The national employers association HUP's appeal to the government to do more to mitigate the effects of the crisis for businesses, which said that there was a huge drop in orders from Germany, affecting exporters, "has attracted a lot attention," state news agency Hina said on Wednesday, in their summary of an article published by the Vecernji List daily.

The daily approached HUP for more detailed information about which companies and sectors have been affected by recent developments in their most important export markets.

“A lot of people were surprised by this statement, made by HUP Director General, Irena Weber, including some HUP members who do business in those markets and have said that they have not experienced such problems,” Hina quoted Vecernji List as saying, without naming the article’s author.

“We are facing a crisis in all the biggest trading partners and the first consequences are already visible in the domestic economy. Orders are being cancelled in all sectors and the processing industry is particularly at risk, where some members are recording a complete suspension in orders… A survey among HUP members showed that orders are being cancelled from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and even Switzerland. A 40 percent drop in orders is already being recorded for the next six months, and there are also examples where the drop is 80 percent. Some HUP members have also reported complete stoppage of orders,” HUP had said in a statement, without revealing which companies this specifically referred to.

HUP said that in the European Union and in Germany, the automotive and chemical industries, production of construction materials, and durable consumer goods, are the most affected.

“Based on this, we can assume that the crisis on the markets of trading partners could affect the metal industry the most, followed by textiles, and construction materials, but also IT sectors, as companies are cancelling cooperation because they themselves are shedding about 10 percent of their workforce,” HUP added.

“That is why this isn’t the time to introduce a tax experiment, because it might further increase uncertainty for the business community,” Hina said that an unnamed reporter for Vecernji List said in their in its article, in reference to the government’s plans to introduce a windfall tax for companies whose earnings have jumped more than 20 percent, billed by the government as “tax on excess profit.”