Croatian Economy Minister Branko Vukelic has explained all segments of the process of payment and provision of funds by the Croatian Power Company (HEP).
The Economy Ministry is surprised by lack of understanding on Slovenia's part and believes that Croatia is fulfilling its obligations in that regard, Vricko said.
The fund for the dismantling of the Krsko nuclear power plant is important to Croatia, preparations for the adoption of a law on that fund are nearing completion and the process will be completed when the bill is submitted to the parliament for adoption, Vricko said.
According to announcements from the ministry, the bill could be sent to parliament for consideration in a month or two.
The Slovene media today quoted Slovene Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak who confirmed having received Minister Vukelic's response to his letter from July, but added that he was not satisfied with it and that he would decide in a week's time whether to propose that the Slovene government seek arbitration on the matter.
The Ljubljana-based newspaper "Delo" reported that Vukelic stated in his response to Vizjak that Croatia was agreed that the dismantling of the plant and the management of nuclear waste and used nuclear fuel was a joint commitment of the two countries and that in April this year Croatia established a special budgetary fund for that purpose, with 62.7 million kuna of accumulated funds.
Vizjak was dissatisfied with this position because his letter referred exactly to Slovenia's disagreement with this kind of collection of funds and its request that Croatia establish a separate fund for the dismantling of the plant, since budgetary funds can be redirected, while the financing of dismantling works requires a steady inflow of funds.