President Zoran Milanovic said on Saturday that prices in shops are very high and that one should protect those whose standard of living is the lowest, namely pensioners, whose average pension still accounts for 40% of the average salary, which, he said, is due to the government's incompetence.

“I don’t know why but they have never made an effort to come up with a sustainable formula for pensions,” Milanovic said while visiting the ZeGeVege festival in Zagreb.

He noted that the average pension still accounts for 40% of the average salary, the same as when he was prime minister, when the economic situation in the country was much more difficult.

“Back then, that could be justified but I did not look for a justification and the pensioners did not protest either. They were aware of what the situation was like,” said Milanovic, who, unlike the government, expects prices to grow due to the growth of gas and electricity prices.

Asked if he was in favour of state interventionism with regard to energy prices, Milanovic said that the most vulnerable social category, pensioners, should be protected.

“The government has been bragging about its achievements, and I would say that pensions are low primarily because of the government’s incompetence, not because the issue could not have been resolved,” he said.

The president said that the average pension should start to grow and exceed 40% of the average salary.

“One cannot live on that because salaries have increased nominally but so has the inflation which Croatia has been experiencing again for the first time after 30 years,” Milanovic said.

Plenkovic did not breach any rules by using police boat

As for his use of military helicopters, Milanovic repeated that he is President and Commander in Chief and that he will continue to make decisions on the matter, explaining that he is taken to the island of Hvar regularly by helicopter because that is faster and safer.

Asked if it was wrong for the Conflict of Interest Commission to have opened a case against Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic over his use of police boats for travel to islands, to see if there was any excessive use of police boats, Milanovic said that Plenkovic did not violate any rule.

“Regardless of what kind of person he is, he is Prime Minister and when he travels to an island, he can go by ferry or aboard a Navy vessel but in both cases, a 30-metre police boat will be there,” Milanovic said, adding that in that sense Plenkovic did not breach any rules.

He added that he was playing fair because he had a sense of fair play, while Plenkovic and his associates did not.

“The same goes for their presidential candidate, (Dragan) Primorac, who has been silent on this the whole time, and they have been causing very serious logical and political trouble for him. There has been talk of changes to the Defence Act and he simply does not dare comment because he does not know what he is supposed to say,” Milanovic said.

He resented that the prime minister was protecting Jadrolinija shipping company CEO David Sopta instead of replacing him so that the company, which, Milanovic said, does not function, could be restructured.