Croatia forgives debts for social categories, bans evictions

Boris Lalovac, Minister of Finance, said last night on HTV's show "Otvoreno" that as of January 1, 2015, debt forgiveness for social cases will begin, but he also revealed that he will introduce a mechanism to prevent citizens from being evicted from their homes, reports the news agency Patria citing Croatian media.

- These are people who have no assets or savings, who have been blocked for more than a year, are unemployed, and are recipients of social assistance. The exact number is not yet known. We must introduce a mechanism so that you cannot evict a person from their home, so that you cannot tell a person you haven't paid the third installment, and then, as some creditors have stated, they will collect that debt to the last drop of something. Creditors said this in conversation with us, it is unacceptable - Lalovac said.

It was agreed that the state and state-owned companies will forgive debts up to HRK 25,000, banks HRK 10,000, and telecom operators HRK 10,000. Telecoms have agreed in principle, but confirmations from management and supervisory boards are still needed.