Croatia switches to Euro payments
2022.12.23 11:14
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Croatia switches to Euro payments
Budrigannews.com – As the nation prepares to introduce the euro on January 1, only a third of ATM cash machines are able to dispense the national kuna currency, making it difficult to withdraw cash to pay for wine at Zagreb’s Christmas Market.
Denis Trgovac told Reuters, “There is always a discount for cash payments, and when we do not have cash, we must go to an ATM to get it, and we go there like just now and it is out of order.”
In order to prepare the country’s 2,700 ATMs for dispensing euros in the coming month, Croatian banks began gradually phasing out the country’s 4,000 ATMs in the middle of December. An interactive map of all ATMs has been created by the Croatian Banking Association to assist individuals in locating the most convenient one.
From January 1 until midnight on January 14, both the euro and the kuna will be accepted as forms of payment. Following that, only euros will be utilized.
For Zagreb inhabitant Patrik Macek, the issue goes further than cash withdrawals.
“The real issue is that Croatia will lose the last part of its sovereignty if it joins the eurozone. “We have no chance of having an impact on the world,” he told Reuters.
“The kuna is evidence that Croatia’s sovereignty is confirmed.”
Due to the fact that Croatia is a young nation, these issues are significant to some Croatians.
In 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, but its Serb minority, supported by Belgrade, took control of a third of the country by force. In a 1995 offensive, Croatia retook the occupied territory.
Croatia has been an individual from the European Association beginning around 2013 and it will be the second previous Yugoslav republic, after Slovenia, to present the euro. Last month, Finance Minister Marko Primorac explained the advantages to lawmakers by saying:
“The introduction of the euro will strengthen our economy, act as a stabilizing anchor, make us more resilient and protected from external shocks and crises, and contribute to the improvement of the investment climate,”
For banks, the difference in money conveys a few expenses, Tamara Perko, top of the Croatian Financial Affiliation.
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“We have one-time costs of approximately 100 million euros for the entire euro conversion process. We lose 130 million euros annually in revenue in terms of costs,” she stated. She didn’t go into detail, but media reports say that banks will lose money from euro-to-euro conversions after the change.
“On the plus side, we will no longer have currency risk.”
On the enormous change-over day on Jan. 1, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and State head Andrej Plenkovic plan to go for a walk through Zagreb roads, have an espresso and pay for it in euros.
