Plenković: Janaf is ready for oil transport to Hungary and Slovakia

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković revealed on Thursday that he has sent a letter to the prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, as well as to the leaders of the European Commission, expressing Croatia’s and Janaf’s readiness for oil transport to Hungary and Slovakia.

The letter to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was sent yesterday in the context of Ukraine’s decision to suspend the transit of oil through its territory by the Russian company Lukoil to Hungary and Slovakia.

In the letter, the Prime Minister emphasized the readiness of Croatia and the Adriatic Oil Pipeline (Janaf) to enable oil transport to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia at a capacity exceeding 14 million tons.

– Janaf, as a company, is ready to negotiate with MOL on transport and ensuring energy security under changed conditions – stated Plenković.

It is important that all actors responsibly set prices

Plenković also commented on the first estimate published yesterday by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) regarding inflation trends in July, which indicated that the inflation rate was 2.3 percent compared to July last year, while remaining at the same level compared to the previous month, i.e., June of this year.

– This means that inflation has been continuously slowing down in Croatia for the 20th month, which is very good. Currently, the inflation rate is the lowest since June 2021, when it was two percent. In contrast to Croatia, inflation has accelerated in as many as 11 countries in the euro area – stated Plenković.

He reminded that the government has been limiting energy prices for almost three years, including capping 30 products from the consumer basket, thus contributing to the reduction of the inflation rate and ensuring its continuous decline.

Therefore, in the context of the tourist season, it is especially important that all market actors behave responsibly when it comes to price formation, Plenković emphasized.

Regarding tourism, since the beginning of the year, there have been 11.6 million arrivals and 55.3 million overnight stays by tourists, which is four percent more arrivals and one percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year. In July alone, there were 4.3 million tourist arrivals and 27 million overnight stays, added Plenković.

These days, more than a million tourists are staying in Croatia on a daily basis, with the highest number in Istria County. The largest number of tourists comes from Germany, with around 10 million overnight stays from that market, while domestic tourists accounted for 6.6 million overnight stays, some of the tourism figures presented by the Prime Minister.