March the 3rd, 2022 - With the Russians stepping up their wanton destruction in Ukraine following their unjustified invasion of that country around a week ago, what might happen to Croatian gas prices and overall supplies should the Russians press the button and simply cut it off to this country?

As Novac/Jutarnji/Dora Koretic writes, despite Russia's continued attack on Ukraine, Croatian gas prices for households shouldn't rise by more than 20 percent, as was announced by the government back in mid-February after the measures were presented, but all this, of course, falls dead in the water if the Russians do decide to cut off gas supplies to Europe.

Jutarnji made contact because of the level of interest in whether the calculation on Croatian gas prices presented by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic back on February the 16th was still valid, especially considering the fact that in the meantime, Russia had invaded Ukraine and gas prices on the market had risen significantly.

Prime Minister Plenkovic then presented a set of measures that would work at the state and government level to prevent the price of energy from increasing beyond measure, and the value of the package, according to the then announcements, was 4.8 billion euros.

It included a permanent reduction in VAT on gas and electricity from 25 to 13 percent and the equalisation of VAT on gas, electricity and heat, and in the period from April 2022 to March the 31st, 2023, VAT on Croatian gas prices will be reduced to five percent.

Monthly vouchers for the most vulnerable amomg us for electricity and gas were raised from 200 to 400 kuna, and the package also included a monthly fee for social service providers, 46,000 of them, as well as special one-time benefits for retirees.

As Dalibor Pudic, president of the Croatian Gas Association, told Jutarnji List, the price of gas on the world market has risen between 20 and 25 percent over more recent days, but if all the measures announced by the government are applied, there will be no major Croatian gas price increases for households.

''The prices of public services will be according to plan and in that sense the price increase for households, should not occur until April 2023. But when we talk about legal entities, here the matter is left to the market and contracts will be concluded at prices that will be valid at the time when individual entities renew those contracts. It's really difficult to guarantee that there will be no change in prices because the price of gas on the world market has risen between 20 and 25 percent and the situation is changing day by day,'' said Pudic.

The president of the Association of Gas Suppliers and Distributors of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Srecko Ezgeta, confirmed the same.

''When it comes to households, it's certain that the calculation presented earlier is valid, according to which Croatian gas prices for households will not increase more than what was announced. But the problem is what will happen if the Russians suspend gas supplies to Europe,'' Ezgeta said.

In that case, he continued, Croatia should be insured thanks to the LNG terminal, but the price of gas arriving by ship would certainly have a different price than the one we currently pay for Russian gas.

''Even if the Russians stopped the gas, we could still get it from other sources, but at what prices, it's difficult to say. In addition, if Europe's gas supply is at stake, it is likely that some other energy sources will have to be used,'' he explained to Jutarnji list, adding that the price of gas on the global market has risen due to the war, but not yet drastically.

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