Bečarević wrote to Šarović: Minister, reveal who does not want the BiH Gas Law

Almir Bečarević, the long-time director of BH-Gas and one of the greatest experts in BiH regarding the gas system, sent a letter to Mirko Šarović, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, reports the Patria news agency.

In the letter, Bečarević states that „after the Energy Community proposed sanctions (they are on the agenda tomorrow) against BiH, and since the Ministry of Trade was the bearer of all activities in fulfilling obligations towards the Energy Community,” he is seeking some answers from Šarović.

I am surprised by the attitude of this ministry in fulfilling obligations in the energy sector, especially because the energy sector is measured in billions of KM, USD, EUR, while other areas are not of that monetary value, but no, factually, they are less significant. The energy sector constitutes the life of a country, and therefore I want to present certain data to you, i.e., I want you to present certain answers to the public – the letter states.

The letter further states that attempts to draft the BiH Gas Law have been ongoing for years, all within the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

It would be useful for you to inform the public why the commission (2011) for drafting the law ceased its work. Since 2011, no activities have been conducted in the MVTEO on this matter (the commission no longer met, and records of that commission's work exist in the MVTEO), except for meetings on how to avoid sanctions.

It would be fair to present what positions the commission members (immediately before the abrupt halt of the commission's work) from each entity had regarding the jurisdiction of the regulator.

- How, in your statements, you constantly promote the idea of harmonizing the two entity gas laws as a solution to avoid sanctions, it would be nice to inform the public what exactly the Energy Community is demanding. As far as I know, your letter to the Energy Community contains exactly this solution and it was rejected as unacceptable. I know that you, personally, do not seek harmonization of entity laws, but it would be useful to finally say who is demanding it – the letter states.

Furthermore, Bečarević notes that when you look at the proposed sanctions, we see that all gas projects proposed by the FBiH have been called out, and it would be useful for the public to be informed who is obstructing the adoption of the law, i.e., who is obstructing the fulfillment of obligations towards the Energy Community.

- All the questions posed above are simple and require simple answers. Those answers will remove part of the responsibility from the MVTEO and help identify those responsible, i.e., so that you do not bear the burden of being “responsible” – the letter states.

At the same time, during all this time, counting from the cessation of the commission's work from 2011 to 2015, the following is happening:

- During the absence of “negotiations” on the law, BiH lost already approved funds from IPA funds, which were supposed to be used for drafting studies for the Brod-Zenica gas pipeline.
- During the absence of “negotiations” on the law, the RS adopted the Gas Law, which adopted solutions from the jurisdiction of BiH, i.e., certain solutions encroach on the future jurisdiction of the gas regulator at the BiH level, especially in the segment of tariffs for public transport service and the issuance of licenses for gas trade. These solutions block the adoption of the law at the BiH level and therefore harmonization of the law is advocated.
- By constantly avoiding the adoption of the law, BiH lost the opportunity for the IAP gas pipeline to partially pass through the territory of BiH, i.e., for all of us to collect revenue from transit fees.

- During the absence of “negotiations” on the law, the RS independently conducts its plans for expanding the gas network and prevents the adoption of the energy strategy at the BiH level, thereby jeopardizing further financing of any project from EU funds. 
- During the absence of “negotiations” on the law, the RS concluded a contract with Gazexport for the purchase of gas that does not include the WAR DEBT. During the war, both entities consumed gas, but now only one pays for it.
- As a finale, during the absence of “negotiations” on the law, the RS removed BH-Gas meters in Zvornik, thereby excluding BH-Gas (FBiH) from the only delivery station in BiH. The RS project, towards Bijeljina, continues to be built using the only incoming pipeline from Serbia.