Džindić: The government has no contract with the company that announced there will be no gas in FBiH

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Government of the Federation of BiH still has no official confirmation of the information that appeared in the media yesterday that the citizens of FBiH will be left without gas at the beginning of October. 

This was stated at today's press conference by the Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry, Nermin Džindić. 

“We still do not have any request or act from either the Republic of Serbia or the entity of Republika Srpska. The company BH-Gas, which is majority-owned by FBiH, regularly services its obligations to all contractual parties. The contract with Gazprom is not expired, because it does not exist. BH-Gas does not have any contract with Gazprom, which issued a statement through the media yesterday, so it is unclear to me what this new construction is and what it aims to achieve,” says Džindić. 

The relevant minister states that the contract with Srbijagas, when it comes to transport contracts, expires at the end of September.

“At the proposal of Annex 21, proposed by the Management of BH-Gas, Srbijagas has provided information that it largely agrees with all elements, but requests that the handover of gas be in the middle of the Drina River. This is absolutely unacceptable for several reasons,” stated Džindić. 

He called on the relevant ministries of RS and Serbia to sit down at the negotiating table and resolve the dispute regarding the mentioned segments of Annex 21 in a civilized manner.

Džindić denied that BH-Gas had not announced the necessary quantities of gas for the next year and presented documents confirming that this had been done. He also pointed out that the war debt for gas and the non-adoption of the state law must be resolved in the future.

“Every year before the heating season, there are certain turbulences and spectacular announcements of shutdowns and turning off the valves. The war debt for gas amounts to 104.8 million dollars, and it was consumed by the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the moment the commission was formed to harmonize the debt as much as it falls on FBiH and as much on the entity of RS, only the Federation has been repaying the debt, and it has reduced the debt to approximately 93 million dollars,” emphasizes the relevant minister.

The director of BH-Gas, Jasmin Salkić, addressed the journalists and told the citizens that there is no reason to worry.

“In the last three years, BH-Gas has stabilized its operations. All invoices and obligations have been paid. The company that released a spin in the media yesterday simply does not exist in the legal traffic between 'BH-Gas' and 'Srbijagas'. Therefore, for 21 years, that company has no contract for this type of transport. The intention to cause some false panic was not clear,” said Salkić.