Bečarević: Regional directors care more about BiH's gas supply than people at "BH Gas"!

Almir Bečarević, former director of "BH-Gas", continues to warn about the extremely bad situation in this sector, and accuses the management of "BH Gas" of insufficient and inaccurate public information. Furthermore, Bečarević states, one gets the impression that regional directors care more about the situation in BiH than, for example, Haris Hrnjičić, executive director for technical affairs at "BH Gas", and wonders if the statements of regional directors have been coordinated with Hrnjičić.

- It is nice when neighbors care about the security of BiH's gas system and about the development of that same system. They care so much that they should be brought in to manage "BH-Gas". The question arises, based on the statement by Dino Salihagić, spokesperson for "BH Gas", that from now on we should turn to Dušan Bajatović, director of "Srbijagas", for gas security, and if there are supply problems because he has not fulfilled his obligation from the given statement. Should we, in case of supply disruptions, buy gas from storage at a price of 345 USD or does Haris guarantee that we will have gas from Russia at a price of 345 USD. Should the ordinary citizen think about why we are limited in deliveries by 5 percent, or should we call Salihagić for an explanation so that he can professionally explain the complete aspect of delivery limitations to us – states Bečarević.

Incidentally, to make it clearer, Dušan Bajatović stated that he expects no problems in gas supply to FBiH and RS. He added that the gas storage in Banski Dvor is full, and that part of that gas will also be directed towards BiH.

On the other hand, Mladen Antunović, president of the Management Board of "Plinacro", previously stated that the LNG terminal on Krk could start operating at the end of 2017. Based on the information and letters of intent collected so far, "Plinacro" counts on an initial terminal capacity of 4 to 5 billion m3 of gas, but it is intended that the terminal be designed for modular expansions and capacity increases in line with market expansion.

Antunović said that preliminary agreements have been signed with "BH Gas" for the construction of three gas interconnections. One is located near Slavonski Brod towards Zenica, the second near Bihać, and the third could be near Zagvozd and Imotski towards Posušje or from Ploče towards Mostar. For now, this option has a greater chance of realization and it could be the first one to start construction, as several companies in the Mostar area are interested in gas, and a gas-fired power plant is also planned near that city.

For now, "BH Gas" has no position on the halting of the construction of the new gas flow. However, the Ukrainian crisis certainly has an impact on gas supply to BiH.

- BH Gas is currently supplying all its consumers in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina properly. However, the gas supply to our country is still reduced by 5 to 6 percent. I remind you that the company d.d. Energoinvest is the importer of gas for BiH from Gazprom export and that these two companies signed an agreement on gas imports for 2015 two weeks ago. Thus, BH Gas sent a letter to Energoinvest requesting clarification from Gazprom export regarding the mentioned reduced gas supply – stated BH Gas spokesperson Dino Salihagić.