Bečarević: BH-Gas sent fictitious orders to Gazprom to conceal gas supply reduction

Almir Bečarević, the long-time director of BH-Gas, addressed the public in an open letter provided to the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- In the past period, as is well known, there were restrictions on gas supplies by Gazprom to certain European countries. The restrictions started with a reduction of 2% and increased up to 35%, and in some countries up to 50%. During that period, this restriction was not felt in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the sending of fictitious gas orders. That is, each daily order by BH-Gas was increased by 30%, so that when Gazprom reduces the ordered quantity by 30%, you receive the necessary and actual quantities for that day - states Bečarević's letter.

He notes that on October 2, 2014, he sent an email to the management of BH-Gas with the following statement: 

- Slovakia has had its gas supply restricted, since yesterday by 50%, and you assess whether this could happen to us as well. Everything can be done fictitiously, but there are no fools sitting in Gazprom either (you know what I mean). This email was ignored, and instead, statements were released to the public that supplies were regular and that it was a technical issue (see the statement on the BH-Gas website) - states Bečarević.

Why are there restrictions on gas supplies by Gazprom at all?

- For one simple reason: some European countries were ordering more gas than needed and reselling it to Ukraine to fill storage facilities. When Gazprom noticed this, they began imposing restrictions. Many European countries were affected: Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, BiH, etc. What is happening on the market today, with the arrival of the first cold weather in all these countries, is a shortage of gas from regular supplies, due to the supply restrictions described above. How will this reflect on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will it at all? You must check this with BH-Gas, unless there is another "optimistic statement" again. It would not be fair to the management of BH-Gas for me to give my assessment of further developments. I gave my assessment in the email cited above on October 2, 2014, and predicted what would happen. At the same time, and I will repeat this once more, I do not understand why BH-Gas did not initiate a procedure to reduce the gas price in 2015, given the drastic reduction in Gazprom's gas price - states Bečarević.

Finally, he says that "the aim of these open letters is not to rub salt into someone's wound, but to inform the public objectively, which is not the case. Those who care about the gas sector have not shown sufficient sensitivity towards the public and towards the truth (it is not the time now to talk about corrupt activities)".