The conservative Croatian Sovereignists party (HS) on Wednesday announced a parliamentary interpellation on the government's work related to the insufficient protection of citizens from inflation.

MP Marijan Pavlicek said at a press conference in Parliament that they are asking for the urgent publication of the so-called black lists of traders who unjustifiably raised product prices.

He said that they had collected more than 30 signatures from MPs for the interpellation, which will be formally submitted today, noting that this topic has troubled Croatian citizens for more than a year.

“We have proposed certain measures, and we expect that after this interpellation, the Minister of the Economy will brief the Croatian parliament once a month about the measures taken to protect Croatians against further price increases, namely inflation,” he said.

The Sovereignists demand that the so-called blacklists of all legal entities which the State Inspectorate found to have unjustifiably raised prices be made public, and that the government cancel subsidies to those entities for this year.

“Until now, apart from empty words, empty stories and empty threats, the government has done absolutely nothing to stop the further growth of inflation,” Pavlicek said.

As much as 60 percent of domestic inflation last year is the result of the growth of margins and profits of the companies themselves, which means, Pavlicek said, “many were fishing in troubled waters, and the government did not react adequately, it did not protect Croatian citizens”.

This is why products in our retail chains are 20 percent more expensive than in neighboring Slovenia, Austria and Germany, and according to the latest indicators, 3 to 5 percent more expensive than in Sweden, “which is the most expensive EU country”, he added.

The Sovereignists expect this interpellation to be passed because, says Pavlicek, over 50 percent of our citizens are barely making ends meet, especially pensioners, and one-time aid will not help them unless order is urgently restored to the price market.