The Croatian Government has secured collateral for the loan, which was signed at a ceremony in Split by Plinacro CEO Branko Radosevic and EIB Vice President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen.
After the ceremony, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said that the signing of the loan agreement was a great day for Lika and Dalmatia and that the government was planning to continue building the pipeline towards the southernmost part of the country.
According to Sanader, by 2004, a mere 76 million kuna was invested in the gas supply network in the country and not one metre of the pipeline was constructed.
This government has made serious efforts in this regard, and since 2004, 1.434 billion kuna has been invested in the enlargement of the gas supply network with 532 kilometres of pipeline having been built.
The long-distance transmission pipeline will probably reach Split in 2011, but I insist that the time frame be shortened at least by one year, until 2010, Sanader said.
He called on local authorities to speed up the construction of the pipelines so that every house could be connected to the network,
Currently, the Croatian gas pipeline system can carry about five billion cubic metres of gas, the PM said.
Until 2011, i.e. during the second investment cycle, we are going to invest 3.5 billion kuna in the construction of the gas pipeline system in Croatia, Sanader said, adding that all of this should help create conditions for the further economic growth, "which will rise this year to more than six percent, as experts tell me".
Finance Minister Ivan Suker, who signed the collateral agreement, said that he was glad to see that Croatia had achieved such good macroeconomic results, which was why the European Investment Bank granted this loan under the same terms and conditions as to European Union member-states.
This is the best indicator what the international financial circles think about Croatia and this government's policy, the minister added.
EIB Vice President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen said this was the second loan this bank had granted to Croatia for gas pipeline construction. The second loan was given as the first loan had been successfully and fully carried out.
Apart from today's loan, the EIB, which has been operating in Croatia since 2001, has approved 970 million euros in loans and will continue investing in Croatia because this country functions well and has a leading role in the region, the EIB official said.
The backbone of the long-distance transmission pipeline in Lika and Dalmatia will be a 290-kilometre pipeline from Bosiljevo to Split.
Construction works on the first section will start this autumn, Plinacro CEO Radosevic said.