The Gateway Project began in 2003, with the conclusion of a contract between the Republic of Croatia, Hrvatske ceste d.o.o., Hrvatske autoceste d.o.o., the Port Authority Rijeka and the Port of Rijeka j.s.c. on one hand and the World Bank – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the other. The goal of the project is to increase market competitiveness and efficiency of the Port of Rijeka and its traffic route. The project consists of three components: the road, city and port component – the latter is managed by the Port Authority Rijeka. Part of the project within the port component is the process of introducing private capital into port operations. In coordination with the World Bank the implementation process of the first strategic partnership is under way at the Container Terminal of the Port of Rijeka (Adriatic Gate j.s.c.). Eleven companies were listed as possible strategic partners for the Adriatic Gate j.s.c. - Jadranska vrata d.d.; after the submitted prequalification documents were analysed and evaluated, the following potential strategic partners were placed on the shortlist for further analysis:

–APM Terminals – Rotterdam(www.apmterminals.com )

–Dubai Ports World – London(www.dpworld.com )

–Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG – Hamburg( www.hhla.de )

–International Container Services Inc. – Manila( www.ictsi.com )

–Grup Maritim TCB – Barcelona( www.tcbcn.com)

At the end of this month and during the first ten days of the next (June/July 2010), Adriatic Gate j.s.c. and their potential strategic partners shall introduce their business plan, as well as the strategic vision of their development and future operations on the world market on behalf of the Adriatic Gate j.s.c., that is, the Port of Rijeka Container Terminal.