to shake the impression that the main theme of the gathering ‘crisis and socially responsible business’ is intentionally ‘light notes’, because in a time of partnership between the government and entrepreneurs (and a time when it seems that something is being done) it is clearly not advisable to rock the boat too much. (Gordana Gelenčer)