According to the proposed gas market law, until the year 2011, the Government will determine its price, not Ina, it was stated at today’s Government session. The gas market would gradually liberalize, in accordance with the conditions in the domestic market and the economic and social circumstances in the country.
The status of a privileged buyer, for whom the Government will determine the price, would be acquired from August this year by a buyer who does not belong to the household category, while one year later, all households would acquire the status of a privileged buyer. The Government would be allowed to prescribe the maximum level of gas price for a limited time until 2011, and this right could be specifically used in the case of a buyer who purchases gas for the production of thermal energy for tariff customers.
As stated in the law, the Government would use this authority to determine the maximum price for the protection of consumers, market regulation, or other justified reasons, and in determining it, it would take into account the price of gas on the international market and the available quantity of gas produced on the territory of our country and in the continental shelf underwater. The Government also proposed another law that must be aligned with the EU, concerning safety in railway transport, for which it is necessary to secure additional funds of about 13 billion kuna from the budget in the next three years. (Lidija Kiseljak)
