"The security of oil and gas supply is not in question, the country has enough oil stockpiled for 90 days, and that the underground gas storage facility at Okoli is full," Croatia's Minister for Economy and Sustainable Development, Davor Filipovic, said on Tuesday in Parliament.

“In addition to that, with the autumn package of measures we have protected Croatians and entrepreneurs in terms of electricity,” he added, in reference to a generous package of subsidies and tax cuts which the government rolled out earlier this year in order to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis.

Filipovic also commented on the government’s decision to set price caps for gas delivered by regional distributors to public institutions, hospitals, and kindergartens at €41 per megawatt hour. He said that out of 11 suppliers in the country, “only one is making this a problem, Medjimurje Plin.”

“I find it unbelievable that someone can place profit above the well-being of their fellow citizens, which is what Medjimurje Plin is currently doing. This is a question for the local leaders who are majority owners, how they allow that company to collect such bills,” said Filipovic, calling on them to “voluntarily terminate the contract.”

Regional distributors are largely owned by local government. Medjimurje Plin supplies the northernmost region of Medjimurje with gas.

Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, also took questions from MPs.

Referring to a question about railway infrastructure, Plenkovic said that the government planned to invest €4 billion into updating the railroad network over the next 10 years, and that another 100 million kuna (€13.2 million) would be earmarked from the EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan for a pilot project to install battery-powered trains, which he had announced for the first time in Egypt during his speech at the COP27 climate conference.

(€1 = 7.54 kuna)