Changes in Currency during the Establishment of Croatian Monetary Sovereignty[Neke specifičnosti uspostave hrvatskog monetarnog suvereniteta u segmentu gotovog novca]

In the Republic of Croatia monetary sovereignty was established in several stages that reflected changes in and the growth of independent Croatian territory. The rebellion of part of the Croatian citizens of Serb nationality, the aggression of the then Yugoslavia and the occupation of some territories of the Republic of Croatia on which a para-state was proclaimed, the so-called Republic of Srpska Krajna, strongly impacted these activities. Thus Croatian monetary sovereignty was established in accordance with these circumstances. First temporary money was introduced on the territory under Croatian authority – the Croatian dinar (December 1991). When economic and monetary conditions were ripe the Croatian dinar was replaced by the permanent national monetary unit – the kuna, and its hundredth part – the lipa (May 1994). The kuna became the legal currency on the territory of the Republic of Croatia under Croatian authority, and after western Slavonia (May 1995) and northern Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun and Banija (August 1995) were liberated, also on these formerly occupied territories. The fourth stage in the establishment of Croatian monetary sovereignty was carried out in September 1997 in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (Croatian Danubian region) as part of their peaceful reintegration into the Republic of Croatia with the help of the United Nations – the United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmuim (UNTAES), when the kuna was introduced as the legal currency in this region before the establishment of complete Croatian rule and the return home of the banished population of this territory.