Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP), Croatia’s state-owned electricity company has been granted a loan from commercial banks in the amount of €1 billion to finance the purchase of electricity, gas, coal and heat and purchase gas to be stored underground at Okoli.
Image of an UGS facility. Credit: Quanta UK
Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP), Croatia’s state-owned electricity company has been granted a loan from commercial banks in the amount of €1 billion to finance the purchase of electricity, gas, coal and heat and purchase gas to be stored underground at Okoli.
Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipovic said that the government’s move was motivated by providing a sufficient amount of energy for citizens and the economy under the influence of the crisis in Ukraine.
The government also instructed HEP to secure 270.83 million cubic metres of gas in order to secure gas supplies on the territory of Croatia and push it into the underground storage of this energy source, Okoli. According to the government’s decision, the state will issue state guarantees to HEP for both loans this week.
€600 million will go to buy electricity, gas, coal and heating energy. With the remaining €400 million, HEP will procure 270.8 million cubic meters of natural gas and store it in the Okoli underground gas storage.
“Following the Russian aggression on Ukraine and an increase in energy prices, it is of key importance to ensure the security of energy supplies to households and companies,” economy minister Davor Filipovic told a weekly cabinet meeting on Friday. A video recording of the meeting is published on the government’s web site.
All gas storage facilities should be at least 90% full by November 1 this year, Filipovic said.