Zagreb, October 15, 2019 – The Working and Formal Sessions of the Assembly of the Croatian Gas Association (CGA) and the celebration of the 17th Gas Day have traditionally brought together many participants from the gas market and have also awakened the interest of some media companies. The ceremony was held in the building of INA, d.d., in Zagreb. INA, d.d. also sponsored the event. About 200 experts from the gas and energy industry attended the event: representatives of numerous institutions, directors, CEOs of energy companies, university professors and media representatives. The current challenges of the gas sector and the development and role of gas in the future were main topics of this meeting. The financial report of CGA for 2018 was presented and both the working and financial plans for 2020 were accepted.
The meeting was welcomed by Assistant Minister Zvonimir Novak from the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Assistant Minister Danijel Zamboki from the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning and Assistant Minister Domagoj Validzic from the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
At the beginning of the session, President of the CGA Assist. Prof. Dalibor Pudic, Ph.D., gave his comment on the recent events in the gas sector and listed the activities of the CGA from the past and the current year.
In his introductory presentation Tomislav Jurekovic, B.Sc. Eng., Chairman of the Board of the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency, presented the latest views and messages of the new structure of the European Commission regarding the status and future of natural gas as an energy source in the transition period towards a low carbon economy. He stressed the important role which the Republic of Croatia will receive with its presidency at the beginning of next year.
Antonija Glavas, B.Sc. Econ., Member of the Board and Executive Director for Import, Trade and Supply of Prvo plinarsko drustvo d.o.o., referred to different gas contracting models in terms of price unpredictability in the previous period.
Mirko Lukic, B.Sc. Eng., Chief Production System Engineering Specialist from INA, d.d., presented the contribution of the domestic natural gas production to the energy industry of the Republic of Croatia with further operational plans of the company.
Josip Jovanovac, B.Sc. Eng., Head of Technology Management at Plinacro Ltd., explained the role of the built-in process gas chromatographs for gas quality control and energy billing in the transportation system, which will raise the gas business to an even higher level.
Marko Blazevic, B.Sc. Eng., Director of the Gas Development Sector of HEP Trade, listed numerous challenges the gas sector is facing regarding the fall of domestic gas production and increase of imports, trends in the gas supply for the EU, in terms of Russia-Ukraine geopolitical relations and the expiration of their mutual agreement on gas supply, and the occupancy rate of gas storage facilities in the Republic of Croatia and in Europe.
In the formal session of the 17th Gas Day celebration, the CGA awards were distributed.
Special recognitions for activities in media coverage of topics on the gas and energy industry for 2019 were awarded to Ms. Dorotea Lazanin Jelenc, LL.M., Head of Corporate Communications of the ENNA Group, and Mr. Bruno Krcelic, M.A., Independent Expert Associate for Marketing and Promotion at Corporate Communications of the ENNA Group.
The recognition for Comprehensive Business Success (Manager of the Year) for 2019 was awarded to Mr. Damir Pecusak, B.Sc. Econ., Director of HEP Plin d.o.o. in Osijek.
The recognition for contribution to the development of education and the development of the use of natural gas for 2019 was awarded to Assist. Prof. Igor Sutlovic, Ph.D., Full Professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb.
The recognition for special contribution to the development of the gas industry in 2019 was awarded to Nikola Vistica, Ph.D., Member of the Board of Commissioners of the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency.
The recognition for special contributions to the development of efficient oil and gas exploration and production in 2019 was awarded to Mr. Vladimir Tisljar, B.Sc., Business Development Consultant at INA, d.d., Field Development, Mining Technology.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for exceptional contributions to the development of the gas industry, profession, science and education in the gas profession was bestowed upon Assist. Prof. Miljenko Sunic, Ph.D., Honorary President of the Croatian Gas Association.
On behalf of all the awardees, Assist. Prof. Miljenko Sunic, Ph.D., expressed his gratitude at the end of the meeting.