May the 3rd, 2023 - There are some rather obscure institutions in Croatia, and when you begin living any form of real life here, you'll run into several of them. One institution that is worth familiarising yourself with is FINA, or the Financial Agency.
A brief history of FINA
FINA has been around for around half a century, but has only had its current name since 2002. Formerly known as the Payment Transactions Institute, or the Social Bookkeeping Service, it was the only entity in all of the former Yugoslavia which was able to authorise and execute domestic transactions. It has played a key role in many reforms, from the pension reform to the payment reform, and it has regional centre in the cities of Osijek, Zagreb, Rijeka and Split. There are also many other smaller branches dotted all over the country, and an interactive map of them can be found here.
What actually is it?
Are these offices banks? Tax office branches? Kind of, but no. FINA is Croatia's leading financial and electronic service provider. It deals with business information, cash operations, payment transactions, education, e-business services of various kinds, financial mediation, payment transactions and so on. It has quite the portfolio. It even offers safety deposit boxes.
It isn't a bank (although it might look like a small one at first glance), but it does have close cooperation with the Croatian National Bank (CNB/HNB) and other banks operating in Croatia. It describes itself as a public company which operates according to the stringent rules which regulate the activities of the free market, and it is also a government partner.
According to its website, FINA has ''a longstanding tradition in business, its strength being mirrored in the successful implementation of large scale projects in the public sector, the implementation of legislation, computerisation and the enhancement of public services, and sharing knowledge and expertise of employees in the finance, electronic, cash and other services, aswell as responding to the needs of all client categories.''
In order words, FINA will be a repeated theme in your life if you own a company, or intend to open one.
FINA also has agreements with numerous different utility providers in Croatia, and these are:
HEP OPSKRBA d.o.o.
HEP TOPLINARSTVO d.o.o.
PEOVICA d.o.o.
VODOOPSKRBA I ODVODNJA CRES LOŠINJ d.o.o.
KOMUNALNE USLUGE CRES LOŠINJ d.o.o.
DUNDOVO d.o.o.
HEP ELEKTRA d.o.o.
Digital certificates FINA issues and deals with
FINA issues numerous different digital certificates, and these are:
A qualified electronic time stamp
CA certificates
Fina's PKI system
Conformation and legislation documents and certificates
Certificate revocation lists (CRLs)
A tool with which you can search certificates
FINA's register of digital certificates
More information about each of these certificates can be accessed via FINA savings. You can also find out about how to obtain any of the aforementioned documents/certificates here.
E-business, e-invoice and e-payment services
Being the driver of digitalisation in business in Croatia, FINA naturally deals with e-business, which allows users to issue e-invoices and deal in e-payments. The e-business service enables the entry, signing, sending and timestamping of e-invoices, e-invoice receipt certificates, change of e-invoice status, the archiving and search of e-invoices, the use of templates, the graphic personalisation of e-invoices (such as company logos and so on), and their matching to payment orders. FINA's e-nvoice service is connected with the Internet banking services provided by all Croatian banks which hold a valid business cooperation contract with FINA, and which enables the automated preparation of electronic payment orders for all kinds of purchased goods and services.
FINA uses a tool called PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) for its e-business system, which, via its cross-border e-procudrement system, includes the issuing of e-invoices and making e-payments. You can find much more information about PEPPOL and how it works with invoicing Croatian state beneficiaries by clicking here.
What FINA does for the Croatian Government
As mentioned previously, FINA is a very close and important partner of the government, and as such it carries out numerous services and deals with various products for the state. This is where the ''Is FINA a tax office?'' question comes into play. In short, no it isn't, but it does have a lot to do with the supervision of compulsory contribution, surtax and tax payments. It's also where the ''Is FINA a bank?'' question might be asked, and again, no, it isn't, but it is heavily involved with all significant national treasury activities.
In short, FINA is involved with the following government agencies, providing various products and services:
HITRO and HITRONet (Croatian Government communication network)
REGOS (Registry of Insured Individuals)
RegZap (Public Sector Employees Registry)
The National Treasury System
e-File (Ministry of Justice)
The Blue Diesel Consumption Supervisory System
The Funds Enforcement System
The Registry of Court and Notary Services
You can find out about what each of these systems do, which state entity they're affiliated with, and how FINA provides services for them by clicking here.
For more on moving to, living in and travelling to and from Croatia, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section. Keep an eye out for our How to Croatia articles which tackle a different aspect of doing things here and which are published every Wednesday.
