LJUBLJANA, Jan 15 (Hina) - Slovenia's Environment and Space Minister Janez Kopac said on Wednesday he had information that Croatia's power utility company HEP would submit an offer to Slovenia for buying out Croatia's share in the
Krsko nuclear power plant.
LJUBLJANA, Jan 15 (Hina) - Slovenia's Environment and Space
Minister Janez Kopac said on Wednesday he had information that
Croatia's power utility company HEP would submit an offer to
Slovenia for buying out Croatia's share in the Krsko nuclear power
plant. #L#
Kopac said on state television that in talks with Croatian Deputy
Prime Minister Slavko Linic in Ljubljana earlier today he had
mentioned that Slovenia might participate in financing the
construction of an identical facility in Croatia, in the spirit of
the deal whereby the two countries in the 1970s, as republics of the
ex-Yugoslavia, jointly built Krsko, which is on Slovene
territory.
That deal envisaged building one nuclear plant in Slovenia and
Croatia each, an idea that was later abandoned.
Kopac also said he understood Croatia's interest to protect its
part-ownership in Krsko and that he would do the same in a similar
position.
He said that despite some reservations in Slovenia he advocated
ratifying a deal signed with Croatia on Krsko more than a year ago.
That deal retroactively resolves some open financial issues
regarding the plant's business and failure to ratify "might cost
Slovenia very much", he said. Croatia has ratified the agreement.
Kopac said that the Slovene companies mentioned as possible buyers
of Croatia's share, the power plant included, did not have the money
to buy. Insisting on this would require taking a loan with the
state's guarantee, he said.
(hina) ha