Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated on Friday that the government would put a stop to unjustified price rises due to the kuna-to-euro conversion, saying that his government has a series of mechanisms at its disposal to do that.

“The law on the euro envisaged such a conversion that what was x in kuna becomes the same x in euro, not some xyz. All this fishing in troubled waters, as no inputs increased from 1 December to 2 January, is a swindle of consumers and we will put a stop to that. We have a broad arsenal in our hands, so I recommend to everyone once again to restore prices,” he told press after an Orthodox Christmas reception.

Plenkovic said he did not think retailers would turn a deaf ear to the government’s ban on unjustified price rises, reiterating that the relevant authorities will conduct inspections.

He denied that the government responded too late, reiterating that during the biggest crisis in decades it stood by workers and enterprises. Therefore, he said, the government expects enterprises to be fair towards their customers.

“The authorities will respond promptly, but market forces will also respond,” Plenkovic said, adding that the Croatian Competition Agency will respond, too, if it sees that cartels are being created to agree prices at consumers’ expense.

“We will not sit and watch how someone is using a process, which is extremely beneficial in the long term for citizens and the economy, to fish in troubled waters in a way that is inappropriate. There will be a response.”

Plenkovic said that despite inflation, the price of a service could not go up 10, 15, 20 or 80% between 31 December and 1 January. “There is no economic calculation that is logical, justifiable, normal, correct or fair.”

He said citizens would go to another restaurant, cafe or store when it was made public who was doing something they should not.

Asked about post-earthquake reconstruction, he reiterated that everyone involved must step up their job.