February 14, 2023 - For the first time in the thirty-year history of the Croatian state, the United States of America has made its way into Croatia's four most important foreign trade partners when it comes to importing goods, all thanks to the import of American liquefied gas.

As Poslovni / Večernji List write, in the first 11 months of last year, goods worth 2.88 billion euros were imported from America, in contrast to the year before, when imports were only 415 million euros. More significant goods imports were recorded only from the traditionally strongest Croatian partners of Italy, Germany, and Slovenia.

The value of goods imported from the USA is seven times higher than that of goods imported in 2021, all thanks to the liquefied gas that ended up in the liquid natural gas terminal in Omišalj.

How much of last year's imported liquefied gas remained in Croatia and how much was exported to other countries is currently impossible to read from the first commodity exchange data because such analyses are published afterward.

It is possible that the gas was going to Hungary and Cyprus because exports to those two countries stand out. However, while the import of expensive liquefied gas from America exploded, the export of Croatian companies to the US decreased by around 9 percent compared to the year before, which is contrary to the general trend in the foreign trade exchange of Croatian entrepreneurs.

The value of merchandise exports in 2022 was 23.9 billion euros, which is 30 percent more than in 2021, while imports increased by 46 percent, to 41.6 billion euros, announced the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

The figures are dizzying and are mainly the result of inflation and rising energy prices, and judging by the dynamics with which exports grew; it seems that inflation is also slowing down, writes Večernji list journalist Ljubica Gatarić.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

ZAGREB, 20 June 2022 - Croatia will expand the capacity of its LNG terminal off Krk Island from 2.9 billion to 6.1 billion cubic metres, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Riga on Monday while attending the Three Seas Initiative summit meeting.

The Three Seas Initiative, launched by Croatia and Poland, is an informal political platform of 12 countries located between the three seas -- Baltic, Adriatic and Black -- with the aim of boosting their energy, transport and infrastructure connectivity.

Addressing the meeting in the Latvian capital city, PM Plenković said that the increased capacity of the LNG terminal to 6.1 billion cubic metres was far above Croatia's needs.

This increase will enable Croatia to become a regional energy hub, which is also beneficial to our neighbouring countries: Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary said Plenković.

The premier also commented on transport connectivity and highlighted the pan-European 5C corridor from Hungary via Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina reaching the southern Croatian seaport of Ploče.

The Three Seas Initiative was born out of a shared interest in developing transport, energy and digital infrastructure connections on the EU’s north-south axis.

The initiative was launched in 2015 at the proposal of the then Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and her Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.

The very first summit meeting was held in Dubrovnik in 2016, while the initiative's investment fund now stands at €928 million.

According to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who addressed the summit meeting via video, new American contributions will raise this amount above a billion euros.

Plenković said that the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF) is the most logical way for making investments in energy, transport and digital projects in Croatia.

The contribution of Croatia's development bank (HBOR) in this fund stands at €20 million. Croatia is currently proposing 11 projects to be funded under the 3SIIF-financed schemes.

Apart from Plenković, several heads of state or government arrived in Riga for the two-day event.

The executives of several Croatian companies, including Končar, the Luka Rijeka port, and Plinacro, are also taking part in the business conferences in Riga today and tomorrow.

Tourists from the countries covered by the Three Seas Initiative account for 40% of guests visiting Croatia.

This group of countries is interesting for Croatia, and furthermore, they are also part of our Central European identity, said Plenković.

During his visit, he will hold several bilateral meetings, including a meeting with Latvian President Egils Levits and Google Vice-President Karan Bhatia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr  Zelenskyy addressed the Riga event via a video link.

The next summit meeting will take place in Romania.

These countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia make up the initiative.

For more, check out our politics section.

April the 14th, 2022 - LNG Croatia has made quite the name for itself owing to a new service it offers, making it unique in the world of the LNG industry. With the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine prompting harsh sanctions against that country, nations which relied and still do rely heavily on the import of Russian gas are now busy seeking new ways to meet their gas needs to end their reliance on the aggressor. 

This new LNG Croatia service is definitely something that will place this Terminal's offer more firmly on the map as the situation with sanctions against Russia continues to unfold.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the operator of the LNG Terminal (LNG Croatia) has enabled its users the ability to have a brand new non-standard service provided to them - the reloading of LNG from the FSRU ship to LNG transport trucks, LNG Croatia recently announced.

They stated from LNG Croatia that by providing this service, the LNG Terminal located on the island of Krk has become unique in the world of the LNG industry, since LNG Croatia is the very first to perform the complex operation of the transshipment of LNG directly from the FSRU ship to the tank trucks.

The Terminal's users will be provided with an average of forty appointments per month for the arrival of the LNG trucks, and the company claims that by providing this service, the Terminal in Omisalj has once again proven its significant role in the development of the natural gas market in this part of Europe.

LNG Croatia also informed the public about the increase in the technical capacity of the LNG Terminal. The new technical capacity, ie the maximum capacity of LNG gasification now stands at an impressive 338,000 m3/hour.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

October 27, 2021 - LNG Croatia seafarers at the LNG terminal in Omišalj will need to be vaccinated with at least the first dose by November 1 this year. 

Index.hr reports that LNG Croatia seafarers on board the floating unit for liquefied natural gas (FSRU) at the LNG terminal in Omišalj will have to be vaccinated if they want to continue working at the terminal, announced the Norwegian company Golar, which employs the seafarers at the LNG terminal.

Hrvoje Krhen, director of LNG Croatia, which operates the terminal, confirmed the news received from Golar.

"They must be vaccinated with the first dose of vaccine no later than November 1 this year, and the second no later than January 1 next year. Otherwise, the company will no longer guarantee them employment," Krhen said.

Only seafarers who have recovered from Covid-19 in the last six months and have a valid recovery certificate will be exempted from this obligation.

"Until now, no one without a Covid-certificate could enter the terminal, including the ship. Thus, at each boarding, seafarers also had to have a certificate that they had been vaccinated, tested negative, or displayed a certificate that they had recovered from Covid-19. This is a serious business in which we cannot risk the crew becoming infected and the supply of the natural gas market in question," Krhen told Novi list.

Mario Zorović, president of the Croatian Association of Seafarers' Employment Brokers, whose agency employs part of the ship's crew, says most large shipping companies are expected to introduce mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 soon, without which boarding will not be possible.

"So far, several large companies, such as Stena and Hoegh LNG, have introduced vaccination obligations for all their seafarers. I must point out that most seafarers have accepted the obligation to vaccinate, and a good part of them have already been vaccinated. For example, out of 200 seafarers we employ on Hoegh LNG ships, only one refused to be vaccinated," Zorović said.

There are about 17,000 Croatian seafarers in international navigation, of which as many as 77 percent are officers on ships. Just over 50 percent of them have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Still, the Association expects that number to increase significantly now that companies have started introducing mandatory vaccination as a condition for obtaining or retaining a job.

The Secretary-General of the Croatian Seafarers' Union, Neven Melvan, points out that the introduction of vaccination obligations should not be in the domain of shipping companies but should be decided at the level of the World Maritime Organization (IMO).

For more on business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Is Croatia at an energetic turning point?

Such flexible pipeline technology has so far been being used in both oil and gas production and processing.

The never-ending story continues.

The new CEO of LNG Croatia is hopeful, despite all the delays and problems.

ZAGREB, February 18, 2018 - All activities concerning the future liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Omišalj on the island of Krk are going according to plan and the timeline agreed with the European Commission, which is taking part in the funding of the project, the director of the LNG Croatia company, Goran Frančić, told Hina in an interview.

ZAGREB, February 3, 2018 - Social Democrat MP Željko Jovanović told reporters in Rijeka on Saturday that the planned adoption of a law on the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Omišalj on the island of Krk, as announced by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, would be contrary to the Constitution and the European Charter of Local Self-Government, as well as decisions by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Omišalj municipality and the will of local residents.