November 14 (SeeNews) - The Croatian government said on Thursday it has extended to December 31 the deadline given to Chinese company Zhongya Real Estate to pay 14.1 million kuna ($2.1 million/1.9 million euro) for acquiring Hotel Zagorje.
The extension was granted upon a request filed by the investor, who said that the current political tensions between China and Hong Kong impede the money transfer from Hong Kong, the Croatian government said in a statement.
The original payment deadline expired 30 days after the entering into force of the August 6 contract signed by Zhongya and the Croatian government for the sale of Hotel Zagorje, the cabinet said.
Hotel Zagorje is located in Kumrovec, some 60 km north from the capital Zagreb. The hotel has a total area of 27,000 square metres.
Zhongya was the sole bidder in the tender for the holel, which Croatia opened in March.
In August, Zhongya founder Jiang Yu said the company plans to develop a 200 million kuna congress and health tourism facility at the location, adding the launch of construction works is planned for 2020.
Jiang Yu is already involved in several investment projects in Croatia, planning to build a traditional Chinese medicine centre at the site of an existing hotel in the mountainous resort of Krapinske Toplice in the north, nearby Kumrovec, as part of a 20 million euro ($22 million) investment programme. The plan also includes building a new hotel in Krapinske Toplice, as well as a nursing home for elderly people.
In October, local media reported that Jiang Yu had submitted a letter of intent for investing in the Osijek airport, in north-eastern Croatia, with plans to develop its cargo and passenger terminals, and build a logistics centre in the adjacent area.
(1 euro = 7.4028 kuna)