- Published: 15.05.2015.
Grcic: By year's end parafiscal charges to be reduced by HRK 300 milion
Deputy Prime Minister Grcic said that by the year's end parafiscal charges would be reduced for companies and citizens by about HRK 300 million, and announced legislation and mechanisms to stimulate voluntary mergers of those local government units that cannot finance themselves
"We are endeavoring to create mechanisms when it comes to local self government units, to stimulate those units that cannot finance themselves to voluntarily merge with their neighbours," Grcic told reporters in Split, where he was taking part in a business training conference.
Asked when this would happen, Grcic said that he hoped that the mechanism and legislation would be regulated by the end of the year but that there were no clear indicators of how many local government units this could encompass.
"We don't have any clear forecasts. Why? You see, that is one of the things the European Commission (EC) suggested and we accepted, but we are also aware that a voluntary mechanism like that in some other European Union countries did not bring any great results," Grcic said.
According to Grcic, reforms in public administration by the year's end would reduce parafiscal charges.
"Around HRK 6.5 billion is the total burden of parafiscal charges on companies and citizens and that is what we are 'stripping' - around HRK 420 million last year and now, according to the plan we presented to the EC, we will 'strip' another HRK 300 million," he said.
Asked what that referred to concretely, he answered to charges for forests, water and local rates as well as a 10% reduction of membership fees for the Chamber of Trades and Crafts and the Chamber of Commerce.
Public administration reforms include higher earnings to stimulate the best employees which will motivate them even more in offering better public services, he said.
Asked how to solve the problem of employers who didn't pay their workers, Grcic said, "that exists and will exist."
"However, it is very important that the new bankruptcy bill which the government endorsed the other day in Gunja, contains provisions that protects workers from not being paid and that not paying wages is one of the key parameters to institute bankruptcy, in which workers will be guaranteed a payment of three wages from a special employees' guarantee fund," he explained.
(Text: Hina)