Two months ago, the Slovene government granted concessions to the Drava Power Plants in Maribor, whose acronym is DEM, to build more hydropower plants in the Mura valley.
The director of the DEM company, Danilo Sef, was quoted on Monday by the Slovene press as saying that Austria would be informed of the concessions at the first next session of the bilateral commission for the Mura River.
Sef, an outspoken proponent of the power plants' construction, said that the new plants would produce more positive than negative consequences for the area.
Responding to a remark that Austria has proclaimed a protected ecological zone in its section of the Mura valley, which can be affected by the construction of three out of eight planned plants, he explained that the protected zone did not mean the absolute ban on any intervention in the area in question.
Commenting on recent statements made by the head of the Croatian county of Medjimurje, who warned about negative consequences for the area, Sef said that plans should incorporate environmental safeguards regarding the downriver communities, adding that this part of the valley would not be at risk due to a slower current.
He, however, added that "Croatia is not included into the official procedure for the construction of hydropower plants in Slovenia".