June 15 (SeeNews) - Croatia's parliament passed on Thursday a law aimed to speed up the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk, popularly termed Lex LNG.
Lex LNG was supported by 77 votes, with 25 MPs voting against. Most members of the opposition left parliament prior to the vote after submitting 360 amendments, all of which were turned down, a live stream of the parliament session showed.
The law regulates property and legal issues at the site of the terminal and how a concession will be granted for the coastal strip, among other things.
The project will be implemented in two phases, which envisage the construction of a floating terminal and a land-based terminal.
In December the EU issued a 101.4 million euro ($117.4 million) grant for the construction of the LNG terminal on the island of Krk.
The European Commission said at the time that the LNG terminal will first operate as an offshore floating storage and regasification unit with a yearly capacity of at least 2 billion cubic metres. Its cost is estimated at 383.6 million euro.
Construction works are expected to be completed in December 2019.
($=0.8639 euro)