The State Inspectorate has imposed 151 fines worth a total of €234,000 on economic operators that resorted to unfair business practices after the adoption of the euro as legal tender in Croatia on 1 January, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said during question time in parliament on Tuesday. Pročitaj više

Inspections will continue, and the government has three arsenals of measures to address undue price increases — abolish subsidies, impose taxes and return prices to a previous level, Plenković said, recalling that last year the government had adopted three aid packages worth a total of €3.6 billion to help households and businesses cope with the crisis.

“We will see how the businesses will behave,” the prime minister said in answer to the question from Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Pedja Grbin.

Grbin said that all parliamentary parties had warned the prime minister what would happen after the adoption of the euro and that the government should respond.

“I know you have a lot of priorities abroad, but when will you present your arsenal to the Croatian public and when will the fruits of your labour be visible?” Grbin asked, to which Plenkovic responded by saying that Grbin’s contribution in general boils down to “a big zero”.

The prime minister said that unlike Grbin, he does not think some economic operators are inclined to cheating. He criticised Grbin and the SDP over the vote on the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia.

“When you as the leader of the SDP had a chance to support the victim and say ‘no’ to the aggressor, together with 53 irresponsible MPs you brought a serious, brutal disgrace upon the parliament. You and all those who did not vote in favour of Croatia’s participation in the EU training mission for Ukrainian soldiers,” Plenkovic said.

This prompted Marijan Pavlicek (Croatian Sovereignists) to say that everyone is tired of the prime minister’s claims that those who voted against the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia are Russian players and on the wrong side of history. “Is the Austrian prime minister also on the wrong side of history then?” he asked.

His party colleague Zeljko Sacic accused the prime minister of abusing the Constitution because he would not allow MPs to vote according to their conscience. “He is pushing Croatia into a war with the aggressive Russian enemy while at the same time he did not ensure elementary military security for the state,” Sacic said. He was ordered out of the Parliament chamber after earning three warnings from the Speaker.

The prime minister’s statements also angered Most party MPs Nikola Grmoja, who accused him of being “on the wrong side of (post-earthquake) reconstruction” and protecting corruption, and Nino Raspudic, who reproached Plenkovic for his government’s previous close cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.