ZAGREB, 23 August, 2022 - Commenting on potential pressure by new clients from the category of households on the city-owned GPZO gas distributor, Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Tuesday that not selling gas was not an option even though gas supplies for new clients had not been procured.
"... we did not know that a large number of market suppliers would suddenly give up on gas business and that (new clients) would turn to the GPZO as a public supplier," the mayor told a news conference.
GPZO supplying gas to close to 60% of Croatian households
Commenting on a report in the Jutarnji List daily that 50,000 households could switch from market suppliers to the GPZO, which covers a part of the country, Tomašević said that despite insufficient quantities of gas, the company would not stop providing the service.
The GPZO provides gas to close to 60% of Croatian households, and its current contract with its suppliers with regard to households is rather favourable, he said but admitted that the procurement of new quantities of gas for new potential clients would be problematic.
The GPZO would have to charge households (50,000 new clients) a fixed price, and it would have to buy gas at the current market price, which is higher, so the resulting difference would amount to around €100 million, the mayor said, noting that talks were underway between the city authorities, the Economy Ministry and the government about the situation on the gas market.
The mayor said he hoped a way would be found to maintain the system of gas supply for households.
Commenting on new gas supply contracts with clients in the business sector, in which the GPZO offered only the option of paying for gas at market prices, Tomašević said that business clients had the right not to accept it.
Business clients can accept those terms or turn to some other market supplier, he said, adding that business clients would pay the GPZO the same price for gas the city distributor paid for it on the market, with a minimal margin.
He noted that that was the only way to avoid incurring new losses this season, confirming that the GPZO had agreed with suppliers for this gas year the procurement of gas for business clients at variable prices.
New cycling routes planned
Deputy Mayor Luka Korlaet today announced work on the city's cycling infrastructure, noting that three projects would be launched soon to increase the number of cycle routes and lanes.
He said that an increase in cycle traffic had been reported in Zagreb and that the city administration wanted to increase the share of cycling in total traffic to 8% by the end of its term.
