Business owners who have been hit the most by the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly complaining that they have "no chance to get a loan," with the explanation that banks have lists of at-risk sectors and that the system immediately rejects the credit unworthy, Jutarnji List daily said on Tuesday.

All those whose turnover dropped by more than 60 percent in 2020, mainly in the areas of tourism and transport, are experiencing these problems, said Hrvoje Bujas, head of the Voice of Entrepreneurs association.

He said they could all face an especially big problem if the announcement of leasing companies, that as of April 1, it will no longer be possible to extend moratoriums, comes true. In that case, he added, a loan will be necessary to close the leasing and survive until the summer tourist season.

“There are no lists, but the fact is that the threshold for the most affected clients has been raised a little in terms of meeting the criteria for getting a loan, from financial indicators to regular loan payments and a client’s overall picture,” said a banker in one of Croatia’s major banks.

However, he added, the biggest difference lies in banks’ approach to new clients which is no longer proactive, but when it comes to existing clients, they try to find sustainable solutions together and sometimes these include the approval of new loans.

In order to encourage banks which, understandably, are averse to risks, the government has announced guarantees so that loans could also be granted to those who don’t have promising business results at the moment, the daily said.

The European Commission in January approved Croatia’s state aid programme for enterprises in tourism and sports worth HRK 1.53 billion which will be implemented by the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the HAMAG BICRO Agency for SMEs, Innovations and Investments, and commercial banks.

The programme envisages the issue of a state guarantee in the amount of 100% of loan principal for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and up to 90% for large enterprises. The Tourism Ministry has announced its implementation for “mid-February at the latest.”

Bujas, however, said that “nothing is happening.”

The ministry said the final arrangements are under way and that in about ten days enterprises will be able to get guarantees. It adds that the programme is aimed at ensuring financial support to enterprises in tourism and sports to alleviate the pandemic’s effects on their business.