Croatia Parliament to Vote on Krk Gas Terminal Law

Croatia's parliament is set to vote on Friday, under urgent procedure, on the Law on Liquefied Natural Gas, popularly called the "Lex LNG" - whose main purpose is to speed the building of floating terminal to receive liquefied natural gas on the island of Krk.

The law will regulate property rights at the location of the terminal and the issue of a concession for the maritime property for the construction of the terminal.

The LNG project will proceed in two phases: construction of a floating terminal in the first phase and construction of a terrestrial terminal in the second.

The new law will grant the operator company, LNG Hrvatska, a 99-year concession for use of the maritime demesne for the purpose of building and using the special harbour at the town of Omišalj.

In the parliament on Thursday, MPs voiced various complaints: some questioned the need for such a project, its environmental acceptability and cost-effectiveness, as well as the procedure for passing the law.

During Thursday's discussion, environmental activists from NGO "Green Action" stood in front of parliament, appealing to MPs to vote against the law.

Since it has been talked about for years, many MPs are also criticising the sudden urgency.

Some, like opposition Social Democrat leader Damir Bernardic, warned that the procedure of passing the "Lex LNG" looked identical to the passing of the "Lex Agrokor", a controversial special law passed to restructure the indebted food and retail company Agrokor  - which today is much criticised for its non-transparency.

Although the Ministry for Environment and Energy earlier this year declared that the terminal met environmental requirements, activists claim the opposite, claiming that environmental impact...

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