May 27 (SeeNews) - Croatia's Plinacro and Crodux Plin have signed deals to feed gas to Brod oil refinery in Bosnia majority owned by Russia's Zarubezhneft in order to reduce cross-border air pollution by converting the operations of the plant away from heavy fuel oil, Plinacro said.
State-owned gas transmission system operator Plinacro and privately-held gas trader Crodux Plin have signed a preliminary agreement on connecting a future direct pipeline of Crodux Plin to Plinacro's gas transmission system in Slobodnica, Plinacro said in a statement on Saturday following the signing of the document.
Crodux Plin will transform the existing oil product pipeline linking Slobodnica to Brod into a gas pipeline for the needs of the Brod refinery. The works should be completed within 11 months.
The signing ceremony in the Croatian city of Slavonski Brod was attended by Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitanovic, who has been one of the greatest supporters of the project that aims to reduce air pollution in both Bosnia and Croatia from the use of heavy fuel oil for the refinery's operations.
The refinery is located in Brod, on the southern bank of the Sava river, which in this section forms the border between Bosnia and Croatia. Across the river, on the northern bank, lies Slavonski Brod.
Croatian news agency HINA quoted Crodux Energy director Branko Radosevic as saying that Crodux Plin will invest 24.5 million kuna ($3.7 million/3.3 million euro) in the pipeline.
Under a separate agreement signed with the oil refinery and Zarubezhneft, Crodux Plin will supply the Bosnian refinery with gas over a 10-year period, Radosevic said.
Zarubezhneft's general manager Sergey Kudryashov, also present at the event, was quoted as saying that the operations of the Brod refinery have been suspended since March for a regular overhaul. He said the refinery will resume operations next year once it is connected to the gas supply system.
The Brod refinery will fully meet the EU environmental standards after the overhaul, Kudryashov said.
(1 euro = 7.42288 kuna)