00:00These heavy machines are constructing one of four new gas pipelines in Croatia.
00:06They'll connect the LNG terminal on the island of Krk with other parts of the country,
00:11then Slovenia, and in the future, Hungary.
00:15It's part of a major upgrade of Croatia's entire natural gas network.
00:20Not only the expansion of our output capacity for Slovenia,
00:26but also an expansion on the terminal on the island of Krk.
00:30It is in the extension phase.
00:32Its capacity will be expanded from the existing 2.9 to 6.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
00:40The ships carrying LNG dock in this terminal,
00:43where the liquefied gas is converted back to the gas state
00:47and then pumped through the pipes to the consumers.
00:50Most of the LNG arriving here is from the U.S. and the Middle East,
00:55a very different situation compared to before the conflict in Ukraine.
01:00Here in Croatia, over the last two decades, we were stuck between the U.S. and Russian influence.
01:05Russia was pushing against the construction of the LNG terminal,
01:09while the U.S. was pushing for it.
01:11Now, after the crisis initiated by the war in Ukraine,
01:15this terminal has become very important.
01:19But some see it as merely a backup, a temporary sticking plaster for the EU gas crisis.
01:26They say LNG is consistently more expensive than pipeline-delivered natural gas.
01:33I hope this war will end and that collaboration between Russia and Europe can resume.
01:39Russia is a natural supplier of gas to Europe.
01:42This facility can stay as a backup for some unexpected situations, which I hope won't arise.
01:49While Russian gas deliveries remain suspended,
01:51for Croatia and many other EU countries in the region,
01:54the LNG coming from the Krk terminal is the only way to get their energy.
01:59Aljoša Milenković, CGTN, Zagreb.
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