Meeting on gas crisis concludes: No supply cut-off, citizens must not suffer

(Patria) - A meeting of relevant officials was held today in East Sarajevo to resolve the gas crisis, which resulted in the shut-off of valves yesterday.

The director of Sarajevo-gas East Sarajevo, Nedeljko Elek, told the media that the normal supply of natural gas to Sarajevo resumed this morning.

“We need to work together on large and serious projects, on gasification. I want us to work together. In the next ten days, we will have a series of meetings. I hope we will find a solution, and we have agreed that there will be no gas cut-off during that period. I signed the order to release the gas at eight o'clock because Milorad Dodik asked me to. That is fair on our part,” he stated.

He then added:

“I respect Energoinvest’s arguments, and they respect ours. We will get to the bottom of things. Everyone should be satisfied. The most important thing is that the end-users are satisfied, that they never have to worry about whether there will be gas or not. We will do our best to reach an agreement and compromise.”

Among other things, Elek said that time is needed for further interpretation of the matter.

“We have put payment aside. We don’t have to be paid until an agreement is reached. We need to be one party. We have legal teams. Ministers have their teams. We need time for further interpretation of this. However, it will not jeopardize supplies in the next 15 days. I will do my best to ensure this never happens again,” Elek said.

He also emphasized that end-users will no longer suffer.

“The Government of the Federation of BiH reduced gas prices. This we are talking about does not affect it. The price is dictated by Gazprom Export. It is calculated based on the oil formula,” Elek concluded, as reported by N1.

The director of Energoinvest, Mirza Ustamujić, also addressed the present media.

“We are satisfied with the change in rhetoric. We will no longer allow such talk. It was time to stop the blackmail. The conversation was constructive. We have different views on some issues. The price significantly affects the balance sheets of Energoinvest and Sarajevo gas. There will be no gas interruption. That is not the way to talk. We must also open the issue of the South Stream. The change in rhetoric indicates that we are on the right track,” he said.