ZAGREB, May 27 (Hina) - The construction of new supermarkets and the enlargement of the existent ones should in future be facilitated by adequate physical plans of towns and cities which will take into consideration the condition of
road infrastructure and be environmentally friendly. Last Thursday the Croatian government forwarded into an urgent parliamentary procedure draft supplements and amendments to the trade law, which envisage particular conditions for retail sale in some kinds of shops, Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic said. In the trade which accounts for 10.4 percent of Croatia's Gross Domestic Product, there is an increasing number of supermarkets and hypermarkets. There are some national chains such as Konzum and Getro, but also foreign chains such as Mercantone and Billa. In addition, Austria's Metro and Slovenia's Mercator have announced their intention to enter
ZAGREB, May 27 (Hina) - The construction of new supermarkets and the
enlargement of the existent ones should in future be facilitated by
adequate physical plans of towns and cities which will take into
consideration the condition of road infrastructure and be
environmentally friendly.
Last Thursday the Croatian government forwarded into an urgent
parliamentary procedure draft supplements and amendments to the
trade law, which envisage particular conditions for retail sale in
some kinds of shops, Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic said.
In the trade which accounts for 10.4 percent of Croatia's Gross
Domestic Product, there is an increasing number of supermarkets and
hypermarkets. There are some national chains such as Konzum and
Getro, but also foreign chains such as Mercantone and Billa. In
addition, Austria's Metro and Slovenia's Mercator have announced
their intention to enter the Croatian market.
Such shops have many advantages such as the possibility for
purchasing all necessary items for one household at one site and at
lower prices. However, those hypermarkets can cause some problems
such as jams at roads around them, especially when they are built
beside access roads to towns. Their development also lead to the
decline and closing of small shops which can further cause problems
in the provision of supplies for a segment of population that has no
personal cars or for the old and weak.
Under the draft amendments to the trade law, the government will
help towns and municipalities to draw up regulations about working
hours of retail shops. Units of local authorities should already
have adopted those rules, but only 60 percent of towns and
municipalities have to date met this obligation. Retail business in
Croatia, which is carried out by 24,000 companies and small
businesses each, employs 177,000 workers. The average annual
turnover per shop is 3.9 million kuna. The average number of
citizens per shop is 112.
(hina) ms