Finance Minister Marko Primorac said on Thursday that the American financial institution Mercury, which has put Croatia on the list of banned countries, is not a bank and that Croatia is not on any blacklist.

The American digital bank Mercury had put Croatia on the list of banned countries, which caused some problems for Croatian startups and tech companies that have used its services in the US.

Primorac: Increased supervision does not mean that certain mechanisms have been downgraded

“It is not one bank, but an institution that works with several banks. As far as I know, however, it had its own problems with money laundering. That is why it is taking certain precautionary measures to deal with the difficulties it is facing,” Primorac told reporters after a government meeting.

Although Croatia is under special supervision, it fully complies with EU rules on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, he said.

The EU has recommended Croatia to further improve its system. Croatia has developed a national risk assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing and an action plan to mitigate these risks, he added.

“Croatia is not on any blacklist, no transactions are blocked, business with Croatia is not prohibited and the increased supervision does not mean that certain mechanisms have been downgraded. As soon as we meet all the criteria, we will be removed from this grey list.”

No problems with adherence to the budget

Primorac went on to say that a revision of this year’s state budget was primarily due to changes in budget priorities and that the state had no problems with budget revenues.

When asked whether there will be funds for the heating season and whether electricity subsidies will be granted, he said that everything will depend on the market situation. However, he added that the situation on the energy market had stabilised: “There is nothing to worry about, we are monitoring the situation and will make decisions accordingly.”

According to Primorac, the increase in budget spending is also due to the increase in spending on social benefits and the lump sum for personal assistance. He said these items were not at risk, but some others would be reviewed. “Our ambition and our goal is to stay within the declared deficit framework, which is 2.6% of GDP at the level of the consolidated general government.”