In addition to banks, large retailers bear the highest cost of conversion to the euro

No one can reliably say what the total cost of replacing the kuna with the euro will be for the Croatian economy. Estimates suggest that the one-time cost of conversion will be between 2.5 billion kuna and five billion kuna, a range that speaks for itself about the uncertainties in this matter. The only thing known, at least according to the Croatian National Bank (HNB), is that the costs of minting coins with Croatian motifs and printing euro banknotes will be close to one billion kuna. Other costs will mainly fall on entrepreneurs. Besides banks, retailers, especially the largest ones, will have to bear the highest costs.

For example, dm calculated that the cost of conversion for them will amount to around one million euros, or 7.5 million kuna. Preparing the retail chain for currency conversion is a complex and multi-layered process that involves preparing IT systems, training employees, procuring euro banknotes and coins, printing new price tags, and affixing them to shelves… Moreover, the latter needs to be done twice: the first time with the obligation to display dual prices at the beginning of September, and the second time from January 1, when the positions of kuna and euro amounts change.

Studenac, the largest retail chain in Croatia by the number of stores, printed more than seven million new price tags in the first wave, and will have to do the same again. All of this, of course, involves countless hours of labor that need to be additionally compensated. As we learn, all major retail chains have already completed most of the preparations for the introduction of the euro, with one major challenge remaining.

– Delivering all euro banknotes and coins to stores by the end of December will be a significant challenge, so we are collaborating with banks and security companies to plan a smooth and secure handover. We also need to resolve the cash reserves in kuna by the end of December because after January 1, we will not be able to return them to customers as change. Additionally, due to the denomination of the two currencies, we will use many more coins with the euro than with the kuna – says Michał Halwa, a member of the Management Board of Studenac for finance, who leads the transformation process in more than a thousand stores of this retail chain across the country.