Košarac sets new demands for the "trojka", Eastern Interconnection in focus, Concessions Commission almost forgotten by everyone!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac (SNSD) called on the leaders of the "trojka" to consolidate their ranks and finally unblock the process of adopting the decision in the BiH Presidency regarding the construction of the Eastern new interconnection.

Košarac thus sets a new demand for the partners from the trojka, while at the same time, there are no clear demands from the other side, and there could be more concrete ones, primarily unblocking the appointment of members of the Concessions Commission.

On February 23, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered him to urgently initiate the procedure for announcing a new tender, but Košarac has not taken a single step.

The only one from the 'trojka' who dealt with this topic was Denis Zvizdić, but the other side does not set official demands like SNSD sends to the 'trojka'.

We remind you that the BiH Concessions Commission was tasked by the BiH Constitutional Court to resolve the dispute between the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entity of Republika Srpska concerning the granting of a concession for the construction of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric power plant.

This is a joint project of Republika Srpska and Serbia, which forms a joint company whose majority owner with 51 percent will be a company from Serbia. The dispute arose because Republika Srpska granted the concession bypassing the state of BiH and it is supposed to be resolved by the Concessions Commission. However, it has not managed to do that.

But, Košarac, relaxed by the absence of clear demands from coalition partners, is moving forward. He says that the 'trojka' promised not to block projects important for Republika Srpska.

„This is an opportunity for them to regain trust and prove they are serious. Let them show it concretely in action, we have had enough of declarative commitment! Republika Srpska will not give up on the construction of the Eastern new interconnection, because it is a project that will result in increased security of natural gas supply to consumers and ensure long-term energy stability in Republika Srpska and FBiH - states Košarac.

Let us remind you that the New Eastern Interconnection is a Russian gas project in BiH, and the entity of Republika Srpska has nothing to do with these construction intentions, except that its entire route would pass through this smaller BiH entity.

This project aims to build a branch from the Turkish/Balkan Stream, which is a Gazprom project and only transports Russian natural gas. Natural gas, as an energy source, is not disputed at all, even when it comes from Russia; it is the accompanying circumstances that are disputed, which we are currently seeing in Ukraine and some other European countries.

Almir Bečarević, an expert in gas policy, has repeatedly emphasized that due to the way the entity of Republika Srpska wants to proceed with the New Eastern Interconnection project, a decisive NO should be said, because it is not the security of gas supply for BiH, it is not diversification of supply sources, it is not a project of interest for BiH, but a project through which Russia's influence in our country is to be continued, read expanded.

„One gas project, Rafinerija Brod, was the result of lawlessness and crossing borders without any approval from the state of BiH, so it is logical to stop this practice.

The entity of Republika Srpska functions well in "dark" zones where there are no laws and no governance from the BiH level, and it will be interesting to see how everyone will react to the logical demand for the adoption of the state law on gas or to Košarac's threats to suspend all projects in FBiH“, said Bečarević.