ZAGREB, Oct 21 (Hina) - Economy Minister Ljubo Jurcic on Monday outlined the situation and prospects of Croatian-Russian economic relations.
ZAGREB, Oct 21 (Hina) - Economy Minister Ljubo Jurcic on Monday
outlined the situation and prospects of Croatian-Russian economic
relations. #L#
Jurcic and associates on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 visited Moscow, where a
Russian-Croatian commission for economic and scientific
cooperation held its third session.
Croatia plans to take part in a project aimed at renovating the
Russian merchant fleet, Jurcic said today.
Plans for the settlement of the former Russian federation's
clearing debt refer to mine-clearing, the possibility of
delivering fire-fighting helicopters, special equipment for
commodity stockpiles, and iron and steel products for Croatian
railways, and the construction of a new bloc in the Sisak
thermoelectric power plant, said the minister.
Shipbuilding is another major area of cooperation as Russia plans
on building more than 1,000 ships by 2010.
Croatia may also take part in the building of 207 ships whose total
value is US$3.6 billion. Given the busy schedule and technology of
Croatian shipyards, Jurcic said plans should focus on the building
of 50-70 ships. The Pula-based shipyard Uljanik is wrapping up
negotiations for the building of several ships.
A special issue in the Croatia-Russia talks is the clearing debt
owed by the former Russian federation to the successor states of the
former Yugoslavia. The amount of the debt has not been established,
but it is estimated at US$1.2-1.3 billion.
Croatia is entitled to 23 percent of said figure, namely around
US$300 million.
Jurcic said Croatia had proposed that those claims be settled in
part through the clearing of Croatia's mine-infested areas. The
proposal is still being negotiated, and a project to that effect is
estimated at US$32 million, to be implemented over a period of five
or six years.
The Moscow talks also addressed the possibility of Russia clearing
about US$18 million by delivering fire-fighting helicopters, US$12
million by delivering special equipment for commodity stockpiles,
for example boats, water pumps, and caravans, US$37 million by
delivering iron and steel products for Croatian railways, and some
US$200 million by building another bloc of the thermoelectric power
plant in Sisak.
Croatian-Russian trade in 2001 amounted to some US$730 million.
Croatia's import from Russia was US$653 million and export US$83
million.
(hina) ha sb