The government would find a solution for the fertiliser producer, Petrokemija, which is one of the burning problems the government had to deal with, said Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Tomislav Ćorić, in an interview with state radio on Wednesday.

Ćorić said that work on the recapitalisation of Petrokemija was under way with Economy Minister Martina Dalic in charge of the process, and that he was confident a solution for the Kutina-based company would eventually be found.

Asked to comment on the project to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk, Ćorić said that a number of parallel processes were under way. The one that concerns binding bids for taking a lease of the terminal is in its initial stage, while bids for the provision of a ship for the terminal are being evaluated, he said.

Ćorić said that he believed that international partners, primarily countries north of Croatia, would show an interest in taking a lease of the terminal, and that the same would be done by businesses in Croatia.

In the international context, the LNG terminal on Krk, just as numerous other terminals in Europe, definitely represents an important“infrastructure moment” that will ensure supply and diversification of supply routes for countries north of Croatia, mainly central and eastern European countries, said Ćorić.

The terminal capacity is 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas per year, which is roughly Croatia’s total demand for gas, he said.

“Demand in Croatia does not require a terminal as big as this one, and that is why we believe that the terminal is a very good instrument in the context of the European Energy Union, and why its importance has been recognised by the European Commission,” said Ćorić, who believes that bids for a lease of the terminal expected to arrive in the next few months would prove this.