Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic informed earlier this week that the construction of an LNG terminal on the island of Krk in Croatia can play an important role in the European energy policy.
Mr. Plenkovic mentioned that talks are currently underway with the Hungarian side on the jointly-owned, oil company, INA, and the recapitalisation of the Petrokemija artificial fertiliser producer.
Namely, the Croatian government has in its plans to adopt a new energy strategy for the country this year. In this context, the LNG project is of strategic importance for Croatia, Europe and Croatia’s partners globally.
In order to promote the adoption of a law about the LNG terminal, Andrej Plenkovic informed that the government seeked cooperations with local government units, especially counties, emphasizing once again the strategic importance of the LNG project.
In order for the project to proceed, the relevant Croatian ministries will collect all the information necessary, regarding the environmental impact study for the terminal.
Croatia wants to launch the project as soon as possible, in order to beat the deadline for its completion, which is in 2019.
Europe will also contribute towards this goal. Namely, EU will invest €101.4 million in the construction of the LNG terminal in the island of Krk, Croatia. A grant agreement under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was signed at the Energy Council on 18 December, 2017.
As part of its Energy Union strategy, made up to ensure a secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy in Europe, the EU is committed to building missing energy infrastructure links and ensuring that every EU country has access to at least three different sources of gas.
