Huić: The State Interfered in Citizens’ Privacy in the ‘Swiss Franc’ Case and This Will End Catastrophically for Taxpayers

The Lider conference ‘Personal Finance and Personal Bankruptcy’ concluded with a panel discussion titled ‘The Personal Bankruptcy Law – Personal Bankruptcy in Practice’.

The panelists were Davor Huić, Executive Director of the Taxpayers Association Lipa, Zdenko Adrović, President of the Croatian Banking Association, Vedran Ceranić from the Effectus Higher Education Institution, Vinka Ilak from Fina, and Renata Dukat and Dejan Bodul, who had previously given individual presentations.

Despite all roundtable participants agreeing that the personal bankruptcy law is a civilizational norm necessary for any democratic society, the discussion took many directions.

On this occasion, Davor Huić stated that the transfer of personal responsibility, when it comes to personal debt, is a significant problem for the survival of our society.

– The state has interfered in the privacy of citizens in the ‘Swiss Franc’ case and this will end catastrophically for taxpayers. Citizens are financially illiterate, and the number of debtors best proves this.

Europe has already reached its peak when we talk about how many people are indebted to that institution, notes the President of HUB, Zdenko Adrović. He considers the personal bankruptcy law necessary, but he claims this only in his own name, as the banks have not officially commented. 

As confirmed by Vinka Ilak, Fina has received 240 applications for personal bankruptcy.

– Fina was ready for the change in the law from the first day it came into force. As many as 160 of the received applications are from Zagreb, and the applicants are of various profiles and from different social groups, claims Ilak.

During the panel discussion, Guste Santini also contributed from the audience.

– The personal bankruptcy law is a fig leaf, beautiful and large in surface area. However, it cannot be a substitute for a state that does not do its job. Regulation and education should have been the main tasks of the state. The population is uneducated, and the fact that almost half of Croatia is in one way or another involved in debt slavery is a result of this. In fact, I am very afraid of this law and how Croats will understand it, adds the economic analyst.

– Unfortunately, we have taken the worst not only from socialism but also from capitalism. I hope this conference will be remembered as the one that opened the discussion on personal bankruptcy, and even more, I hope there will be fewer and fewer people applying to Fina to declare the same, concluded the conference by Lider’s editor Miodrag Šajatović.