Asked to comment on a statement by Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday about a possible referendum concerning oil and gas exploitation in the Adriatic, Vrdoljak told a press conference that his objective was for Croatia not to have to import oil and gas and to protect the Adriatic from 4,000 tankers entering it each year.
These tankers, according to Vrdoljak, are statistically five times more hazardous for seas than oil rigs are.
"Today we have 4,000 hazardous locations with imported oil and I want Croatian citizens and industry to have domestic oil and gas that are cheaper and I will do everything necessary to achieve that," he said, adding that it was necessary to stop loud import lobbies.
They are, as he said, a loud minority looking for various ways to protect their import interests.
"If we don't have our own production of oil, there most likely won't be any refinery at Sisak or Rijeka and if we don't have our own gas production, we most likely won't have the Kutina Petrokemija factory," the minister said.
"That's the price you have to pay when you depend on someone else and importers," the minister said.
Asked whether his recent announcement of lower gas and electricity prices was a lead up to the parliamentary election, Vrdoljak responded that he had announced cheaper energy prices a year ago and that this was made possible owing to domestic production.
He warned that production was declining and that without new wells Croatia could end up depending on Russia, which would be fatal if Russia decided to shut down gas distribution through Ukraine.
He added that domestic gas was produced in the immediate vicinity of the northern Adriatic peninsula of Istria and that local tourism had not suffered as a result.