ZAGREB, CROATIA – Croatian Vice-Premier Jadranka Kosor said on Wednesday that there are certain issues and dilemmas about the amount of minimum salary, but the government cannot and will not solve that issue alone, without social partners. 

Asked if it was correct that the government, as some media reported today, having harmed

employees in minimum wages by 14 million kuna with their calculation of minimum salary, Kosor said that the law clearly states who must calculate the minimum salary and stressed that it was “inappropriate to speak about the government that way”. She reiterated that the issue of minimum salary should be one of the items on the Economic and Social Council agenda next week.

How the dispute regarding minimum pay arose 

The dispute regarding the amount of minimum salary arose when Independent Croatian Unions urged the State Audit Bureau to correct the amount of minimum pay for the period from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010, since, according to their calculations, the amount of minimum pay is by 200 kuna higher than the 2,814 kuna, which the State Audit Bureau calculated.

The Croatian Employers’ Association reacted to that, claiming that the State Audit Bureau applied the formula to calculate salaries in line with the law while calculating the salary base and that it should be applied.

Asked to comment on negotiations with peasants’ associations that were held on Tuesday, Kosor said she had nothing else to add to yesterday’s statement and that the negotiations are taking place in a pleasant atmosphere.