ZAGREB, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian government decided on Thursday to treat the building of a floating terminal to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the Adriatic island Krk as a strategic project, Croatian National Television reported.

The decision should speed up preparations to start building the terminal, planned to be finished by the end of 2019. The new LNG terminal aims to secure Croatian energy needs and diversify the gas supply for Central and Southeastern European countries.

The total value of the project is 360 million euros (about 448 million U.S. dollars).

In December 2017, Croatia and the European Union signed an agreement on a 101.4 million euros grant for the construction of the terminal.

By declaring the project as strategic in all its phases, the government wants to clear any doubts about building the terminal on Krk, a project which has been criticized by some environmental groups and local authorities.

At an energy conference in Zagreb on Jan. 30, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic emphasized that LNG terminal could propel Croatia into a more prominent role in European energy policies.

At the same conference, European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic stated that the construction of the LNG Terminal would fulfill one of the main goals of energy union -- better connections and diversification of energy supply.