December 23, 2019 [See News] – Hungary will start negotiations next month for buying a stake in Croatia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project, which has been under construction on the Adriatic island of Krk, the Croatian government said.

The announcement was made by Hungarian foreign and trade minister Peter Szijjarto during his two-day meeting with Croatian foreign minister Gordan Grlic Radman held last week in Budapest, the government in Zagreb said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier this year, Hungary revealed its interest in acquiring a 25% stake in the capital of state-owned LNG Croatia, the developer of the LNG terminal project on the Krk island, Szijjarto said. He also recalled Budapest’s proposal for an integration of the Hungarian and Croatian energy markets in order to achieve a lower natural gas supply price, the government said.

In July, the European Commission approved Croatia’s plans to support the development of the 233.6 million euro ($260.2 million) project with 100 million euro in state aid.

The project comprises the construction and operation of a LNG terminal featuring a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and its connections to the national gas transmission network. The Krk LNG terminal will deliver gas to the Croatian national transmission network connected to fellow EU member states Slovenia, Italy and Hungary, as well as to Serbia and Montenegro.

The terminal will have a capacity to transport 2.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year as from 2021.

In October 2018, Szijjarto said that Hungary is interested in the import of 1.7 bcm of natural gas annually from the LNG terminal in Krk.

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