Bečarević responds: BH Gas did not dispute payments to Hungarians, FBiH Government approved Annex 23.

SARAJevo, (Patria) – Almir Bečarević, an employee of BH Gas, reacted to yesterday's statements made at a press conference regarding the gas price situation and payments made by BH Gas, which were discussed by Minister Nermin Džindić, Energoinvest Director Bisera Hadžialjević, and acting BH Gas Director Mihajlo Krmpotić.

Bečarević explains that the termination clause with the Hungarian supplier was increased from 5 million to 23 million dollars based on the consent of the Supervisory Board and two letters from the FBiH Government.

“Annex 23 with the Hungarians was signed and the termination clause was increased based on the consent of the Supervisory Board and two letters from the FBiH Government. The Supervisory Board gave its consent to the signing of Annex 23 via telephone. So, the Supervisory Board voted on this annex by phone, they were probably so sure they were doing the right thing. The termination clause was increased due to the approved 'summer discount' until 2023 in the amount of 40 million KM, and that is why the gas price was reduced twice, and all of this is in the explanations to the FBiH Government. With Annex 19, the termination clause was 7.5 million USD and it was increased from 2.8 million USD, which was its amount before the signing of that annex (in 2015),” says Bečarević.

He states that numerous details about the Annex to the contract with the Hungarians were omitted at the press conference.

“It is shameful to omit that these same Hungarians forgave 40 million KM, and all of this exists in the FBiH Government's documents, and the gas price was reduced twice. This discount dictated the increase of the termination clause to 23 million USD, and the FBiH Government knew this, and the Prime Minister's advisor, with the help of the minister, wrote two guarantee letters to the Hungarians, which are an integral part of Annex 23,” Bečarević states.

He adds that no payment made by BH Gas to the Hungarians was disputed by the Supervisory Board, and that everything is recorded in the minutes of the Supervisory Board meetings.

“It was requested that they make a decision if they believe that payments should not be made to the Hungarians, but that was never the subject of any decision,” the response states.

Bečarević also announced the possibility of legal action if the accusations continue, and once again called on investigative and police authorities to review everything.

“The FBiH Government is the guarantor of Annex 23, and that is the only truth, and there are transcripts from sessions 215 and 219 of the Government meetings regarding this. As for the Financial Police, they came for a routine inspection, and there are 6 witnesses for that. They worked for two or three days and went on vacation until September 10. To the regret of many, I have already given them these documents, and they requested all correspondence with Energoinvest and the Ministry regarding the switch to the Turkish Stream and payments to the Hungarians. All correspondence is filed in the finance department's register, and in case it disappears, it is also available elsewhere,” Bečarević states.

He also asks Minister Džindić why they did not publicly disclose the Russian invoices and Energoinvest's invoices to industrial consumers.

“The Turkish Stream is more expensive, and that's the end of the story because invoices don't lie.”

Bečarević also commented on the statements of Director Bisera Hadžialjević, stating that Energoinvest had a merchandise sale of 53 million KM in the six-month period (SASE data), of which 3 million was on the foreign market.

“From the large Energoinvest, which had foreign market revenues of up to 300 million KM, you have reduced it to 3 million. Energoinvest's business is now only gas, which has never been the case in the company's history. In the period October-December 2021, you will sell gas below the cost price, and only through accounting tricks (e.g., increasing the value of assets, if any are left) will you be able to hide the loss from employees and owners. From the new year, you will have to seek an increase in the gas price in the range of 25%-40%, and if you do not get it, you will have to cover tens of millions of marks in price differences. In addition, there will be an invoice for 23 million USD from the Hungarian company FGSZ because payments under the current contract have been suspended,” Bečarević stated.

Otherwise, at yesterday's press conference, Hadžialjević confirmed that there was an increase in the price of gas, justifying it with stock market prices. As announced, the price for consumers will not change until the end of the year, and what will happen from next year will be seen very soon.