Labour Minister, Marko Pavic, told N1 on Sunday that Croatia had more subsidies and incentives for employment than the United Kingdom. Pavic said that Croatia is up to the task of drawing EU funding for that purpose.

Labour Minister, Marko Pavic, told N1 on Sunday that Croatia had more subsidies and incentives for employment than the United Kingdom. Pavic said that Croatia is up to the task of drawing EU funding for that purpose.

“This year we have earmarked 2.6 billion kuna (€352 million) for employment, including a billion kuna (€135 million) for getting women into jobs through the ‘Make a Wish’ programme, which will pay 7,000 women to work at nearly 40,000 households. Another 120 million kuna (€16.2 million) will be spent on programmes for youth employment, invested through local government initiatives at the county level,” Pavic said.

“We have had exceptional success in our measures to encourage self-employment. Youths – and not only them – can get 55,000 kuna to start a business. or 70,000 kuna if they hire two more people, and if they network to form a co-op or company, they can get up to 275,000 kuna. When I told the British labour minister about this, he said that the UK had lower subsidies for self-employment compared to Croatia,” Pavic added.

“With measures like self-employment, and projects such as ‘Make a Wish’ and 120 million kuna for youth employment, I believe we can create a framework which will make salaries rise across the board, helping employers offer better jobs, which would go towards keeping youths in the country,” said Pavic.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)

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