April 28 (SeeNews) - Canadian-based Pulsar Capital and BSH Group are close to completing a deal to buy a land plot on the Croatian Adriatic island of Krk where the government has planned to build an LNG terminal, local media reported on Thursday.
The project for the construction of the LNG terminal has made little progress over the past several years as, according to media reports, unresolved land ownership has been one of the stumbling blocks.
Pulsar Capital and BSH Group plan to invest 4.7 billion euro ($5.3 billion) in transforming Krk island into an energy hub, news agency Hina reported.
The Canadian investors, backed by several local companies including Koncar, Tehnika, Dalekovod, plan to invest in seven different projects on Krk including an offshore and onshore LNG terminal, a heating plant, connecting gas pipelines with Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary, the news agency said.
The private investors are seeking the government's support and would be happy to team up with LNG Hrvatska, the state-owned company in charge of the government's LNG project, it added.
In January, Croatia's government announced it has received seven offers from world-renowned companies or funds from the gas and financial sectors interested in developing the LNG terminal. However, in March Croatia's first deputy prime minister Tomislav Karamarko said that the government is considering going for a floating LNG receiving terminal instead of a land-based facility as previously planned.
Karamarko's statement came shortly after the European Investment Bank issued a statement saying it is considering providing a 339 million euro loan to LNG Hrvatska for the implementation of the project.
The terminal will have a throughput capacity of 6 Gm3/year and will include a tanker jetty to accommodate the LNG carriers, 2 LNG storage tanks with a total storage capacity of up to 360 000 m3 LNG, vaporisers and ancillary equipment, the EIB said at the time.
($=0.88297 euro)