The agreement on the Druzba Adria project, which was signed by the previous government, envisages the transport of oil from Russia via six countries to the port of Omisalj on the northern Adriatic island of Krk. The Zagreb Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering and the Oceanography Institute from Split drew up the study on the environmental impact of the project.
Speaking to reporters at the government headquarters, Matulovic Dropulic said that the study would not be released for public debate because the JANAF company, one of the partners in the project, and the authors of the study had not made the necessary changes to the study as requested by the expert commission.
There will be no new deadlines for changing the study, because the commission has held three sessions and definitely decided not to approve the study, and the ministry will act accordingly, the minister said.
The government and other competent ministries must study the agreements signed by the former government, after which they will make the final decision on whether to have a new study drawn up, the minister said when asked if the commission's decision also meant the end of the Druzba Adria project.
The commission in charge of assessing the environmental impact of the Druzba Adria project last night rejected the study on the environmental impact of the project as incomplete and insufficiently founded and decided that it could not be released for public debate.
The commission also suggested withholding approval of the project, stating that it would inform the ministry of its decision. The ministry is expected to make a decision on the matter in a month's time.
The "Eko Kvarner" association for environmental protection today expressed satisfaction with the commission's decision, but added that this did not mean the formal end of the project.
Eko Kvarner president Vjeran Pirsic told reporters the association expected one of the partners in the project - JANAF - to appeal to the Administrative Court.
He added that it was time that the company management realised that it would not be able to implement the project considering the opposition of the public to the project, which he said was harmful for Croatia.
Pirsic said the association had requested the parliament to take a vote on Croatia's walking out of the agreement on the Druzba Adria project.