Protesters said that the proposed legislation was the beginning of the finalisation of dispossessing the Croatian people of their national and natural resources and said that in the event of the passage of the bill this would be an act of high treason. The bill also proves our position to be true about oligarchs treating common good as if it were their private ownership, they said.

The decision on the sale of public good would be in the hands of a commission to be set up by the government, which means that it would consist of a group of suitable people who will only protect the interests of big business, and they will not be susceptible to the public opinion although public property will be at stake and opinions of experts will not be taken into account, while the parliament would also have no possibility to impact the procedure, the activists said in their press release in which they demanded a referendum on the bill.

The four major trade union federations on Wednesday joined in the criticism of the bill which the government defended with an explanation that the new legislation would help attract large-scale investments.

Such a law is unnecessary as obstacles to investments are in public administration bodies, HUS trade federation leader Ozren Matijasevic said. Indolence and disorder in public administration are to be blamed for the absence of investments and not the legislation, he said.

The association of consumers and the nonparliamentary Croatian Party of Rights on Wednesday also raised their voice against the bill.