Since the entry into force of the Consumer Bankruptcy Act at the start of 2016, 1,251 Croatians and three small business owners filed for bankruptcy proceedings with FINA.
Their cases concern a total of 7,594 creditors.
For a consumer bankruptcy procedure to be launched, the applicant must be unable to pay one or more claims exceeding HRK 30,000 in total for a period of at least 90 days.
Such a procedure may also be launched by a small business owner, on the condition they do not have more than 20 creditors, do not owe more than HRK 100,000, do not have labour-related obligations and against whom pre-bankruptcy or bankruptcy proceedings have not already been launched.
Consumer bankruptcy proceedings are conducted by courts but the law stipulates that before they are launched, the debtor and the creditor should try to reach an out-of-court settlement.