Supermarket/ Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMEN

The Croats kept their word, the boycott began, the stores are mostly empty

A boycott of shops, retail chains and gas stations has begun in Croatia due to the constant price increases, based on an initiative started by the Facebook group "Hello, Inspector", which is supported by the European Center for Consumer Excellence. The boycott is also supported by consumer protection associations, unions, political parties and even the Minister of Economy himself, "SEE.biz.eu" reported. This initiative began with messages that were shared on social networks over the past few days.

"On January 24th, there will be a boycott against high food prices. People are urged not to buy anything that day. Treat that day as if it were Sunday," the messages say, among other things.

The "Index" reporter entered the "Lidl" on the central Zagreb street Ilica, where she found only a few people, which is unusual for a Friday morning. The "Spar" in the Zagreb neighborhood of Črnomerec was also empty. Only a few people came to return plastic bottles. Inspector Josip Kelemen, advisor to the consumer association "Halo", gave a statement to HRT this morning regarding the boycott of the stores.

"For the first time in the history of the Republic of Croatia, consumers have organized themselves and want to show what they think about price increases and inflation. For the first time, they are sending a strong message and want their voice to be heard," said Kelemen.

"As I was coming, I saw mostly empty shops, probably because it was early in the morning. Today we are boycotting everything we can, let's try wherever we can, boycotting shops, bakeries, gas stations... We have shown that Croatia can unite around one topic, around one problem. Consumers said they were fed up with price increases, inflation. To begin with, agencies, ministries, public authorities must be activated and must analyze what led to the abnormal price increases that we see every day. "People have become arrogant and want to make money off the backs of each of our consumers, and if they don't make money, then they will create a shortage. That is rude and insidious. "Croats are not in the habit of boycotting, striking and expressing their dissatisfaction," Kelemen said, among other things.

"Indeks.hr" reporters also visited the bakeries early in the morning, but there were no customers in front of them either. In the Konzum market, apart from the saleswomen, there were no other people. A few people came to the entrance, turned around and left. The parking lot was also empty. Economic analyst Damir Novotny told Hina at the beginning of the week that neither organized consumers nor the government can influence the inflation trend.

"Consumers may be able to organize one day and boycott retailers. However, in market-oriented economies, consumer collective actions have had no impact on inflation, so there will be no effect from the announced boycott of Croatian consumers, if it is even massive," Novotni believes.

How this citizens' initiative went will be shown by the data of the Tax Administration for fiscalized bills. Otherwise, in Croatia, consumer prices measured by HICP in December last year increased by 4,5 percent compared to the same month in 2023, which is their strongest growth since May. Thus, Croatia is among the three EU countries with the highest inflation, behind Romania (5,5 percent) and Hungary (4,8 percent). The annual inflation rate in the EU in December last year was 2,7 percent, and in the euro area 2,4 percent, according to the latest Eurostat data.

The Ministry of Economy is currently negotiating an expansion of the list of restricted products, which the government announced last week, and at the meetings, Minister Šušnjar expressed support for citizens and consumers who are starting a one-day shopping boycott to show their strength. MP Nikola Mážar from HDZ stressed that "he will continue to demand that all parties concerned be held accountable."

"But we respect the citizens, we respect that they will not shop on Friday. Of course, we join in too," he said.

The opposition also supported the boycott in Croatia.

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