Associations: Non-working Sunday Brings Revenue Decline

The Croatian Farmers’ Association, the National Association of Caterers, and the Voice of Entrepreneurs Association believe that a non-working Sunday brings a decline in revenue for retailers, small farmers, caterers, and many related service activities that have already suffered a severe blow due to the pandemic. The three associations issued a statement on the occasion of the first non-working Sunday for retailers in the process of reopening the economy after the corona crisis.

They state that the supply chain of retail stores and catering establishments heavily depends on products from Croatian farmers and family farms. They emphasize that small agricultural producers experienced a significant blow during the crisis, as restaurants, their major buyers, were mostly closed, as well as markets. A non-working Sunday represents an additional blow to their revenues, the statement says.

The associations believe that Sunday as a working day must be regulated, but certainly not prohibited. Family farms selling at markets will, according to the president of the farmers’ association Tihomir Jaić, suffer losses, as Sunday is an important sales day for them, and he states that the sale of agricultural products “at the doorstep” is not regulated either.

Caterers, on the other hand, remind that their establishments are still not open, with the start of operations planned for May 11 for establishments with terraces, but under very restrictive measures, under which, they state, many restaurants will not even open, and those that do will operate with a much smaller volume of work.

„Although nominally it is better for caterers to be the only ones available to customers on Sunday, we believe that such a decision encroaches on fundamental economic and human freedoms and adds a new layer of complexity to our society. The decline in GDP that this will bring on top of this horror with the corona crisis will be felt by all of us. Except for stores in Trieste and Slovenia. Blessed are we, we always return to some old times", said the vice president of the National Association of Caterers Vedran Jakominić.

"While Austria, where Sunday is usually a non-working day, is changing regulations to allow work on Sundays, in Croatia, unfortunately, we are going in the completely opposite direction. According to some estimates, in retail alone, which currently employs 90,000 people, between 10 and 15 percent of employees could lose their jobs due to the non-working Sunday and a smaller fund of required working hours, and the number of lost jobs in catering, agriculture, and other related industries could be much higher," the statement says.

"At this moment when every kuna of revenue is important for every entrepreneur, and every fiscalized receipt that brings VAT revenues to the state treasury is precious, we simply do not see the point in limiting store operations on Sundays," said the executive director of the Voice of Entrepreneurs Dražen Oreščanin.

He states that not only retail revenues will decline, as shopping centers also house restaurants, cafes, and cinemas that will also be closed on Sundays.

He believes it is unrealistic to expect the complete transfer of retail traffic on Sundays to other days, stating that depending on the type of retail, the decline will be between five and 15 percent.

{embed_digitalno_izdanje}{/embed_digitalno_izdanje}