The Initiative for Occasional Passenger Transport Announced a New Protest for Thursday

At a meeting organized by the association Voice of Entrepreneurs and the Initiative for Occasional Passenger Transport regarding the unfavorable situation in which occasional carriers find themselves, in Tuesday only representatives from three leasing companies and Hanfa attended, while no one from the invited ministries, prompting the Initiative to announce a new protest for Thursday. 

The representative of the Initiative for Occasional Passenger Transport Hrvoje Slišković stated after the meeting that he was disappointed with the turnout, given that representatives from only three leasing companies – Erste, RBA, and Unicredit, and a representative from Hanfa appeared, while no one from the invited ministries attended.

According to him, they had constructive discussions with representatives from Erste, RBA, and Unicredit and agreed on a framework for future operations. Slišković called on representatives of other leasing companies, who did not attend today’s meeting, to express their intentions regarding what they are willing to do to save the occasional transport sector.

He reminded that the Initiative is seeking a moratorium from banks and leasing companies on loans and leases for a period of at least 12 months with the cancellation of interest, as well as non-repayable funds from EU funds to save the sector, and an extension of measures for preserving jobs for an additional 3 months for these activities and the abolition of periodic technical inspections during the epidemic. They also want their loan interest to be canceled or reduced to a level of 0.5 to 1 percent, down from the current 4 percent.

– We are not functioning now; most of us stopped working back in February, and since March 1, our income is zero kuna – said Slišković, adding that for at least another two months they will have no income until air traffic normalizes.

On the other hand, most of them are still employing workers, which, he says, could change if state measures for preserving jobs are not extended. 

After two protests held, the Initiative announced a new one on Thursday at 1 PM in Markov Square. Slišković called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to appear before the protesters. The protest will begin, as it did last Thursday, in the parking lot next to the Zagreb Fair and will end at Markov Square at 1 PM.

The Executive Director of the association Voice of Entrepreneurs Dražen Oreščanin emphasized that it is evident from the collected documents that many leasing companies did not comply with Hanfa’s initial recommendations, threatened forced collection, and charged interest during the moratorium period.

– Hanfa is already examining the mentioned cases, and it is our duty to inform the public about how certain leasing companies treat entrepreneurs and previously reliable payers affected by the Covid-19 crisis – stated Oreščanin.

Hanfa last week issued additional recommendations for easier repayment of leases, which include the possibility of contracting a moratorium for a period longer than three months and the cessation of charging calculated interest during the moratorium period.

Among other things, it recommended the suspension of all forced collection procedures during the agreed moratorium period for previously reliable leasing users, as well as that no late fees be calculated or charged to leasing recipients who have been granted a payment deferral. According to Hanfa’s data, by May 1, leasing companies approved a reprogram for 67.7 percent of leasing contracts for which it was requested, or for 77.5 percent of the total value of all contracts, while the remaining part of the requests is being processed.

The President of the association Voice of Entrepreneurs Hrvoje Bujas also complained on Tuesday about the absence of representatives from most leasing companies and ministries. He is also bothered that the Ministry of Tourism has not responded to their letters for a long time, which he considers unacceptable. He asked leasing companies whether they want to have thousands of buses, vehicles, and vessels in their yards in a few months or want to help the sector survive. 

The association Voice of Entrepreneurs recently proposed to Hanfa and leasing companies a moratorium on leases for up to 18 months based on the model 6+3+3+3+3, noting that some activities are on the brink of collapse due to the corona crisis and leasing costs.

In occasional transport, there are 1,200 licenses in domestic transport and about 800 in international transport, the sector employs about 20,000 people, and has 15,000 vehicles, vans, and buses, of which at least 30 percent are on lease.

Furthermore, more than 300 rent-a-car companies have about 25,000 vehicles, of which 15,000 are on lease. About a hundred of the largest charter companies have a total of about 4,500 vessels on lease and about 1,800 employees, and they are additionally supported by services, nautical shops, caterers on the islands, and many others.

The proposal of the association on behalf of more than 500 member companies engaged in these activities includes, among other things, establishing a moratorium on leases from 6 to 18 months with a minimal interest rate during the grace period of 0.5 percent (6 months) to 1 percent (18 months), along with an extension of the repayment period for the same duration as the moratorium, without any additional fees.

They also seek an extension of measures for preserving jobs for an additional 3 months for these activities and the abolition of periodic technical inspections during the epidemic.

The alternative, they emphasize from the association, is the return of thousands of vehicles and vessels and sending thousands of people to the employment office, as well as the cessation of business for at least a third of more than 5,000 companies registered for the mentioned activities.

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