The Krk LNG terminal (image: Shutterstock.com)

Ćorić said on commercial Croatian television channel Nova TV that Hungaryʼs Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó had sent Zagreb a declaration of intent on the acquisition of the stake a few weeks earlier. Talks on the matter are ongoing, he added.

Croatiaʼs government decided in January to allocate EUR 100 million for the construction of the LNG terminal on Krk in 2019-2020. The European Union is covering a little more than EUR 101 mln of the EUR 234 mln investment.

Last September, it was reported that the establishment of an interconnector with reverse-flow capability could allow Hungary to buy gas from Croatia by the end of 2019. Szijjártó said at the time that Hungary could access entirely new sources of gas when the countryʼs long-term contract on deliveries from Russia expires at the end of 2020, at the latest.

This February, Szijjártó said that Hungary and Slovenia could apply jointly for European Union funding to connect their gas networks, allowing Hungary to import LNG from Italy. He noted that such an investment would serve to diversify Hungaryʼs energy supply, indicating at the time that the prices at which Croatia wants to sell gas through the LNG terminal are too high.