Kuštrak: ‘Employers do not ask the Government for money, just let us be’

The President of the Croatian Employers’ Association, Damir Kuštrak, stated in the Dnevnik of Nova TV that it is evident that the budget revision was made to show that revenues are lower than planned. The tax burden is high, and therefore our economy is not very competitive.

Damir Kuštrak says that the Government obviously could not find any consensus among coalition partners and that this budget is structurally the same as all others in the past seven years, except that it is getting larger. It should be emphasized that the crisis began two years ago and that the Government’s measures for economic recovery clearly do not work. There are many mechanisms that can be applied for economic recovery, and the World Bank has conducted a whole series of studies on things that do not work in Croatia, from the pension to the health system.

Damir Kuštrak emphasizes that the reality is that all those who lose their jobs in this crisis will have to wait to get a new opportunity.
The President of HUP admitted that there is an anti-entrepreneurial climate in Croatia. ‘This is a serious problem, and in 20 years we have not made progress towards saying that those who want to work should work and earn. It is only looked at whether the one who earned that money stole it and whether he is a thief. And every real entrepreneur actually sleeps little and works hard and struggles to earn,’ says Kuštrak. Damir Kuštrak says that there is a lack of consensus among the main levers of society on fundamental issues in this country, such as whether we have a fair tax or social system. He believes that HDZ and SDP should definitely sit down together at the table and agree on such matters, emphasizing that in these 20 years we have had only two consensuses: one on the defense of Croatia and the other on joining the EU, or regarding the last constitutional changes.

The first Croatian employer says that all those who are diligent and hardworking should not fear layoffs, but at the same time, those who do something that does not make much sense must be aware that something needs to change. Kuštrak believes that it is not good that the Minister of Economy, Đuro Popijač, joined HDZ because it appears that if you want to engage in a public function, you must join a party.

The President of HUP says that there are not two urgent measures that the Government should immediately initiate, but rather that there are 20 different projects that are blocked. ‘The Government should stand behind them and push them forward. Whatever project is initiated, there is always someone who says it is not good, like Rockwool, golf, and Cvjetni prolaz,’ says Kuštrak. He also suggests selling minority stakes of the Government in state-owned companies, from which no one benefits, and this would generate some money that could help reduce this debt. Kuštrak announced that he would present all the absurd administrative barriers to Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. ‘We do not ask the Government for money, but to let us be so we can work,’ Kuštrak stated, adding that all barriers will be listed by ministries, and they will immediately see what can be quickly removed.