By opening the valve at the Beli Manastir measuring-reducing station, the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Vladimir Šeks, put into operation the gas pipeline system of the Baranja area and the distribution system of the town of Beli Manastir.
The putting into operation was preceded by a ceremony which was attended, besides Parliament Speaker Vladimir Šeks, by the Minister of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction, Marina Matulović Dropulić, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Petar Čobanković, Minister of Defense, Berislav Rončević, state secretaries, members of the Parliament from the area, Mayor of Beli Manastir, Davorin Bubalović, President of HEP Management Board, Ivan Mravak, members of HEP Management Board Ivica Toljan, Ante Despot and Velimir Lovrić, HEP Plin Director, Darko Bajto, President of Plinacro Management Board, Branko Radošević, and many other guests. The first users of the new gas network, Jozo Bandov and Zlatko Slaviček, Homeland War volunteers and disabled veterans, were handed contracts for free gas connection, donated jointly by the government of the town of Beli Manastir and HEP.
For the population in the Baranja area, the construction of the gas distribution network means improvement in the quality of living, creating also conditions for a faster economic growth. Addressing the audience President of HEP Management Board said he expected the construction of gas infrastructure would be a strong impetus for new entrepreneurial ventures and investments in the area. He stressed that HEP was always willing to follow economic development plans whether of a local community, a wider area, or the entire Croatia. The gas infrastructure development project in Baranja is continuing and HEP plans to build 460 km of gas pipelines in total in and between towns and villages in Baranja, investing a total of 62 million kuna. The project is expected to be completed in 2010 when 20 thousand homes will be able to get connection to the gas distribution network.
