No time to lose on LNG, says Croatian president Grabar-Kitarovic

July 22, 2016

Liquefied natural gas terminal on the Croatian island of Krk was a major topic discussed during the recent meeting between the Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė and her Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

During the visit, minister of energy of Lithuania and the minister of economy of Croatia signed a memorandum of understanding which highlights strategic partnership between the two countries in the field of energy, bilateral cooperation in implementing LNG infrastructural projects.

In its statement, following the meeting, the office of the Lithuanian president noted that Lithuania, who had an LNG terminal installed in a period of three years, could be an example for Croatia that intends to build a similar LNG terminal on the island of Krk.

Speaking after the meeting Croatian president Grabar-Kitarović said, “as far as LNG is concerned, we have no time to lose. We should not allow Croatia to become a dead end in terms of energy.”

The construction of the Croatian LNG terminal would contribute to the diversification and the security of the gas supply in Central and Eastern Europe, together with the establishment of gas supply towards the north and links with the terminals in Lithuania and Poland, as well as the construction of connectors for reversible gas flow towards Hungary and Ukraine.

The two countries agreed to work together on training LNG specialist, through the exchange of students and lecturers between Klaipėda University and the University of Rijeka, under a deal signed in June.

As LNG World News reported in June, the Croatian government is looking to speed up the process of setting up the country’s first LNG import terminal.

Croatian prime minister Tihomir Oreskovic then said the contract with investors for the construction of the first phase of the LNG project could be signed within the next 60 to 90 days.

The FSRU-based terminal is expected to have an initial capacity of around two billion cubic meters of gas per year.

LNG World News Staff