Ministry of Economy: We will protect Croatian interests in the Krško Nuclear Power Plant

The interests of Croatian companies in the construction of a dry storage facility for nuclear waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant (NEK) will be maximally protected, the Ministry of Economy announced on Wednesday.

“Croatia has always known how to protect national interests, and this will also be the case with the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which is jointly owned by both the Slovenian and Croatian sides. Ahead of the Nuclear Power Plant is an investment cycle for the construction of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and related investments that will be carried out until the plant’s closure, valued at nearly 200 million euros,” said Minister of Economy Ivan Vrdoljak.

He added that Croatia will “do everything necessary to ensure that Croatian companies have as equitable a share in this investment as possible, in accordance with ownership and management rights.”  “This will be implemented in a way that maximally protects energy and any other security, operational stability, as well as Croatian interests,” Vrdoljak stated.

According to today’s Jutarnji List, preparatory actions are underway to initiate arbitration proceedings against Slovenia due to the conflict between the Croatian and Slovenian sides regarding the management of the nuclear power plant and the fulfillment of the provisions of the intergovernmental agreement that regulates this.

The issue is that, as reported by the newspaper, the Slovenian side refuses to implement the Croatian request for the appointment of a new member of the two-member mixed Management Board of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which is linked to the lack of willingness on the Slovenian side to resolve key open issues.

One of these issues is the significant imbalance in favor of Slovenian companies compared to Croatian ones in the maintenance and investment projects of the plant. The value of these jobs from 2010 to 2014 amounted to about 240 million euros, but the share of Croatian companies in this was only 20 percent, while Slovenian companies accounted for as much as 63 percent. Therefore, there is concern on the Croatian side that they will be “pushed out” during the announced construction of the dry storage facility for nuclear waste, an investment estimated at nearly 200 million euros, as reported by Jutarnji List.