June 27, 2022 - You see them on the street, you see them on your bills, and you hear them on the phone. Who is who among the Croatian public services and institutions? We'll tell you more in this short guide.

If moving to Croatia is one of your short-term projects, or even if you're already in the process of adaptation, you may have heard of or been in contact with one of these institutions. These Croatian public services and institutions will be part of your daily life here, and it is true that sometimes it can be a bit confusing trying to distinguish them from each other.

In this short guide, we've listed some of the Croatian public services and institutions that you will be in contact with most often, and we hope that this will help you when you don't know where to go for a certain task, or when it's time to do your accounts at home.

MUP

If you're working on getting your residency or citizenship in Croatia, you have most likely gone to a local MUP office. It's also likely that they've called you on the phone or have written you an email or two. MUP is the Ministry of the Interior, and it provides services to both locals and foreigners alike. At MUP, you will also carry out procedures to obtain your passport, your driver's license, your Croatian identification card, and more.

HZZO 

HZZO is the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, it's part of the Ministry of the Health and it includes everything that is related to public health insurance services in the country. As you well know, public health insurance is mandatory if you reside in Croatia. If you wish to enroll in the Croatian public health system, you must go to the HZZO offices in your city of residence. There you can also find out everything related to your health coverage, sign up with a family doctor, and more.

HZZ

HZZ is the Croatian Employment Office, and it serves to report your current employment status, whether you've found a job or if you don't currently have one. At the Employment Office, you can also find job openings that match your skills. 

HZMO

The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) is a public institution that is dedicated to the implementation of mandatory pension insurance based on generational solidarity (1st pillar of the pension insurance) and the child benefit entitlement procedure.

Porezna uprava

Porezna uprava is the Croatian Tax Administration, and it's a unique and independent administrative organisation within the Finance Ministry whose basic task is the application and supervision of tax regulations and laws on the collection of contributions. Most of your bills will be issued by Porezna uprava. They'll also issue you with tax rebates.

FINA

FINA, the Financial Agency, is a leading Croatian company in the field of financial and electronic service provision. Although state-owned, Fina operates exclusively on a market basis and cooperates with banks, the Croatian National Bank, numerous business systems, and other similar entities. A multitude of payments can be paid at their offices.

Hrvatska Pošta

Hrvatska Pošta is the Croatian Post Office, and it has locations in every city and town across the country. In addition to being the place where you can send letters and packages throughout the country and even abroad, it's also the place where you can pay for your phone, electricity, water, health insurance, and more.

HEP

A state-owned company, HEP is the Croatian Electricity Company and it is the only energy entity authorised to provide a public electricity supply in the Republic of Croatia. It also performs the activities of electricity production and heat production for central heating systems, in addition to the management, maintenance, construction, and development of the electricity distribution network.

HAC 

Hrvatske autoceste or Croatian Motorways Ltd is a Croatian state-owned limited liability company tasked with the management, construction, and maintenance of motorways in Croatia.

HRT

Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) performs the activity of providing public broadcasting services. On their radio and television channels, they dedicate themselves to the dissemination of news, information, culture and other related content. Even if you don't watch their channels or listen to their radio stations, a bill of 80 kuna from HRT will always arrive at your home.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 17 March 2022 - In order to ensure the continuity of control of employment in the public and state sectors, the Croatian government on Thursday imposed a ban on fixed-term and permanent employment in state and public services, providing for certain exceptions and defining terms for lifting the ban.

The ban on employment in state and public services was envisaged by laws on the execution of the 2020 and 2021 state budgets, but not by the law on the execution of the 2022 state budget. This is the reason why the government today adopted two new decisions to impose a ban on employment in public, as well as state administration services.

Reduction of parafiscal levies

The government also sent the parliament amendments to the State Survey and Real Property Cadastre Act for discussion under fast-track procedure, as part of measures from the Action Plan for the reduction of non-tax and parafiscal levies.

The amendments are aimed at abolishing the collection of most charges related to the use of data required to issue extracts, copies and certificates of data from the state survey, real property cadastre and infrastructure documentation, and the register of buildings, spatial units and geographic names, as well as related to access to information and certain actions requested by clients, and at abolishing the collection of administrative fees.

The amendments are part of the measures Croatia has undertaken to implement in order to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) and the banking union, and the deadline for their implementation is the end of March. 

For more, check out our dedicated politics and lifestyle sections.