Plinacro Received the First Part of Non-Repayable Funds from the CEF Fund

After Plinacro received 2.25 million euros in non-repayable funds from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for its main LNG pipeline project along the route Zlobin-Bosiljevo-Sisak-Kozarac-Slobodnica in July this year, the story has recently continued, taking on a more formal shape.

Namely, the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), on behalf of the European Commission, and Plinacro have signed Agreement No. INEA/CEF/ENER/M2015/1027646 regarding the non-repayable funds obtained from CEF.

Since Plinacro previously received the aforementioned non-repayable funds to cover half of the costs of the project’s preparatory activities, the Agreement defines how these funds will be used for the feasibility study and investment request, which consists of a business plan (including market test), cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and cross-border cost allocation (CBCA). Additionally, the funds will also be used for the development of the main and execution project for all sections of the pipeline, from Zlobin to Slobodnica. In other words, the pre-investment phase of the project will be co-financed from the CEF fund. The Agreement also stipulates that INEA disburses part of the funds immediately upon its signing, and as a result, 40 percent of the total approved funds has been paid to Plinacro. The remaining amount will be paid upon completion of the preparatory activities for which the funds were approved, which is planned for the first half of 2018.

It is worth noting that the Zlobin-Bosiljevo-Sisak-Kozarac-Slobodnica pipeline project was included in mid-November on the second List of Projects of Common Interest of the European Union (PCI), and it was previously included on the CESEC list of priority projects aimed at ensuring diversification and security of natural gas supply for EU member states from Central and Southeast Europe. It is expected to be part of the Baltic-Adriatic gas corridor, which will connect Polish and Croatian LNG terminals and is crucial for the reliability and sustainability of natural gas supply in the broader region. At the Slobodnica point, it will connect to the existing interconnection Croatia – Hungary and to planned interconnections with Serbia (Slobodnica – Sotin – Bačko Novo Selo) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Slobodnica-Brod-Zenica). Without this pipeline, it would be impossible to transport gas from the LNG terminal to the mentioned countries, and through Hungary further to Slovakia and Ukraine, and through Serbia to Romania and Bulgaria. The total investment value is approximately 370 million euros. Regarding capacities, the total capacity of the pipeline is 10 billion m3/year, and the completion of the first phase (capacity 4.6 billion m3/year) is planned for 2019.