Bečarević: BiH's debts to Russia are piling up, limited gas supplies will last

The reduction in gas imports from Russia to BiH is still in effect, and it is questionable whether the signed agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union will resolve the "gas crisis", writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The former long-time director of BH-Gas, Almir Bečarević, also reacted to the current situation, stating that reduced gas supplies to Serbia from Russia should also concern the authorities in BiH.  

- If Serbia is limited in its gas supplies, all due to accumulated debts, then the prospects for BiH are not bright either. One thing is clear: these restrictions have nothing to do with filling gas storage facilities in Russia, but with the relations between Ukraine and Russia and any debts that certain countries have towards Gazprom. Since BiH's debts to Gazprom, with the October invoice, amount to over 10 million USD and since no guarantee for gas procurement has been issued to date, and if the reason for the supply restrictions is the issue of debts, then these supply restrictions will last - warns Bečarević. 

He also said that with the onset of colder weather, heating restrictions will be masked for longer, or if they want warm apartments, a third of the heating plants will have to switch to fuel oil.

- It is regrettable that to this day no one has informed the public of the real truth nor demanded accountability in the gas procurement process. When half of Europe had no gas (in 2009), BiH bought gas on the free market within 72 hours. We have been limited in supplies for days and no one is asking what is happening and why the missing gas quantities are not being bought on the market - Bečarević asks.

Otherwise, the heating plants, with the permission of the KS Ministry of Spatial Planning and the KS Government, have introduced daily heating suspensions between 12 PM and 2 PM.

Minister Zlatko Petrović said that "the apartments are not cold, although some think they are", perhaps implying that due to the relatively high air temperature, the citizens of Sarajevo are warmer. Whether going outside will be an "alternative" for heating for Sarajevans in the coming days is a question that Petrović needs to answer.