Small business association Glas Poduzetnika ("Voice of the Entrepreneurs" or UGP) and the road transport association UHCP on Monday asked the government to do more to help the road freight sector which is likely to suffer due to the rising fuel prices.

On Tuesday, fuel prices should go up. In spite of government’s efforts to intervene in the pricing structure to keep the prices from exploding, price of petrol is slated to increase anyway to 13.79 kuna (€1.82) per liter, and the price of diesel to 14.13 kuna (€1.87) per liter – historic highs.

“The huge price increase will greatly affect road transport businesses in Croatia, and the consequences will be felt by absolutely everyone in the country… Over the past few months fuel prices had been growing rapidly, but the latest increase might be a deathblow for many,” the UGP said in a press release.

“More expensive fuel means more expensive prices of transport, which will surely affect citizens as some bus lines would have to be cancelled so that companies operating these lines can survive,” UGP added.

They called on the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, to aid businesses by allowing a refund of excise duties paid on petrol. In Croatia, excise tax is built into the prices of fuel, and together with VAT they make up more than half of the retail price of fuel. In their press release, UGP suggested that the refund paid out to businesses should be 2 kuna (€0.26) per liter.

(€1 = 7.56 kuna)