Söder in Zagreb: gas from Krk to Bavaria within two years?

Bavaria's minister-president Markus Söder was in Zagreb on Friday, 2 October 2026, and met Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenković at Banski dvori, the seat of the government. The main topic was energy: Croatia wants to send gas from the LNG terminal on the island of Krk north to Germany, and above all to Bavaria. "We hope that this can happen within the next two years," Plenković told reporters after the meeting. Söder called the southern gas link a project that has to become a priority at European level.

Gas from Krk: what is planned

The LNG terminal at Omišalj on Krk is a floating storage and regasification ship called LNG Croatia, in operation since 2021. Since Söder's last visit, when he and Plenković toured the terminal together, Croatia has nearly doubled its capacity, from 3.1 to 6.1 billion cubic metres a year. The country itself needs about 2.7 billion, so more than half can go to its neighbours. Money from the EU's REPowerEU programme went into new pipelines that link Krk better with Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Bavaria. Plenković also pointed to the planned Southern Gas Interconnection with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Plenković, Croatia has finished its own part of the work, financially and technically. The open question is transit: to reach Bavaria the gas has to cross Slovenia and Austria, and Zagreb now has to agree this with the governments in Ljubljana and Vienna. For Germany the route would mean another supply line without Russia; Croatia, Plenković stressed, buys neither Russian oil nor Russian gas.

What Söder said

Söder recalled his part in organising humanitarian aid for Croatia during the war of the 1990s and described the Croats in Bavaria as true Bavarians who remain closely tied to Croatia. On energy he backed the LNG terminal on Krk and a southern energy corridor that would link Croatia through Slovenia and Austria with central Europe, Germany and above all Bavaria. The project has to become a priority at European level, he said, and he will push for it in Berlin and Brussels. He called Croatia and Germany partners in the EU and NATO who need a joint answer to security challenges and to Russian influence in Europe.

Bavaria and Croatia in numbers

Croatia and Bavaria have worked together through the Croatian-Bavarian commission for more than 50 years. About 115,000 Croats live in Bavaria. Of the roughly 3.1 million German tourists who visit Croatia each year, about 40 percent come from Bavaria, Plenković said. Trade between Croatia and Bavaria reaches 1.8 billion euros a year. Many Bavarian companies work in Croatia, and part of the defence equipment Croatia has ordered from Germany, the Leopard tanks, is built in Bavaria.

Munich's Olympic bid

Söder asked Croatia to support Munich, chosen at the end of September as Germany's candidate to host the Olympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044. "Croatia supports it, and we look at the German bid with sympathy," Plenković replied.

Fuel prices: the government steps in again on Monday

For anyone driving to Croatia this autumn, one more point from the press conference matters. Plenković said the government will intervene in fuel prices again at a telephone session on Monday, 5 October 2026; the final figures were not ready on Friday. According to him, the current measures keep blue diesel (for farming and fishing) 10 cents, petrol 20 cents and diesel 32 cents cheaper than they would be without them. Croatia has also asked the European Commission for permission to cut excise duty below the EU minimum.

What it means for your trip

• Nothing changes for travellers for now: the gas link to Bavaria is a plan for the coming years, and the transit through Slovenia and Austria has not been agreed yet.
• Croatia caps the prices of petrol and diesel. If you drive down, check the new maximum prices after Monday's government session before you fill up at the border.
• The LNG terminal is at Omišalj in the north of Krk, close to Rijeka airport and the Krk bridge.