Zagreb - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced an increase in the average net wage to HRK 8,200 or €1,088 by the end of this government's term and an increase in the minimum wage to around HRK 4,220 as of next week, as well as regulating Sunday trading.
Our new goal is for the average net wage to reach HRK 8,200, or €1,088, by the end of this government's term and next week we will increase the minimum wage to a gross amount of €700, or a net amount of €560, which is a net amount of around HRK 4,220, Plenković said while presenting a report to the Sabor on the state of the nation.
He also announced that, in addition to the already existing entitlement of free textbooks, the state will finance one meal a day for all elementary school students.
He further said that this week he will propose a health care bill and a compulsory health insurance bill as part of a reform package.
Fight against corruption one of fundamental tasks
The fight against corruption and its eradication are one of the fundamental tasks to which the government has been dedicated for six years, he said underscoring that nobody is untouchable in the fight against corruption.
Referring to the last population census, he said that joint work on more effective public policies was required to help start reversing the negative demographic trends.
"Since 2017, we have invested HRK 2 billion in almost 500 kindergartens and with new investments of HRK 1.22 billion, the total amount will have reached HRK 3.4 billion. This is by far the largest investment in preschool education in Croatia's history," he underlined.
Suppression of domestic violence
He also added that compared to the beginning of the government's term, maternity and parental allowances have been increased by as much as 55%.
The government is determined to fight the phenomenon of domestic violence and pays special attention to the painful issue of missing persons, for whom the search will not stop in order to enable their families to learn the fate of their loved ones, he said.
Regarding defence, Plenković said that along with the procurement of the Rafale fighter jets and the Bradley vehicles, the plan is to modernise the Croatian Navy with a new multi-purpose combat ship.
The Prime Minister said that "we are living in times of crisis that have changed our lives and threatened the economy and the standard of living", but he also underlined that Croatia had shown resilience in all crises.
In the past six years, the government ensured political stability, preserved social cohesion and prevented social fracture, he emphasised.
"When we look back at the past six years, I'm sure that even the biggest pessimists could not have imagined what challenges Croatia and our citizens would have to face," said Plenković, recalling the circumstances in which the world found itself in the wake of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
All measures contained in two packages worth more than HRK 26 billion
Plenković recalled all of the measures adopted by the government to help citizens in the crisis, contained in two packages worth more than HRK 26 billion.
A national allowance for the elderly was introduced and pensioners were provided with a Covid allowance, an energy allowance and one-off cash allowances, for which HRK 1.4 billion was allocated.
Average pensions have increased by 32.5% or the equivalent of HRK 800 and the lowest pensions have increased by 36% or HRK 566, which is the largest increase during any government's term, he said.
Furious because of Ina
As of the new year, the Prime Minister said, the lowest pensions will be increased by an additional 3%. He also mentioned enabling the use of the family pension in addition to one's personal pension for more than 155,000 pensioners, with family pensions going up by 10% as of 1 January.
Plenković pointed to a rise in the employment rate and a fall in the unemployment rate, the fact that the average net wage increased to HRK 7,576 in July and the minimum net wage increased over the past six years by 50% to today's HRK 3,750.
Speaking about energy, he also mentioned INA. "We are extremely angry and dissatisfied with the affair in INA, which burdens the reputation of INA, MOL and Croatia. Things cannot remain as they are now. This management model is unacceptable," the Prime Minister reiterated.
"We have a lot of challenges, crises, a lot of attempts to destabilise the political context in Croatia and shift public attention from topics that need to be dealt with by the government and the Sabor to those that need to be dealt with by the judiciary," concluded Plenković.