Our colleagues from Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners, Senior Associate Boris Dvoršćak and Junior Associate Nikola Meštrović, have authored an article on Croatia’s strategic turn towards nuclear energy, published in AmCham Croatia News & Views, No. 1/2026.
The piece is particularly timely: at the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum in Dubrovnik on 29 April 2026, Minister of Economy Ante Šušnjar announced Croatia’s target of raising nuclear energy’s share in the energy mix from 16% to at least 30% by 2030, and Croatia signed a civil nuclear cooperation declaration with the United States.
Against this backdrop, the article analyses Croatia’s newly proposed Act on the Development of Nuclear Energy for Civil Usage. The authors examine how the Act defines nuclear energy as a strategic national interest and one of the lowest-carbon technologies available, and how it introduces, for the first time in the Croatian legal system, new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs), advanced modular reactors, and microreactors. The article also addresses the long-standing question of facility locations, highlighting the three sites identified as far back as the 1980s: Erdut in eastern Croatia, Prevlaka near Zagreb, and the island of Vir.
The overarching target is sourcing 30% of annual electricity demand from nuclear by 2040, while the authors note that key questions on financing and private investment still need to be resolved.
The full article is available in AmCham Croatia News & Views, No. 1/2026.
The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.
