Government Measure for Savings

The Croatian Parliament unanimously voted with 123 votes in favor of the urgent procedure for the Law on the Merger of the Croatian Agricultural Chamber (HPK) and the Croatian Agricultural Advisory Service (HZPSS), as reported by HPK.

The law stipulates the takeover of jobs, employees, equipment, rights and obligations, and financial resources for the performance of the assumed tasks of the Croatian Agricultural Advisory Service into the Croatian Agricultural Chamber. Thus, the Croatian Agricultural Chamber will perform, in addition to the activities previously prescribed, agricultural advisory activities as a public service funded from the state budget. The Chamber will provide agricultural advisory services to farmers and fishermen within its Professional Service, which is managed by the director. The main reason for the adoption of this Law, they say in HPK, is the implementation of the Economic Recovery Program of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, as one of the measures of public administration reform. The Government’s proposal for voting stated that HPK would take over about 250 employees from HZPSS, their equipment, premises, and financial resources for performing the assumed tasks, which will contribute to a more rational organization of jobs and tasks, and thus reduce costs.

At the same time, the membership fee for Chamber members has been abolished, and a chamber contribution has been introduced, which members of the Chamber who are beneficiaries of direct payments in agriculture are obliged to pay, in accordance with the Law on State Aid in Agriculture and Rural Development. As stated in HPK, the implementation of this Law will not require additional funds from the state budget. Namely, for 2010, funds for the operation of the Croatian Agricultural Advisory Service were planned in the amount of 42.3 million kuna, of which 25.4 million kuna remained by the end of the year. For 2011, 43.1 million kuna was planned, and for 2012, almost 42 million kuna. For the Croatian Agricultural Chamber, 100 thousand kuna was planned for 2010, almost 51 thousand kuna for the following year, and 60 thousand kuna for 2012. The law was adopted under an urgent procedure, as stated in the Government’s proposal, due to the reorganization in the public sector aimed at implementing the Economic Recovery Program of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. (Edis Felić)