As SiB / Net.hr write, on January 1, Croatia will enter the eurozone, and the euro will become the official currency. Although preparations for the euro are already in full swing, Croatian citizens will be able to pay with kuna even after the New Year. From January 1 to January 14, 2023, there will be a dual circulation period, where kuna and euros can be used for cash payments.
In the dual circulation period, citizens still have to pay attention to certain things. For example, a merchant or payee is not obliged to accept more than 50 kuna coins in one transaction. The payee is obliged to apply the regulations on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, which refer to the limit of the amount that can be paid in cash.
The change will be returned in euros, but it is possible to do so in kuna. The Law on the Introduction of the Euro provides that as an exemption from the application of the dual circulation rule if the business entity is not objectively able to return the rest of the amount in euro cash. In that case, they can return the remaining amount in kuna or kuna and euros.
As stated on the euro.hr page, which contains all the information related to the changeover to the euro; the dual circulation period starts on January 1, 2023, at 00:00 and ends on January 14, 2023, at 24:00.
CNB recommends citizens use debit cards as much as possible in transactions in the first days of 2023. “Furthermore, to facilitate cash transactions in the first days after the introduction of the euro, from the beginning of December 2022, citizens will be able to obtain starting packages of euro coins, which will enable them to pay in the new currency from the first day of 2023. With the same goal, In the first months of 2023, ATMs will have to be stocked mainly with euro banknotes of smaller denominations (of 10 and 20 euros),” according to the euro.hr website.
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