BH Gas wrote to Croatia: Start building the pipeline to the BiH border

BH-Gas, during its many years of cooperation with the Croatian company Plinacro, never considered the option of addressing them through an open letter, neither to Plinacro nor to the Croatian public. This option was not considered for the simple reason that the cooperation was more than correct, and now it is unfortunately damaged to such an extent that you are confusing the public with your statements and justifying the project of converting a product pipeline into a "gas pipeline" with your claims.

Why did we decide on this step?

For the past 15 years, we have been working together on promoting the construction of the Slobodnica – Brod – Zenica gas pipeline. During this time, we have prepared a feasibility study, signed three (3) letters of intent, and approached international financial institutions for project financing, receiving a green light in all of this. Your support, colleagues from Plinacro, has always been sincere and at a level that often exceeded normal partnership relations. Furthermore, as you know, the option of connecting Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia via the old product pipeline has never, ever been considered; quite the opposite, the connection of the two neighboring countries was to be based on the construction of an interconnector transport gas pipeline, and consequently, the Brod Refinery. At the same time, you know and have always known that Republika Srpska has never given consent to connect the two transport gas systems, precisely because that system comes from the Republic of Croatia.

Today, you agree to connect an old product pipeline to your system, which is one of the most modern gas systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Not only are you planning to enable this, but you are also releasing information to the public that converting the product pipeline into a "gas pipeline" will not hinder the construction of the Slobodnica – Brod – Zenica connection. If it doesn't, as you claim, we publicly ask you to confirm these claims and start building the pipeline to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby proving that this product pipeline is indeed not an obstacle.

At the same time, we are publicly posing a question to the entire Croatian public and to you as a company in this sector: would you allow, for example, Slovenia to build a "direct line" and supply consumers in the Republic of Croatia, or for the Republic of Serbia to supply consumers in Vukovar with a gas pipeline built from the direction of the Republic of Serbia?

Not only are you allowing something with this that you would not allow on your own system, but you are also finding justifications, and expert ones at that, for this project.

BH-Gas, as your partner which is also state-owned, can understand that you must participate in this project at the initiative of state bodies of the Republic of Croatia, but we ask that you do not claim that the Slobodnica – Brod – Zenica project remains active, because representatives of Republika Srpska, in their statements when signing the Agreement, claim that the goal is the Refinery, not, for example, Zenica, meaning the goal is not interconnection, but a targeted and known consumer.

In the past period, we have jointly carried out activities to change the stance of the Energy Community, which did not declare the IAP gas pipeline construction project (Azerbaijani gas) of interest to our countries (PECI/PMI), and now we learn that an old product pipeline is of interest to the Republic of Croatia and the company Plinacro. There are no such "interest-based" connections between the two countries, because both your and our goals are the IAP gas pipeline, the Slobodnica – Brod – Zenica gas pipeline, the South Interconnection Split – Zagvozd – Travnik, the Krk LNG terminal, etc.

Hoping that you will inform your public, as well as the authorities, about the full detriment of converting an old product pipeline into a "gas pipeline," and that our future lies in the construction of main gas pipelines, we send you our warmest regards.