February 24 (SeeNews) - The EU's decision to grant 102 million euro to Croatia for the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal was the most popular SeeNews story this week.
The possible sale of Croatian soft drinks and water bottling company Jamnica to Coca Cola, and Ryanair's plans for expansion on the Romanian market come next.
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These, and more of our top news stories which you might have missed, you can find below:
EU GRANTS 102 MLN EURO TO CROATIA FOR LNG TERMINAL PROJECT
Croatia's government said it has received a 102 million euro ($108.7 million) grant from the European Union for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Adriatic island of Krk. The funds will cover 50% of the pre-construction study and 27.94% of the works. The total value of the project is 363 million euro.
Currently, the government is in the final phase of selecting a strategic investor, with construction works scheduled to begin in 2019. To read the full story: http://bit.ly/2lRAhg6
CROATIA'S AGROKOR MULLS SALE OF JAMNICA TO COCA COLA
Croatian privately-held concern Agrokor is considering selling its soft drinks and water bottling company Jamnica [ZSE:JMNC-R-A] to Coca Cola. Agrokor is seeking 800 million euro ($851.6 million) for its controlling stake in Jamnica, but Coca Cola is not willing to pay over 500 million euro, news portal Tportal reported citing unnamed sources from Agrokor. http://bit.ly/2mkAdD5
RYANAIR TARGETS 40% RISE IN PASSENGER NUMBERS ON ROMANIAN ROUTES IN FY 2018
Irish low-cost air carrier Ryanair aims to connect Bucharest with all top European business capitals and expects to carry 40% more passengers to and from Romania in fiscal year 2018, sales and marketing executive for Central and Eastern Europe Denis Barabas told SeeNews in an interview. With 13 new routes in the pipeline for 2017 summer season, Ryanair expects to carry some 2.6 million passengers to and from the four airports which it operates in Romania in fiscal year 2018 starting April 1.
Starting in March, Ryanair will launch two new routes from Oradea to Spain's Barcelona and Italy's Milan and a new route from Bucharest to Palermo in Italy. http://bit.ly/2msGgEJ
MACEDONIANS STILL PASSIONATE ABOUT EU MEMBERSHIP DESPITE SLOW PROGRESS - POLL
Macedonian citizens' support for their country's membership in the European Union remains exceptionally high despite the slow progress that it has been making towards accession, a survey carried out by a Skopje-based think-tank showed.
As many as 77% of Macedonians would like to see their country join the EU, while 17% are against it, the survey conducted by the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis Skopje (IDSCS) last year showed.
According to the results of another IDSCS survey, whose results were also presented on Friday, the largest share of Macedonians, 26.2%, see the EU as their country's best foreign ally. Russia is the preferred ally for 25%, as ethnic Macedonians tend to be more pro-Russian than ethnic Albanians. http://bit.ly/2lDSo9r
IMF TO TERMINATE LOAN DEAL IF BOSNIA FAILS TO MEER REFORM TARGETS BY MARCH
Bosnia if the country fails to deliver on reform pledges by next month, local media reported on Monday.
If local politicians aren't able to reach a consensus on fulfilling prior actions they committed to in the letter of intent submitted to the IMF last year, then the IMF will cancel the arrangement with the country, news daily Nezavisne quoted the finance minister of Bosnia's Serb Republic entity, Zoran Tegeltija, as saying. if this happens, Bosnia will have to open negotiations with the IMF on concluding a new funding arrangement. http://bit.ly/2lh9PZY
EU BACKS SLOVENIAN-CROATIAN SMART GRID PROJECT WITH 40 MLN EURO
The European Union is supporting a joint Slovenian-Croatian smart grid project called Sincro.grid with 40.5 million euro ($43.2 million), the Croatian government said. The project will enable current infrastructure to cope with the uptake of additional renewable energy and result in greater energy security without the need to build new overhead cables. http://bit.ly/2l7lJ7G