WHAT I PERSONALLY THINK ABOUT VAT CHANGES IS NOT IMPORTANT- SKEGRO

ZAGREB, Sept 22 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament House of Representatives on Wednesday began its 42nd session with Question Time, reserved for questions posed by MPs to Government members. Finance Minister Borislav Skegro was asked by MP of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) bench, Marjan Jurjevic, how he would react to a motion of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliament bench on abolishing the Value Added Tax on certain products, considering the fact that Skegro had explicitly been opposed to motions by the Opposition on changed to the VAT. Skegro said his personal opinion on the VAT was well-known, but that "it is not important at all at this moment". He said the issue of taxes, including the VAT, was too serious an issue to be discussed during Question Time ahead of elections. Skegro recalled that the SDP had endorsed a bill on amendments to the VAT Law which stipulated a decrease of profits by about DM1.75 billion and had also supported amendments to the Law on the rights of Croatian Homeland War soldiers, which pose an additional burden to the budget by DM3 billion. "In this time ahead of elections I leave it up to you to mull on the consistency of such suggestions," Skegro said. Amendments to the Law on VAT, as motioned by the HDZ bench, if compared to changes you are suggesting, are minor technical changes whose aim is to yield goals which every party thinks it has the right to yield, Skegro said. The agenda of the Lower House holds 53 items, including bills on elections of members into the Croatian National Parliament, and on electoral units for the parliamentary elections. (hina) lml jn