Zagreb, April 28, 1999 (IKA) – The most recent issue of the Croatian Catholic weekly Glas Koncila, May 2, contains an interview with Stjepan Šafran, the recently appointed president of the Croatian Chamber of Trade and one of the most successful Croatian entrepreneurs. Besides current topics concerning the transition of the Croatian economy and society and the operations of the Croatian Chamber of Trade, he spoke about heavy internal debts and the impossibility of settling them. Internal debts create bad business habits, and the small tradesman is vulnerable “because he is dependent upon the customer and the system in general, making it very difficult for him to collect his money. If he takes legal action and loses his job or the court case lasts several years – he again loses everything, and must pay his obligations to his suppliers and the state promptly,” Šafran pointed out. If this process is not stopped, it produces general non-liquidity and blocks operations. Therefore, it is urgent to pass measures for the protection of creditors and promote essential righteousness among business partners, emphasized Šafran, noting that nonpayment is “pure theft” that can and must be prevented by the state.
One of the problems confronted by the Chamber is the use of black market labor by some enterprises. Another serious problem is that young women are not infrequently fired from their jobs when they become pregnant. Noting that even some of the members of the Chamber are guilty of such behavior, although they are condemned and efforts are made to stop them, Šafran provided clarification: “Some use such practices under circumstances of great difficulties, in order to exist, for sheer survival, in order to avoid paying high taxes, although there is no justification for such behavior … In the Chamber, we are convinced that if taxes were lowered, if gross salaries were lowered, interest in black market labor would be significantly diminished.” Regarding the firing of pregnant women, the position of the Chamber is that every employee must have his/her security and be protected, as stipulated in the Labor Act. “Unfortunately, when this law is violated, the courts are slow and the Chamber is not able to help,” according to Šafran.
The current general position of trades in the Croatian society is difficult, he assesses, “because the general economic situation in Croatia is fairly complex,” and tradesmen are only one segment of the economy and cannot be separated from it. Recently, the Croatian Government and the Ministry of Economics have offered young entrepreneurs the opportunity to obtain loans. Although interest rates are still very high, particularly for manufacture and services, this stimulates the opening of new workshops and enterprises. However, this is still insufficient to help everyone who sees a chance in trades, family-owned firms – which, according to Šafran, currently represent the healthiest segment of the Croatian economy. Regarding rising unemployment, the new president of the Croatian Chamber of Trade calls upon all the factors in the economy, from the state to the banks, to contribute to creating new jobs. Every new job should be stimulated by certain benefits or the tax system, according to Šafran#!s, who adds that it is not acceptable for “the purchase of a new machine or the building of new office space to be taxed at the same rate as luxury items such as yachts, vacation houses etc.”
Stjepan Šafran sees the future of the Croatian economy solely in honest work, honest relations toward everyone in the chain of economic activity, and stresses that it is necessary to secure protection for all injured parties or those who cannot exercise their rights.
The Croatian Chamber of Trade is an umbrella institution that today encompasses approximately 90,000 tradesmen. The members are owners of private workshops, service enterprises or manufacturing enterprises and restauranteurs, hoteliers etc.