Bečarević for NAP: The main provision of the Southern Interconnection Law amendments is that BH-Gas will no longer be the project holder

(Patria) - The President of FBiH, Lidija Bradara, withdrew the request for an assessment of the constitutionality of the "Southern Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia" Gas Pipeline Law, and proposed the suspension of the procedure before the Constitutional Court of FBiH.

Bradara stated, among other things, in her statement that after the request was submitted, new relevant circumstances arose that changed the context of the consideration of the said Law.

"The Southern Interconnection project has entered a phase of more intensive institutional coordination of competent authorities and strengthening of international cooperation, with a clear commitment that its realization will be carried out in accordance with international standards of energy security and infrastructure management.

At the same time, processes of further normative harmonization and clarification of competencies within FBiH have been initiated, which opens up space for all open issues to be resolved through the regular legislative and institutional process.

Diversification of natural gas supply routes and sources remains one of the key strategic issues for the Federation of BiH, and the Southern Interconnection project plays an important role in strengthening energy security and economic development," Bradara said in a statement.

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Bradara withdrew the request for constitutionality assessment of the Southern Interconnection Law

(Patria) - The President of FBiH, Lidija Bradara, withdrew the request for an assessment of the constitutionality of the Gas Pipeline Law

Former Minister of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton and energy expert Almir Bečarević believes that the suspension of this procedure before the Constitutional Court is a logical sequence of moves and that it is not a surprise at this moment.

"This move is not from Lidija Bradara's initiative, nor was it done without full coordination with Dragan Čović. At the same time, Čović did not give the signal to withdraw the constitutionality assessment of the Southern Interconnection Law without receiving assurances that BH-Gas would be removed from it.

All of this is creating an environment that will pave the way for amendments to the Law, the main provision of which is that BH-Gas will no longer be the project holder," Bečarević told the Patria News Agency (NAP).

He says he did not have insight into the amendments to the Southern Interconnection Law that were finalized at a meeting between representatives of the US Embassy in BiH and representatives of the ruling coalition parties in FBiH, as well as the federal ministries of energy, mining and industry, and spatial planning.

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US Embassy in BiH: Amendments to the Southern Interconnection Law finalized

(Patria) - The US Embassy in BiH hosted a new meeting with representatives of political parties and relevant federal ministries, and the topic was again the construction project of the Southern Gas Interconnection. In a brief post on platform X, the Embassy stated

"I did not have insight, nor did I show interest in seeing those amendments, but it is not difficult to conclude in which direction everything will go. BH-Gas will no longer be the holder of the investment realization, and that will be the main amendment to the Law.

With this exclusion of BH-Gas, a step has been taken towards fulfilling Čović's demands. All other amendments will be cosmetic, meaning they will go towards the realization of the investment either through concessions or through some other form of association," says Bečarević.

He stated that the authors of these amendments to the Law neither took into account nor can they foresee everything that is necessary for the gas pipeline to see the light of day.

Bečarević notes that the approach is completely different when such an infrastructure project is realized by a state-owned company compared to when it is realized by a private company.

"Who will give guarantees for the realization of the project, who will give guarantees to the Croatian transporter that gas will be transported? Who will be the guarantor for the repayment of the investment?

Who will form the company that must sign the interconnection agreement, and form a dispatch center and dozens of other obligations arising from the Third Energy Package?" Bečarević asked, adding that the owner of the gas pipeline cannot be the owner of the gas.

He also commented on the statement of the BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović, who recently said at a gathering in Washington that she would like Republika Srpska to attract similar American investments as the Southern Interconnection.

"That statement was made in the environment and surroundings of the hosts. At the same time, the entity of Republika Srpska is conducting the procedure for selecting contractors for the New Eastern Interconnection. The gas for this connection is primarily Russian.

What is particularly important is that no one is asking why and how the entity of Republika Srpska avoided signing an interstate agreement with Serbia.

No one is preventing the entity of Republika Srpska from attracting American investments, but it would be logical to ask why they haven't attracted them so far. Where did the sudden interest come from and in which sector would it be?

Will this interest last only until the end of the current administration's term, or is it a strategic move regardless of which administration is in power?

Will this interest continue even after Milorad Dodik's first subsequent trip to Russia? In the end, it's just another statement from the authorities of Republika Srpska," Bečarević added in an interview with NAP.

(D.K.)