ZAGREB, 21 Feb (Hina) - The Croatian Premier Zlatko Matesa on Friday held talks with U.S. businessmen on joint Croatian-American infrastructure projects in Croatia, the implementation of which will start soon.
ZAGREB, 21 Feb (Hina) - The Croatian Premier Zlatko Matesa on Friday held
talks with U.S. businessmen on joint Croatian-American infrastructure
projects in Croatia, the implementation of which will start soon. #L#
The projects include the construction of very important
infrastructural facilities - the highway Bregana (Croatian-Slovene border)
- Split (Adriatic port) and two thermal power plants with the total power of
1000 megawatts.
The U.S. delegation, which is visiting Croatia, informed Premier
Matesa that negotiations about the projects, which are worth some US $ 2
billion, are underway.
The Senior Vice President of the U.S. construction company 'BECHTEL',
Roger Picard, told reporters that the construction is expected to start in
August this year.
"…we are at the beginning of the process, but we will involve Croatian
businesses, suppliers, labour, contractors and constructors of this
project…", said Picard.
'BECHTEL', which is the largest U.S. and international construction
company, will build the Bregana-Split highway. Current plans include the
construction of the initial section from Bregana to Sisak (50 km south-east
of Zagreb) and then to Split.
The final contractual terms should be negotiated in the next several
months, Picard said.
According to Picard, 'BECHTEL' is negotiating the financing of the
construction with a number of financial institutions, including U.S. and
Turkish export-import companies, as well as with a number of commercial
banks in the United States and world.
The company 'ENSERCH Develop. Corp.' will construct a gas-fired
thermal power plant in Jertovac and a coal-fired thermal power plant in
Lukovo-Sugarje.
The final draft project on their construction would be made by the end
of April 1997, said the company's president Melvin Wentz.
According to Wentz, the construction of the first 250-megawatt thermal
power plant in Lukovo-Sugarje should start in January 2003, and would last
three years.
(hina) rm jn
211737 MET feb 97