I am quite confident that Croatian citizens will continue to have the second lowest gas price in Europe, after Hungarians, State Secretary in the Ministry of the Economy Ivo Milatic said at the Gas Forum 2023 on Thursday.

“Considering the average prices we had last year, that price would be significantly higher. The government’s intention is not to increase the price of gas by a multiple amount, so I welcome HERA’s (Energy Regulatory Agency) decision to start changing the methodology, because that is the first condition in general that we ,as the government, then react accordingly, and regulate certain other situations that we have to resolve in order to that the price is sustainable,’ said Milatic.

If there were no such procedures, he said, the price of gas would be around €100 per megawatt hour (MWh), and now HERA “remains at a price of approximately €41 per MWh”.

‘The price will certainly remain the same. However, let’s wait for that change to happen, but it is certain that the price of gas will not be what people feared. Everything will be known next week, the VAT rate will, for sure, remain at five percent and I am quite convinced that Croatian citizens will continue to have the second lowest gas price in Europe, after Hungarians,’ the state secretary pointed out.

Milatic also pointed out that the decision to build an LNG terminal on the island of Krk was well thought through and that it was implemented at the right time.

He also believes that Europe, as well as Croatia, responded well to the challenges that were posed primarily by the war in Ukraine. Croatia filled the Okoli underground gas storage on time, which is still 90 percent full, he said.

“Even if we didn’t have a mild winter, we would still have enough gas for this season, and we will have enough gas for the next season as well,” Milatic said. The capacity of the floating LNG terminal on Krk is 2.9 billion cubic meters per year.

Increasing the capacity of the Krk LNG terminal to 6.1 billion cubic meters and the new gas pipeline Zlobin-Bosiljevo will cost around €180 million. An additional €400 million have been earmarked from the REPower EU program, which will make it possible to strengthen the supply routes to Hungary and Slovenia.

The terminal on Krk can be further expanded, even a land terminal can be considered, Milatic pointed out. He also emphasised that Croatia has great potential in renewables.

A representative of the Croatian Energy Market Operator (HROTE), Darjan Budimir, pointed out that Croatia imports more than half of its energy needs.

In the area of ​​gas, we are producing less and less and importing more and more, even though gas is an extremely important energy source, he said.

According to the data Budimir presented, we currently have 39 suppliers, 38 traders, 30 distributors and one gas producer on the gas market.

He welcomed INA’s announcements about increasing gas production in Croatia, since the consumption of natural gas is constantly increasing.

After the price explosion at the beginning of the Ukrainian war, prices have stabilised, and gas storages are full owing to the mild winter, Budimir said. According to him, it is necessary to set up a gas stock exchange in Croatia in order to enable the procurement of gas in a transparent and easier way.

A representative of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Srecko Egzeta, claims that the gas system in Croatia is the second largest system in the country, with a network of 20,000 kilometers.