More investment and infratructure improvements in the Zadar region.
“Without this facility, we would no longer be able to operate. The area that we are currently leasing from the Jadran Tuna company is not enough for us any more”, said Nenad Horvat, managing director of Pelagos Net Farma company, which is turning a large old warehouse on the bulk cargo pier in Gaženica Port near Zadar into a modern cold storage facility for transport and freezing of small fish, reports Poslovni.hr on October 3, 2015.
Pelagos Net Farma is a company co-owned by General Ante Gotovina, and the investment in the new facility is worth about 18 million kuna. “We initially planned to invest 16.5 million kuna, but during the construction we have encountered some unforeseen problems which increased the total amount of the investment. The new facility will have a storage capacity for 1500 tons of fish to feed tuna and another 100 tons of frozen fish”, said Horvat who this week informed Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, the minister of maritime affairs and transport, about the progress of the works.
“The government has supported truly ambitious plans of the Zadar Port. Through the planned investments, we expect to create new jobs in this area. As for general Gotovina, I have been in contact with him prior to this investment. The Zadar Port is the main operator here and they decide whom they will work with”, said minister Hajdaš Dončić. The Zadar Port has committed itself to investing 216 million kuna in port facilities in the first 10 years.
Managing director of the Zadar Port Nikola Dragičević presented to the minister their investment projects. Currently, they are working on drainage and sewage systems worth five million kuna. This year, the total investments will be worth 12 million kuna, and in the next year they plan to invest around 20 million kuna.
“We expect to conclude the works by early November. We have decided to start this investment because without such a facility we would not be able to develop further. In fact, the quotas for tuna in the Mediterranean increase by 20 percent every two years. This cold storage warehouse will allow us to be competitive on the market. For now, we have 30 employees, but after the investment is concluded we are going to open at least seven new jobs”, said Horvat.
