He recalled that over the past 18 months the government had twice enabled the rollover of the tax debt but that business owners evidently did not take this seriously and that they must pay their taxes, saying they would otherwise go bankrupt or be erased.
Those two rounds resulted in about 9,640 settlements of debts totalling about HRK 4.7 billion, collecting around 88 per cent, said Linic.
Some of the tax debts are being dealt with through pre-benkruptcy settlement proceedings, in which debts totalling HRK 43 billion have been reported. A total of 443 business owners employing 8,150 workers have been processed and more than HRK 8 billion in debt has been settled. The processing of 1,250 business owners employing 22,000 workers and owing HRK 26 billion in taxes is under way.
The results are visible, with unpaid bills reduced from HRK 44.6 billion to HRK 36.7 billion through pre-bankruptcy settlement and rollover, Linic said, adding that the latest bill envisaged dealing with the tax debt through the summer and then "a very, very strict collection of claims begins" in September.
The government sent to parliament for a second reading a bill on hydrocarbon research and exploitation. Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said the bill clearly showed that the market was being liberalised, but also that rules existed and so no one can say that something was being sold.
A rail bill aligns regulations with the European Union's policy so as to direct as much as traffic as possible onto the railway. It also envisages the possibility of leasing part of the rail infrastructure.
The government passed a decision to set up a commission which will propose and coordinate measures to help exporters and Croatian companies abroad.
The government authorised Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic to sign an agreement on a new make-up of the Economic and Social Council, and adopted a decision to launch negotiations on a collective agreement in the health sector.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.44)