CROATIAN FINANCE MINISTER: SALARY INCREASE FOR CUSTOMS OFFICERS IS ENVISAGED IN BUDGET

ZAGREB, June 21 (Hina) - The government decree on salary bonuses for civil servants working in difficult conditions was prepared for eight months and the amount which will be allocated for the bonuses will be included in the budgetary calculation so that it does not present a new budgetary expense for this year, Croatian Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac said on Friday. #L# The Croatian government on Thursday passed a decree increasing by five to thirty percent the salaries of civil servants working in special conditions, such as customs officers, fire-fighters, and prison guards. The decree does not relate only to customs officers, but also regulates the position of all employees in state administration working in difficult conditions. Crkvenac said he was aware of the fact that customs officers had difficult jobs and small salaries, but he could not tolerate the harassment of Croatian and foreign citizens as a way of improving one's position. Crkvenac said that the strike of customs officers harmed Croatian tourism and the entire economy because the first wave of tourists arrived this weekend and lived through "such a mess and traffic jam on the borders". The strike has caused very negative consequences, the effects of which remain to be seen, Crkvenac said, adding that the Finance Ministry secured a faster transit of vehicles and reduced traffic jams with internal orders. Crkvenac did not want to comment on a statement by the president of the Association of Workers' Unions, Boris Kunst, that the order by which customs officers should not check passenger vehicles from June 21 to 24 was in violation of the Constitution and made smuggling possible. (hina) lml