PM: Decisions on reactivation of some economic branches to be made this week

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has said that the government will formulate a conclusion, which would serve, along with epidemiologists' recommendations, as the basis for the national civil protection authority to make decisions on the reactivation and normalisation of some economic activities.

Plenkovic said that the main topic of the government session on Thursday would be measures for the reactivation of certain economic sectors in light of the coronavirus epidemic.

"This week, the government will prepare a conclusion and after that, the national civil protection authority, acting in line with that conclusion and within the framework to be defined by epidemiologists, will be making decisions on the reactivation and normalisation of some economic activities," the PM said.

He explained that after consultations that were conducted today and that would continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, the scope of economic activities to be reactivated would be known.

He described today's figures as encouraging, which show that there were ten new COVID-19 cases, noting that health and safety restrictions had yielded results, slowed down the spreading of the infection and resulted in a relatively low mortality rate.

Plenkovic also pointed to the fact that a large number of businesses had used the government's measures designed to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economic sector, and that the state allowance in the amount of HRK 3,250 per employee, aimed at helping employers keep workers, had been used by about 88,000 businesses for more than 480,000 workers.

He also recalled the government's measures regarding taxes and contributions as well as the decision to cancel e-passes in individual counties, noting that all those measures would contribute to the reactivation of the economy.

Parliamentary elections "are not a topic" at the moment, Plenkovic said answering a reporter's question, adding that "care for citizens' health and measures for the business sector and workers are the only topic on the agenda."

"As soon as (elections) are put on the agenda, I will tell you right away," he said when asked again by a reporter when the parliamentary election would be held.

Plenkovic also condemned in the strongest terms a case of domestic violence in Solin, where a local councillor from the HDZ party was expelled from the party for having beaten up and inflicting grave injuries on his wife.

PM says measures to reactivate economy will be appropriate, safe

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that the government was making well-thought-out decisions in the context of the coronavirus epidemic and would also define measures to relaunch some of the economic activities in line with epidemiological standards.

The measures to relaunch some economic activities will be defined at a government session on Thursday, Plenkovic said, declining to specify those measures.

"Once the entire set is finalised, we will present it," he told reporters after a session of his HDZ party's presidency.

He did not agree with assessments that Croatia was late in adopting measures to restart economic activities, describing them as an attempt to exert pressure on the government.

"All the countries that announced a certain easing of restrictions, notably big ones, had the highest number of fatalities on the day when they expressed their hope that restrictions would be eased. We are not in such a situation nor do we have a large number of infections or fatalities. Our decisions are rational, well-prepared, based on experts' opinions and on a clear political estimate as was the set of measures designed to alleviate the impact of the crisis on the economic sector," he said.

He added that measures designed to reactivate some parts of the economic sector would also be well-thought-out and rational.

The government must not allow a situation in which it would be pressured into easing restrictions and then experience an upsurge in the number of infections, he warned.

All decisions were political 

As for President Zoran Milanovic's comment that decisions in Croatia should start to be made at the political and no longer at the expert level, Plenkovic said that all decisions that had been made were also political decisions.

"One should distinguish between political decisions of the government and ministers and the so-called health-epidemiological framework, which is about adjusting certain measures in the interest of our citizens' health safety. The national civil protection authority did not just come out of the blue, it was established based on a government decision," he said.

He added that all members of the national authority were appointed to represent departments. "And those departments are government departments... decisions to be made by the government on Thursday will also be political decisions and then epidemiologists will fit them into a framework to prevent putting at risk all the achievements of the recent weeks," he said.

Plenkovic also said that the HDZ would give up 20% of its funds, from the tranche for the second quarter, to be used for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Text: Hina

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