Croatia’s Awards Likely to Follow General Elections in November

Uncertainties over Croatia’s production-sharing accords remain, as Zagreb reportedly postponed the signing of the deals with Eni SpA, Medoil Plc, INA Industrija Nafte d.d., Oando Inc and Vermilion Energy Inc for on-shore and off-shore drilling.

Apparently, the Government has already agreed to award the licences, which cover a two-year exploration period, extendable by three years. However, the Government does not want to politicise the issue, in the attempt to avoid a loss in the tight general elections that should take place in November. 

“We don’t want these contracts, in which we put a lot of hard work, to become fodder in election campaign” Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.  

The Croatian parliament agreed on Friday to dissolve on Sept. 28. The ballot will take place by the end of November.

Natural Gas Europe tried to contact several stakeholders, but the parties did not give any comments, showing how delicate the issue is.