Response to Košarac: You see the Federation as a gas consumer and a user who will repay your investment, forget it!

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers, Staša Košarac, sent a new urgent request to the Council of Ministers, in which he asked for the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Agreement between BiH and the Republic of Serbia on the construction of the Nova istočna interkonekcija gas pipeline to be included on the agenda of the next session.

Almir Bečarević, former director of BH Gas and an expert in gas policy, commented on this news. He specifically referred to Košarac's claim that there is a commitment to make one-fourth of the capacity of the eastern gas interconnection available to the Federation of BiH.

"I can say thank you and forget it. For almost 20 years, I have been following the struggle of the RS entity to add a new interconnection point, 40 km from the existing one, and of course, from the direction of Serbia, to the existing gas supply route. In this process, Košarac sees the FBiH as a gas consumer and a user who will repay your investment through unrealistic transport tariffs and through an illegal regulator from Trebinje.

You are already doing this by increasing transport tariffs on the existing route, and you have raised them by 50% in the last few months. The FBiH is paying for this, but it does not have to pay for what you have further planned.

At the same time, show studies on the feasibility of building the Nova istočna interkonekcija, show who will finance it, show with whom you are negotiating gas, and explain why the Sjeverna interkonekcija Brod-Doboj-Zenica, which is three times cheaper than the Nova istočna interkonekcija, cannot be used," Bečarević points out.

He adds that the Sjeverna interkonekcija has been blocked for 20 years, and the Južna for more than 10 years.

"Also, since you are asking for something, let me remind you that Bećirović also asked for something, the Law on Gas and a state-level regulator, and you rejected this and even invoked vital interest. If we are talking about vital interest, then let's mirror Serbia's vital interest and gas from Azerbaijan after the construction of the Bulgaria-Serbia interconnection and that gas to the Zvornik point. We will take that gas to Zenica and build a gas pipeline for RS to Doboj and RS only to Banja Luka. This is the cheapest option for both entities and gas from a country that is not under sanctions.

In the end, forget about the gas market in FBiH, and we will transport gas from Azerbaijan to Banja Luka according to best European practices and tariffs that we will not increase by 50% through blackmail over non-existent works on the gas system. You know very well what I am talking about, Mr. Košarac," Bečarević added.