December 13, 2022 - Euro Croatia: from the 1st of January 2023, the official currency in Croatia will be the euro. In the first two weeks of next year, Croatian citizens will be able to pay their bills in kuna, regardless of whether they are issued in kuna or euros.
As Poslovni reports, as soon as we enter the New Year, the official currency in Croatia becomes the euro, which means that payments should be made in euros, but citizens are given a deadline for adjustment in the first two weeks of 2023, during which they can still pay in kuna. The change, however, will be in euros during this transition period. Card payment is recommended as much as possible.
From January 15, the euro will be the only accepted currency, and the kuna will definitely be out of circulation. Regarding the payment of utilities, for example, the Croatian Banking Association states that the currency specified on the invoices should be used to pay.
"Utility bills for December will be issued in January 2023 and will be in euros. For all payment slips that citizens have received in advance and on which the amount of payment is in kuna, and will be paid after the introduction of the euro, the bank is obliged to make the payment in euro in the amount corresponding to the amount of kuna specified on the payment order. The bank will act in this way until July 1 next year," HUB told Novi list.
The Financial Agency (Fina) confirmed yesterday that the above applies to Fina as well.
"After January 1 and until June 30, 2023, Fina will receive orders issued in kuna and will execute them in euros, with the application of the conversion rate. Also, during the dual circulation period, i.e. in the first two weeks of January 2023, citizens can pay orders in kuna, regardless of whether they are issued in kuna or euros," explains Fina.
According to this, it turns out that the criterion is the moment in which the citizens decide to pay: if they pay by January 14, that can be done using the Croatian kuna, and if it's after that, regardless of when the bill was issued and in which currency, it must be in euros. If the citizens do not have euros, they can exchange kuna for euros in several ways. As far as the conversion of kuna into euros is concerned, in Croatia, the bank association points out that throughout 2023, banks, Fina and Croatian Post will exchange up to 100 kuna notes and 100 kuna coins per transaction at the counters for free, to all citizens at the same exchange rate.
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