Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Wednesday businesses could use COVID loans to deal with liquidity problems until they were reimbursed for fixed expenses.

“The Tax Administration will process all data in line with yesterday’s instructions and order the Croatian Employment Service to pay out that money,” he told the press when asked to comment on remarks from the Voice of Entrepreneurs association.

The association said today that under Tax Administration instructions, employers must settle their liabilities before being reimbursed by the state for expenses paid, adding that for most businesses that was impossible because this year had been extremely bad and they had been unable to generate new reserves.

The association further said that businesses could apply for compensation for fixed expenses by February 21 and that this meant that they could be reimbursed only in March or April.

Maric said that despite that date, it was assumed that businesses whose operation was suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions would apply as soon as they had turnover and fixed expenses data.

He said the Tax Administration would process the data as soon as possible so that reimbursement could begin at the turn of the year.