(ANSA) - TRIESTE - The Croatian government has awarded ten concession areas of the Adriatic Sea for the exploration of possible extraction of gas and oil.

The consortium of the American Marathon Oil and the Austrian OMV has won seven of 10 areas. Two licenses went to the consortium of the Croatian public company Ina and Hungary's Mol, the last one to a consortium of Italy's Eni and British Medoilgas.

The cabinet led by Zoran Milanovic estimates an investment of 2.5 billion dollars for exploration over the next five years.

The tender had a starting price of 14 million dollars for the entire area, and the government said that the offers will grant an immediate 100 million dollars income.

The move was criticized by some representatives of the tourism sector of the country, which today is worth more than 15% of GDP, and by environmental groups. (ANSA).