New regulations open state incentives for independent audiovisual producers up to 132,000 euros

The Ministry of Culture and Media has published in the Official Gazette (Narodne novine) No. 118/2026 of October 16, 2026, the Ordinance on financial incentives for the development and production of Croatian audiovisual works by producers who are considered independent producers, under the official designation 1408. The provider of the state aid is the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, and the ordinance enters into force eight days after publication, on October 24, 2026.

Legal Basis and Decision-Making Bodies

The Ordinance was adopted based on Article 13a, paragraph 11 of the Audiovisual Activities Act (Official Gazette, No. 61/18, 114/22, and 123/24), upon the proposal of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and with the prior consent of the minister responsible for finance. It was signed by the Minister of Culture and Media dr. sc. Nina Obuljen Koržinek, with the markings Class: 611-08/25-01/0011 and Registry Number: 532-02-03/1-26-12, in Zagreb on September 9, 2026.

The state aid program is adopted by the Centre following the prior opinion of the competent body, and the aid is granted in accordance with EU regulations:

• Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 (OJ L 187, 26.6.2014)
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 2017/1084 of 14 June 2017 (OJ L 156, 20.6.2017)
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/972 of 2 July 2020 (OJ EU L 215, 7.7.2020)
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1315 of 23 June 2023 and Regulation (EU) 2022/2473 – together the General Block Exemption Regulation

Aid Amounts and Calculation Method

The funds are non-refundable and are secured in the state budget under the section of the ministry responsible for cultural affairs, within the positions designated for incentive measures. For an individual audiovisual work, the incentive may amount to:

• for the development support measure: at least 10,000.00 EUR, and at most 50,000.00 EUR, but not more than 80% of eligible development costs
• for the production support measure: at least 10,000.00 EUR, and at most 132,000.00 EUR, but not more than 30% of eligible production costs including post-production
• an individual applicant may obtain a maximum of 132,000.00 EUR in total in one calendar year
• the highest possible aid intensity is 50%, and for demanding audiovisual works 80% of the total budget of the work

The available amount is calculated based on the amount of eligible fiscal liabilities that the applicant has calculated and/or paid since establishment, but for no longer than the previous five years, starting from October 31, 2024. Eligible fiscal liabilities are corporate income tax, value added tax, and personal income tax, and the data is provided by the Tax Administration within 30 days.

What is Funded and What is Excluded

The support is intended for feature-length and short fiction, documentary, animated, and experimental films, as well as serialized fiction, documentary, or animated works that are considered Croatian audiovisual works. Standard and demanding audiovisual works are funded.

The right to an incentive cannot be acquired for promotional or commissioned works, daily drama (“soap opera” and/or “telenovela”), “talent show” and “reality show” programs, nor for works that promote violence, racism, hate speech, or contain pornographic content. The applicant cannot be an entrepreneur in difficulty, in pre-bankruptcy or bankruptcy proceedings or liquidation, one who has been ordered to return state aid, who has unpaid obligations based on public levies or towards the Center, nor a person with a final convicting judgment for a series of criminal offenses, from fraud and bribery to money laundering and abuse of position.

The work must pass a qualification test with at least 12 out of a total of 25 points, with a mandatory 2 points achieved in section A4 – the final version of the work must be in Croatian or one of the European languages.

Deadlines, reports and user obligations

The request for development support must be submitted before the start of development, and for production support no earlier than 120 and no later than 15 days before the start of filming. Requests are accepted from January 1st for the current year until the annual amount is exhausted, and in the first year of application, they begin eight days after the support program enters into force.

• the deadline for the correction or supplementation of an irregular request is not shorter than 15 days
• development report: 90 days from the completion of activities, no later than 12 months from the temporary decision
• production report: 90 days from the completion of activities, no later than 18 months from the temporary decision
• obligation to spend approved funds in Croatia: 60% for development and 80% for production
• for works with an incentive above 15,000 EUR, an auditor’s report with a final cost estimate is mandatory

The user must include the official logo of the Center in the closing credits and information that the work was financed by state aid funds and, no later than eight days from the start of distribution, provide five photographs and a video announcement. The Center reserves the right to control the purposeful use of funds, including on-site inspections for five years after the issuance of the temporary decision, and non-payment is collected via a blank promissory note. The support provider is obliged to publish the text of the program and data on each award and, within six months, enter all individual supports above 100,000 EUR into the Commission’s module for transparent allocation of aid, while preserving the data for at least 10 years.

The Regulations introduce the order of arrival of requests as the basic principle of allocation, thereby providing domestic independent producers with a predictable and time-limited path to public money, while simultaneously linking the entire system to European rules on state aid and transparency. Unused funds for requests submitted in the current year may be approved and paid out by the Center no later than June 30th of the following year.

Source: Narodne novine, No. 118/2026, document 1408, October 16, 2026. – Ordinance on financial incentives for the development and production of Croatian audiovisual works by producers considered independent producers; Class: 611-08/25-01/0011, Registry Number: 532-02-03/1-26-12, Zagreb, September 9, 2026.