The newly-established events industry association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Wednesday that the drop in turnover in their industry exceeded 90%, and even reached 100% for most stakeholders, and they are asking the government for three sets of measures to save them.

Head of HGK’s events industry association, Boris Kovacek, said that in addition to the sharp drop in revenue so far, the biggest blow was yet to come, because December had always been a lucrative month for their services.

The association underscored the difficulties with the payment of workers’ wages, especially given the fact there is no formal education for those jobs, and they receive training through their work. They are also having problems with paying fixed costs, especially equipment rental companies whose value is measured in millions of kuna, and whose storage costs are very high.

“Another problem is the loss of business continuity. This is business where several years are needed to reach a profitable stage. The return on investment for festivals is achieved only after several years, and now we had to cancel many of them in a high phase of organisation,” Kovacek said.

They are asking the government for three sets of measures: continued co-financing of workers’ wages and wage contributions, co-financing of fixed costs, and measures to maintain liquidity and restart activities, such as loans and deferral of enforcement procedures.

“We welcome measures for employees, but we as companies received nothing. The monthly costs of a smaller agency are 30 to 40 thousand kuna in addition to employee costs. We are aware of the fact that epidemiological measures restricting public gatherings were necessary, and none of us want to put people’s health at risk, but we need help,” Kovacek said.