Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that "it is possible that the time is ripe to discuss an increase in the salaries of ministers and civil servants."

“There are models, but it is still too early for me to comment publicly on the matter. We should sit down and discuss it when everything is ready,” Plenkovic said after the issue of a pay rise for government officials was raised by politicians and the public.

The more responsible an office is, the bigger salary one deserves, Plenkovic said in a comment on the situation where state officials have higher salaries than ministers.

People at the top of ministries should be paid appropriately for their work, Plenkovic said, adding that the issue of paying the President of the Republic, who has the highest salary, was not discussed.

Vandjelic: It is a reward for kleptomaniacs and those who cooperate with them

Damir Vandjelic, the leader of the Republika party, commented on his Facebook profile that the salaries of the prime minister and ministers should not be raised now.

“If you wanted to increase salaries by 40%, you should have announced it well before the election so that much better people would come forward, who probably already work for higher amounts than the prime minister’s current salaries.

A pay rise after the election when we have staff like this who were either been in government with criminals is a reward for kleptomaniacs and those who work with them, as well as useless apparatchiks with hopeless CVs. Hats off to the few who do not fall into the above categories but simply do not know how to pick a company and say NO when they have to.

That’s why I am in favour of announcing 3-6 months before the next election that salaries will be increased in the next government line-up, so they dare to play politics with much better people.

For what we have now, the current salary is too high, and some of them would become ministers even if they did not get a salary,” wrote Vandjelic.

Opposition in favour of salary increase for prime minister and ministers

Opposition MPs supported the idea of a pay rise for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the ministers

“I believe that the prime minister is underpaid. The prime minister, who has a lot of responsibility, receives €3,000, and he appoints senior executives at the head of state-owned companies who receive a monthly salary of €5,000 as well as perks such as company cars, and he is responsible for their performance. Ministers should also receive higher salaries,” said Marijan Pavlicek from the Croatian Sovereignists party.

The basic salary for the highest-ranking state officials has not been changed since 2014.

According to some calculations, the monthly salaries of ministers and the prime minister should increase by 40% to make up the difference.

Sandra Bencic from the Mozemo party agreed that the salaries of the highest-ranking civil servants in the executive are too low. These salaries are disproportionate to their responsibilities and to the salaries of others, according to Bencic.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Pedja Grbin, said that a possible pay rise of 40% was too high.

Nikola Grmoja from the Most party said that salaries should be increased, but he also called for the adoption of laws on the origin of wealth and the investigation of the disproportion between wealth and income.