ZAGREB, July 7 (Hina) - Croatian Transport Minister Zeljko Luzavec on Wednesday told reporters in Zagreb the damage Croatia's transport suffered as a result of NATO's recent strikes against neighbouring Yugoslavia revolved around
US$14 million. Croatia, however, is now ready to reopen its transport corridors, Luzavec said.
ZAGREB, July 7 (Hina) - Croatian Transport Minister Zeljko Luzavec
on Wednesday told reporters in Zagreb the damage Croatia's
transport suffered as a result of NATO's recent strikes against
neighbouring Yugoslavia revolved around US$14 million.
Croatia, however, is now ready to reopen its transport corridors,
Luzavec said.#L#
Air transport suffered the most, dropping by 76 percent during
NATO's operations, the minister said, adding Croatia had in the
meantime completed an overall reconstruction of flight control
systems.
As of June 27, when all air routes across Croatia reopened, the
number of flights has risen from 80 to 220 per day.
Luzavec said Croatia expected part of air transport across
Yugoslavia would be redirected onto Croatian air space. Prior to
NATO's strikes, Yugoslavia earned an annual US$100 million by
charging flights across its territory, while Croatia made only
US$5-6 million.
Croatia has reopened all road and rail corridors, including the
tenth corridor on the Zagreb-Belgrade route, the transport
minister said, but added the expected rise in transport had not
occurred yet.
Croatia and Yugoslavia have problems in reinstating river
transport, blocked after NATO demolished the bridges across the
Danube. Even though Danube Commission experts concluded the river
could be prepared for transport within a month, so far Yugoslavia
has refused, demanding the reconstruction of demolished bridges
first.
According to Luzavec, Yugoslavia can take this stand given the
Danube-Tisa-Danube canal at its disposal. For Croatia and the other
countries depending on passage across Yugoslavia's part of the
Danube, this is entirely unacceptable, he said.
"Yesterday, the transport ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, and I
forwarded a demand seeking that transport across the Danube be
reinstated. I also filed a complaint with the Danube Commission
because of our ships held up before entering Yugoslavia," Luzavec
said.
He added Yugoslavia will however need Croatia to supply Belgrade
with five million tonnes of oil products per year, given the fact
that the Sisak refinery, south of Zagreb, is the shortest and most
cost-effective route. To this end, oil transport ships of "Danube
Lloyd's" have been renovated and the Sisak river harbour prepared
for reloading.
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