The Minister for the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, said on Wednesday the 10% increase in gas and electricity prices would not have have a major effect on citizens' standard of living since the average and minimum wage and pensions had increased.

Butkovic said that all government interventions so far, designed to alleviate the impact of price growth, had benefitted citizens.

Asked if the government was planning any tax breaks for the purchase of new flats, Butkovic said one of the government’s most important priorities was the national housing policy plan.

“It is being finalised and will be put to public consultation very soon. The goal is to increase the availability of housing units, regulate long-term lease and restrict short-term lease so that regional inequalities are removed and the availability of housing is evened out, to make housing more affordable,” he said.

As for the planned introduction of real estate tax, Butkovic said that owning a holiday home and a second property on the coast or somewhere in the continental part of Croatia was not the same, that those considerations were being taken into account and that discussions were still underway.

“We already have a tax on holiday homes, we have communal charges that are paid to local government units and it is very important that the new tax is fair,” he said.

As for the deaths of three seafarers of the Jadrolinija shipping company, killed recently when a ferry ramp collapsed onto them, Butkovic said that the investigation in the accident was still under way and that the seafarers’ deaths were a huge tragedy, unprecedented in the history of the 77-year-old company.

“I will speak before the parliamentary committee tomorrow, we will have a constructive discussion on the situation at Jadrolinija, it is a strategic company, very important for Croatia,” he said, adding that one should take care not to cause damage to the company’s stability, thus helping its competition.