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US digital bank Mercury has included Croatia in its list of banned countries, which poses certain problems for Croatian startups and tech companies that use its services to operate in the US market.
Primorak said in a statement after the cabinet meeting that it was not a bank at all.
“It is not a bank, but an institution that works with several banks, which, however, from what I understand, has its own problems with money laundering. That is why she is taking certain precautions to eliminate the difficulties she herself faces,” the finance minister said.
He pointed out that despite being subject to special supervision, Croatia is fully in line with EU legislation in terms of regulating legislation in the field of prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism. In addition, he said that the EU has advised Croatia on how to further improve the system and Croatia has also developed a national risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing and an action plan to eliminate risks.
“Croatia is not included in any blacklist, no transactions are blocked, business with the Republic of Croatia is not prohibited, and increased surveillance of the Republic of Croatia does not mean that some mechanisms have degraded. When we meet all the criteria, we will also be removed from the grey list,” Primorac stressed.
No problem filling the budget
He said the budget rebalancing occurred primarily due to changes in budget priorities and the state had no problem filling the budget.
When asked whether there would be money for the heating season and whether electricity bills would be subsidized, he pointed out that everything would be decided based on the market conditions at the time.
However, he added that the market situation for energy products has stabilized.
“There is no reason to worry, we are monitoring the situation and will take appropriate decisions,” Primorac said.
He said the increase in budget spending was mainly the result of higher spending on social welfare and personal assistance inclusion allowances. He said those items were not at risk, but some others would be reviewed.
“Our ambition and our goal is to stay within the announced deficit framework of 2.6% of GDP at the consolidated government level,” Primorac said.
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