After Economy Minister Darko Horvat announced on Christmas that Sunday work would be restricted and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic confirmed it on Saturday, Croatia's leading shopping centres are appealing against that, claiming the damage will be incalculable, Jutarnji List reports on Monday.

The government’s analyses are incorrect and will damage the economy, the daily says, quoting Denis Cupic of the management of Westgate, the largest shopping centre in the European Union, and Slobodan Skolmik, chairman of the Board of Emmezeta, the second largest furniture retailer in Croatia with HRK 981.4 million in revenue in 2018.

They say Sunday revenue is higher, not lower as claimed by the government. People will buy more online from other countries, which will reduce state budget revenues, they warn, adding that there is no Austrian model of partial Sunday work as Sunday is a non-working day there.

Minister Horvat said he would present “a very interesting analysis” that would result in a new law regulating Sunday work and that the proposal would be based on the Austrian model, meaning that a certain number of Sundays would be working and a certain number non-working days.

Prime Minister Plenkovic told Jutarnji List that an analysis by the finance and economy ministries showed that Sunday turnover was 41 to 52 percent lower on average than on other days.

Neither the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) nor the Croatian Employers Union (HUP) have a uniform stand on Sunday work.

Tomislava Ravlic of the HGK says retail is a broad term and therefore there are different takes on Sunday work. We are waiting for the government’s proposal and then we will be able to be more specific, she says, adding that they expect some data already on Monday.

Lea Scrbec of the HUP says they too are waiting for concrete proposals from the government before giving an answer, according to Jutarnji List.