ENVIRONMENT MINISTER MEETS ECOLOGICAL ORGANISATIONS' REPS.

RIJEKA, Aug 19 (Hina) - Croatia's Environmental Protection and Zoning Minister Ivo Banac on Tuesday met representatives of ecological NGOs from Croatia and Italy who strongly objected to the Druzba Adria pipeline project which should bring oil from Russia to the Adriatic. #L# Talking to reporters after the meeting on the sailboat Catholica, docked in Rijeka, Banac said he would be able to take a stand on the project once he saw the results of every study pertaining to it, including the one on the impact the pipeline would have on the environment. Banac said the protection of the Adriatic concerned both Croatia and Italy, and voiced satisfaction with the cooperation between the two countries' ecological organisations. Asked about the hazard posed by tankers carrying oil along the Adriatic north to the Italian port of Trieste, Banac said it was an issue which should be solved with the establishment of an economic zone. Aboard Catholica are members of the Italian ecological organisation Legambiente who have been sailing along Italy's Adriatic and Croatia's Istrian peninsula in the north since early July, taking samples of the quality of seawater. They have also been taking part in actions opposing the Druzba Adria project at the invitation of two Croatian ecological organisations. (hina) ha