Introduction

The Krk liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project is progressing well. The project foresees the construction of an LNG terminal for the receipt, storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas on the island of Krk, with a nominal annual capacity of 6 billion cubic metres. It received European Commission support as a priority project within the EU energy strategy.

Financial, technical and legal consultancy was awarded to a consortium of Croatian, Italian and Netherlands PwC subsidiaries following a tender in December 2014.(1) An open-season procedure for parties interested in leasing the terminal capacity concluded in May 2015 and attracted 12 applicants. An open procurement process for services for tender documentation and consultancy for construction contracts was announced in July 2015.(2) In the latest development, future operator LNG Croatia Ltd (established for the realisation of the project) announced a call for equity in August 2015.

The call for equity is intended to attract potential industrial and pure equity investors to the project. The equity procedure should ensure financing of the project, but is also likely to affect the ownership structure of LNG Croatia Ltd.

Phases

The call for equity includes three main steps:

• Expression of interest in bidding – interested parties must first submit a prepared expression on interest form, accessible on the LNG Croatia website.
• Request for qualification – on receipt of the initial expression of interest, LNG Croatia will request detailed financial and technical information from interested investors.
• Request for proposal – qualifying applicants will gain admission to a virtual data room which contains the request for proposal form. This includes an indication of the criteria for submission of proposals for investment, a draft of the relevant agreement and the relevant documentation regarding the project.

Timeframe

The timeframe for the tender is as follows:

• The virtual data room will be opened on September 1 2015.
• Binding open-season offers of interest in occupancy of terminal capacities can be made and results will be available until the end of October.
• The deadline for submission of bids by industrial investors is October 30 2015.
• Preferred industrial investors will be announced on November 15 2015.
• The deadline for submission of request for proposal forms for equity investors is December 15 2015.
• Preferred equity investors will announced be on January 15 2016.

The international tender procedure will take place separately and independently from the call for equity process.

For further information on this topic please contact Miran Macešic or Ivana Manovelo at Maćešić & Partners by telephone (+385 51 215 010) or email (mmacesic@macesic.hr or manovelo@macesic.hr). The Maćešić & Partners website can be accessed at www.macesic.hr.

Endnotes

(1) For further details please see "Tender seeks advisors for LNG terminal construction preparations".

(2) For further details see "Second quarter oil and gas update".