Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that his cabinet was investing maximum efforts to alleviate the impact of the fuel price hikes.

On Tuesday, the price of diesel per litre is expected to be HRK 12.03, gasoline HRK 11.84 , while the blue-dyed diesel for farmers and fishermen HRK 8.14 per litre.

The lower prices are a result of the lower average price on the Mediterranean market over the last seven days and of the set of the government’s measures on capping the margin and lowering the relevant excise duties.

Preparations for changeover to the euro go on as planned

Asked by the press about the preparations for the adoption of the euro as sole legal tender and a comments made by U.S. economist Joseph Stiglitz that Croatia should take some more time before the changeover to the euro, Plenkovic answered that Stiglitz’s attitudes on the euro were well-known, and added that the country’s plans for the adoption of the euro were going well.

“All the activities concerning our obligations to meet the necessary criteria after we entered the  Exchange Rate Mechanism II are going as planned.”

We will meet all the criteria for the adoption of crucial decisions in mid-2022 on Croatia’s admission to the eurozone, which we expect to happen on 1 January 2023, he added.

Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner and the author of the book “The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe”, said last week that Croatia should take some more time before the changeover to the euro, assessing that disadvantages could outweigh benefits due to the ongoing geopolitical risks.