A project worth nearly 180 million euros is nearing its end, but the public has yet to see proof that Verne will fulfill its obligations. The government maintains the contract is still active, while questions arise over accountability for the vast sum of paid but unjustified funds.
Less than a month remains until the contractual deadline for the ambitious robotaxi project by Verne, formerly known as Project 3 Mobility. Despite this, the public has yet to receive convincing evidence that founder Mate Rimac will meet the obligations for which nearly 180 million euros in non-repayable funds were approved from the state budget.
The deadline for the project titled "Research, Development, and Production of New Mobility Vehicles and Supporting Infrastructure" expires on August 31, 2026. So far, approximately 89.7 million euros has been paid out as advances, while only 8.7 million euros has been justified, according to previously published information reported by Teleskop.hr.
The situation is further muddied by conflicting claims about the project's fate. According to one version, Rimac informed the Croatian Government back in January 2026 that he was withdrawing from the remaining funds, returning the already disbursed 89.7 million euros, and continuing the project with his own capital.
However, a completely different message came from Banski dvori. They claimed that no official request to terminate the contract had ever been received and that Rimac, after considering returning the money, ultimately decided to stay in the project and try to fulfill his obligations to the end.
"The contract is still in force, and the beneficiary has all obligations under that contract. All key requirements so far have been duly fulfilled," the government claimed at the time.
At the heart of the problem lies the very core of the project-autonomous driving technology. The project was conceived as the development of a Level 5 autonomous vehicle, capable of moving without a driver or any human intervention in all traffic conditions. Such technology is currently not in commercial use anywhere in the world, not even by the largest tech companies.
Rimac's company initially relied on technology from Israeli firm Mobileye and later from Chinese Pony.ai. Both companies are developing systems of significantly lower autonomy levels, raising the question of whether the project was based from the start on a promise that was not realistically achievable within the given timeframe.
Given that only 8.7 million of the nearly 90 million euros disbursed has been justified, the key question is what the rest of the money was spent on. The public has no precise answer as to how much went to salaries, consultants, external services, equipment, or real estate, nor how much of those costs is directly linked to the project's contractual goals.
As August 31 approaches, the silence from both Verne and the responsible institutions increasingly gives the impression that the public is being prepared for an explanation as to why the grand promise of a Croatian robotaxi will not be fulfilled after all. Responsibility, as highlighted, lies not only with the founder but also with the institutions that approved the project, declared it feasible, and oversaw its implementation for years.
