ZAGREB, April 24, 2019 - A new passenger terminal at Zadar's Gaženica Port was opened on Wednesday on Zadar County Day.
After President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović officially opened the new terminal, Zadar County Prefect Božidar Longin said that the port project was something that generations of Zadar citizens had dreamt of.
Longin recalled that tourism was the strongest economic branch in the county and that several other local sectors would profit from the port, such as agriculture, crafts, enterprise and retail outlets.
"That will be particularly visible after Zadar becomes a home port for cruise ships that will sail around the world. Considering that the situation in the county regarding road and maritime infrastructure is excellent, we now need to encourage investments to modernise the railway and expand Zadar Airport, which is a project that we are working on seriously and thoroughly. We are currently implementing infrastructure and economic projects in the county valued at almost 1.5 billion kuna," he underscored, adding that last year the number of employed people grew by close to 5% to reach 60,000, for the first time since the county was established.
He said that quality fishing infrastructure was being built on the island of Ugljan and that work on a fishing port in Gaženica was expected to start soon. The total value of those two projects amounts to HRK 60 million.
Stephen Xuereb, Executive Director of Global Ports Holding, the concessionaire of the Gaženica Port, said that Zadar was an important addition to the company's network of cruise ports in the Mediterranean, following Venice and Montenegro, and that it would complete its services on the cruise port market.
The new Gaženica passenger terminal is one of the most modern cruise port terminals in the Mediterranean. It is a two-storey building that spreads across 20,000 square metres and provides all the relevant services for domestic and international transport. The construction of the terminal, which began in 2016, cost 27 million euro.
Global Ports Holding Plc signed a 20-year concession agreement between its wholly owned operating subsidiary Zadar International Port Operations d.o.o. and the Port Authority of Zadar for the operating rights of the Gaženica cruise port.
The concession includes cruise ship passenger port and terminal services, an international ferry terminal, Ro-Ro services, and vehicles and passenger services, Global Ports Holding says on its website.
More Zadar news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
