CROATIAN UTILITY CO. ASKS COMPENSATION FOR CUT-OFF OF ELECTRICITY

( Editorial: --> 8213 ) ZAGREB, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Croatian electric power company (HEP) asked the Krsko nuclear power plant (Slovenia) and the Slovene utility company to compensate for expenses Croatia suffered during the cutting off their supply of electricity to Croatia. The nuclear power plant is jointly owned by the two countries' utility companies, but is located in Slovenia. The HEP requests US$8.6 million as compensation for the period of July 30 to September 1, the HEP public relations office said on Friday. Slovenia's utility company director Ivo Banic told the Slovene news agency ETA on Friday that he would refuse HEP's request as having no legal foundation. Out of the total amount, $2.8 million relates to compensation for HEP's capital expenses used by Krsko in a period of 33 days. The expenses of substitution electric energy HEP used after Krsko stopped delivering electricity amount to $5.8 million. The deadline for payment of bills sent to Krsko and the Slovene utility company on September 2 is a fortnight, after which HEP can file suit. The HEP also said the nuclear power plant and Slovene utility company had been informed that if the delivery to Croatia of electricity were to cease, HEP would send a bill for the expenses. In that case, HEP would request $2.8 for every lacking kW. Based on its establishment and co-ownership rights to the Krsko plant, HEP had requested that expenses for great economic damage caused by the one-sided act of severing the delivery of electricity to Croatia be paid. The Slovene utility company turned off two transmission lines in July delivering electricity to Croatia from Krsko. The reason Slovenes stated was that HEP had not paid bills of DM30 million. The same day, the Slovene government also passed a decree on reconstructing the nuclear power plant into a Slovene public company. The Croatian side described the decree as purposeful exclusion of the Croatian side from the plant's management. Although the transmission line between Krsko and Zagreb had been up and running, the HEP has decided not to receive the plant's electricity while the Slovene government's decree is in power. Problems on the Krsko nuclear power plant were one of the subjects of a recent meeting between Croatia and Slovene foreign and economy ministers. They agreed that negotiations on an agreement on the status of the jointly-owned power plant should begin immediately. If an agreement on the issue is not reached within three months, international arbitration could be requested. (hina) lml 042203 MET sep 98